Verdigris

 Verdigris does not lend itself to standardisation and conformity.

So asserts Chloe Brenan’s short of the same name, a brief cinematic derive that explores the architecture of the Paris metro system via Eugene Haussmann and the Situationists. A celluloid essay film shot during a residency in Paris; Brenan’s piece takes a sideways look at the implicit strictures of urban planning in Paris and the subtle ways in which control is and can be resisted. How defiance can present itself even in the most innocuous acts of miniature rebellion.

The film opens with the establishment of the Paris metro in 1900 as a single line connecting the city to the suburbs. In its luminous Super8 footage, the film explores the interior architecture of Hector Guimard. The designs were standardised, the entrances painted to ape the verdigris of the city’s statues. The film then jumps back in time, to the mid-19^th century where Eugene Haussmann is sweeping away the vestiges of medieval Paris for the peace and order of new wide boulevards, before exploring the situationists’ challenge to such paternalistic order. At one point, the narration – courtesy of Cal Folger Day – describes “a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiences,” that seems to fit with the film’s own rhythms.

These are aided by Phil Christie’s sound design, most notable in the drumbeat that accompanies the reflections on the structures imposed by Haussmann. Paired with Folger Day’s laconic voiceover embodies the counter cultural spirit that Brenan’s film explores. Where desire lines show the paths trod by a populace disinclined to stick to the pre-defined path, Verdigris feels like a work born of a questioning, subversive intent to travel to its own beat.

Director, screenplay, cinematography, editing: Chloe Brenan
Cast: Cal Folger Day (narration)
Music, sound: Phil Christie
Production companies: Chloe Brenan (Ireland)
Venue: International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) (Short & Mid-length)
In English
12 minutes