EMTIGON

[1970 / 11 mins / B&W / 16mm / 4:3 format]

Comerford’s first film is a ‘revenge’ romance involving a destitute old man, a younger woman, and a bicycle. It’s a piece of ritual, an encounter driven by hostile intent. Funny, yet unsettling, it constantly refuses certainty. Is there a logic behind the ritual? A montage of newsreel carnage from World War 1 suggests there is. The final image of a stolen house key dropped into dark canal waters is emblematic of Comerford’s opaque, poetic, narratives.

[eugene finn]