‘Piaffe’ Review – Horse Girls Need Love Too

Sights and sounds take center stage in this equine love story.

Film is a visual medium, and because of that, filmmakers have been trying to find inventive ways of telling stories that engage the senses—even if that means sacrificing narrative. Such is the case with Ann Oren’s newest film, Piaffe, the story of shy, introverted Eva (Simone Bucio), who takes over her sister’s job as a foley artist for a commercial about horses. Her struggle to correctly do the job gets even more complicated when she begins to grow a tail herself.

Piaffe is a visual tale about love, lust, deception, and identity, but how it goes about telling its story will be a challenge for most audiences. The film has minimal dialogue, and most of its narrative beats don’t come to fruition by the end of the film. We don’t know if Eva completes the commercial. We don’t know why her sister Zara (played by non-binary performer Simon(è) Jaikiriuma Paetau) is in a mental institution and apparently has a hatred for her sister. We don’t really know what becomes of Eva’s relationship with a botanist (Sebastian Rudolph), and we really don’t find out what is happening to her body and why she sprouted a tail in the first place. 

All of that seems to be the idea behind Oren’s film. These questions aren’t meant to be answered; they’re meant to be observed. How does someone’s changing body affect their choices? Are they even in control anymore of their actions, or is human nature naturally linked with animal nature? There are moments throughout the commercial that Eva is working on when we see the horse lash out inexplicably. This moment is reiterated through Eva’s actions when she almost kills her lover. Many scenes share this symbolic mirroring throughout the film. Although, there is one scene in a nightclub between Eva and Zara that will be jarring for most audiences, and the symbolism of the moment will be lost or tiring by that point.

On top of being a visual feast, Piaffe is also a sonic one as well. Being focused on a foley artist, anyone who’s unfamiliar with the work they do will get a glimpse of it in this film. Eva uses different pairs of shoes and an assortment of different ground types like sand, grass, and even rocks to create the sounds needed for each environment. For anyone interested in that aspect of filmmaking, it’s a compelling insight into one of the more overlooked facets of making movies and television.

Along with that, is the score. Because there’s not much talking throughout the film, the score has to envelop most of the scenes to carry the story forward. VTSS, äbvsd, and Munsha put the score together, and it is a blend of Eurotrash EDM and glossy horns and wood instruments. The pinnacle of which is reached when Eva and Novak, her botanist lover, are at the brink of sexual and emotional connection that results in a violent altercation.

Beyond the score, there is the use of silence. In Eva’s first meeting with the botanist, only a sentence of dialogue is shared between them. By the time he’s choking her with her horse tail hair, he has maybe said two other sentences. The silence is maybe a tad bit overused, and there are some scenes that would have benefited greatly from more exposition. The film is primarily open for interpretation as much of its story is undefined and requires the audience to glean from it whatever they may. It’s a distinctly artistic choice that will ultimately keep the film from gaining mainstream appreciation. Its compilation of dreamlike imagery, 70s style urban European kitsch, and anthropomorphic eroticism make it an art house film for a very specific niche, and few will fall into that category.

Piaffe is currently playing at The Quad in New York courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories. The film will open in Los Angeles on September 15 with more markets to follow in the coming weeks. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72kgRixV838]