Feast

There was music and wine, but also syringe needles: crates of objects from the scene of the crime displayed on tables. This witty, yet sinister opening scene sets the tone for Feast, Tim Leyendekker’s first feature-length film based on the troubling Groningen HIV case whereby men were purposely drugged and injected with contaminated blood at parties. Leyendekker previously excelled at IFFR by pushing the boundaries of forms and stories. Feast is his own, no-compromise search for the truth, taking in deep, primary emotions such as lust, aggression and the need for security. Leyendekker’s elegant, ingenious film is akin to a bear hug with room for wonderment, pleasure, indignation and disgust. Every thought has its own shape. Does drug use expand the will as well as the mind? Can consent be elastic? Theatrical monologues effortlessly transition to documentary-stylised daily life. The guilty are interrogated and encouraged to ponder their deeds. Tone, rhythm and colour accompany the various perspectives and dimensions. Locations run the gamut from a sober, conventional, Dutch living room and a microbiology lab to a beach at dawn. References to Plato find their place. During the latter’s Feast Symposium, people philosophise about the origin, nature and goal of Eros and friendship. Where does personal pleasure end and the invasion of the other start? Could an aggressor merely have been in search of a sense of homecoming? (International Film Festival Rotterdam)