19/08/2024 - Jessica Sarah Rinland's feature transcends the boundaries between human and animal, capturing the infinite tenderness of relationships rooted in the pure immediacy of existence

In her latest feature, Collective Monologue [+see also:
interview: Jessica Sarah Rinland
film profile], presented in competition in the Cineasti del Presente section of the Locarno Film Festival – where her previous film, Those That, at a Distance, Resemble Another [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], received a Special Mention in the Moving Ahead section – Argentinian-British artist-director Jessica Sarah Rinland offers up a series of intimate and fleeting portraits. These moments, filmed in various zoos and rescue centres for injured animals in Argentina, depict humans (with women as the central figures) achieving a deep sense of harmony with the animals.

These "stolen moments" reveal the importance of mutual empathy and tolerance in any form of contact, human or otherwise. What matters is the ability to listen to and accept others as they are, with all their merits and flaws, in an act of disinterested understanding based on tenderness and love. Collective Monologue gives a voice to those who lack one, shedding light on realities often overshadowed by the dominance of the Anthropocene.

The term "collective monologue", as defined by Jean Piaget, refers to a period in children's lives characterised by self-centredness, during which they see the listener's point of view as irrelevant. They believe that nature exists for their benefit and that they can control it, as if it inherently belongs to them. In Rinland's latest feature, this egocentric phase is metaphorically overcome and dismantled through encounters with the other party. The people who care for the animals in parks and zoos do not merely look after their basic needs; they treat them with the same respect and love they would have for fellow humans. The film invites us to closely observe these fleeting, intensely poignant moments, where the boundaries between species dissolve, and where only the act of listening and the immediacy of the present moment matter.

This visceral closeness between beings that society labels as different is beautifully captured by Rinland through powerful close-ups. The proximity of the camera to the bodies of the protagonists, both human and animal, highlights their similarities – such as the matching hair colour of a zookeeper and the monkey she holds close – and their emotional connections. Phrases like reina mía (lit. “my queen”), te amo (“I love you”) or con amor (“with love”), spoken by those who care for the animals, are transformed in the film into manifestos advocating for tolerance and empathy – qualities that are often overlooked in our self-centred world. "It's not the animals that don't understand; we are the ones who don't know what we're doing," one of the zoo's managers tells future employees, as if to remind us that the rules humanity has arrogantly created are not universally valid.

Collective Monologue is a film that encourages us to see the world from the animals' perspective, as if we were observing them for the first time. Through Rinland's lens, the audience can discover realities they may not have believed existed. The scenes where the attendants' arms and hands touch, caress and massage the apes' limbs through the bars of their enclosures are especially touching and poetic. The physical distance between them becomes insignificant; what matters is the profound and intense nature of the contact, and the sincerity of a seemingly simple gesture that evolves into a moment of catharsis. The animals, often filmed in poetic, static shots, dictate their own rhythm, compelling us to observe what we would normally overlook.

The final scene, where one of the protagonists weeps while cradling the little monkey Juanita – who, crouched in a corner, seems too weak to move – encapsulates the essence of the entire film. It is an unclassifiable, breathtakingly beautiful work that challenges us to reconsider our place in the world.

Collective Monologue is an Argentinian production by Trapecio Cine and Jessica Sarah Rinland herself.

(Translated from Italian by Alessandro Luchetti)