DISTORTION - REVIEW
DISTORTION
Director : Jevgenij Paniutin
Starring : Enrika Tamulyte, Raimondas Raginskas, Justinas Daugela, Sergej Severjanov, Vitalijus Rymovas, Konstantin Sholomko
Runtime : 19 minutes
Genre : Short, Horror
Digital - Color
Language : Lithuanian
Country : Lithuania
2024
Storyline
A car stranded in the fields. A young couple. A sinister figure emerging far away.
© Jevgenij Paniutin
Distortion directed by Jevgenij Paniutin, is a short Lithuanian film that is built above all on tension and suspense by minimizing the choice of settings and artificial stylistic effects. Indeed, the brief plot intrigue leaves us thinking and questioning on the future course of this story. The designation of an outdoor and natural closed space to stage the characters reinforces this idea of fear that takes shape little by little in the viewer and also in the two main protagonists (Enrika Tamulyte, Raimondas Raginskas), whose car has broken down under a blazing sun, lost in the middle of a wheat field. There is a real opposition here with the environment that could rather suggest a beautiful day conducive to relaxation.
© Jevgenij Paniutin
We will then notice that the film is divided into 3 acts. The first is built on these two characters who have broken down, desperately looking for a solution to get going again. At the same time, the second act is announced by jolts and flashes from a subjective point of view revealing the potential escape of a strange person towards the car. Then, the direct confrontation between this character wounded and exhausted from his race, with the guy and the girl allows us to enter the second act in a concrete way. Finally, the third act shows the arrival of three armed men, looking for the wounded man. Thus, each act includes new characters who are connected to each other and lead to an increasingly intense unease.
© Jevgenij Paniutin
The script is well-crafted. The acting is convincing. Not all the dialogues are necessary but invite the viewer to try to better understand the characters through their expressions and reactions. We will also mention the work on the editing and sometimes some false continuities recalling a certain minimalism of the French new wave, in particular a defragmented construction of the shooting scene, thus playing on the notion of time which suddenly takes a turn beyond reality.
© Jevgenij Paniutin
To conclude, Distortion is an admirable independent short film with a real desire to make cinema without resorting to modern stratagems of bad taste, thus developing in a concrete way on the scenario and the protagonists.
By Hallucinea Film Festival
