Some short films are not necessarily made to be dissected by a critical filter, but only to depict a certain atmosphere, to transport the viewer to a special corner of the world. ‘The Road of the Weather‘ is such a project that, despite its both experimental and documentary appearances, is rather a praise for the beauty of Chinese nature (more precisely, the mountains of Xunhua and the lake Mengda Tianch), offering viewers a short foray into a place full of magical energy. Therefore, the director Afroditi Tavri doesn’t intend to use the conventional principles of an “informative” documentary, betting exclusively on the evocative force of landscapes and traditional instrumental music. Theoretically, the result has no chance to disappoint, since nature is a fascinating element in itself, while the director’s focus on a geographical space shrouded in a mythical air contribute to the charm of this project. At the same time, this total “freedom” the creator of the short film gives to the monumental landscapes manages to overcome obstacles related, for example, to the affinity of the spectators for a certain cultural context. However, the absence of a more concrete narrative is a risk the director is certainly aware of, but this seems to be incompatible with the aims of the project that doesn’t want to use the “artificiality” of a fiction to illustrate the genuineness of an invigorating experience.
Hence, the main characters are not the inhabitants or tourists who enjoy the pleasure of exploring and discovering new places, but the imposing mountains, the mysterious lake, the paths flattened by so many foreign steps or the houses on whose walls there are traces of a long history. This directorial choice doesn’t exclude, however, a “sociological” dimension through which the camera captures in a succession of close-ups the silent portraits of those who linked their destiny, forever or temporarily, to this paradisiacal space. The act of depicting the landscapes thus coincides with the depiction of a typological diversity, as if the splendour of nature flows into the natives’ way of being. In fact, Aphrodite Tavri wants to suggest, through the cohesion of image and music, that nature and human nature cannot coexist harmoniously in the lack of a contemplative attitude. Likewise, ‘The Road of the Weather’ is a short film dedicated to those who are looking for a moment of total disconnection from the noise of our immediate reality, inviting us to a few minutes of unadorned serenity in a place we may not know, but we would certainly like to see and to feel live.
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