We’re used that the main character in a Danny Boyle film would speaks to us. If Trainspotting (1996) ended with a motivational quote, Trance (2013) starts with some sort of advice – Life is worth more than a painting. Don’t act like a hero.” Simon

The film starts in a funny note, alert with a short advice on how to be sure a painting will not be stolen during an auction. Simon (James McAvoy) is our guide and the main character. The camera comes close to a Rembrandt painting, but not as much as Peter Greenaway did in Rembrandt J’accuse (where the director proves his theory on a possible murder in Night Watch and on the way all the characters were involved too look innocent).

Goya -Witches in the Air
photo wikipaintings.org

Then comes the moment when Simon must apply what he learned. Franck (Vincent Cassel) and his team want to steal a Goya – Witches in the Air – during the auction. Simon takes the control and tries to take the painting in a safe place, but his actions make us believe that, in fact, a painting is worth more than a human’s life.

photo simonmernagh.files.wordpress.com

Yes, Simon plays the hero in front of Franck and gets a wound on his head. This is where the films starts. We are introduced in his delirium through subjective shots and the director has the freedom to play with the story’s time and space, with colorful and shiny textures (walls, windows), mirrors and reflections. The images get you in trance from story to story, but mainly in the story where the main character wants to find out the truth about himself.

photo cdn.wegotthiscovered.com

Simon’s amnesia annoys Franck’s expectations who cannot conceive losing the painting. Therefore, he searches Simon’s house and car, he tortures him in a classic way (he takes Simon’s nails) but nothing comes out and he has the idea to take Simon to Elisabeth, a hypnotist. This is the moment when it all becomes interesting because the writer tries to insert some questions related for a future situation. Before having sex with Elisabeth, Simon finds a book with nudes – here comes the answer to Why Goya? Simon believes that he painted perfection. But Goya is also known for his painting where the reality combines with elements from a dream.

photo guardian.co.uk

Trance is a mixture of narrative structures, an anachronic and circular formula: you see again and again the first shots of the film because, in fact, the initial story is not the real one, but the next one might be and so on. Trance is the Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind meets Memento: a character suffering from amnesia and who discovers that he had the possibility to forget the loved one. Still, the stories are difficult to watch and the jokes are old. The strong areas are the hypnotic image and the actors.

photo www.filmoa.com

by Diana Vasile

Diana Vasile studies Audio-Video Communication at the National University of Theatre and Film. She likes writing since she was little (when she was 10 she wrote the sequel of Harry Potter, since she longed for it). The passion for film appeared when she was a teenager and melted into writing scripts. She is an autodidact in her spare time, but she loves parties, driving her car, cooking, cleaning and watching TV series.