Saudade
Written and Directed by Yasmine Ghorayeb
Canada, 2012
It’s been said that the short film is the director’s medium. Free of studio politics and overbearing financiers, the short film allows the auteur to fulfill his or her vision without the constraints of committee. But what happens if one’s ambition exceeds the limits of its storytelling vehicle?
Such is the case in Yasmine Ghorayeb’s Saudade, a 20-minute picture that was shortlisted to be in the Short Film Corner of the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. Although fraught with resolve and narrative possibility, Saudade lacks the space to fully flourish due to the restrictions of its paltry running time.
The story centers on Kamal (Malek Rizkallah) and Hala (Yasmina Hatem). After their initially awkward acquaintance at a cinema, the two strike up a romance. Tested by time and disagreements, their relationship encounters an unmovable obstacle when Kamal discovers he has cancer.
The main downfall of Saudade is the striking lack of investment in its characters. From the moment we are introduced to them to the moment the film ends, we are left with only a vague sense of who they really are, and except for arbitrary namesakes and job titles, the protagonists don’t really have discernable identities to speak of. They have motivations because the script demands it of have them, but because we don’t fully know their personalities, we don’t fully understand or sympathize.
In order to tell the trials and tribulations of a couple rocked by cancer, the film will chronicle the relationship in fast-forward, hoping to give a sense of scope and longevity. We are supposed to see the couple as time-tested and indelible, but because this is done in such a rushed and fleeting manner, the relationship seems inorganic.
Trading character development and investment for more narrative exposition might’ve seemed like a pragmatic decision, but what this does is make the characters feel flat and uninteresting, despite the film’s central story, which is, unfortunately, only a synecdoche of a good idea.
The film’s spotlight on cancer and its insidious effects on others is intriguing but a tad underwhelming. The story, and the images of Hala drowning as a visual metaphor for being deluged with emotional torment, would’ve been for effective if we cared more about the people affected (à la Submarine).
With a larger budget and more conventional 90-minute running time to fully explore its many themes, it’s conceivable that Saudade would’ve made for a fairly decent film.
– Justin Li