MUTA (2011)

MUTA, a short film that showcases Miu Miu's F/W '11 collection, while very beautifully and cleverly shot, mostly confused and terrified me. The opening shot of the film- a jerky sequence of a model unfurling from a small door- was deeply reminiscent (to me, at least) to a horror film creature, which instantly colours the film with a sense of unease.

The key element of the piece is the continual refusal to show the faces of the models/characters- we see them obscured by sunglasses, through a blurry long distance shot, and in profile, but never straight on. I feel that this decision largely removes the element of the model from the film- the audience is made to see the garments, not the women within. The film is shot very cleverly in order to highlight smaller details of the garments- the close-ups of the shoes are particularly stunning. Additionally, the film follows the aesthetic guidelines for the collection, matching in execution and styling to the runway show, and print advertisting. The runway models also feature giant sunglasses- almost as if they are the same girls as seen on the ship within the film.

Ultimately, MUTA never does what is expected from it- while it advertises Miu Miu, no logo or brand name is showed, and the film itself never truly explains the mystery of the girls on the boat. This suggests that the film was made with the assumption that the audience would already by aware of the collection and of the brand, and is such created for a very niche auidience. Additionally, the film may have been left deliberately unsolved in order to generate interest around the collection- through the form of the viral video.

This sense of mystery, as well as the director's constant use of the mechanics of the horror film (dim or unreliable lighting, sudden movements, blurry shots, unnerving soundtrack) serves to elevate MUTA into the realm of true spectacle- so overt that you almost forget that the film serves an advertising purpose at all.