Mirror Mechanics
The film as a mirror and, as a
further consequence, the phenomenon
of identification primarily
inherent in feature films, condense
to a type of essence of film’s
potential. This film reports on
cinema and the processes within
it. In doing so, it doesn’t reveal any
secrets, but instead, attempts to
transfer – in the sense of seeing
what we see – what we do in the
cinema and what also can be relevant
outside of film into a visually
stimulating and captivating event.
(Siegfried A. Fruhauf)
The mirror is an instrument of
deception. It can never correspond
with the images presented to it,
although it can reverse them, twist
them into their antitheses: into
counter images. It is no wonder
that right from the start, the mirror
has been one of the favorite accessories
of melodramatic and avantgarde
cinema. The mirror image’s
imaginary lack of physical body
sums up the idea of the cinematic:
illusion, shadow, projection.
In Mirror Mechanics, a young
woman with wet hair glances in a
bathroom mirror. She wipes across
the surface with a brush of the
hand: the picture that shows this
scene is mirrored along the center
axis, alienated in a type of double
projection. That is the starting
point: Siegfried A. FRUHAUF subjects
his material to a series of
complex transformations, overlapping
and intertwining variously
processed image layers, double reflections,
and multiple exposures.
Jürgen Gruber’s subtle soundtrack
composed from intimated guitar
feedback and electronic sound
details gives the film an aura of
smoldering aggression: the foundations
of a thriller. (…)
The final and most decisive reflection
in Mirror Mechanics finally
leads from the inside to the outside:
toward gently rippling surfaces
of water and a return to
perfect symmetry, to a scene at the
beach, in the scratched film
reflection, an anonymous young
woman with wet hair.
(Stefan Grissemann)
Translation: Lisa Rosenblatt
Mirror Mechanics
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