ROAD MOVIE

The title promises open spaces, the open road, a grandiose trip but the first thing
the film bumps into are the white walls of a psychiatric institution. This does not stop
Christophe Bisson rising to the challenge of the film’s title. How? By connecting
faces and how they silently reveal the desire to make a great escape. How? By
filming with a patience that lends itself to the truly sober contemplation of the
landscapes of the patients. By gently capturing their postures and the particular
quality of their presence, whilst accompanying them during their basic activities:
looking, listening, standing, thinking in silence, as they begin to utter a handful of
words, walk along a riverbank, paint, find the infinity of a colour, etc. This is a far cry
from the pitiful spectacle of madness and is closer in its concise intensity to a short
play by Beckett. Bisson manages in a few short sequences to capture this insistent,
secretive presence, just as they do, be it in front of a mirror or a blank sheet of paper,
seeking to find a possible representation somewhere between external surfaces
and bottomless depths. (NF&JPR)