Nick Bentgen
United States | 2013 | 105 min
Language : English
Subtitle : French
In a remote corner of Michigan, in the northeastern United States, work is hard to find. The men cling to their passion for racing snowmobiles or cars; the women are housewives, supermarket employees or bodybuilders. "We decided to craft an observational film that tracks the intertwining lives of these three families – no interviews, no explanations, just the drama of life unfolding in the present tense. They allowed us to create an emotional film that immerses the viewer in the changing lives of working-class Americans" (Nick Bentgen). In this impressionist portrait, magnified by its photography, the camera lingers on faces and bodies, as if on the parts of a whole: a province removed from the world, a hostile countryside that stretches forever. The chiseled and elliptic montage cuts, alternates and enlarges; and the dialogues, caught in snippets, are indicative above all. A powerful and musical construction, like the movements of a symphony, following the cycle of the seasons, responds to this fragmentary art. An intimate fresco with epic qualities.
Alessia Bottani
