VIFF 2020: Siberia
viff 2020The always unique Abel Ferrara and Willem Dafoe have had multiple memorable outings, including the haunting feature Tommaso earlier this year, proving that the combination can still find legitimately moving depth and emotion together. Where Tommaso might have been more grounded, their newest collaboration, Siberia, pushes the envelope both visually and narrativity, opening the door to what could have been an all-time masterpiece with depth and artistry around every corner. Sadly, Siberia is far from reaching this potential, even turning into a laughably bad film at times.
It is important to note that, on paper, the ideas within Siberia are not always terrible. Abel Ferrara and Willem Dafoe consistently push to find deeper messages within their filmmaking and Siberia is no different. The film attempts to use plenty of visual metaphors and crafted imagery, some of which legitimately are clever and could actually connect with audiences on a deeper level. The general cinematography from Stefano Falivene is competent if not impressive at times. This is a film with a distinct visual style which can lead to stunning visuals at times.
Sadly, past this, the film's largest issue is simply its surprising incompetence in filmmaking. Siberia, on a technical level, has much more in common with a student film than anything else. Clearly held back by limitations in the budget, the film cannot practically accomplish anything it sets out to do, often leading to a viewing experience that is so cheesy that it ultimately feels humorous. The editing within the film is also jarring. In a very questionable matter, the film decides to include things such as bad attempts at jump scares and overly graphic imagery that not only feels completely out of place but completely unneeded.
These misteps in the filmmaking process drastically undercut the unique ideas buried somewhere within the mess that is Siberia, making the film not only feel incompetent in storytelling but also overall worthless when it comes to message or depth. In many ways, Siberia feels like two university students who got drunk, watched The Lighthouse and decided to try to rush out their own version in a single night leading to an overall hollow and shockingly bad viewing experience.
Siberia is an utter mess of a film. The idea that this is the final product from a Abel Ferrara and Willem Dafoe collaboration is genuinely shocking and proves that even great filmmakers have their off days. Had the feature been given a proper budget and cleaned up its thesis, Siberia could have been something special but, as is, is a film that isn't just not worth checking out but one that should be avoided at all costs. For those wanting a taste of this combination, Tommaso stands out as the easily better pairing of these two from the year so far and should be watched dozens of times before it is even considered to put Siberia on.
