Ulysses (Joseph Rottner) has this dream that under a patch of land
overgrown with briars, he'll find the garden of his youth - which might be
a graveyard, he's a bit vague about that. Thing is, that's highly
unlikely, since the garden's in a foreign country even. And yet, a local
(Gianni Buscarino) helps him in his quest. Eventually, Ulysses starts to
hear voices - and indeed, it seems the dead convene in Ulysses' garden, or
more likely an idealized version of it ... Journal d'un
Disparu is an interesting movie for sure, inasmuch as it cares little
for narrative conventions but draws its fascination from the interplay
between its characters and surroundings to create atmosphere and tell its
story via association at least as much as via action. That said, it's by
no means a perfect film, it's not without its lengths and by times
overdoes the shots of briar-cutting men a bit - but at the same time,
there's also a weirdly hypnotic effect to especially these scenes. Not
great - but fascinating still.
|