été (summer / has been)

été. The title of Karø Goldt´s video gives rise to certain expectations. Summer is associated with light, flourishing life and high spirits. But the subtitle, summer / has been, has a melancholy undertone which reflects the basic mood of this "seasonal" film.
Stripes in shades of green move across the picture from top to bottom, they are punctuated by shades of pink, white or gray in an abstract rendering of a meadow in summer. It seems as if the light and colors of summer were shining through a curtain, its vertical folds set in motion by a light breeze. The colors´ intensity enters into a brisk interplay with pastel nuances, the movement of the stripes´ light and shadows create a backdrop of spectacular shades and shapes in spite of the minimalistic representation.
What the picture hides is told by the music, which apparently contrasts starkly with the visual abstraction. Film music in the truest sense of the word plays throughout été, a classic score with orchestral instruments creates an emotional space-thoroughly romantic and full of melancholy, it evokes narrative associations. Together with the reduced visual information the music creates a constantly regenerating combination of austerity and playfulness.
été is also a game with standstill and motion, describing constant change in its apparent inertia and the minimal variation of the colored stripes. This resembles a ride through the countryside in summer, when one´s perception is diffused by the forward movement and holds onto individual elements, colors and moods. It is not the moment that´s captured but the process of fluid change.

(Andrea Pollach)

Translation: Steve Wilder


été is a film about abundance.
An essay about the feeling of high summer and the moment you realize that the blossoming will turn into withering shortly. The enjoyment of this point in time is marred by the knowledge that it will end soon.

(K.G.)