Stolen Memories, playing at BFI London Film Festival, isn’t afraid to explore challenging themes, creating a powerful short drama held aloft by its delicate yet forthright direction, claustrophobic cinematography, and exceptional performances.
How accurate are your memories? It’s a challenging question to answer. From an individual perspective, we often believe our memories are 100% true, yet how many of us have discussed an event with family or friends only to discover that others have a completely different recollection? Memories are not fixed, but fluid, and our brains are not recorders but an ever-changing, adapting, dynamic library of information.
Debates around memory, especially those from childhood, and questions around whether these can be manipulated, altered, or even created over time by others or us have led to much debate and disagreement among psychologists. But one thing is true: when the memories we hold as accurate do not match others’, and when those memories are rooted in negative feelings, emotions, or uncertainty, conflict often results. These discussions sit at the heart of Anders Davidsen’s powerful short film, Stolen Memories.
As eighteen-year-old Emil (Jørgen Cleve Broch) arrives at his childhood home with his girlfriend Ingrid (Hannah Fjeldbraaten), they are greeted by the chaos and horror of a break-in. Drawers have been emptied, belongings are scattered across the floor, and furniture has been overturned. As Emil phones his parents to report the burglary, Ingrid explores the house, surveys the damage, and finds a small set of Polaroid photos that immediately concern her. The photos appear to be of Emil as a boy, naked in the bathroom with his mum, who is also naked. Ingrid believes they have a sexual undertone and presents them to Emil, who initially denies there is anything wrong. Still, Ingrid’s concerns spark doubts as he attempts to search his own memories for an answer.
When his mum, dad, and younger brother arrive, those doubts become a barrier he has never experienced, leading him to challenge his mum and open a rift that will be difficult to close.
Anders Davidsen’s film explores the challenges of recollection and the uncertainty of memory when you’re presented with doubts from someone you trust. It dares to ask whether our drive to over-analyse past experiences and relationships has led to a society where trauma has become currency and memories can be manipulated to suit narratives that state we all hold unresolved trauma.
But Stolen Memories is also about changing generational attitudes to what is acceptable in the home. Not that long ago, many of us would have shared baths with siblings, or possibly seen our parents naked in shared changing rooms or maybe even during bathtimes. But now, many parents are far more cautious in how they interact with their children, for fear of planting memories that could be turned from something innocent into something sexual.
Stolen Memories isn’t afraid to explore challenging themes, creating a powerful short drama held aloft by its delicate yet forthright direction, claustrophobic cinematography, and exceptional performances. It’s a short film that leaves a lingering sense of unease as the credits roll, as a mother-son relationship is changed forever by doubts that only time and communication will heal.
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