Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: BIPOLAR [International Film Festival Rotterdam 2021 - Virtual]
The ambivalence of hope can bely a sense of acceptance depending what the story being told is. "BiPolar" [Tiger Competition] is a beautifully detached film in a way following a young woman who might be of the elite but whom also travels along lost roads. The movie is bathed in shadows and light literally as she travels what seems like the borders of Tibet and maybe the mountains of Mongolia wth a dance floor or two in between. Since this film seems to be shot in China, it gives a interesting trip-tych but is an almost "Twin Peaks" movement of tone with odd character popping up to engage the randomness of the main character. The conceit of the film is wrapped in the beginning point of a lobster at a restaurant in Tibet who seems to have mystical characteristics. The girl, who is almost literally in every frame, steals said lobster and makes her way to return him back home. It may sound like a fable or a far out premise (and while it is also it is not. The character is moving through a dreamlike state. She has dinner alone in a massive palace but is open to speaking to people. The lobster's perspective is seen more than once where the movie bursts into a specific use of color and aspect ratio and then bounces back.
The main character's journey is disjointed but also peppered with various constructs of identity whether it is trying on wigs with a bald guy, giving a ride to a hitchhiker who sees red in himself or the migration of animals along a deserted desert path. There are also allusions to a man either this woman lost or was betrayed by, stuck in the after-dark confines of a subterranean pool. The locations in high contrast are stunning as the character is motivated to return the crustacean to his home. Some people want to save the lobster. Others want to eat him. The lobster just wants to survive and be, and does it against all odds. But in the end, in a grand metaphor, wrapped in an obvious avalanche of questions (most of which are unanswered), is that he just wants to run away, when the time is right. B-
By Tim Wassberg
