Film No 48 (2019) May 24th. 7:00 PM Private Preview Screening @ Home via Vimeo link .
German Film Festival through Palace Cinemas (Paradiso, Northbridge Perth Western Australia) May 28th to June 12th.
"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, many people are in serious danger with their lives, do you read me?" (Reike radios for help as she floats not 400M from a stricken vessel over-crowded with desperate refugees).
Directed by Wolfgang Fisher (What You Don't See), Styx follows a paramedic, Reike (Suzanne Wolff), as she embarks on a solo sail south to Ascension Island from her native Gibraltar. Her life on deck, battling winds and storms becomes a minor concern compared to what happens next, as she stumbles upon a wrecked fishing trawler overflowing with refugees. Her cries for help via two-way radio are met with silence, leaving her to deal with the dilemma of what to do next.
The strength, or better still, the power of nature, holds firm in Styx, illustrated through Reike's adventure to Darwin's "artificial jungle" and the lawless land of the sea. Or maybe it's the strength of human nature - how much one will put on the line to save the lives of vulnerable, innocent people.
Wolff is convincing here. Paramedics are skilled in saving the lives of people and saving those lives with haste. Suddenly faced with a lack of urgency, through no fault of her own, Reike becomes increasingly tense and upset at the indifference shown by the "rest of the world". The strength of her performance leaves us in no doubt where Wolff wants our compassion's lie.
The naturalistic approach creates real atmosphere. The use of diegetic sound allows Fisher to convey an isolation and helplessness that puts us on board with Reike. We exist in this dire situation with our hero.
Finally, Styx is aptly named; ocean cleaving a division between her safe and secure world and that of the uncertain fate of the refugees is the perfect metaphor. Whether she decides to cross that division is a decision that only she can make. 8GUMS. by guest reviewer Paris Doick.
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