esrosedotblog

And here we have an impressive little film that stretches the mind and imagination.

The Fits (2015)

A young black girl sees things around her that are certainly real and then perhaps not.

It is easy to see a metaphor here for the rise from girl to woman. On the other hand, the sometimes experimental technique of the film warns us not to be too glib in our responses.

Now these are afterthoughts. As the film transpires there is certainly a "what is going on here" reaction but it is within the construct of the story and the film itself.

It suddenly occurred to me that I was in the grips of a spell. Magical realism had taken me into a world I can never inhabit. A maturing girl, in school, and a black girl at that.

Wonderful.

It is a very short film. Only 75 minutes, even less than the usual minimum of 90. But this too is a demonstration of its emotional economy. The minimum story line to take us in. To hold us down. To give us a chance to let go of our own experience and see another life.

I find I am not making a lot of sense here. But the film speaks for itself. Lovely, gorgeous in the latest visual fidelity. We roam the halls of the school with a little girl and, like her, are transported.

The fits? Well, young women have "fits" here. Mysterious and somehow inspiring. So strange yet completely engaging.

This is the kind of new film making that encourages me for the filmic future.

I would gladly see it again. A 5 out of Netflix5 perhaps or at least a 4.

Labels: films