Esoteric Fragments
A few weeks ago, the blogisphere buzzed about an odd, little movie called the Tracey Fragments. Upon looking up its synopsis, I noticed hypnosis played a small role in it and so I added it to my list of “must sees.” When I finally got a hold of it, I happily sat down to watch it, expecting a “nice movie” (like Lars and the Real Girl). Well, this was not a “nice, little movie.” It was something quite different.
In some ways it is rather brilliant - like the David Hockney Polaroid collages - more psychological than esthetic. The movie is literally fragments. Each scene is comprised of several fragment films that equal a whole. One literally has to piece it all together.
Basically, it is the story of a person who has disassociated herself from something terrible. This is where hypnosis comes in - Tracey (a teenager) hypnotized her little brother into believing he was a dog. Unlike the children’s book Probuditi!, this movie gives it a much more sinister connotation. The brother, thinking he is a dog, wanders off into the cold winter.
Maybe this movie embraces the myth that a person will get “stuck” in hypnosis. Though with all the fragments, the time line is a little rough, but it seems as though the dog effect last a long time. Unless the child was inclined to want to be a dog, he would not have stayed “believing” he was a dog - especially since Tracey’s father was rather frustrated by the fact that his son only responded by barking. Maybe they were ineffectual parents, but I am quite sure, in most situations a parent would tell there daughter to bring the kid out of hypnosis.
Any thoughts?
As for this funky bit of film history - it is one of the few movies I wish I had not seen. I can appreciate the effect of the fragments, but only intellectually. I cannot embrace the hypnotic part. And as the character came to grips with the tragedy, I think less fragments might have been helpful. But then again, I am a hypnotist, not a critic.
