Local Film : Blanc De Blanc

Local director Lucas McNelly and his team took a two-week filmmaking challenge and created an intimate poem of a film. I'd love to tell you the story; this would, of course, ruin the viewing experience for you. An unlikely love story between Jude (Rachel Shaw), a young ER nurse working at UPMC Shadyside, and Dave (Jason Kirsch), a stranger without a past who synchronicity brings into her life.

Pittsburgh is the third party in the relationship. The informal visual intimacy we Pittsburghers experience day to day in our neighborhoods are echoed in shots of Shadyside, downtown, the Roberto Clemente Bridge. Cinematographer David Eger captures Pittsburgh's neighborhoody depth of field in precicely-framed, close, yet relaxed shots.

Blanc de Blanc is a rare thing, a nesting-box film that succeeds. Its about love stories and process of relationship itself as much as it is the narrative that unfolds in Jude's life. I'm glad I had the opportunity to watch it privately, to test it as hard as any one tests a suitor.

I found Jude's lack of tests for Dave an exquisitely unbelievable aspect of the plot. My unbelief is, I think, precisely the point - exactly what I needed for the larger functions of the film to become clear.

Within the narrative, the love story unfolds with very real moments of struggle and intimacy. Jude argues with her belief in the possibility of the relationship in a way that is very real, I think, in our own couplings and uncouplings. It is our belief in the very possibility of it that gives any relationship its legs. Lose that belief, and lose the relationship.

Depth of field again ... highly detailed moments contrast with the larger visual & poetic structure making an extraordinary piece of work, regardless of production time. McNelly establishes Dave's character through a short series of images, a brief set of details that open the film. There is exactly enough there for us to struggle with the ambiguity of him - the ambiguity allows a lover's projections of character; the ambiguity provides fuel for the audience to argue with Jude and Dave's choices in the way we would argue with our partners; the ambiguity found in poetry.

Very well-acted - watching the actors dissolve into the story was a pleasure. Their work resonates with ordinary life in just the right way.

My only quibble : sound design. I'd love it if the musical presence took a back seat. Perhaps the constant audio presence is meant to create the sense of closeness that the characters are enduring in their shared environment. Perhaps it points to the persistent unreality of their relationship. The music felt too close to the dialogue. I wanted a little more room, the music pushed a little farther back. Give the visuals a little space. But, that's just my aesthetic talking.

McNelly's been getting a fair amount of attention for the quality of the work here, particularly given the brief production time. I'll forego the pile of links and instead send you to the horse's mouth - http://www.blancdeblancfilm.com/

I certainly hope he's able to line up some of the non-traditional screenings in town to support the film. At an hour and seventeen minutes, its at tightly-edited piece worthy of a few opening short films and a lot of audience.

Keep an eye on where this one goes. Its a gem.