The photoshoot scenes in Martyr

I'm not a person who watches the same movies over and over again savoring the details and finding new things with each viewing. But I've done just that with Martyr. I've seen it in 3 different theaters, on DVD, and even almost frame by frame helping Jac to subtitle.

There are elements that I savor every time I see this movie, and I'll try to talk about them one at a time. The first is the photography sequences with Gabrielle, played by Veronica Paintoux.




One of the 3 subplots in Martyr revolves around Tadeusz, a photographer played by Jac Avila, and his model, Gabrielle. The lighting, the way the imagery is presented, each photo shoot is presented in a different way. Just as it would be in a real photo-shoot.

In the first shoot the lighting is darker, more blue, mysterious, Veronica looks like the sexy bohemian libertine from times gone by, but at the same time rooted in the contemporary. Her expressions draw something from the viewer,
they tell you to look at her, to enjoy what you see. The texture draws you in, you can almost smell the make-up, feel the heat of the lamps. The camera draws close to her, we feel like we're part of this glamorous moment, that we don't want it to end. The scene seduces us. This seduction is key to the seduction of the movie as a whole.

The second photo-shoot is lighter, brighter, white and colors flying, we see how fun this is; grown-ups playing like children. Again, Veronica looks into the camera, embracing the moment, reaching out and grabbing us. There's a visceral feeling that comes to the forefront. The moment is so beautiful,



we're there, we're part of this beauty. Almost as if we're making her do these fantastical things, like we're the photographer drawing these expressions out of her, and not the other way around.

I love beautiful images. For me, a beautiful image is something a bit rough, imperfect. It makes the illusion stronger. For instance, I'm a fan of Terry Richardson's photos. And the images created in these movie photo-shoots in Martyr have that quality, something real: the reality of illusion.




We see glimpses of how this illusion is made, but there's something else that we're not seeing; it's a movie and there are people behind another camera.

And still more behind those, watching this delicious movie.

Martyr is available on DVD HERE!