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Rolf de Heer's unique film features an unusual narrative technique. The
story is revealed through the interior voice of an unnamed 7-year-old girl
who is watching the breakdown of her parents' marriage. Her voice is both
that of a child - curious, frustrated, determined - and that of an
observant, older soul.
This interior voice is all we will hear from the little girl; she has stopped talking, refusing to engage with her parents until they sort their problems out and acknowledge their responsibility for her muteness. Our narrator is fascinatingly and resolutely silent, striving to influence her parents without uttering a word. In a blue-walled bedroom, the little girl feeds her fish, plays with her toys, draws pictures, and interacts with and observes her discontented parents. Simple actions. But writer/director de Heer's film takes this simplicity and twists it. The Quiet Room compels viewers to remember the pleasures and fears of childhood, and causes us to question whether those pleasures and fears ever change. 1996, 35mm, Color, 91 minutes
Producers: Domenico Procacci, Rolf de Heer |
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