Céline Roustan
With the aim of making his viewer “feel angry towards toxic masculine behaviour”, Laurynas Bareiša’s unusual short film Atkūrimas (Dummy) follows female police officer Migle as she witnesses a perpetrator reenact his violent crime, alongside her all-male colleagues. Centered around a bizarre group dynamic, writer/director Bareiša triggers the most layered and nuanced WTF reaction I have ever felt, contrasting the stark realities of the crime with an absurd tone and an infuriating situation.
“The juxtaposition of brutal physical violence and verbal microaggression is what interested me the most”
Bareiša credits two main inspirations for the strongest narrative elements of the film. Firstly, his sister’s experiences in her professional life proved influential in forming the perspective of Migle and adding the subtle, emotional depth to the story. While Romanian film Reconstituirea, by Lucian Pintillie, is where the general idea for the concept came from. Mixing the two works to strengthen both aspects, enhancing their tonal differences. “The juxtaposition of brutal physical violence and verbal microaggression is what interested me the most”, the director explains.
Migle and her male colleagues deep in the woods during the unsettling reenactment.
Dummy is the kind of film you won’t forget easily. Unusual and unsettling from the opening scene, reactions are consistently triggered throughout the film as we witness the continual microaggressions Migle is subjected to in this surprisingly casual environment. As a viewer, the strange situation the female police officer finds herself in is intensified by the absence of reaction from all the characters present. The level of brutality and violence described in the reenactment is disturbing, but for the cops, and the criminal, the experience seems to be as casual as a walk in the park. The absence of terror or disgust (Migle included) is also in itself terrifying. As it escalates, once more all we can think of is WTF and WTF again.
With the horrors of the reenactment settling in, it quickly becomes apparent that the one who is being looked down upon in this situation is not even the criminal, but the only woman present. As we become more aware of the dynamic in the group, it ignites an infuriating reaction in us viewers, but Bareiša refrains from tackling this toxic misogyny head-on. Instead of having Migle suffer from direct and obvious comments, she is made to endure insidious remarks, challenging both her authority and her ability to do her job, simply because she is a woman.
“I wrote, shot, edited and directed it myself in long takes and in chronological order” – Bareiša on the production of his short
Bareiša wore many creative hats in the making of Dummy, in addition to writing and directing he also shot and edited the film. As previously mentioned, the film has an unsettling vibe, which the director achieved through long takes and developing a certain chemistry between his actors. Revealing that he worked with actor Paulius Markevicius (who plays the perpetrator) independently, Bareiša admits that he “introduced him to the rest of the cast only on the day of the shoot”. Describing Markevicius’ part as a “kind of a performance within a performance”, the unexpected nature of his role contributes greatly to the general feeling of disconnect exuding from the group. It feels as if everyone is just going through the motions, whilst we’re left screaming at the screen, infuriated by what we see.
Dummy got to have an IRL premiere at the 2020 Berlinale, before hitting the 2020 virtual festival circuit, winning awards at Regard and ShortFest along the way. With those prizes qualifying Bareiša’s film for the Oscars, it is currently in its FYC campaign.