-Written by Kyle Bain.
White Elephant -
a possession that is useless or troublesome, especially one that is expensive to maintain
or difficult to dispose of.
Rarely am I at a loss for words when it comes to film. Rarely do I find myself, now hours after watching something, struggling to explain what I’ve just seen. White Elephant, however, has left me in this state. A state of confusion.
A woman (Lilian Manansala) dances in the dark, off in the distance across a large room (the room really isn’t that large, but the lighting makes it appear so). You can’t make out her face, it’s sometimes even difficult to make out movements. She is clearly passionate about their craft, and has a firm grasp on what it takes to be successful in this field. Why is she dancing, though? Why is she here at all? What does dancing have to do with a white elephant or the short story that White Elephant is based on: Hills Like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway?
This is where I’m lost, where I’m struggling to figure out the purpose of the film. And, yet, there is something beautiful and serene about the way in which White Elephant plays out.
Hills Like White Elephants is an odd story, one without much meaning on the surface, but bursting with purpose just below. Having only read up on Hills Like White Elephants, but not having read it in its entirety, I’m not sure what that hidden meaning is–and while I’ve watched White Elephant in its entirety, I’m sort of in the same boat with this short film. There’s something there, and maybe I’m just being dense (it wouldn’t be the first time), but I can’t figure out what it is.
However, as I mentioned, there is something beautiful about White Elephant, something appealing that forced me to become engrossed in the woman’s performance. The entirety of the film is backlit, which is why much of what she is doing (particularly her facial expressions) is challenging to see. I suppose that what she is doing throughout the course of White Elephant would be considered interpretive dance–so I suppose there is something to be interpreted. Again, I don’t know what that thing is, but the use of light and the fluid movements of Manansala create something attractive, aesthetically pleasing.
Rarely do I walk away from a film with no idea about what its purpose is or what it’s meant to convey. White Elephant is a unique situation in which I struggle to understand the hidden meaning, even with some background information on its source material. With all of that said, I’m not really sure that anything could be added and the final product be just as concise and fluid as it is currently. White Elephant is perfectly imperfect, and I can’t quite explain why, but I love this film.
Written & Directed by Ming Anne Geng.
Starring Lilian Manansala, Cathal Eric Power, etc.
9/10 = DROP EVERYTHING AND WATCH IT NOW
Comments