La Rencontre (1997)

A man decides to film the first year of his relationship with a new woman. Within this idea of a video diary, filmmaker Alain Cavalier concentrates on objects, parts of bodies, hand and feet as they enter the frame. The camera rarely moves, and people rarely make an appearance. It is the voice-over dialogue, his voice and hers, that invests these images and objects with meaning. Fish is described as being very expensive, a shot of a wallet carries memories of a dead father. Slowly objects are given associations and we begin to fill in the personal history of the two lovers. Then the outer world starts to make an appearance -- Bastille Day celebrations, subway bombs. From the strictly personal we move to the socially specific. Sounds of nature -- rain, birds -- punctuate the soundtrack.