QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM BERLIN

Who did not grow up with picture books in which animals talked and behaved like humans, teaching kindness and love? Cunning foxes, sly wolves, loving rabbits, clever squirrels, and many more creatures. Many of us were left heartbroken when our attempts to communicate with animals failed. But that never stopped us from trying. In fact, some of of us still firmly believe that our furry friends can understand us human beings, including the words that come out of our mouth.

In Ivan Fund’s The Message, preteen Anika (Anika Bootz) possesses this talent, or at least everybody is led to believe so. She is booked across Argentina to listen to what people’s pets (even the deceased ones) have on their minds. Her talent is advertised over fliers and the Internet, and there is a phone number for appointments. It is never clear how the whole thing came to be, how she ended up on the road. living in a modest camper van with her grandmother Myriam (Mara Bestelli) and a middle-aged man called Robert (Marcelo Subiotto). These details feel irrevelant.

This calm and slow-paced road movie is full of beauty and hidden messages that can be interpreted in any way the spectator wishes. Sometimes they come our way very subtly, over the radio discussions about inflation and water shortages. They might escape our attention because of the captivating images that populate the screen. They include the gorgeous Argentinian landscapes, and the creatures making confessions: a black sausage dog with a curious gaze, a lonely hedgehog by the name of Heila mourning her siblings, a downtrodden tortoise and melancholic horses. Are Anika’s superpowers real or a sophisticated market product? This question is never answered. That too isn’t particularly important. The movie focus remains firmly on the road trip and its enigmatic star. Her personality is just as fascinating as her preternatural abilities.

The talent of the young actress shines. She has the ability to conquer space, and to convince everyone around her (including audiences) that whatever happens on screen is real. Through numerous close-ups of her face, Bootz speaks to the camera without saying a word. The absence of a plot is not a handicap. In fact, it makes these skills even more portentous. Bestelli and Subiotto, who also feature in Fund’s previous movie Dusk Stone (2021) are no less impressive. They are very agile, and even more cryptic than their protege. Myriam is super fast with the bookings, while Robert’s nimble fingers ensure that charging remains smooth.

There is however at least one clue as to the origin of the proceedings. That’s when Anika visits her mother (Betania Cappatto, also her parent in real life) in an institution for the mentally ill.

Entirely shot in black and white by Gustave Schiaffino (one of Argentina’s most exciting contemporary cinematographers), there is a sense of watching a travelogue, or a documentary about the places in Argentina we should put on our bucket list. Fund’s filmmaking technique is relaxed and unhurried. These qualities are supported by Mauros Moreles’s pitch-perfect score. That’s another name to look out for, even if it’s the Pet Shop Boy’s excellent rendition of Always On My Mind that you might best remember after the movie theatre lights go on.

The Argentinian helmer dedicates his sixth fiction feature to the parents who “protected his childhood”, leaving us with another delicious message to decode.

The Message just premiered in the Official Competition of the 75th edition of the Berlin International Film Festival.