Written and Directed by Aurélia Mengin

ALTER suffers from depression and schizophrenia. She consults a healer who practices mystical hypnosis and discovers that her mother is hiding a secret from her. The only breath of fresh air: a strange incandescent encounter… (IMDB)

“What the hell have I just watched?” was what flew through my mind at the end of the screening of Scarlet Blue at the Screams by the Sea festival in Bournemouth last month. Radi Nikolov, festival director introduced the movie as one that will stick with you long after the credits roll but, as I watched it, I wasn’t sure that was going to be for the right reasons. Maybe it was the 09:30 start that meant Scarlet Blue was the punch in the face that is the neon-tinged, dutch-angled, symbolism-laden movie that I emerged blinking into the light from just after 11am on a sunny morning in Bournemouth?

Maybe it’s just me?

Scarlet Blue follows Alter (Anne-Sophie Charron) who strikes up a relationship with Chris (Aurélia Mengin) attendant at the local all-night garage, in between visits to her therapist (Stefano Casseti) who appears to work out of a sea-cave (I am fairly certain, he is not “orthodox”). There is a secret in her past that is deeply hidden in her psyche and which has likely affected the depression and possible schizophrenia that she suffers with. She also has a difficult relationship with her mother (Patricia Barzyk) who clearly holds the key to Alter’s past and the childhood that has affected the way she is as an adult.

Add in sparkly fish being eaten raw, plenty of sex, watery symbolism, and stylised scenes of Alter and Chris in various dreamlike environments, while a powerful and emotional soundtrack plays in the background, and you have Scarlet Blue in a nutshell.

The film culminates with what is, for all intents an purposes, a very straight (compared to the rest of the film) exposition scene, where Alter finally forces her mother to tell her about her childhood and we find out what it is that is buried deep inside Alter’s mind. But that is still just the tip of the iceberg and, while it will explain some of her actions, it doesn’t easily provide answers to all the audience’s questions. Scarlet Blue wants to make you work.

Scarlet Blue is not the kind of film I would normally watch and I will happily admit that I obviously didn’t get all of it.

At first.

I left the auditorium thinking. Okay, that was Scarlet Blue, what’s next? After all, the Festival was a day packed with activity.

But Radi, the genius that he is, was right.

Scarlet Blue stays with you.

And I have probably thought about it every day since I saw it.

It’s at this point it doesn’t necessarily matter what I ultimately think of it; it has done its job. While I have been thinking about it, it has (or I think it has) revealed some more of its mysteries to me. Scarlet Blue is not a film, so much as an experience (and yes, I am aware that I sound like a bit of a wanker saying that). Mengin is a filmmaker who has a very clear vision and has made the film she wants to make; no apologies, no shits given. And it is all the more powerful for it. I suspect everyone who watched the film on that Saturday morning will have come away with a different interpretation of Scarlet Blue and what Alter’s journey meant. There will be some who are completely indifferent to it, while it will resonate personally with some, and be a slow burning eye-opener for others. Like all good art, Scarlet Blue is highly subjective and everyone has to make up their own mind.

The movie is directed well and has a powerful score from Luke Kay and Pablo Mengin that drives home the impact of the imagery onscreen. Every scene is presented with a strong colour palette that demands the audience watch it

Whatever you make of Scarlet Blue by the time the credits roll, Mengin has put together a powerful account of depression and schizophrenia which defies categorisation and description, but which will leave an impact on the viewer.

You can watch the Trailer for Scarlet Blue on YouTube