THE STRANGE COLOUR OF YOUR BODY'S TEARS: Another Look at Amer

You will fall into a deep trance!

Amer (2009) caught me totally off guard.  I was confused by it, and left the theatre kind of angry. I don't think this is the film's fault. I think it had been mis-positioned for me.  I had been expecting and totally psyched up for a traditional giallo/slasher film -- I was no where near the mindset needed to appreciate a sophisticated installation art piece like Amer.  Instead of a traditional narrative - the story came in waves of bombastic imagery and psychedelic sound. More stream of consciousness than linguistic. There is a story, for those who are prepared to engineer if from the clues -- I wasn't.  Only in thinking about it afterwards, I started to appreciate it more, and realize that I had robbed myself of a unique experience.

Having said that, it did do right by the giallo standard.  The difference being, It stripped all of the traditionally executed conventional foundations, and left only the peaks that the genre has become known for. A passionate smattering of vibrant images, raw sexuality and beautiful destruction. A pretty confident thing to witness.

Expect more piercing images.

Cavalier Amer  (2009) filmmakers Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani arrive at TIFF's Vanguard program this year with their sophomore feature; The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears (2013).  And now that I've had a chance to really mull it over, its becoming one of my most anticipated films.  I'm not sure what to expect.  I don't think that they'll play it safe, but then none of my favorite filmmakers do.  This time around, I plan to watch more lucidly.  It will be very interesting to see how these filmmakers have evolved and adapted their hypnotizing and evocative style.

I'm not sure exactly how stylistically close it will be to Amer- will they continue to push down this brazen path, or if it will be a more traditional? The shot-in-the-face trailer certainly suggests the brazen road!  

Did you see Amer? What did you think?

Catch THE STRANGE COLOUR OF YOUR BODY’S TEARS:

Thursday, Sept 12th, 9:30 PM SCOTIABANK 3

Saturday, Sept 14th, 12:30 PM SCOTIABANK 8