For this week’s column, I chose the film “An Oversimplification of Her Beauty” (2012), which was screened Tuesday at Ashley Square Cinema. The screening included a post-film discussion with the filmmaker, as part of the Film Studies Series. The movie was a beautifully shot art film which centers around the ideas of romantic love.
The film is reboot of a movie made by Terence Nance. The original movie, “How Would You Feel,” is about a breakup Nance had gone through with a woman that he was not really dating. In 2012, Nance updated the original movie by adding the opinions of his former partner throughout the film. “An Oversimplification of Her Beauty” is a partial-remake of the original film.
The film was simply beautiful to watch. The opening sequence sets the bar high for the visual aesthetics with a camera following Nance on his subway ride home from work. The slight shaking of the camera sets the tone of a classic New York art film. This handheld style is continued throughout much of the film.
Another dimension of cinematography is also added with the quick cuts in most of the scenes.This very real style is contrasted with almost modern art animation sections. It makes for an interesting switch of styles, while increasing its stock as an art film. The animated sequences typically occur at times throughout the film when Nance interrupted the original story of the film to add his former partner’s perspective.
At the heart of the film is a question of love, no pun intended. The main character is walking through the day in which his former sort-of-partner, Namik Minter, decides to end things with him. Two narrators include a voice-over to explain the story and add to the visual images. Most of the monologues explain and analyze the relationship between Nance and Minter. This almost analytical look at romance makes for a very interesting science and a somewhat different type of romantic art film. Personally, when watching some of the narration of Nance and Minter’s courtship, I easily found contentions with experiences that I have had first-hand.
“An Oversimplification of Her Beauty” is quite the change from my typical movie-going fare, but it was a nice break from the norm. Usually I am not a big fan of the art film style: however, I found myself getting more absorbed in the visuals of the film rather than the dialogue. A second viewing for further inspection might be coming soon, but, until then, take care of each other and yourself. I’m Jeff at the movies.