A gem of directing, David Lowery's third feature film is a slow, almost silent drama that offers an atypical look at the death and loss of a loved one. A Ghost Story is a singular, unusual work, carried by two actors accustomed to the filmmaker. A work with a strong and fatalistic look, repulsive for some, but which tenderly embraces the theme of absence and sorrow
A refined treatment of absence and death
The room sighed. The room ironically mocked a scene that was too long. But in the end the applause came to conclude this atypical work. David Lowery, writer, director and editor, offers us a very personal and refined point of view on the disappearance of a loved one. The complex daily life of the couple Rooney Mara / Casey Affleck is turned upside down when the latter dies in a car accident. The house then becomes silent and fills with a void where the draped ghost of the man comes to watch, helplessly, his sad companion. In A Ghost Story, no superfluous, no unnecessary dialogue. The length of the shots is in tune with the void left by the death of the character of C. One could compare this approach to Terrence Malick , but here, the contemplative is silent. No voice-over. Only moments of silence, and a wandering soul, invisible to the eyes of humans.
The ghost of Casey Affleck finds himself alone in this house where the couple had recently settled. His simple costume (a long white sheet and two holes in place of eyes) drags around the different rooms or appears in close-up on the screen. A continuous and silent presence that makes him touching by his powerlessness to manifest himself physically. The actor may be silent for the majority of the film, but his omnipresence on screen gives him a strong dramatic dimension. We see him wandering in very different settings during the film. He finds himself alone among the living and becomes a spectator of misfortune.
A symbolically beautiful staging
Deliberately filmed in 4/3 (1.33), the main purpose of the staging is to evoke the imprisonment of Casey Affleck. We alternate "the frame within the frame" and the large expanses of landscape where the draped form wanders tirelessly. The shots are deliberately too long and silent as if to emphasize the time that freezes. We will praise the scene of the cake carried by a fair and talented Rooney Mara, who did not find thanks to a part of the room. In this film, things are shown. David Lowery prefers image to speech and Andrew Droz Palermo's camera navigates admirably and subtly in the emptiness of the house.
We do not limit ourselves exclusively to interior decorations. The ghost will be forced to "discover" the world, dragging his long sheet through urban and rural landscapes. Although his presence is invisible to the world around him, his aura is strong. The frames are placed to the millimeter and no camera movement is left to chance.
The infinite loop of death
David Lowery makes a pessimistic assumption that grants the dead a fatal eternity. Several ghosts are prisoners of their situation. Deliverance is difficult to attain. Despite their inability to speak, some communication is still possible. The house is haunted, but the treatment is different from horror movies. The various inhabitants of the house come into contact with C. in spite of themselves. The director offers a pessimistic approach to life and daily actions that will be (or not) retained by future generations. The scene of the evening with its multiple guests is the typical and cold example. The lyrical flights are almost mystical and religious. The script is beautifully crafted. Quite unbalanced in the treatment of the places, the spectator will not be confused. Everything makes sense in A Ghost Story and you have to let yourself be carried away and lulled by this inner quest to the character of Casey Affleck. Deliverance will come with time and persistence.
A Ghost Story is a small UFO in the visually rich cinema of our time. From a widespread idea (a sheet and two holes), David Lowery takes us into a story about the absence and emptiness that can leave the death of a loved one. A contemplative film with a marked aesthetic.
Trailer of A Ghost Story :
