One
of 11 first feature films in the Directors Fortnight competing
for Caméra D'Or honors, four of them French productions
or co-productions, Faites Comme Si Je N'etais Pas Là
(Pretend Like I Wasn't There) is directed by a filmmaker
whose short films have been invited to participate at all
the key French festivals, including Cannes, Grenoble, Pantin
and Clermont-Ferrand.
He is particularly well known at Clermont-Ferrand, one of
the best short film festivals on the calendar, where many
French and European directors first won critical recognition.
He has also collaborated as programme co-ordinator for several
international festivals.
Jahan moved up from assistant director to making his own short
films in the mid-1990s: Parlez Après Le Signal
Sonone (Speak After You Hear The Tone, 1994), Comme
Un Dimanche (Like A Sunday) (1995), Au Bord
De L'Autoroute (Along The Highway, 1996), and Beaucoup
Trop Loin (Very Far Away, 1998). For the most part, they are
original, personal, inquisitive works by a writer-director
interested in the everyday and the affairs of young people.
As the title hints, Pretend Like I Wasn't There
is about a loner, a secretive, enigmatic teenager who spends
much of his time buried inside himself and spying on his neighbours
through his bedroom window. If that sounds familiar, then
at least one frame of cinematic
reference
is Krzysztof Kieslowski's A Short Film About Love,
the film about a voyeur in his Decalogue cycle in which the
10 commandments were given a modern interpretation.
As Eric (Jérémie Rénier) retreats further
into himself and his world of illusions, he becomes involved
in a couple shady deals on the side. Then things take a dramatic
turn when a mysterious couple, Fabienne (Alexia Stesi) and
Tom (Sami Bouajila), move into the building next door. For
a thrill-seeking voyeur it couldn't be more opportune, enticing,
seductive, satisfying to the libido, and in the long run psychologically
disturbing.
Eric's voyeuristic fantasies are now pushed to the limits,
and he has to decide whether or not he really wants to return
to the real world.
Ron
Holloway
