Initial Ideas:Short film review- 'Fred et Marie'

"Fred et Marie" - (Fred and Marie)
Concept & Creation: Marine Vincent, Pierre Jadot
Directors: TheDeck & Lenitch

'Fred et Marie' is a French Short film that was created by Marine Vincent and Pierre Jadot.  In this short but gripping story, We are introduced to a very innocent looking young lady, and a very robust male character (Fred) both of which have been married for 5 years and have chosen to host a dinner party to celebrate their anniversary. However this is no ordinary relationship as we later learn the true depths of the abuse that occurs on a daily basis for Marie. 

This short film was a real eye opener for me for many reasons. It was very realistic to say the least because unlike lots of these westernised movies where they have a happy ending, this one did not. Hence showing that people in abusive relationships don't always get a happy ending. That is the reality of it and its something that I will incorporate in my short screenplay. What is the point in trying to highlight realistic events if you're going to give it an unrealistic ending? which (in my opinion) strays from the reality of events. 

One of the things that I liked and immediately noticed about this film was the contrasting openings/settings of the two main characters. You see a young woman, cooking, preparing dinner then it switches to a man jogging, being active outside. This to me already sets the tone and motif for the film because you've already got the audience assuming that she is a housewife, working hard in the kitchen to prepare his food whilst he is able to be out there running whilst the birds are singing, doing his own thing. Upon entering the house, he automatically turns off the relaxing music that Marie was playing. Its as if the writer is trying to illustrate how he almost sucks the life out of everything, allowing Marie to have minimal enjoyment no matter what they do. All of this happens within the first 20 seconds of the film yet these subtle details is what gives away lots of clues to a character's personality trait. This is something I will take on board with both my screenplay and video because its the little contrasting details which really sell the effect of a character, something I think is important within my project.

Another element of this film that I liked was the use of unstabilised shots. For the scenes where Fred is close to Marie (below),

the camera is not steady, creating an unnerving and unsteady feeling towards the scene and towards the character Fred.You almost feel like you're there with Marie and I think its great. It could be said that this is used to illustrate how Marie must feel, thus further engaging the audience into what it must be like in her situation. Subtle touches like this is what heightens the realistic approach to the film and I think it's an important trick for me to take on board with my video.

One more thing that I liked was the fact that they didn't choose to give the film a really complexed name, just simply the both character's name which I think is a nice touch, further highlighting the focus point of the film.

All in all I really enjoyed the rawness of this film, It really showed me that you can be simple with the way you show an action yet it can still be as gripping and intense. You can get a real sense of a character's characteristics by adding tiny little details and I love it.