08/09/2005

"When you are young you are full of dreams and when you are old you are full of memories", says one of the main characters at the beginning of the Venice Days entry Parabola, which was presented on Wednesday. Young Belgian director Karim Ouelhaj has already transformed one of his dreams into a memory; the making of his first film. In a hip mix of styles that reveal the director’s education in videography, his Parabola offers a brutally honest portrait of the rough life of a group of youngsters in the Walloon city of Liège.

The main protagonist of the film is Sarah (a magnificent Céline Rallet) who occasionally shares her thoughts with us in intimate direct-to-camera confessions. She is a prostitute because it is an easy way to make quick money; though she is no Pretty Woman. Ouelhaj portrays her world without glamour; according to the director, "there is no poetry or love" in the on-screen sex: "[for the characters] sex is mostly sexual misery". In fact, Ouelhaj sees a similarity in the way in which his female protagonist tries to get by and the way his first film was shot with almost no budget. "You have the desire to get through, no matter what, which is what counts in the end".

The shocking realism of the story is in contrast with its intentionally constructed video style which uses black-and-white and colour footage (some of it digitally altered), accelerated travelling shots as well as long close-ups and slow-motion shots. Says the director: “I wanted to create something more purely cinematic for the film’s style, because the story itself is real enough”. With a sure hand that belies Ouelhaj’s relatively little experience, the film combines a realistic story with a visual language that puts the weight of its artificiality squarely behind the story.

Parabola reminds one of the austere and desolate qualities of the stories of Moodysson and its foreboding sense of impending violence is similar to the recent Cannes film The great ecstasy of Robert Carmichael; which caused a stir upon its presentation. Ouelhaj is similarly uncompromising in his vision; he cites as his inspiration the violent realism of Stone, Ferrara and Scorsese amongst others. The final scenes of Parabola will be hard to stomach for the faint of heart; once the violence begins, it seems to go on forever for both characters and the audience. But what other end could this story have had? There are very few happily ever after stories in real life, after all.
Parabola was produced by Okayss Films and co-produced by Les Films de la Passerelle; the latter also handles international sales. The film will be distributed in Belgium in January by Cinéart.