Written and directed by Mary Jimenez and Bénédicte Liénard, in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, SAOR, a young androgynous Indian, carries a coffin. He is taking Valentina, his lover, back to her native village to bury her. When Valentina left this village years ago, before becoming a transgender singer in a faraway city, people here knew her as Pol. Valentina’s past and death remain an enigma. Yet bit by bit, through his encounters with the people of the village, Saor begins to perceive what connected them to Pol. Saor begins to understand that, like all homosexuals persecuted by Shining Path terrorists, Pol lived in terror.
It’s an interesting, unusual and very intimate choice to explore such a story using non-actors and people personally connected to the subject. In that sense it creates a pained serenity to the tone which follows Fugue throughout. The way that it moves is almost dreamlike as if it’s wandering on a slightly different plain than reality, to blend past and present and get the bigger picture. There’s a genuine grace to it, it’s composed and presents itself in a slightly poetic manner, which is well paired with a lot of its natural landscapes, to add depth.
However, that tone can be overly consistent, hindering the film from exploring the larger and louder emotions at work with Fugue. Particularly when it comes to the highly justified outrage at the horrific actions taken against the LGBTQ community. So, while there is definite value to be found in its elegant presence, you can’t help but wish for a bigger rawness, to match the awful nature of their experiences. Although in the sense of doing justice to who was clearly an influential member of the community, it certainly achieves that.
There’s then the question of whether it’s a story that might have been better served in a straightforward documentary, to allow for more flexibility and variety. It’s undoubtedly admirable and creative to explore this story in a more poetic manner but it can make it difficult to get into the flow of things. It can hold you at arm’s length in its slow, gradual movement, rather than handing you the details and background, so that viewers can truly appreciate the gravity, as well as the heart, of this story.
Fugue searches for reflection through a thick fog of pain and death. The direction is incredibly thoughtful and graceful, with some strong cinematography work. The story is absolutely one that should be told but whether these choices served it as strongly as it had the potential for is arguable. The way that it moves keeps it within one note, rather than exploring the anger and outrage that go along with this tale of prejudice and persecution. There’s a lot of interesting and brave choices, to serve the heart and soul of its subjects, but it feels like this story had further to go and needed a bigger, louder voice to really do it justice.
FilmCarnage.com 