Over-explanation often risks weakening a film’s emotional impact. ‘Something Red‘ understands this very well, building its force precisely through its refusal to say too much. In fact, director Jan Fabris uses ellipsis as a strategy to build tension, which leads the viewer to seek meaning in small gestures, moments of closeness and withdrawal, at a slow, almost viscous, pace, somewhere between reality and dream.
Following her mother’s death, Sandra finds out that Boris is not her biological father. But the revelation brings with it a sense of destabilisation, since the truth opens up a dangerous emotional landscape, where desire and guilt become intertwined. After she confesses the true nature of the feelings she has for Boris, his refusal shifts the conflict into an inner space that is harder to control.
The theme of forbidden love is clearly present, yet the short film doesn’t exploit it in a sensationalist manner, instead turning the possible relationship between Sandra and Boris into a symptom of profound disorientation. Sandra seems to be clinging to the last remaining anchor following her mother’s disappearance and the collapse of her family’s truth. Boris, for his part, remains difficult to categorise, as we do not know how much of his reaction stems from lucidity, fear, guilt or an attraction he cannot afford. In fact, Jan Fabris’s great merit lies in the fact that he doesn’t turn his characters into moral cases, and his short film neither calls for hasty condemnation, nor does it offer convenient justifications. There is a compelling ambiguity in the story of these protagonists, unable to clearly distinguish between love, dependence, the fear of loneliness and the need for salvation. But this ambiguity is more than just the effect of an elliptic script. Here the talent of the director truly appears, when the cinematography with its overall atmosphere creates a sense of intimacy tainted by something impossible to name. Far from being a conventional cinematic experience, ‘Something Red’ is a short film that is consumed slowly, continuing to resonate long after viewing.
