She Unfolds by Day

(USA, 2008, 71 mins)

HDCam

International Premiere

Selected Filmography:  

PROD/SCR/CAM/ED: Rolf Belgum
Cast: Merrilyn Belgum, Christopher Wells, Jacques the fox terrier

Where does art end and nature begin? The question is a moot point in Rolf Belgum's startling piece of visual poetry. There are no clear definitions available, or needed, here. One thing slides seamlessly into the next, even time itself folds in, like a perpetual motion machine. Which is actually not a bad description of the film's central character, one Merrilyn Belgum, the director's 80-year-old mother, who pretty much plays herself. After running away from her last care home 12 times, Merrilyn's beleaguered son Chris (played by actor Chris Wells), who is suffering from cystic fibrosis, is forced to hire a nurse to provide homecare. But still, Merrilyn sets forth in her colourful slippers, entering another world, populated by fat bumblebees, spiders, butterflies and caterpillars, each preoccupied with some small secret business. Meanwhile, Chris drives the streets, searching for his missing mother, with only his fox terrier Jacques for company. But Jacques too, has dreams of escape. (Jacques, also ostensibly playing himself, steals every scene he's in, whether he's romping backlit against the snow, or sharing a cup of water with Merrilyn.)

She Unfolds By Day is a self-possessed and artful piece of work. It is also very funny. As fragments of conversation between Chris, his mother and her nurse loop back, a form of life in the eternal present becomes apparent. The juxtaposition of different elements (everything from Luis Buñuel to National Geographic) creates a curious frisson; put side by side they create a third space, infinitely mysterious, unfathomably lovely.

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