Krisana And The Wonders Of Maverick Fred Kelemen

19th February 2009

Dir: Fred Kelemen, 2005
By Alex Skinner

PLOT.
Krisana or Fallen encapsulates that specific feeling of affecting other people’s lives, moving in circles you shouldn’t be moving in. We follow Matiss who is a lonely archivist who feels guilt from not stopping a woman jumping off a bridge. Therefore depicting his thought patterns about the incident. Especially when an investigator explains that: ‘We usually don’t bother to care about the anonymous faces we pass every day, until after they die.’

MAVERICK.
Kelemen seems quite the German Maverick who is not afraid to tackle issues, such as suicide. He seems to be influenced by a high standard of peers within the genre, including Fellini and the lesser known Hungarian director Bela Tarr who dabbled in the depths of the human psyche.

Here are some quotes:
“Reality is disappearing. We can bring the world into our homes with the television screen and internet, but we are only informed about it, we don’t experience it. We have to decide whether we want to experience real life, even at the risk of being shocked by it, or we are just informed about it securely under cover.”

“Film is not a medium. Film is an art and a language. Like every work of art, a work of film art is real; it’s an artists material, a subliminal expression. And as for every art form, the type and means of presentation, is one of it’s elements. Just as a theatre production only exists in the moment when it’s performed, a piece of music only when it’s played, a work of film art only wakes when projected on to a screen in a cinema. A strip of film rolled up in a can is sleeping a death-like sleep. Only through the speed and light with which its pictures are thrown onto the screen does it become the reality that is cinema, which lets the audience take part, enthralled in that dream-like life that touches and shocks him, that gets him to feel and think.”

Fred Keleman. The Guardian, 2006. www.guardian.co.uk/film/2006/sep/292

FATE.
The film shows you just do not know what will happen, it is not worth thinking about the sheer amount of happenings in a day. All those little things, decisions you make, coincidence, chance and luck. All go hand in hand to create epic chaos theory, realizing nothing is pre destined. You play the cards you’re dealt or let the gambling chips falling wherever instead because it’s down to pot luck with these smaller details unfolding around you. It is chaos theory you have no control over. HOPE. Watching Krisana (Fallen) made me think of why people need Television, Religion and any other distraction to not let them think about how unhappy they are with themselves or their own situation. Maybe people have issues or are unhappy amongst the uncertainty of life and they turn to these distractions as a crutch to help them through? Possible, but lets not dwell.

RELIGION.
A deflating ending considering the patterns of the film were going. Our protagonist wanders into a church that leads him to the outcome of the film. Jesus leads us to the films end. A weak ending where balance is restored because everything is meant to be, things are pre destined… The ending is an utter cop-out that frustrates and annoys when considering the existential crisis initially posed. Loneliness, guilt wrapped in mystery, sprinkled with bits of humor makes for good watching.

TECHNICAL.
On a artistic level, the black and white cinematography works well with the shoestring budgetary constrains. The long takes and daunting, ambient sounds add to the struggle.

Well worthy of watching, if you are in the mood for a German/ Latvian mystery thriller.

Additional MICHELANGELO ANTONIONI Info:
This film rant lead me to an interesting Italian film Director, responsible for an interesting film called Blow Up, 1966. This film has a similar philosophical style to Krisana. In fact, Krisana doffs its cap to Blow Up.

Michelangelo Antonioni seems just as passionate and strong minded as Keleman. You can see the influence it has had upon him. Here are some more quotes:

“I feel like a father towards my old films. You bring children into the world, then they grow up and go off on their own. From time to time you get together, and it’s always a pleasure to see them again.”

“Actors are like cows. You have to lead them through a fence.”

For more information:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000774/bio

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