Beyond the Fog

A very interesting film, serene and atmospheric, it seeks the ground between nostalgic pull and the elusiveness of life and obscurity of future. "Interesting" may not actually be the word, since not much happens, or if it does, it happens outside our view. "The mountain fog is a place to hide", says the elder, the grandfather whom his granddaughter refers to as "Teacher", veiled in silence. Perhaps there's nothing the other could communicate to us in words - we are to find it out ourselves through their presence and absence. The elder didn't wish to burden his family with memories: he hid the old photos in his mountain refuge where the family sought to trace him, but ended up tracing themselves.

This is a lyrical film shot to a big extent stills: the cameraman is a photographer from the village in question, as the director told us. Ostensibly driven by the urge to preserve the village's history for the future, he has created a film which exceeds the frame: the universal hiding in the local. There's a scene of the locals watching a film about their village, and the character of the elder is also a local man, now eternalised on screen.

Upon a passing question whether he might be influenced by David Lynch, the director said yes.

"What can be explained is not poetry.", says Yeats. Perhaps it is the art of letting go...

P. S. Those giving low ratings might consider Blaise Pascal - "All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone."