Boléro

Fran is in his hometown to rest and visit his mother. Following the jerky rhythm of Bolero, this journey along the paths of memory and desire will lead him and the whole village to a joyfully chaotic climax.

I’ve always thought Ravel’s Bolero one of the most constraining of pieces of music so it’s really quite liberating for the music as well as the dance to see this short feature follow the visit of the young “Fran” (Francois Chaignaud) to his mother and sister in their sleepy village. Let’s just say the place is unused to the dynamism of this young man whose artistic flair and sexually-charged movement starts off gently but builds to something that really rocks the boat - and largely within the confines of a cubicle in a public toilet that doubles up as a cottage from time to time too. As the music reaches it’s crescendo the crowds pack into this rapidly TARDIS-esque space and the effects of his performance become contagious as those previously content to view begin to take part - and a rather creatively filmed sort of orgy takes over the town with three guys having sex between the tins of corned beef in the supermarket. It’s a film about empowerment and freedom and it has a certain breeziness to the conclusion that works quite well, too. The production work is all a bit bare-bones, though, and the camera work is nothing much to write home about either - it doesn’t really deliver much in the way of intimacy or intensity, but it’s still an interesting twenty minutes to watch.