The Fits
Studio: Oscilloscope
Directed by Anna Rose Holmer
Jun 03, 2016
Web Exclusive
That director Anna Rose Holmer spent the early part of her career as a cameraperson and cinematographer is not surprising. Her directorial debut, The Fits – about Toni (Royalty Hightower), a little tomboy who decides to fit in with the other girls and trades in her boxing gloves and the company of her older brother’s friends for a sparkly leotard and a spot on the drill team – is a highly composed technical tour de force. As Toni struggles to balance her longing to fit in with the rest of the team while still honoring her individuality, the camera constantly reinforces her position as an outsider. She walks slowly down a hallway in her boxing gear and is swarmed by what seems like hundreds of shrieking girls in sequined dance outfits nearly mowing her over. She is on a different wavelength, moving at a different pace. It’s beautiful to watch, especially Toni, rehearsing the choreography, determined, with an unwavering stoic expression that imbues her whole journey with a gravitas seldom found in films with child protagonists.
But the series of masterful shots do not add up to a masterpiece. All this stoicism – from Toni who keeps a straight face almost all the way through, and from Holmer who resists including dialogue or any un-staged human interaction, preferring instead a droning soundtrack of dread (from Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans) and highly choreographed blocking – creates a cold and calculated atmosphere. As each member the dance team is struck down one by one with an unexplained seizure, Toni’s internal conflict becomes explicit: the fear of her own inevitable convulsion is equaled to her horror at the prospect that she’ll be spared of illness but excluded from the group. But this dilemma lives outside of her; it is communicated but never truly felt. So when it comes time for Toni to achieve Transcendence, the final, drawn out moments come across as an indulgent bit of cinematic show instead of the catharsis Toni deserves.
Author rating: 7/10
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