Words, Moments, and Facing Catastrophe

A review of the short film Under The Same Sky, directed by Fern Jean-Joseph

When we speak of poetic cinema, contrary to what an audience unfamiliar with the term might imagine, we do not necessarily mean a film in which poetry is recited. Although many poetic films do contain scenes of poetry reading, what is meant by “poetic cinema” is the use of the language and logic of poetry in place of the conventional logic of cinema. What does this mean? It means that while conventional cinema presents us with a work that takes a realist view of time, in which spatial jumps do not occur without introduction or explanation, the form of narration does not continually shift, and characters are developed according to dramatic principles, we must bear in mind that in poetic cinema all these unwritten rules are altered. A poetic film is one that employs the language of cinema in a manner close to poetry: not for linear narration and the explanatory telling of a story, but for the evocation of feeling, atmosphere, and layers of meaning.

The short film Under The Same Sky, directed by Fern Jean-Joseph, is an outstanding example of a poetic work in which many of the essential characteristics of a poetic film can be examined. In this film, the image functions precisely as words do, and each frame is in fact a piece of a larger puzzle that gradually completes a whole. Every image carries expression, and instead of an actor or words inscribed on a page, the images convey the concepts the filmmaker intends. Meanings and ideas are constructed through metaphor, symbol, rhythm, and the ambiguity present in the subject, inviting the viewer not to consume a narrative but to engage in a contemplative and interpretive experience. In effect, Fern Jean-Joseph asks us to participate in discovering and understanding the meaning of the work, rather than simply remaining ready for a transfer of meaning from maker to audience. This engagement of the viewer begins with the very first image of the film: a slow-motion shot of birds in flight across the sky, accompanied by an immersive and voluminous score. When we speak of the poetic function of the film’s elements, we mean precisely this use of sound, framing, the rhythm of the image, and ultimately the effect such a combination produces on the spectator.

In this film, sensation and atmosphere take priority over plot. This is the contract Fern Jean-Joseph establishes with us from the outset, making clear that the film will not resort to visual clichés; on the contrary, it will, through every carefully crafted shot, arrive at a specific mood. A mood that holds far greater importance than any linear definition of the film. This movement toward semantic ambiguities and the deliberate distancing from narrative clichés is one of the most important features of poetic works. Each shot in Under The Same Sky maintains a thematic function in relation to the shots that precede and follow it; the texture of the film is therefore entirely coherent. Yet this thematic connection has not constrained the director’s ability to shape the independent meanings of each individual shot. As a result, these shots are not only connected to one another but also possess their own distinct identity. For example, the camera’s movement through a lush, flower-filled meadow is, on its own, a metaphorical image of a pre-war state of being; at the same time, in relation to the shot of the birds in flight and the shot of tanks entering the city, it constructs a narrative path. It should be noted that building a narrative trajectory from abstract images is an extremely difficult task, achievable only through considerable time and effort.

In Under The Same Sky, framing, camera movement, and montage acquire metaphorical and symbolic functions. The images both “show” and “conceal.” They show us the bird, the meadow, and the tank, yet they leave aside what lies between these three shots so that it may take shape in the viewer’s mind. Thus, in the screenplay, in the cinematography, and in the nature of the film’s montage, a significant role has been assigned to the spectator. The filmmaker knew in advance that the intention was not to present a complete picture of the subject, but rather, by selecting moments from a long and detailed conflict, to compel the viewer to reflect upon it. This is the fundamental difference between a poetic film and a commercial one: in a poetic film the director generally does not attempt to answer a question or offer the audience a solution; on the contrary, the audience is invited to think about the subject once more and, in that reconsideration, to take newly observed aspects into account as well.

The poetic quality must be woven into the very fabric of a work, not imposed upon it. In Under The Same Sky, not only are the framing and the shots arranged in a carefully considered sequence, but the rhythm of these shots functions in a manner analogous to the words of a poem. In this film the director has set aside spoken language in order to invite us, through image and sound, into a semantic openness. An openness that allows us, free from the certainty of dialogue and performance, to look freely at the subject of war—a gaze that holds nature and the human being behind it and is, in truth, contemplating both. The images that construct the film’s semantic path, including realistic moments of nature as well as abstract images (such as the shot in which blood seeps into a texture), maintain an acceptable connection with one another, ensuring that the diversity of their nature does not eject the viewer from the world of the work.

Fern Jean-Joseph’s approach to the story is a vertical one. That is to say, rather than choosing the linear and horizontal progression of a narrative, the preference has been to select a few moments and to descend vertically into them, exploring their depths. This vertical approach means that every image we see guides us toward one of the conceptual dimensions of the work. The shot of blood penetrating a surface, for instance, accompanied by a short text (or one might say a haiku), by itself expresses one dimension of this war: the philosophical dimension of a historical perspective on violence. Through the creation of a complex arrangement of images and phrases, the filmmaker has arrived at a result that can be considered remarkable. The director transforms the film into an opportunity for the direct experience of sensation and perception. The viewer is not merely a follower of a story but a participant in a poetic experience in which every image, every light, and every movement forms and advances part of a larger meaning. Despite its running time of five minutes and thirty seconds, Under The Same Sky succeeds in sharing its world with us, inviting us to watch, and remaining within the viewer long after the screening has ended. This experimental film can be watched repeatedly, and each time one of the aspects it proposes can be taken up as a subject for reflection.