[indy film]
Now You See Me Now You Don’t
Reviewed by Lori Abel
Hungarian filmmaker Attila Szasz created a visually poetic movie “Now You See Me Now You Don’t”. The story is quite unusual being a supernatural thriller and family drama. The movie uses dense visual metaphors more than scripted lines. Mom, and Dad and Alex, are smartly choreographed through a story that has a hyper-real sense, of time, and space. The rural setting never leaves the confines of a beautiful modern home and its several acres of trees, grass, roses, and cobblestone driveways and paths. _ The opening scene is a collage of imagery that includes a cell phone being dialed, hot water boiling on a stove, the hot coil of the modern stove, and the tip of a lit cigarette. You’re then introduced to Mom, who discusses with her husband on the phone, that he’s been at the lab for days. They’re discussing his creation, that has finally worked on mice. From the title of the film, you can guess someone is going to disappear.
However, by not showing Alex’s face, you wonder if he is an apparition from the supernatural realm before the “magic” box from Dad’s lab even arrives at the home. Mom tells Alex to get away from the hot stove as he rolls his toy SUV along the counter. Mom goes to his room to find the door closed and Alex locked inside. Through the glass we see her face divided into horizontal bands making her face appear segmented and alien in shape. Meanwhile dad pulls up in a black car, then exits from the passenger side. He seems to have a flashback as he stares down toward the ground you’re not sure if he is seeing a boy or thin air. Dad’s carrying the magic metallic box in one arm and a cage with two mice in the other. As the flashbacks seem to go on…time and space is suspended by camera movement and edits. Meanwhile the toy SUV drops to the ground. Dad sees Mom in an upstairs window from afar, symbolizing their emotional distance and alienation from each other. The introduction ends here and credits reemerge to give a breathing space in the story.
The most potent and eerie scene is set on the couple’s porch. The cinematographer shows his brilliance here. Mom sits in an old-fashioned rocking chair, and Dad enters the scene through a shear curtain and sliding glass door. They are again through visual metaphor, separated through silhouette. Their figures are entirely black against the warmly lit interior. The scene continues to be rich through the power of minimalism. Scary bassy piano carries us into the next scene.
Mom’s sound asleep in bed in the coolly lit blue bedroom. An invisible character played by the camera movement, enters at Mom’s bedside. A voice utters, “Mom?”. She is startled awake, then tip toes through the bedroom to the hallway, where Dad is caught closing the door handle to Alex’s room. After an exchange of steel glances, the camera pulls focus on a small rosette of broken mirror glass.
A jump cut to the next morning, when Dad is watering pink roses. Mom’s in the kitchen again. Images of the heating element of the stove and sounds of boiling water are repeated to build tension. She wanders dreamily over to the living room to sit down and see the rat cage. She says “Where’s your little friend.?”
This is also one of my favorite scenes because the camera takes on a subjective point of view and effortlessly turns into Alex’s point of view. A game of hide and seek ensues, as the film title Now You See Me, Now You Don’t, implies. Jarring music comes up as Dad towers behind Mom, who is in shock. Inches away, he says, ” Are you looking for something?” Her blank expression and frozen stiff body shows her rejection toward her husband. She realizes he’s really done something twisted to her son. You see them for the first time in the daylight, for a confrontation about “the experiment”.
In the scenes to follow we are exposed hightened suspense by the use of excellent edit choices. Also we see great chemistry between the cast of characters as the stories twists become opportunities for growth of their spirits.
Confusion is a rampant in this film. You decide whether it is a flaw in the story or the premise on which it was built. To confuse the audience usually means you lose them, but in this case, the artistry and precise editing techniques make this film feel like a shirt that you accidently put on inside out or backwards. Easily reversible, it makes you scratch your head in wonder. Overall, it is brilliantly lit in natural light, and shot in vivid color. The use of imagery is intelligent, stunning, and beautiful. This is definitely a movie for the aspiring independent filmmaker.
-Reviewed by Lori Abel.
