Greek director Jacqueline Lentzou’s elliptical tale of an estranged father and daughter is a supremely confident debut There’s something dispiriting about the kind of hand-holding film-making that doesn’t trust the audience to follow a story – it suggests a fundamental lack of faith in the language of cinema. Which is why, perhaps, the teasingly elliptical, oblique storytelling of Greek writer/director Jacqueline Lentzou is such a pleasure. Her feature debut, _Moon, 66 Questions_, is the work of a film-maker who is already supremely confident in her craft. Showing the reunion between a young woman, Artemis (a fascinating and mercurial Sofia Kokkali), and her long-estranged father Paris (Lazaros Georgakopoulos), the picture’s impulsive, unfettered approach mirrors Artemis’s erratic nature. Her age is not specified but, returning after a long absence to Athens because of a sudden deterioration in her father’s health, Artemis seems to regress to the teenager whose relationship with him was characterised by distance and a sullen restraint on both sides. There is a space between them even now. “Does it hurt,” asks Artemis, reaching towards her father’s hand. But she doesn’t quite touch him, her fingers hover just above his. There’s a sense of remove in the way the camera is used – a whole scene is shot through the distorting lens of a magnifying glass. Later, when a physiotherapist shows Artemis how to support her father, their bodies, forced into physical contact, are rigid with discomfort. Continue reading...
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