Offscreen

Offscreen is essentially a love story that goes downhill very fast. A husband takes up a video camera and begins to record his marriage life, at about the same time his wife starts to get fed up with him and his camera and leaves him. The entire movie from start to finish is recorded handheld because it's told in the first-person view of the husband. We view intimate moments with him alone with the camera or stalking his now separated wife. It's a very brutally honest look at the failure of a relationship that somehow just works really well. I was actively enjoying this movie and while the handheld camera was a little nauseating, it added a personal dimension that seemed very necessary to convey the heartbreak felt by the husband. This concept of someone videotaping their own life and relationship isn't entirely new and original, but here in Offscreen it is executed well enough to stand on its own as an original piece of work.

Then however, the movie takes a very, very wrong turn. I will refrain from mentioning any spoilers, but this turn ended up lowering what could have been a great movie down to almost poor level. It was completely unnecessary in my opinion and almost seemed like an easy way out of the story, in addition to taking the cinematic form to new lows of perversion.

Audience Watch: There were about 7 people in attendance for this screening at Lincoln Square at about 4pm, all besides 2 of whom were SIFF members.