The Ontology of the Photographic Image

The cinema is objectivity in time. The film is no longer content to preserve the object, enshrouded as it were in an instant, as the bodies of insects are preserved intact, out of the distant past, in amber. The film delivers baroque art from its convulsive catalepsy. Now, for the first time, the image of things is likewise the image of their duration, change mummified as it were. Those categories of resemblance which determine the species photographic image likewise, then, determine the character of its aesthetic as distinct from that of painting.

from What is Cinema by Andre Bazin

All Over Me (Sichel)

All Over Me was screened at the ICA this month as the final film in the inaugural Pout Film Festival, timed to coincide with Pride London and aspiring to showcase the best of queer cinema. Originally released back in 1997, it’s the first and (as far as I can tell) only film directed by Alex Sichel, which seems a real shame considering this coming of age tale possesses an earnestness and intelligence that’s sorely lacking in a lot of recent American Indie filmmaking. Portrayals of sexually confused adolescents are highly prone to verge on the side of caricature and cliché, so it's refreshing to witness such assured characterisation, mainly thanks to a witty, sensitive script and a superb central performance from Alison Rolland. Rolland acts out scenes with a wonderful complexity that nails the swelling of emotion teenagers feel as they explore their sexual feelings.

Rolland plays Claude, a teenager living in New York who divides her time between working in the local pizza shop and hanging out with her best friend Ellen. They spend their evenings listening to the riot grrrl records that soundtrack Claude’s life as she tries to get together a group of her own. The arrival of two men send the friends down different paths. Ellen becomes involved with a cruel, possessive boyfriend while Claude's new next door neighbour is a gay guy who sparks an assertion of her queer identity. Ellen’s life falls apart as she takes ever increasing amounts of drugs and becomes witness to a too-predictable crime that occurs after the two men meet. Claude wants to save her friend, but is beginning to strike up a relationship of her own.

The film’s low budget works to its advantage for the most part, with a small cast, minimal locations, and basic camerawork ensuring the main focus is on a realistic portrayal of Claude and Ellen’s psychology. Unfortunately it hinders when the film intermittently resembles a half hearted pot-boiler that stretches both narrative credibility and the acting ability of some of the supporting cast.

The most refreshing aspect of All Over Me is that it refuses to allow its characters to be reducible to categories. There are no cool people and no nerds here. The result is that Ellen and Claude are opened out, able to live and breathe as they try to find their way in the world.