The Colour of your Lips by Annick Blanc | Sci-fi

In a world where the air has become unbreathable, wiping out all human life, two strangers survive – a scuba diver and a woman who relies on an oxygen tank. With their individual supplies of breathable air running out, will they join forces or will their survival instinct pit them against one another? In La couleur de tes lèvres (The Colour of your Lips) writer/director Annick Blanc uses oneirism and esotericism to create a world where she confronts her two characters with their most primal instincts and fears.

Crafting a dreamlike and engaging narrative, without a single line of dialogue through its gripping 18-minute runtime, The Colour of your Lips is a film with rare subtlety, but an impressive amount of detail. There is so much to pay attention to in Blanc’s short that you’ll feel the urge to pause each individual frame to examine it closer or initiate an immediate second viewing to catch everything. I strongly recommend choosing the second option.

As the diver reenters the world from his submerged protection we’re instantly immersed in the catastrophic event central to the film

In order to freely explore the relationship between her protagonists, without having to answer to the practicality of our reality, Blanc knew she had to create a whole new universe for her story to unravel in. By doing this, she not only saves precious time by not having to explain the circumstances that caused the apocalyptic event, but aims the focus of her film solely on the man and woman, and how they navigate their new reality.

“What do we do when all is lost?”

The structure of the film allows the audience to reflect on a question that was forefront in Blanc’s mind when writing The Colour of your Lips – “What do we do when all is lost?” The first part of her short provides a sensitive exposition, as we meet the diver and quickly realise that he might be the only survivor left on the Earth. Which makes the second part feel all the sweeter, as he meets a woman and they instantly build a rapport, fueled by their situation.

With that aforementioned dialogue-free approach, Blanc depicts the need for human company beautifully on-screen, with the pair finding solace in one another, all emotion portrayed just through the looks they exchange (behind diving goggles and breathing masks). Things take a downward turn in the final act though, as desperation pushes our characters to survival selfishness and we’re forced to reflect on an uncomfortable thought… what would we have done in their shoes?

Shot in HD, grain was added to the grade to compliment the fable-like tone of the film

Blanc and her DP Derek Branscombe (who also shot S/W feature Gas Can) not only bring the depth of the narrative to the screen with their creative vision, they also work to immerse the audience in their lyrical universe. The short’s color palette, paired with the desolate landscapes, immediately creates the atmosphere and emptiness of an ecological catastrophe and though the film was shot in HD, they added grain to compliment the fable-like tone of the film.

Every single frame in The Colour of your Lips is gorgeous, but they also contain clues that piece together to help build a strange vibe that feels contagious. When humans or human activity are on camera, all of a sudden the frame feels overcrowded, echoing how suffocating the air is, but also mirroring a culture of excess that could have easily led to the fictional catastrophe.

The visuals don’t have to do all the heavy-lifting when it comes to tone and atmosphere though, as while Blanc’s film may lack conversation, it uses sound (or a lack of it) to add to the authenticity of the world. Featuring a subdued score, the constant soundtrack to the film is the steady breathing of its two lead characters, which leads to not only provide an insight into their fragile state of mind but also helps to drive the film with a rhythmic, persistent pacing.

Part of the esteemed Travelling Distribution catalogue, The Colour of your Lips was quite the hit on the festival circuit, picking up awards at Fantastic Fest and Regard, while also being nominated at the 2019 Canadian Screen Awards. Director Annick Blanc is already an established filmmaker, with this her third short as director, she has also produced over a dozen films, and with producer Maria Gracia Turgeon, she co-founded Midi La Nuit – the production company behind previously featured and Academy Award nominated shorts Brotherhood & Fauve. She now plans on filming her feature-length debut, Grand Nord, in October 2021.