Review of The Elephant Walk (1979)
Seen in 2025.
The most significant line in the thin script of this movie is the grandmother saying, to the main character’s creepy neighbour, Inte visste jag att ni kunde uppträda också (“Little did I know you’re a performer, too”). She immediately softens on him, just knowing that he can put on a show. The director must have had a similar attitude, because the movie is built entirely around performativity without mimesis. It’s avant-garde formalist theatre for theatre’s sake, mistakenly put on film under the pretence of caring for children. The absurd studio scenography is interesting, but does not sustain interest through the awful writing and acting.
References here: SOPOR (1981).