The new film by Argentine director Santiago Loza Si je suis perdu, c’est pas grave (It’s Alright If I’m Lost) is a visual account, a personal diary if you will, on the many aspects of a one-month acting workshop in an unknown city in France. Loza and fellow filmmaker Eduardo Crespo travelled to Europe to teach an actors’ workshop and once there, they found both the actors and the place so appealing that they decided to shoot a movie about them as well. That is to say a movie with no predefined blueprint, but one that was shaped in the making.
So on one hand you have a poetic voice-over reflecting upon different states of mind, soul, feelings and sentiments as a smooth camera captures equally poetic views of the unknown city, which are far from banal post card images. And on the other hand, there are screen tests, walks in the park, scattered conversations, and informal activities here and there. All of it filmed without the filmmakers intruding in the scenario.
And while there are a handful of nuances and warm observations throughout, just like there are some special moments captured in their alluring spontaneity, it’s equally true that the assortment of all the fragmented pieces fails to create a narrative that says something other than what can be seen at first sight. As a merely descriptive feature, you could say it’s resourceful enough, but when it comes to being observational in a profound way, I found there’s very little to meditate on.
Cinematography is in tip-top shape, all the more so when it’s outdoors. You do feel kind of entranced as the camera goes over different sections of the city, in fact you may feel you are travelling there as well. Yet after a while the wandering experience, despite its occasional beauty, begins to wear thin. It looks nice but it feels somewhat vacuous. When it comes to the actors’ screen tests, things sometimes get a bit more interesting as off-frame voices comment on their expressive close ups and imagine possible lives for them. This is when Si je suis perdu, c’est pas grave acquires a playful quality. Yet, after a while, that wears off too.
