Film Review: ‘Memories of a Burning Body’ dir. Antonella Sudasassi Furniss
Rating: ★★★★☆
The movie’s name, Memories of a Burning Body, suggests it’s about personal identity. It’s about traumatized experiences stored inside a person, memories so painful recalling them feels like setting someone on fire. These memories, from the past, shape who we are now. Directed by Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, “Memories of a Burning Body” premiered today in the Panorama section of the 74th Berlinale Film Festival. It’s a bold film about facing a dark past in Costa Rica.
Ana, Patricia, and Mayela grew up when talking about sex was forbidden. They learned about being women from unwritten rules. Now, their brave voices come together in a 65-year-old woman, remembering a life full of secrets and desires.
The writer and director of the film, Antonella Sudasassi Furniss, starts the film in darkness. We hear the voices of two women having a conversation about sex, pleasure, and sexual desires, capturing the audience’s attention. We hear their dialogue in the darkness, and in the darkness, the identities of these women remain hidden. Their voices, seemingly representing femininity and womanhood, emerge as if from a tunnel in a dark past; from a time when suppression, a sexualized view of women, and society’s oppressive and tyrannical behavior towards women were at their peak. Women discussing issues and sexual desires were considered a great sin, accompanied by fear and terror.
The filmmaker uses the “rule of three” to effectively narrate the film. The film tells the story of three female characters, Ana, Patricia, and Mayela, about their experiences in a society dominated by patriarchy, conservatism, and religion. But the filmmaker shows a female character and by doing so speaks on a more general level and implies that this is the experience of all women who have lived in a dark past. In using the “rule of three” in the movie, the filmmaker points out that things that come in threes are inherently more satisfying and effective in communication, storytelling, and other forms of expression For example, consider being a girl, being a woman, and being a mother. Or that the filmmaker considers the voices of three female characters and defines the film in three periods of childhood, youth, and old age.
The film is impactful in its opening and closing scenes, but the treatment of memories in the film has a monotone and can sometimes be tiring. I see one of the weaknesses of the film in its handling of memories. Memories in our minds, and the way we recall them, are not orderly or consistent. Memories, especially those affected by trauma, are usually messy. It’s also worth considering that many memories are stored in our subconscious and sometimes suppressed by the brain; however, the portrayal of memories in the film follows a very linear, systematic, and consistent pattern.
The film’s strength lies in its careful attention to detail, especially in set design. It all unfolds within a single house, portraying events from both the past and present in one location and capturing memories from different periods in the character’s life.
One of the main motifs of the film is desires and aspirations; desires that can be achieved and desires that remain unattainable. Acceptance of sexuality, acceptance of sexual pleasure, and acceptance of femininity are among the desires and aspirations that the characters in the film have been deprived of in their past struggles. The women in this film have not experienced sexual orgasm; and beneath the surface layers of this film, it can be said that femininity and acceptance of womanhood have been suppressed for the characters. What image can these women have of themselves when their identities are suppressed?
The desires and aspirations of these three women in the film have a direct connection to freedom and its expression; the freedom to express love, the freedom of sexual desires, the freedom to wish; and it can be said that even freedom is suppressed. These women are imprisoned by their traumatic experiences and the dark past of their psychological injuries, and the most important goal in recounting these injuries and traumas is to be liberated from the shackles of these injuries.
The filmmaker depicts the confined, suffocating, and dictatorial atmosphere prevalent in society within the family setting and attributes responsibility for it to the church. The image of Christ is present in all shots in the bedroom or other places in the house, symbolizing a sense of guilt. When a woman is forced to suppress her sexual identity and desires, and even does not experience orgasm in the relationship with her husband, she often resorts to self-gratification mechanisms, which result in nothing but feelings of guilt, anger, shame, and self-loathing. These feelings are indirectly associated with the church and religion in the film. One of the impactful dialogues in the film says: “Sex was like a black hole. It did not exist but it swallowed you.”
One criticism that can be made of the film is that it leans towards extremist feminism in certain parts and adopts a misandrist approach. It is true that the film’s subject is women, and the story told is a feminine one by a female director; however, upon closer examination of the feminine portrayal in the film, we realize that the main characters are women, and men serve as mere extras and are generally marginalized in the film. Women are portrayed as victims and oppressed, while men are depicted as dictators, oppressors, abusive, and rapists.
The filmmaker has attempted to break the traditional and stereotypical definition of women and the definition presented is that a woman is someone who performs every task with power, sweetness, and passion in everything she does; and this is precisely the boldness and courage of the film.
“Memories of a Burning Body” world-premiered in the Panorama section at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale 2024) on February 19th.
