Crushed – Films – Visions du Réel

Camille Vigny
Belgium | 2024 | 12 min
World premiere
Language : French
Subtitle : English

Using a powerful visual metaphor and from a first-person perspective, Camille Vigny tells the story of the domestic violence she suffered when she was 18. The devastating impact of this abusive relationship is conveyed with remarkable precision in the interaction between the images and text. A highly courageous political statement, this film is a bloodcurdling cry from the dark.

Stock car racing is a violent spectacle of rollovers and pile-ups. Over these images of clashing sheet metal and boneless carcasses, Camille Vigny articulates her story. In an autobiographical text, she lucidly retraces and analyses the genesis of a love affair that turned into a nightmare, punctuated by the regular beatings inflicted on her by her partner. A certain kind of romantic imagination proved itself to be toxic. She is the car, the battered metal body is her own. With its powerful process of embodiment, her directing style thrusts us straight into her flesh. The directness of the metaphor is bolstered by a delicate balance between testimony, visual and sound work, a therapeutic gesture which nevertheless creates an exquisitely cadenced film. Whether static or onboard, the camera reveals the garish, primary colours of the racing cars; the engines roar. The editing makes room for moments of respite, catching a few faces among the show's audience on the fly - reminding us of our role as spectators, and questioning our possible blind spots.
Cloé Tralci

Crushed, 2024
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