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Vicente I. Sánchez | @Snchez1Godotx
Jean-Luc Godard He stated that a tracking shot is a moral issue: each camera movement or frame represents a decision that shapes the development and interpretation of a work. Under this premise, a crucial question arises: what moral responsibility does a director have when approaching a story? This question continually assails me as I watch On the Marginthe most recent work of Eduardo Casanova.
After the controversial Skins and The MercyCasanova makes its debut in the documentary to tell the story of Moisés, a man who, years ago, set himself on fire in Madrid and since then has lived on the margins of society. His face, marked by fire, is known among users of the Madrid metro, where Moisés used to ask for money to survive. It was at one of those moments when Casanova approached him, asked for his phone number and began to explore the possibility of taking his story to film.
On the Margin It was intended to give visibility to mental health problems, but it ends up being an excessive exercise in egocentrism
This is how it was born On the Margina documentary filmed secretly for five years with hidden cameras, which tells the life of a man who in 2010 immolated himself in front of the astonished gaze of passersby. They managed to put out the flames and transfer him to the La Paz University Hospital in Madrid, where he began an arduous process of physical and psychological recovery that has not yet concluded.. However, Casanova’s camera does not linger on Moses’ personal tragedy or visible and invisible scars, but rather on a chronicle of his social exclusion and the psychotic breaks that put him in constant danger.
The central problem of the documentary lies in the fact that Casanova seems to limit himself to observing Moisés, without offering help or real accompaniment.. At times, he even seems to delight in his self-destruction. Scenes like that of Moisés consuming cocaine in front of a camera that remains impassive raise disturbing ethical questions: did the director provoke these behaviors to obtain “the perfect shot”? Should you have avoided it? These questions, although uncomfortable, are inevitable for the viewer.
Casanova explained that his intention was to “place marginalized people at the center of the story.” However, in On the Marginhis interest seems to lie more in Moses’ physical deformity than in his humanity. Casanova’s attraction to the grotesque and extravagant, which worked in fictions such as Eat My Shit and Skinsis inappropriate and counterproductive here.
Although it was not the director’s obligation to offer medical treatment to Moisés, an approach that reflected greater sensitivity would have been desirable. Instead, The documentary is perceived as an exercise in ego, more concerned with shocking than reflecting. Moses is relegated to the background, reduced to an object of morbid fascination.
Eduardo Casanova misses the opportunity to offer a serene and reflective look, delivering instead an empty work, designed to provoke more than to help.
Narrative ethics is not the only problem of On the Margin. Aesthetic decisions aggravate its shortcomings. The use of hidden cameras with fisheye lenses further distorts a reality that demanded a respectful and thoughtful approach. Additionally, the theatrical reenactments—with a bizarre, color-saturated aesthetic—include alien monsters that symbolize Moses’ delusions about mind control and oppression. These scenes, starring Moses himself, are not only meaningless, but border on offensive and would hardly be approved by mental health experts.
If filmmakers like Jonas Mekas, Chris Marker or Agnès Varda taught us anything, it is that humility is essential to portray reality. Casanova, on the other hand, opts for unnecessary bombast that undermines the potential of the story.
The documentary also fails to address the story of Moses and his family environment in any substantial way. Although his sister, his ex-partner and his daughter try to explain who Moisés is and how schizophrenia destroyed him little by little, the narrative treatment is so superficial and frivolous that many moments result in involuntary comedy. This disconnection was evident during the inaugural screening at the Rizoma Festival, where the laughter of some attendees contrasted painfully with the tragedy that should have prevailed.
On the Margin It was intended to give visibility to mental health problems, but it ends up being an excessive exercise in egocentrism. Eduardo Casanova misses the opportunity to offer a serene and reflective view, instead delivering an empty work, designed to provoke more than to help. That is, ego, ego and more ego.
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