38 témoins (Belvaux, 2012) - #IFFR #Rotterdam

A young woman has been killed in the close vicinity of 38 witnesses who didn't hear a thing - except one man.

The film left me thinking for a while after watching. Other critics have described it as too moralistic, but I didn't think it was. I somehow felt that the characters were actually much too occupied with pondering their moral choice - which somehow took quite a lot from the otherwise realistic tone of the movie. Maybe I would have put an upcoming marriage between the two leads or a planned pregnancy as a sort of external motivation to get life in order - in the current situation they were floating in an endless ocean of indecision without the hope of ever reaching a port, regardless of their actions and decisions.

I really loved the opening scenes and the last part - they were strong and told their story without any need for lots of dialogue. There is great camerawork and the many ships in their majestic, slow movement toward the harbor also settled in beautifully with the rhythm of the movie, but I didn't spend too much time thinking about possible symbolic connection between the boats and what happens in the house.

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