By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Sandra Wollner
Starring: Dominik Warta | Ingrid Burkhard | Jana McKinnon | Lena Watson | Simon Hatzl | Susanne Gschwendtner
Country: austria, germany
Year: 2021
Running time: 94
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9220966/reference
Michael says: “**MILD SPOILERS**
“Sandra Wollner’s second feature film as writer and director has stirred up a bit of controversy. It was pulled from the Melbourne Film Festival following criticisms by two psychologists (one who watched the first 20 minutes of the film, and another who didn’t watch it at all) over its implicit depiction of inappropriate actions with a minor. While the film is certainly provocative, and could cause some trigger warning to go off with some viewers, Wollner took great care to protect that lead actor, herself a minor, from anything inappropriate. Set in the future, the film starts with a father and daughter spending a leisurely summer afternoon by the pool. When a shocking event occurs, it is revealed that the daughter is in fact, not human, but an adroit. The two share an easy relationship, that is gradually revealed to be somewhat more than a typical father/daughter relationship. When the girl starts to have disjointed memories of earlier times, it spurs her to leaves her home, and the movie makes a radical shift. She is found on the road by a man driving by, and is brought to a new household to live with an elderly woman. There she is given a new identity to fill a loss the woman suffered decades ago. The adjustment does not go smoothly, and eventually breaks down with devastating results.
“Wollner explores many troubling themes in THE TROUBLE WITH BEING BORN, including grief, gender identity, and taboo relationships, but none more directly as the ethical treatment of artificial intelligences. There is clearly some suggestion that the girl is experiencing what happens to her in a way that is more authentic than what a machine would experience. The film certainly brings up visceral emotions in the viewer, but it’s all handled quite carefully. Lena Watson, a pseudonym for the actress who plays the lead character, is quite amazing in her performance, that is unsettling, and even downright creepy. This is enhanced by a face-blurring prosthetic that provides a waxy, mask-like blankness to Watson’s features (CGI was used for Elli’s nude scenes). Any troubling scenes were handled with a green screen and not with the actress herself involved directly. While not a new theme for literature or film, Wollner does use this set up to explore troubling concepts that are not beyond the realm of possibility, and in some ways are quite likely. The art direction and cinematography are top notch, with two very different settings for the different parts of the film. I did find the transition between storylines to be jarring and confusing; most likely intentionally, but it disrupted my viewing experience enough to keep the film from being perfect. 4 cats”
Screened at the New Directors/New Films at Lincoln Center Virtual Film Festival