eszter toth / אסתר טוט
This video was intended to be part of a multimedia installation in which the space is laid out in the form of the infinity symbol, suggesting a place of timelessness and repetition without beginning or end.
The fragments were edited into a film of two parts, from two points of view, played by both marionettes and child actors.
This work concerns itself with the nature of an impossible love relationship. Our two protagonists are unable to reach each other, are connected only by their mutual anxiety and torn apart by their doubts. Yet even beyond death - in their post-mortem analysis - they continue to have the desire to continue their relationship.
Dreams, always an important part to the analytical process, are the central dramatic elements of this piece. From an imaginary prison to a courtroom with a trial taking place, our protagonists try to understand themselves better.
Two sisters and their mother, played by marionettes take part in a dreamlike exploration (mimicking the feel of an analytical session) of emotional ambivalence. The action takes place in the maternal home that sometimes appears uterine, and a place from which no one can escape.
The story is told in a fragmented and non-linear fashion and it follows the internal logic of the main character.
All three films are connected and form a non-linear, interlocking narrative that is itself characteristic of the mental adjustments made throughout the course of psychoanalysis.
The relationship between the mother and the two sisters seems to determine the relationship between the two lovers in "Did you dream me or did I dream you?". In "Sisters, a classic case" the analyst suggests, for the first time, the possibility of emancipation, from this "fatal bond" .
« Memoirs of a nurse », is the third part of a trilogy of video works featuring marionettes in a hybrid of theatre and film.
The action takes place after death, in a
« beyond » where psychoanalysis turns out to be obligatory and also an infinite process.
Through the eyes of the protagonist : E, the film portrays how she and the different characters from her past life relate to psychoanalysis. She tries to figure out the meaning of love via transference towards the therapist, whom she perceives as a rescuing, reparative object.
In order to pay for their daily post mortem sessions, through endless nights the characters have to work in a factory, which
« produces » words on a circular conveyor belt.
On the blurred line between dream and nightmare, utopia and dystopia, the film is a fond, but critical take on analysis.