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★
Directed by: Catherine Gropper
Written by: Catherine Gropper
As soon as I finished watching Catherine Gropper’s America as a different place (The Meeting the interpreter), I noticed that it ran for merely 2 minutes. I looked at the specifications and found the runtime to be around 4 minutes and 7 seconds. I informed the same to my editor, and he told me to wait for his response. He further mentioned that if I don’t hear from him, I should proceed with reviewing whatever I saw within those 2 minutes of runtime. I waited for the clarification, and as I didn’t get any response, I decided to continue with my review.
One of the reasons why I am giving you this background is that I need words for this review. Because what I observed in those 2 minutes seemed more like a trailer for Gropper’s short film. A series of fleeting shots pass by the screen, and before you even begin to make sense of it, the video ends. Luckily, it being online, I got to replay the video repeatedly, and this is what I understood by watching it.
An opening text immediately clarifies that The Meeting, The Interpreter is inspired by meetings between Anatoli Samochornov and Catherine Gropper. This is followed by an image of a paper flyer that has the words “Who really controls the world?” written on it. You could make religious connections with it, but I think it’s meant to be targeted at the government as the very next picture featured a “Vote Here” board. After a shot of the Statue of Liberty and a group of people holding banners outside the Capitol building, it became apparent that the short aims to make some kind of political statement with respect to America.
There are videos that show a wave, a beach, a carousel ride, and little kids. Perhaps, they represent innocence as they are pure and free from corruption. Maybe, Gropper wants to show how we lose our innocence because of impious authorities, politicians, and the system. But what I viewed was too abstract to hold these interpretations. I wish Gropper reads this review and uploads the coherent 4-minute short film if something like that exists. If not, if this is actually the original film and not a trailer, you already know my verdict.
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