NO TRAILER CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
WATCH THE FILM HERE with all proceeds going to the filmmakers!
First, the Recap:
A progression of sequence. Watching things transition from one point to another can usually birth one of two reactions-boredom or fascination. Moments can be filled with life and meaning, or simply be mundane and without true substance, one offering said satisfaction, the other disappointment. But, where it is the former, witnessing how something builds, even if ever so slightly, over time that leads to an impactful experience, that is what’s worth investing one’s time in. The place is Lesvos, Greece in an area within it called Thermi. Upon it’s shores and history-infused terrains and sites there stand figures in black–women–all with calm yet pensive looks. What is it that they contemplate? What has happened to make them wear the color of sadness or passing? But then, lo and behold, there appears a white horse.
Next, my Mind:
It’s impression, it’s representation, it’s portrayal, and it’s quietly emotive characterization that is on display in this eleven and a half minute experimental short from writer/director/executive producer/editor Philipp Bückle and executive producer Antje Gehring that screened during the 2020 Berlin Revolution Film Festival. Comprised of ten small vignettes that each feature one or more of the five women in black who make up the primary focus of the effort, the film also embraces the stunning beauty of the Grecian ocean vistas and ancient historical backdrops that set the country apart from many other places in the world while utilizing it as the setting for the scenes as they pass quickly by.
It’s honestly simple, uncomplicated imagery, yet there’s a lingering, almost magical quality to it that allows the viewer to remain engaged, despite there being no dialogue present throughout. It delivers an atmosphere that calls to mind moods of mystery and mourning, perhaps the need for hope, of escape, of joy while also reminiscing about the past, what has been lost, and the desperate need for certain things to be regained. Each woman is shown through her individuality and as a group, maybe even an ode in itself to the world’s loss of these elements over time?
The combination of both beauty and lamentation as illustrated through the varied yet similar instances carries a lot of weight over the course of time you see each one, and highly atmospheric music adds an even deeper ambiance to the images, ushing us into a meditative state of mind. As hinted above, it’s still the persistent, abiding aura of melancholy which pervades the film, impactful and stirring, allowing your conscious to wander and wonder via conjecture what the ultimate purpose is that’s being presented for consideration. And besides the vastness of the sea, there is also briefly a white horse, which we would so often equate to heroism or even a savior.
I certainly wish to give a due shout-out to the five women/actresses who make the film’s title come to life with soft elegance yet fervent emotional resonance: Thomi Beni, Tonia Chroni, Aphrodite Kantsa, Lillie Samaridou, and Katerina Samioti. Their poise and grace is beautiful and wonderfully accompanies the equally amazing land upon which they stand. In total, “The Women of Thermi” is about as straightforward as experimental cinema might be, yet it remains purposefully enigmatic from start to finish, a testimony to avant-garde filmmaking and the boundaries it chooses to push in order to make the world at large understand that there’s so much more to the art than meets the eye when you’re willing to go well beyond mainstream.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
