Miss Mouche (Bernard Halut, 2010):Belgium

Viewed by: Demi Mellett. Viewed at the: Santa Barbara Film Festival

Miss Mouche was a very interesting film. The majority of the film was shot as if from a cell phone’s video camera. The director, Bernard Halut, did an excellent job of portraying what filming would look like from a person holding a cell phone. The angles used really stood out to me.

The beginning of the film starts with a twelve year old girl named Nina, played by Mona Jabé. Nina has a passion for flies and recording things with her camera phone. She records everything about her life she feels is relevant and even spies on her parents at times with her camera. In the beginning of the film we see Nina recording her mother driving while on the phone. She documents everything in her life by video taping it on her phone and then uploading the videos onto her computer to rewatch and edit. When Nina’s mom is driving, she finishes her conversation she is having on the phone and then looks back at Nina to yell at her for recording her. She tells her to stop recording and before she could look back in front of her, they get in a car accident.

The accident sends Nina’s mother into a coma and Nina to become hurt in one of her eyes. Nina feels horrible about what she did to her mother and wants to stay with her by her bedside in the hospital but her father is there and he wants her to stay at her grandmothers house. Her father looks through her computer at her videos to show his wife. He wants her to remember so he watches the videos of Nina’s and tries to make sure his wife can see them as well. Nina’s father watches almost all of Nina’s documented videos and sees that the majority of the videos that his daughter has recorded are of him and his wife. Most of the videos are of Nina’s father and mother fighting about work and financial problems, but some of the other videos reveal much more.

By the next morning, Nina escapes from her grandmothers house and comes to visit her mother in the hospital. She gets upset with her father for watching all of the videos but her and her family all realize later that her videos have got some vital information to keep her parents from going to jail.

This film was done exceptionally well and the angles of the camera stood out the most to me. Mona Jabé was great in her roll of Nina. I would say this film is one of a kind movie, but if I had to compare it to any other film, I would connect it to the film, The Blair Witch Project. The story line of each of the  films are completely different and have nothing similar about them, but both of these films were shot as though someone in the film was holding a camera and doing all of the recording themselves. Overall, this film is a one-of-a-kind movie and I enjoyed watching it. The story line was captivating and I was very impressed with the way the director used the camera.