Programme saison vidéo 2007 #31

voice rises to a pitch of excitement as a new world
record is set while, as it prosaically mentions, “the sunlight
is reflected in the water, heated to a temperature of
28 degrees,” we see the adolescents using bats to smash
away at the rubble or anything that can still be destroyed.
The dry pool, venue of the kids’ favourite activity: ashtraythrowing,
looks all the more shabby when compared to
its past prestige. “Under the spotlights,” the once packed
terraces are now empty and covered in graffiti. In this
black-and-white film, Klamroth juxtaposes the idealised
order of communism with post-socialist reality. She does
not take sides, adds no commentary and respects both
the words of others and the archive documents. Two
opposing realities are brought together in a collage of
images and sounds. The last images are brutal: an
athlete prepares to dive with all the grace of a perfectly
honed technique, followed by a graceless crate splashing
bathetically into the stagnant water.
Mo Gourmelon
49