MUBI

I think in terms of style this is even more bizarre than Sombre. Other than some gorgeous landscape shots, 90% of the film consist of extreme closeups of characters’ faces, as if Grandrieux was doing Passion of Joan of Arc. It also reminds me of Wellman’s Track of the Cat in that the colors are so subdued that it’s basically a B&W film in color, except for one characters wearing a red shirt. All the interior scenes are incredibly under-lit and slightly out of focus that what’s onscreen is barely discernible. Grandrieux wants this film to be shown in total darkness but that was impossible due to the exit light. Similarly are characters’ outlines in this foggy, snowy environment. In fact tactility dominates sight here with its focus on characters embracing each other, not to mention the mother character is blind. Even weirder is Grandrieux’s choice to make the Russian actors speak in heavily accented French. It’s impressive how he was able to make such beautiful images with DV. Narrative-wise, it’s a very simple story told in typical Grandrieux mythic overtones. He said that Un Lac is the other side of the coin to La Vie Nouvelle in that it’s a tender story with hints of internal violence and harshness.