Review: Tunnel Vision (2010)

Director: Stefano Odoardi | 50 minutes | drama, short film | Actors: Sanneke Bos, Serge Price, Raymond Thiry, Johnny de Mol, Teun Kuilboer, Ergun Simsek

‘Tunnel Vision’ by director Stefano Odoardi is certainly the most eccentric film in the 2010 series of One Night Stands. In any case, it is about the most eccentric person and situation. The grieving process in ‘Mama’, the coming-of-age of Finn in ‘Finnemans’ and Thijs in ‘The day after tomorrow’, and even the absurdly comic of ‘Flysk’ and the perpetrator of senseless violence in ‘Process’: although not everyone there daily, or perhaps never experienced something similar, they were clearly recognizable situations and often people with whom you could build a bond and with whom you could identify.

In ‘Tunnel Vision’ that does not seem like the intention at all: main character Mira is a quiet, withdrawn woman, who cannot be controlled by the viewer. We have been unable to follow her train of thought for a long time. It’s not that she’s unsympathetic: she has a kind of friendship with a hearing-impaired neighbor and she’s very sweet to her falcon. That is her livelihood. As a falconer she has a job at a landfill; its birds of prey must combat the gull nuisance. She does not have much contact with her, only male colleagues, but that has a reason. The cause is a bit obvious and that should ensure that the viewer starts to live with Mira a little more, but unfortunately that does not have any real effect. One morning a gruesome find is made: a baby corpse has been dumped. Since Mira is the only woman to come into the area around the landfill and she leads such a lonely existence, the suspicion quickly arises that she is the mother. The viewer is also unsubtly pushed in that direction: Mira suffers from thrust, causing her t-shirt to get soaked. So we have to believe that Mira recently gave birth, because there is simply no other explanation for leaking breasts, is it? However, with too many long-winded scenes, the film keeps the viewer uncertain about the actual facts. The intention of the makers is in itself clear, because Mira clearly has to contend with a nasty event (or more) from the (recent?) Past, and has difficulty processing it, but the film fluctuates too much between the message and the delivery of a satisfying viewing experience.

Nothing but praise about the acting: Sanneke Bos is perfect in her role as the somewhat shy Mira and the male cast members (Raymond Thiry, Johnny de Mol, Teun Kuilboer and Ergun Simsek as colleagues of Mira and Serge Price as Loek) are strong . The camera work is also in order; the setting of the landfill has a non-Dutch feel and is portrayed in such a way that an uncanny feeling arises. It is a pity that the film does not have the intended effect on the viewer.