Vivienne Again
by Anastasia Bogomolov
Well now, that was interesting. VIVIENNE AGAIN, a short directed by Kim Garland, begins mid wake, where we hear the film’s heroine – Vivienne (played Erin Fritch) – a pretty new employee at a funeral home, chatting with whom appears to be her manager about three suspicious looking men shown standing off to the side in timid observance. One of the three I quickly recognize as the show-off pony-tailed blonde on the receiving end of “how do you like them apples?” from GOOD WILL HUNTING. The showoff (played by Scott William Winters) exudes his familiar air of self-importance when he suddenly approaches Vivienne and asks, “What happens to Sophie after the wake?” Following with, “she stays the night here, alone, right?” And cue the 90’s crime series music…
Once left alone with the once attractive – in a prim and structured sort of way – corpse named Sophie (played by Christina Brucato), to no one’s surprise, strange things start to happen. Vivienne confides in Sophie’s peacefully nonthreatening disposition as she carefully applies the perfect shade of red lipstick to Sophie’s grey lips, and while the scene thus far is believable and sweet-natured, we feel that at any minute, the predictable (Sophie comes back from the dead!) will ensue. And BAM, that’s exactly what happens… However, aside from the cheesetastic music and overly sharp sounds of climax reminiscent of “Law and Order”, the story unfolds in a fortunately different way. There’s much (perhaps too much – and I found myself getting lost in the details and names) that’s revealed in the next half – most of which was exposed through Vivienne’s and Sophie’s unexpectedly warm conversation, but it nevertheless manages to work.
The chemistry between Vivienne and Sophie isn’t lacking, and Sophie’s at times mysterious glances, coupled with the eerie silence of the funeral home, keeps my attention. And once panic ensues, and Jed returns for Sophie’s body, and a whole bunch of other stuff happens that works to explain – I think – some of the mystery surrounding Sophie’s death, the climactic end leaves me wanting more. All in all, VIVIENNE AGAIN is a thoroughly solid short that, aside from the music that almost robs it of some deserved freshness, manages to all of confuse, enthrall, and grip our senses in a mere 11 minutes. I’d call that a success.
