With Me
A woman is lying on a bed. Her double is stretched out next to her, and she slowly turns to caress it, to kiss and lick it before the two cuddle up to each other and the scene darkens.
A straightforward etude. A simple setup, though with a false bottom: The woman is played by the filmmaker, who - as in other works - has cloned her ghostly actors by means of multiple exposures. With Me, shot in 16mm and silent, resembles early cinematic works and their phantoms, and not only because of this special effect. Taken together, the old-fashioned interior and the faded colours, the jerky movements, the slightly exaggerated gestures and the almost transparent bodies create a somewhat eerie and somnambulistic atmosphere. And the doppelgänger motif - which is closely linked to supernatural experiences - contributes to this feel. At the same time, these images also possess a sense of absence. The overlapping time periods on the strip of film, a result of the production method, literally show through. The space is a fixed quantity and therefore has a dual presence. The action leaves fleeting traces, like a daydream in which the familiar secretly returns.
(Isabella Reicher)
Mit Mir
2000
Austria, Germany
3 min