Film Review: EAT ME! (Bulgaria)

Played at the May 2017 EUROPEAN Short Film Festival

Eatmeposter jan 2017small

Glittering socialite Laura starts slipping from the daily reality of a weight obsessed rich man’s mistress. While on a fancy dinner with her gluttonous lover she enters a strange world where food dances and sings. The whirlwind of dance blows the air out of Laura’s head and she becomes a different type of girl…

How people treat each other is mirrored in the way we treat our environment and our food. That’s why “Eat me” focuses on our attitude to food, its dubious contents and food waste through the prism of a skewed relationship.

Review by Kierston Drier

A twenty minute dive into food and psychology, EAT ME, is an adventurous musical romp telling the tale of a beautiful young woman having dinner with her very hungry partner. She fights the internal battle between craving and self control, as she stares down at various lavish plates sent to their table. Seemingly driven crazy by hungry, she slips slowly into hallucinations- her food literally sprouting legs and dancing in front of her, singing and tempting her to eat them.

She tries desperately to escape her phantom food, but to little avail. They torment her with jazz hands, seamless choreography and painfully catchy tunes. In a desperate attempt to flee her visions, she ends up making a scene, and is escorted outside. She is left in a dumpster, where all unwanted things go. Among piles of forgotten food, she can finally be alone with her thoughts, and give in.

What is interesting about this piece- besides the obvious humor of singing and dancing foodstuffs, is the careful detail in the visuals. Our leading lady is a stunningly flawless beauty, and the plates put before her are equally gorgeous. Yet the film is shot primarily in black and white, with a few choice scenes and items being colored. Seeing the film in black and white acts as a constant distinction between the audience’s’ reality and the story. Until, that is, our heroine lies in a pile of trash. In this scene, the piece is colored naturally- as though her illusions are shattered, and reality has seeped in.

It can be interpreted in any number of ways and that is part of its’ mystique. EAT ME is delightfully fresh, something you want to look for in your films, and well as your food.

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