Parthenon
2020 · 10m · USA
Directed by Frank Mosley
Genres: drama, experimental
Tones: contemplative, sensual, tender
Two loosely linked scenes about bodies in rooms: a woman and a man tangled up in private, then the same woman modeling for an art class where a glance from a stranger turns into something seismic.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
I came in skeptical of any short that uses 'the body' as a thesis statement. Mosley actually shuts up and lets the looking do the talking, which is rarer than it sounds.
Two wordless scenes about looking and being looked at, anchored by Lily Baldwin and Tallie Medel — Claire-Denis-compressed-to-her-best-scenes is the kind of distilled gesture I crave.
Lily Baldwin's transfixing presence anchoring a wordless two-part study of looking and being looked at — bedroom intimacy into art-class gaze with a stranger. Tallie Medel adds gravity. Mosley knows what he's doing.
Reviews
An exercise in simplicity and non-verbal expression, the film captivates in surprising and mysterious ways.