SYNOPSIS
A Woman in Transit is Pool¡¯s debut feature. She previously attracted international attention with Strasse Café an experimental, medium-length black-and-white documentary. In this piece, reality and fiction, reason and madness, and the alienation and connectedness of womanhood reflect each other like a mirror in the surrealistic space of the city.
Set in a downtown Montreal hotel, it features three female characters: Estelle, Andrea, and an actress. The actress has the lead role in Andrea¡¯s film. Estelle, who spends her time sitting in the hotel bar doing nothing, or else aimlessly wandering the streets, simply seems distraught. Andrea¡¯s film is about a female singer who is losing her mind. Andrea¡¯s imagination gave birth to the story, but it bears striking similarities to Estelle¡¯s life. The barrier between one¡¯s reality and another¡¯s fiction dissolves as an insecure friendship buds among them.
The main theme of this film is wandering. It can mean the loss of time for one who lives on a schedule. But at the same time it can be a glorious route leading to a new dimension in which one can see differently her own programmed life. Andrea wanders so that she can view the world she belongs in through stranger¡¯s eyes. Estelle does it to empty herself of her life¡¯s memories. Wandering can be a short vacant dream or it can force meaningful choice that will change one¡¯s lifetime direction. A hotel, for a brief stop, is the perfect metaphor for the transitory nature of thoughts. A brilliant meditation about memory, exile to the inner side, and the female world. (Nam In-young)
PROGRAM NOTE
A Woman in Transit is Pool¡¯s debut feature. She previously attracted international attention with Strasse Café an experimental, medium-length black-and-white documentary. In this piece, reality and fiction, reason and madness, and the alienation and connectedness of womanhood reflect each other like a mirror in the surrealistic space of the city.
Set in a downtown Montreal hotel, it features three female characters: Estelle, Andrea, and an actress. The actress has the lead role in Andrea¡¯s film. Estelle, who spends her time sitting in the hotel bar doing nothing, or else aimlessly wandering the streets, simply seems distraught. Andrea¡¯s film is about a female singer who is losing her mind. Andrea¡¯s imagination gave birth to the story, but it bears striking similarities to Estelle¡¯s life. The barrier between one¡¯s reality and another¡¯s fiction dissolves as an insecure friendship buds among them.
The main theme of this film is wandering. It can mean the loss of time for one who lives on a schedule. But at the same time it can be a glorious route leading to a new dimension in which one can see differently her own programmed life. Andrea wanders so that she can view the world she belongs in through stranger¡¯s eyes. Estelle does it to empty herself of her life¡¯s memories. Wandering can be a short vacant dream or it can force meaningful choice that will change one¡¯s lifetime direction. A hotel, for a brief stop, is the perfect metaphor for the transitory nature of thoughts. A brilliant meditation about memory, exile to the inner side, and the female world. (Nam In-young)