QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM SAN SEBASTIAN

The action takes place in 1955, in the Chilean capital. Georgina Silva (Francisca Lewin) murders her lover Roberto Pumarino Valenzuela mid-dinner in the restaurant of the opulent Hotel Crillon, right in front of the shocked elites. She then jumps on his lifeless body and desperately pleas for help. She is consequently arrested, her facer covered with blood – an image stamped across all newspapers covers, and imprinted on the collective memory of the South American nation. The murder had a peculiar precedent. Chilean writer and poetess María Luisa Bombal shot her lover at the very same spot in 1941, but the man survived and refused to pursue legal action

The assassination had no clear motive, baffling jurists and the public alike. A devoted judge carefully examines witnesses, friends and close associates. Her ex-husband of 13 years reassures the justice that she was a nice and balanced woman, and that he has no bad recollections of her at all. The media speculates that she was a diabolical manipulator, and members of the public have little doubt that Georgina must be the devil reincarnate. The defendant gives clear and concise answers, however refusing to provide a reason for the murder. The well-intentioned and confused magistrate orders a mental health assessment, and considers sending her to an insane asylum. Georgina dreads such possibility.

The film protagonist is the fictional court clerk Mercedes (Elisa Zulueta). She becomes intrigued and inspired by the mysterious Georgina, and digs deep into her life. She realises that Georgina’s dissatisfaction with the patriarchy may have led to the seemingly inexplicable aggression. So she takes up Georgina’s role in life, impersonating the jailed writer, and even living in her apartment, Most crucially, she begins to share her frustrations and aspirations, to the point of questioning her own husband (could she maybe also kill him?). An electric floor polisher comes to symbolise oppression and operation. Men perceive the device as a symbol of status, and the perfect housewife present, while their partners see it as a token of perpetual slavery. Both Georgina and Mercedes find a fitting fate for the undesired object.

In Her Place is a very conventional mainstream drama. A film that has been through countless labs, and is carefully tailored to bored home audiences. The impeccable photography and regimented camerawork make it suitable for post-dinner viewing, as you are washing the dishing or indeed polishing the floor. Lewin’s performance is very powerful, Georgina’s eyes bursting with frustration and hunger for emancipation (which she eventually finds in prison, writing best-selling novels under the Carolina Geel alias). Zulueta’s performance is far less affecting. The sparkless and anoydine character lacks passion and determination. She tries hard, but she does not fit in her place. A confusing script prevents viewers from understanding the nuts and bolts of the conjecture and the complicated repercussions, mandating a quick Wikipedia visit immediately after the film. The allegorical sequences are tacky and lifeless, despite the prominent colours (pink is used in abundance).

Georgina/Carolina receives a very lenient sentence and are eventually pardoned by the country’s president. In Her Place celebrates this as an achievement of feminism, ending the movie with an upbeat Billie Holiday singing I’ll Be Seeing You. I wonder whether the controversial decision was indeed in recognition of feminism, as the movie tacitly suggests, or perhaps a reflection of the prevalent view that women are just too clueless and therefore barely responsible for their actions. A fascinating story indeed, if poorly staged. For comparative purposes, 1955 is the same year Ruth Ellis was handed the death penalty in the United Kingdom. The young and beautiful Welsh mistress was punished for a very similar crime (she fatally shot her lover in a public place), yet her actions had abundant mitigation (her lover was extremely violent, having punched her in the stomach while pregnant just a couple of weeks earlier). Georgina killed for no apparent reason. She deserved a more surefire cinema representation.

In Her Place just premiered in the Official Competition of the 72nd San Sebastian International Film Festival