Alice On & Off: Female trauma through the female lens
The winner of the FIPRESCI award at Transilvania International Film Festival was the documentary Alice On & Off by Isabela von Tent. The film, competing against 11 other Romanian entries in the competition, is von Tent’s directorial debut. The director has previously assisted others, for example, Romanian director Radu Judes Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Babardeala cu bucluc sau porno balamuc, 2021).
Alice On & Off revolves around 16 year-old Alice who becomes pregnant from an artist named Dorian who is 35 years her senior. Together with their son Aristo, they try to form a somewhat unconventional family until they reach the point of no return. Alice leaves the house and after that, she is only temporarily there for Aristo as a parent, mirroring her own relationship to her mother who left her as a child, to start a new family.
Alice On & Off was filmed over the course of ten years. It’s rare to see a project that has been able to develop over such a long time. It’s clear that time has given the film depth when it comes to the portrayal of the characters, as well as the changes in their relationships and thoughts about the course of their own lives. As the film progresses, we see Alice maturing into a woman and hear her reflecting on her own past and her role as a mother. In this way the overall theme of social heritage, where neglect and psychological trauma is inherited from one generation to another, becomes more and more obvious. Because the film unfolds over a 10 year period, we as an audience also get challenged in our perceptions and understanding of the people we meet.
For instance, at the beginning of the film it’s easy to dismiss the much older Dorian simply as a man who has taken advantage of the vulnerable Alice, impregnating her at age fifteen, but as the film progresses, his portrait becomes more complex. Even though he is still the adult responsible for the situation, Alice’s presence in the life of their son is, as the film’s title suggests, so “on and off” that Dorian becomes the only stable person in Aristo’s life. At the same time, being much older, his health is deteriorating. Suddenly the question of who is going to take care of Arturo in the future arises. As all children in dysfunctional families, Aristo is trying his best to cope with his reality and develops his own strategies for handling the situation. In one scene, we see him trying to concentrate on a drawing while his parents are quarreling loudly in the background. Although heartbreaking, the film is not without hope. Arturo is the light of the story and even though we follow all the characters’ ups and downs over a 10 year period, he is a constant reminder for both his parents and the audience that there has to be a way forward.
Other themes in the film are slightly less developed. Alice is for instance an aspiring artist who, regardless of her well-being, always finds release through painting. In the film she states how important that is to her. Unfortunately, we see little of her painting or hear her talk about the motives she chooses, or her source of inspiration. This becomes somewhat of a contrast to how much her source of income—posing for men over webcam—is portrayed. We also learn that she is away from her son for four years but don’t get to know where she is (although the images look like they were filmed in Sweden), nor what she does while being away. Other than these few objections, Isabela von Tent has managed to handle the film’s dark theme in a respectful and deeply moving way infusing the audience with empathy for all the characters without shying away from the harsh reality. At the same time, von Tent remains consistent and true in her choice to not present easy solutions nor create a happy ending for an extremely difficult and complex situation.
Wanda Glasbergen
Edited by Savina Petkova
© FIPRESCI 2024