Perfect Darkness (2016)

Directed by: Maaike Neuville | 23 minutes | short film, drama | Actors: Jorge Jauregui Allue, Eva Binon

There are bad times to tell your partner some bad news and less bad times. In the Flemish short film ‘Perfect Darkness’, Anna (Eva Binon) does not exactly choose the most unfavorable opportunity, but it is not really useful. When the film starts we see her sitting somewhere in a rough Greek landscape. She doesn’t seem very comfortable, but when she hears her boyfriend yell, a hint of relief shines on her face. Friend Gus, originally Spanish – they speak English to each other – was apparently looking for a certain location, where he now takes her. Gus and Anna – and the baby in her tummy – are the only ones in the area and Gus tries to terrify her by spreading an urban legend about ghosts, but Anna is only briefly impressed.

During the walk we follow Anna and Gus closely. Sometimes the handheld camera pans over the landscape, but the feeling always remains that something is wrong with Anna. Does she want to be here? This is reinforced by her reaction to his proposal to go swimming.

When the language barrier rears up (‘Wife of my child’, Gus says endearingly in faulty Dutch, and she corrects it), Anna makes a revelation – which you actually felt coming. Gus does not deny his Southern European roots and temporarily abandons her. And in the alienating environment they later come closer to each other.

Filmmaker Maaike Neuville was inspired for ‘Perfect Darkness’ by a poem, ‘Verklärte Nacht’, by Richard Dehmel from 1896. The story is recorded in one long shot. That can be defended on the one hand, but on the other hand the film loses its power, because not every image is worth it. The atmosphere is strong, but the film actually comes to nothing. The viewer doesn’t feel much about it, at most an anticlimax. Unfortunate.