The Immaculates

The core of the film is a 3-D model of a house in woodland, a striking place despite, in truth because of, artifacts of digitisation - X-axis duplicates, clipping, layer focus effects that alienate us from a location even as the quirks of simulation give it a parallel feeling of reality, natural untidiness echoed by flaws. Trying not to be too Baudrillardian about it, let's borrow from The Matrix - the desert of the real, and all that.

The heart of the film is a simple story. An accusation of rape is made in a Northern Italian town - the perpetrators two Roma staying on the outskirts, and then, well, "football songs and insults - some were armed with iron bars".

This is strikingly presented, with good use of music by The Necks. Writer/director Ronny Trocker and animator/3-d artist Sebastien Pincin and compositer Rapheal Thibault are to be commended. The sound-design by Anouschka Trocker helps root the film - the consistency of a visual approach can be all too readily undone by issues with sound, but the presentation here is tremendous. Your reviewer always appreciates titles that are treated as objects in front of the camera.

There are a couple of weak points - people seem projected on a floating plane, and when fire does appear it suffers as many special effects do from an air of unreality that's inconsistent with how disbelief has been suspended elsewhere. These are niggles, however, in something that's brave in approach and skilled in execution. It's not quite immaculate, but it's a great concept.