Sink or Swim

1990 autobiographical documentary


Rating: 13/20


Plot: Through a stream 26 snippets (each titled with one of the letters of the alphabet in reverse order), director Su Friedrich tells the story of her relationship with her father.


This is old-fashioned avant-garde, utilizing very little sound; stock footage, home video, and poorly recorded television series excerpts; surreal scratchy imagery of female body builders, circus performers, women bathing, and roller coaster rides; and a deliberate artsy-fartsy pace. The story is complex and made even more complex with the literary narration read by a young girl, a script that includes mythological and poetic allusions. A lot of this didn't seem to add up, more than likely because it connects only on a personal level, but a lot of this was also fairly moving. My bias against female avant-gardists is reflected in the rating.


Here I am, nearly weeping: