Troost U

Benny Vandendriessche / Dolores Bouckaert. "Troost U" (or 'Be Comforted') is a soundless high definition video film, projected on a plasma screen, and turned ninety degrees to a 9-16 frame. The film shows a ritual performance in an uncut sequence, shot in a church in Lozer (Belgium) in May 2007. In the film, a woman is condoled after the loss of a beloved. Actress Dolores Bouckaert plays a mourning woman, under direction of Benny Vandendriessche. More than 40 friends and family members were invited to offer their condolences to the performer. Consequently, the film becomes a living mourning register, collecting an endless series of comforting gestures. The audience can watch a condense ritual of hesitations, touches and glances. The film is presented as a tableau vivant, with various references to painting: the high resolution offers a rich quality and the framing refers to the classical portrait. This form is enhanced by the static of the film: shot as an uncut sequence in an endless loop, the spectator can enter and leave the film randomly. The film mixes fiction and non-fiction. A fictitious character is comforted, yet the relationship with the extras is real, creating true emotion. On a real location a sacred atmosphere was constructed. This tension coincides with similar characteristics of a real condoling ritual, confronting participants with an uncomfortable combination of emotion and drama. / director Benny Vandendriessche

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• troost
• comfort
• you
• dolores
• bouckaert
• benny
• vandendriessche
• art