Un Jour

     If I remember correctly, we watched a film called Un Jour by Marie Paccou in class one day. It was the one with the woman who suddenly woke up one day with a man in her belly. We followed this woman throughout her day and watched as she learned to accommodate the man, and we also saw that in addition to her taking care of him, he cared for her. Later in the film we learn that this oddity is normal in the world of that film, as we see that the woman next door has a man too, except this one is less than caring. At the end, the music in the film goes quiet, and the only thing we hear is the woman describing about how it was a shock when she woke up one morning to find him gone. The film continues on as the credits roll, and though more men came and went, none fit quite as right as the first. 
     I really enjoyed watching Un Jour because of how purely psychological it is. Up till that point, we hadn't really seen any other films made by women, and the change in the mood, style, atmosphere, and message of the film was astonishing. I found I could easily relate to the emotional side of it, as I feel it portrayed a relationship very well. I think it's interesting how the man was in her belly, when the filmmaker could have had the hole anywhere else. It was definitely a sexual film, but in a different kind of way that can only be portrayed by women, I think, because our viewpoint is so different from that of a man's. 
     It was definitely a challenge to watch this film, not only because it was different from anything I've ever seen, but because a lot of what happened was implied rather than shown. Though we followed the woman around and saw her outward interactions with the man, the real detail was in what happened underneath the surface; on the emotional and subliminal level. I was also delighted because of this, as it was a very wonderful and beautiful short to view. As I Googled the title to find a picture for this blog, I read in a description (whose website was blocked by Huntington, by the way. So inconvenient) that the film is "A Woman's Metaphorical Narrative," and I think that's where the real beauty is. The dialogue is short and gives only the bare information, as does the actual animation, while the rest is metaphor and gained on a more emotional level that cannot be explained.

I almost cried at the end, and was on the verge of tears after the dialogue during the credits.