Mythology has always been an extraordinary source of inspiration for artists everywhere. Suze Gil also, though starting from a mythological referent, manages to homogenize a feminine archetypal image in which the Greek-Latin creative descendance blends harmoniously with a famous literary component. More specifically, the director of ‘NIMF‘ opts for a special protagonist in which the Shakespearean image of Ophelia blends with that of nymphs in ancient myths to depict a tragic story with feminist valences about the fragility and power of Eve’s daughters. However, the feminism adopted by Suze Gil is not ostentatious, as its sources of inspiration refer to some prototypes detached from the collective imaginary that transcends any possible historical contextualization. Thus, this mute, but highly suggestive, animation created on sound and chromatic contrasts, varying between different blue-and-purple shades, processes, beyond the mythological images, the pattern of the rapist, the murderer and the victim, in order to succinctly render the abysses of the feminine soul afflicted by the barbaric intrusion of the male element.
Created as a magical, aquatic poem that apparently portrays a paradisiacal space populated by feminine ethereal physiognomies, this project presents an alternative fictional history of an Ofelia raped and brutally murdered who is revived by nymphs that feel even beyond death her physical and emotional suffering. Once the body of Ophelia is resurrected, the protagonist turns into a revengeful spirit, continuing to bear the trauma caused by the horrible experience of rape even in this new existence.
Despite the seemingly naive formal strategy promising a delicate and linear story, director and animator Suze Gil uses a powerful narrative counterpoint speaking about and illustrating without prejudices the terrifying beauty and frightening fragility of the female prototype. Indeed, through such ambivalent, oxymoronic expressions we can surprise the very essence of the creator’s vision that holds both the necessary techniques and a good epic dosing supported by a well-defined cultural background to define an empathic and expressive experiment. ‘NIMF’ is an intriguing experience that seduces and terrifies alike, (re)constructing a universal female character, but whose trauma, unfortunately, is also found in our world.
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