A Letter to True

A film that is difficult or impossible to define – and that is always a good sign. It is probably not a political film, even though that may come closest to its core. It looks like a home movie that got out of hand. A very polished and beautiful home movie, but one with the personal adventures of a diary and with a comparable lack of structure. The dog True gets the function of ‘dear diary’: the director’s text is addressed to him, and it pauses to look at all kinds of things and to recall many anecdotes. Weber shows home movies from his childhood that took place on military bases. He shows war photographs of his dead colleague Larry Burrows. He shows the material that he shot for Jonathan Demme of Haitian refugees (Demme’s The Agronomist was screened last year in the Homefront programme). He reflects on America after 9/11. If you list all this, A Letter to True really looks like a political film, but this amazing film collage comprises much more, such as glimpses of the jet set with Elizabeth Taylor and Dirk Bogarde. The leitmotif in all of this remains the dogs. Famous ones (like Lassie) and less famous ones. Both the dogs and serious issues are approached playfully. Everything has a matter-of-factness and careless beauty. Everything sounds cool. And that may be the most confusing aspect of this film. That even war can be cool. (GjZ)