Dialogue
A rhythmically captivating exploration of love and loss at the fin-de-siècle. An amorous relationship between two women abruptly cut short. Dissolving under the impact of the loss of her soul mate, the surviving lover is drawn into the depths of mid-winter forests, into spheres of the subconscious, initiated by unknown forces. There is no return. The stream-of-consciousness narration, a collage of poetic fragments, features words by 16th century lesbian poet Katherine Philips, 19th century fin de siècle poets Renée Vivien and Algernon Charles Swinburne whose agnostic, visionary poetry lend the film a hypnotic quality.
Short Story
This fairy-tale-like drama, based on a 1904 short story by American poet and feminist author Renée Vivien, tells two opposing versions of the same narrative: one told verbally by Pierre Lenoir, a male narrator at a Victorian dinner party; the other told visually through the behavior of an unnamed woman who meets him on a fantasy cargo boat. The intercutting of the two stories creates a tension between the different world views of the woman and the man.
