Alter (a duo role played by Amélie Daure and Anne-Sophie Charron) suffering from depression and schizophrenia, is seeing a cave-dwelling, mystical hypnotist in an attempt to unlock the hidden trauma that has paralysed her life. When she meets Chris (played by director Aurélia Mengin), a punkish woman working late nights at a petrol station convenience store, the pair have an affair that’s both passionate yet distant. All while she deals with her overbearing mother (Patricia Barzyk).
Mengin’s film is full of oblique camera angles, surreal imagery, and awash with vivid, Mario Bava-esque colours. Add the swirling soundscape, and Scarlet Blue takes us to a familiar yet alien world. It’s an off-kilter place where David Lynch or Peter Greenaway would no doubt play. Daure’s tortured portrayal of Alter is instantly compelling, as is her otherworldly gaze (represented by Charron) both optically and through the photographs she takes as part of her therapy. We head on a nightmarish journey into Alter’s repressed past that’s never anything less than visually sumptuous no matter how traumatic the subject.
SCARLET BLUE screened at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest.
