Repetition Compulsion

Called an "animated documentary," Ellie Lee's visceral charcoal renderings of nightmarish moments drawn from the cycle of abuse in homeless women--often victimized as children and falling into abusive relationships as adults--are paired with voiceover interview clips of homeless women who have suffered physical and/or sexual abuse. The video jacket of this festival award-winner quotes a review from the Boston Globe, which says, in part, that "Lee's film is more enlightening in its seven minutes than a stack of documentaries or dramas." While I found the animated sequences blow-to-the-gut powerful, at times, seven minutes is just too short a period to explore a subject as complex and wide-ranging as abuse. Or, is it? On second thought, tabloid TV has run this subject through the wringer in innumerable pieces ranging in length from minutes to hours. Still, even if there are women out there who have somehow missed the basic psychology of abuse (i.e., haven't watched TV in the past decade), I'm not convinced that an admittedly fascinating yet arty short is necessarily the proper introduction. Optional. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)