Mirrors 2021

The Scenic Route

Mark Rappaport I 1978 I 76'

SYNOPSIS

It tells the story of newly divorced Estelle (Randy Danson) and her unstable sister Lena (Marilyn Jones), who are in love with the same man, Paul (Kevin Wade).

BIOGRAPHY

Mark Rappaport

MARK RAPPAPORT (NY, 1942) is well known for being one of the historic forerunners of the video essay with found footage titles such as Rock Hudson's Home Movies (1992) or From the Journals of Jean Seberg (1995), as well as pieces such as I, Dalio (2015) or Anna/Nana/Nana/Anna (2019). However, between the sixties and eighties he cultivated an important facet in independent and underground cinema, releasing fiction films such as Casual Relations (1974) and The Scenic Route (1978).

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Critical text

Estelle has left an aggressive husband and met Paul, although their relationship does not work out either and results in a break up. One day her sister Lena turns up and moves into her house. Lena collects lovers, but one day she meets Paul and falls in love with him. Based on this premise, The Scenic Route is, however, much more than a film about a love triangule. It is a mysterious film, built on layers of images that are sometimes in the same dimension as the characters and other times seem to refer to mental places or hidden emotions. Where is the desire? Who is looking at whom? Mark Rappaport, also known for his video essays, constructs, in this fictional film, a game of mirrors in which the characters are bodies that look at each other. NURIA CUBAS

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