Staring on a close up of Sara, the film
delivers a jaw dropping 8 minute, unbroken
take, as cinematographer Agnes Pakozdi's
camera slowly glides around every member
of the camp's makeshift jury, as they
discuss whats to be done.
Is Patrick really a rapist, or a victim himself?
Is Sara innocent or complicit? And beyond
their incident, there is the bigger picture of
the camp itself, which is on the verge of
closure, a verge it will no doubt plummet
from if this story gets out to the press.
Technically, this sequence is a marvel, the
shifts in focus from one face to the next,
while maintaining an almost dream-like glide
in one very large circle, are exemplary, as are
the performances from the entire cast.
There is a quasi-documentary style to the
picture, similar to KenLoach, a film maker
also adept at finding stories with deep,
political ties that expose a human story
underneath, and this is matched by a cast of
unknowns, many of whom feel like the real
deal.
So often with films such as these, there is a
tendency to be didactic at the expense of
the drama, giving the audience the
impression that they are attending a lecture,
rather than watching a film. In Rux's hands,
however, we have a story that considers the
human costs over the politics, but never
loses focus on the bigger questions at play.
And boldly, the film also doesn't feel the
need to answer any of them.
SAFE SPACE is a bold, important drama in
which context is merely set-up to an
emotional story of cultural differences,
unpopular opinion and the true cost of living
life on a knife's edge.
Written by Chris Watt