Film Process 24th April

The allure of the pine forest. The positioning of Anne. The subjective view/Cécile as narrator.

I am trying to make obvious that there is something about the forest itself, along with the hot sun and the sound of the waves that encourages sexual liasons. This is a useful quote:

Although it is rare for the old legends to take quite such concrete forms in 21st century Britain, forests are deeply rooted in our imaginations, often feeding on unfathomed fears. Vast pine forests feature in many fairy tales, usually as places of unspecified menace - easy to enter but seemingly impossible to escape. Wariness of the dark wood is instilled in young children as they listen to the tales of Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood or Beauty and the Beast. Even though the story usually ends happily, it leaves a dim sense of some terrible menace lurking within the evergreens. Much of northern Europe is thick with ancient legends of the Mirkwood, the Ironwood and the Schwarzwald, or Black Forest. The pine forest of Russia are home to both Baba Yaga and the wolf that devours Peter's duck in Prokofiev's fable. Witches, wizards and wolves all work their powers in dark woodlands, but pine offer particular peril because under their black canopies the trunks stand invitingly apart with promises of almost tangible sunlit clearings and cabins. (p242-243)

The Long, Long Life of Trees. Fiona Stafford. Yale University Press. New Haven and London. 2017.

Is Anne the terrible menace lurking within the evergreens? She is certainly watching them, or at least, comes across them, and this is what then halts their relationship, sending Cécile into a place of hateful spite against Anne. How long is she watching for, and where is she watching from? By positioning the viewer already on the shore, and often behind trees, I can conjure up the notion of the viewer being both Cécile from a distance (remembering herself) and with an eye to knowing how Anne may have seen them. This is complex and very interesting.

In Gossip from the Forest, Maitland writes new fairytales. Worth reading. There is clearly a huge amount of sex and desire connected with forests. I could do with doing some more research.

There are loads of species of pine trees. The ones I have images of are called Stone Pine. It's where pine nuts come from. They're most definitely Southern Europe/Middle Eastern, rather than the Northern European variety.