Saw Meshes of the Afternoon, a cute little art film. It's only 15 minutes, so it doesn't outstay its welcome, but it's got all of the hallmarks of a capital-A-Art film. Black and white, mirrors, knives, flowers, repeated scenes and an oppressive groaning soundtrack. The perpetually startled female protagonist is the cherry on top. I feel I have a fairly good handle on the symbolism involved anyway. The plot is this: A (startled) woman picks up a flower while walking home. Arriving home she listlessly toys with a knife on the kitchen table and has a nap in an armchair. The rest of the film is occupied by her ominous and prophetic dream.
She is clearly dreaming about death (probably suicide.) A tall figure robed in black with a mirror for a face stalks through her house. This is death who bears her face. The knife transforms into a key (but what lock, eh? What lock does that open?) In one fantasy, she finds the knife hidden in her bed. Is she Emily Dickinson-ishly conflating one form of penetration for another? Multiple versions of herself sit around a kitchen table, seeming to confer.
This film is full of nicely symbolic little moments. It lends itself to wry interpretation and knowing jokes. The actual "real world" explanation of events is obscure but guessable and anyway doesn't really matter to me. A nice little gem with many sparkling facets. A cute little riddle.
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