Being human means being a merciless, cruel, selfish creature, who will always put self and personal interests before anything else in any situation or condition. This cruelty does not necessarily mean any kind of violence, but simply indifference, even inaction. When a person is an artist and is in a creative crisis, it should not cause surprise in others if his indifference is turned into cruelty and he has emotionless attitude towards circumstances, and perception and observation only for creative purposes. Such a person can show the greatest coldness if a specific circumstance is a source of inspiration, a muse for his future, potential work.
Zaza Tskitishvili's student film, "Red Window" (2018) tells the story of an artist (Andro Sarishvili), who ran out of all resources and ideas, entered a creative dead end and could not think of a topic to portray in his next work. The film also shows the murderer (Gega Chokuri), who, standing on the balcony of the block of flats, is patiently waiting for his victim, and the journalist (Soso Mgaloblishvili) who is calmly walking in the street to his flat and is not even thinking about the possible danger. The deceased journalist, who is shot in the forehead by a murderer on the stairs of his block of flats, later becomes the artist’s main inspiration for the future work who is back from the store.
There are a total of four characters in this twelve-minute film. One of them is the artist's wife (Ani Uridia), who does not appear in the shot at all, and the audience learns about her existence only through her voice. The sounds of the dialogue between the artist and his wife can be heard like an echo from another room, unknown and invisible to the viewer, while the cameraman, parallel to their conversation, gives us a thorough look at the artist's workroom. By focusing on the objects in the room from the operator's side, it becomes easy to understand what kind of person the artist is. A messy room, a lot of empty bottles of alcoholic drinks in different parts of the room, canvases on the floor, wooden handicrafts, different used paints mixed together – this is little enough to best describe the environment of a true artist, a creative person who does not spend much time tidying up the house and often under the influence of alcohol, he spends all his time sitting and thinking, waiting for the muse to come. The ashtray on the small table in front of the couch which is full of cigarette butts is also clearly visible in the lens. A very large number of them indicates the artist’s psychological state. It seems that he wants but does not succeed in creating anything of value. But time passes, which is indicated by the clock in the close-up – the emphasis is on its ticking sound (which annoys the artist so much) and on the arrows, which are constantly moving forward.
The main action in the film takes place in two different spots of the same place (unless you count the street where the artist and the killer encounter each other). One is a balcony of a block of flats and the other is an artist's house. Alternation between the room and the balcony happens very often. It is clearly cold outside, the shots are also cold, gray, while warm, orange-red colors prevail in the artist's apartment, which leaves a feeling of coziness. The characters seem to resemble the environment chosen for them. The artist is red-haired, while the killer has long black hair and a white, pale face. The hat, which at a glance seems to cover his face, reveals more of his rough, cold features up close. He looks dangerous, unkind at a glance. His character is shockingly calm. He casually drinks his coffee and looks at the people walking in the street, as if he was out for a completely harmless purpose. The moment when the killer catches his victim's eye is especially memorable - his piercing, hunting cat-like eyes immediately appear in the shot, looking intently at the coming journalist.
The music used in the film should be mentioned, namely Chopin's “Nocturne.” It is unknown where its sound comes from. In fact, not from the artist's flat because these unexpected tunes themselves attract his attention while he is busy undoing his tangled headphones. This sound also reaches the killer. Although the origin of the music is unclear, the important thing is that this tune fits very well with the fateful story that will soon unfold in the block of flats. Therefore, the choice of music is really interesting – a calm, quiet, beautiful, harmless melody against the background of cold-blooded murder.
The montage at the moment of the encounter between the killer and the journalist is a bit unnatural. Until the killer asks him for a cigarette – the cuts between shots are too harsh and noticeable. The killer's phrase "Do you have a cigarette?" sounds quite artificial. In general, the actors’ performance, due to the fact that they rarely have to speak, is difficult to judge, although their expressions and emotions at certain key moments are natural. Considering that this is cameraman Mindia Inasaridze’s student film, it is satisfactory. There is often an alternation of medium, close-up and general views and attention to detail. Angles from below and above are also common. Especially in the scenes of going up and down the stairs. There is also a subjective camera in the film, which mostly shows us people walking in the street, seen through the killer’s eyes. This method is used by the cameraman even when the killer looks back at the victim. This action is followed by a gunshot, a view of the street, a close-up of a falling bullet, and a close-up of the now-empty glass in which the killer drops the used bullet. After the murder, the horribly quiet music stops and we return to the usual noise of the street.
The artist’s behavior is similar to the behavior of that desperate artist who has not had a muse for a long time and who clings to the first opportunity. Although at first he will be shocked by the sight of the murder, but as soon as he notices the red, blood-stained window, the horrible scene unfolding in front of him momentarily becomes a secondary detail, the sense of responsibility and fear disappears, he reluctantly steps over the corpse and rushes off to realize the newborn, genius idea. While looking at the journalist's corpse, even momentary satisfaction will flash on his worried face, as if an imperceptible Mona Lisa’s smile will appear on his lips. At this moment, he might be happy inside, because the long-awaited inspiration has visited him.
At first, the film makes the viewer suspect that the killer and the artist must be related. At some point, the thought may arise that the killer's victim is the artist. But in the end, a completely different person turns out to be doomed to die - this is a journalist who was probably punished for doing his own work. Then what can a murderer and an artist have in common, except that it was with his "help" that the artist created his next work? The point is that both of them are driven by personal interests in this film. Their work is their priority. Unfortunately, the journalist’s fate is neither one nor the other. Both are indifferent to the matter. The killer kills because he is ordered to do so and is only doing his job. As for the artist, it was in this murder that he found the muse he had been waiting without success for so long.
Elene Tsagareishvili
