Tribeca Review: GREY MATTER - Puzzling, Protracted & Tedious
rating: 2.5
Claimed to be Rwandas first feature narrative film, the work of director Kivu Ruhorahoza is by turns puzzling, inscrutable, protracted and tedious. It is easy to pan the film as a work so intensely mired in the desire to communicate metaphors and images personal (and perhaps understandable) only to Mr. Ruhorahoza. Yet I cant dismiss Grey Matter completely it is an ambitious film, if only for the breadth of ideas that I was able to puzzle out and a beautifully shot and acted one. For the life of me though, I couldnt tell you precisely what its about, beyond the already murky surface plotting. We open with Balthazar (Hervé Kimenyi), a young black Rwandan filmmaker and habitual smoker, recounting the troubles of his production in front of a camera. It seems that his film, The Cycle of the Cockroach, is unable to secure funding and he meets with a representative who spoon-feeds Balthazar some tripe about making a more conventional one addressing social problems. The director will do no such thing and we watch him go about the rest of his day in drawn out stretches, pondering how hell make his vision come to life. He meets with a woman, discusses a controversial rape scene and at the end of the day, falls asleep while rehearsing a scene to himself. There are certain details worth paying attention to, such as the fact that Balthazar is the adopted son of an apparently well off white family. My issue is Grey Matter is simple the film makes no effort to provide a roadmap for those of us unfamiliar with Rwandas history outside of the basic outlines of the tragic 1994 genocide. It presents a society in flux and perhaps critiques it, but I was lost all throughout. Still, the parts with Balthazar were interesting to watch, even if occasionally dull. Once we are suddenly transported into The Cycle of the Cockroach, seemingly the film he wants to make, then the real endurance test begins. The Cycle of the Cockroach opens with a man in a prison cell his faction has been waging war against the cockroach menace and he has been trained to systematically violate and eliminate the insect problem. Yes, I understand that this may well be a metaphor; its certainly shot as an allegory, with a disembodied set of hands alternately handing food or a machete to the prisoner. We next move to a household inhabited by siblings Yvan (Ramadhan Bizimana) and Justine (Ruth Nirere). Yvan suffers from hallucinations of the genocide and hides out at home, wearing a motorcycle helmet and doing odd things like pouring water on the television. Justine tries to help her brother by providing medicine, but funds are tight and she must sell herself for the sake of her brothers mental well-being. Pacing is a major problem for Grey Matter, and despite proficient cinematography by Ari Wegner and the performances of Bizimana and Nirere as the orphaned siblings, the structure of the film makes it a trek. I often shifted in my seat and craned my head upwards, not in a show of discomfort at the images (although there are a number of effective scenes that do genuinely move you), but because the film wasnt content to show an event once but needed to have it pounded into your head through repetition. Its thorny critiquing a film that tackles rarely-discussed subject matter but Grey Matter seems to have no real concern in orienting its viewers as to what exactly it wants to say. Its a hazy debut for director Ruhorahoza and not entirely an assured one. Grey Matter screened at the Tribeca Film Festival this week. P.S. Here is an excellent interview with the director that should clue you into the film considerably. I read this after seeing the film and my argument stands: a good film should not need such a thorough breakdown to be effective.