Lilith Kraxner Milena Czernovsky
Who is Beatrix? Or rather: what is Beatrix doing? We see her playing, daydreaming
with a giant inflatable ball, absent-mindedly watching the TV, washing, watering
the garden, taking a bath, biting into a grape, entertaining friends, observing
every tiny detail of the world she lives in. Maybe, she mostly does nothing. She’s
spending time in an empty house over the summer. For their first opus, Lilith
Kraxner & Milena Czernovsky engage in an art of portraiture where nothing is
explained, where words are absent and the original intention is to connect a
body with a setting, a body with a possible narrative. The film reveals possibilities,
suggests situations and the beginnings of desire. A tightly framed portrait, shifting
our attention to a hand, the corner of a table or a piece of wall. The concept of
the film gradually becomes apparent: to unframe, never revealing everything,
leaving grey areas, observing – sometimes with a touch of humour – barely formed
movements, described in detail with a hint of triviality. We enter into the intimacy
of this solitary young woman, who remains an enigma. This is Beatrix, alone with
herself. Frame after frame, the film sketches out the intimate portrait of a woman
and her doubts, steering clear of elucidation. A huis-clos where she wanders from
room to room as the house becomes, as we understand, a space that represents
a future to be inhabited. It is also an image, as revealed by the scansion of the
scenes where Beatrix contemplates herself in the mirror, adjusting her clothing,
scrutinising her body. Finding a place, creating an image, opening up the
possibilities of a narrative. (Nicolas Feodorof)