The Thessaloniki International Film Festival has asked a bunch of renown directors to make a short film at home as a commentary of these times of confinement. Like in the Dogma project, even the directors of Space (this is the name of the collections) were invited to follow some restrictive rules. The film had to be made at home utilizing only the environment and the inhabitants – humans or animals – in that space. The only outdoor areas that may be used were exterior living spaces, such as the terrace, the garden, the balcony and the stairwell.
Inspired by the book “Species of Spaces” by the French novelist, filmmaker, and writer Georges Perec, this ambitious but playful project resulted in two anthologies, Space #1, including 8 films from 8 Greek directors, and Space #2, including 7 films from 7 international directors. “Visit” is the contribution from Jia Zhang-ke – one of China's greatest filmmakers – to this time capsule project.
The short film starts with an energetic knock at the director's door. It's Lian Yirui (one of Zhang-ke's real life collaborators) coming over for a work-related visit. An assistant takes his temperature before allowing him in. Fully masked, the visitor and the director stare at each other in silence, pondering the right etiquette for the situation. Should hands be offered? Should hands be kindly refused? Hand sanitiser is presented with assertive politeness on a tray, like a welcome drink that cannot be refused. Photos of exteriors from a window are examined on a touch screen tablet and Photoshopping is considered, but – ouch – after a couple of screen touches, hands must be washed. The film ends with the two, sitting at proper distance, allowing a sip of tea in brief unmasked moments, watching the projection of an old film where a sea-like gather of people, like a swarm, undulates, resembling a living sea.
Apparently shot in 1 hour on a phone, this 4-min film is in a rigorous black and white, except from a shot of a flower and a view of the outside sky and tree branches from the window; nature is shining, unfazed by human anguish and monochrome dystopia. Sound too has a primary role in highlighting the gestures and procedures of new Covid-time formalities, squishing gel, running water, clicking thermometers, in stark contrast with the sombre piano notes that lead to the end.
Despite the overall minimalism and the subtle sense of humour of the first part, this little work manages to pack a real punch with its final sequence. The melancholic feeling coming from the thick crowd, swaying back and forth with the sound of waves is excruciatingly sad. It's the distant joy of human proximity and promiscuity, skin by skin, human togetherness seen through a lens, on a Petri dish; a world that is not ours anymore but that belongs to the world of representation.
“Visit” is a precious little gift from Jia Zhang-ke, a beautiful lingering drop of melancholy.
