TRIBECA REVIEW: ‘The Abyss of Man’s Conscience (ReconoceR)’

The annual Tribeca Film Festival has kicked off its celebration of documentaries, foreign films, independent filmmaking and big-budget spectacles. Among the many offerings this year are thoughtful films on real-life subjects (struggling economy, censorship) and one big hotly-anticpated Hollywood project (The Avengers closes the fest). There are numerous cinematic offerings, but some of the brightest gems are only a few minutes in length.

Tribeca has always had a dedication to short films, and this year is no different. One of the most interesting entries is The Abyss of Man’s Conscience (ReconoceR), an often dizzying comment on the history of violence in Colombia. It will be featured in the Journeys Across Cultural Landscapes program.

Director Juan Camilo González loops together several different abstract images that play like a museum installation rather than a narrative film. Some of the images are quite interesting, asking the audience to consider them very closely. González heightens this sense of “recognizing” by repeating the different images and icons. The looping of the images matches the palindrome nature of the Spanish word, “reconocer.”

One picture displays a crudely drawn man stuck within a perfect star. His body begins with no color and then becomes splotchy with bloody redness. The whole image is bookmarked by quotation marks and what appears to be moving soil. Another image is of a cut-out house with three people sitting at a table. The evocative images are all set to music by Colombian composer Rodolfo Acosta.

The 6-minute short film, featuring rich experimental animation, is a student project from the University of Southern California.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• The Abyss of Man’s Conscience (ReconoceR) will play April 19 and 27 at 7 p.m. (Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 5); April 28 at 11:30 p.m. (Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 4); and April 29 at 11 a.m. (Tribeca Cinemas Theater 1). Click here for more information.