If anything was going to survive the epidemic currently plaguing the world, it was the art of filmmaking, and slowly but surely, we are seeing the products that attest to that. Italian director Federico Zampaglione’s “Bianca” is one such product.
Shot entirely on an iPad, running for 10 minutes, and starring only the director’s daughter and partner, Bianca is the perfect example of a quarantine film, and as such, is all about style over substance. The story follows Bianca (Linda Zampaglione) and her mother (Giglia Marra), on a night where Bianca is being kept from going to a party on account of being too young. In a testament to how easy tension can be to build the thrills flow from there.
It becomes apparent very early on that someone is in the house who should not be. Becoming aware of this, the mother prepares to call the police but finds the phone to be disconnected. A man then rings the doorbell wearing a surgical mask to cover his face in the peephole, and things being to feel quite sinister. All of this happens at a rapid pace and soon Bianca’s mother is brandishing a knife and fearing the worst for her daughter. The rest you can find out watching yourself, but I can offer my thoughts on how it is all pieced together.
In other circumstances, there is not a lot to note here, but considering this is more of a symbol of art surviving strife than anything else, it is quite brilliant. Yes, there have been better examples of filming on apple products, and there will likely be more inventive quarantine films.
Still, thanks to some striking work with shadows and an excellent, almost comic use of slow-motion violence, this gets a big old tick from me. I was even on edge briefly as the pace makes things challenging to grasp, and the edit convinces you someone is coming.
Making films in times like these is perfect for making art for art’s sake, the need for deeper meaning or technical prowess is not as urgent, just create. For that matter, in normal circumstances, things are the same, YouTube will always have a place for content like this, and it’s as good a place to share as any.
Would this short film get into a film festival, probably not, but it has eyes on it and passed the time when there was far too much time available to pass.
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