Magdalena Viraga is my second Nina Menkes film after being taken with the surreal melancholy of Phantom Love. It's becoming clear that Menkes is a unique, even important, voice in independent cinema. This film in particular is forged in the fires of the stasis; a largely static camera captures ennui and exquisite frames in lengthy shots. Ida, a prostitute, and her portly, darker-skinned fellow prostitute friend, speak in crypto-poetic fashion, simultaneously expressing and obfuscating Ida's plight. Not until the latter half of the film does Ida, or anyone else, emote whatsoever. Dialogue is delivered in highly stilted, monotone cadence. This style often eliminates the emotional pull of the film, forcing the viewer into a more critical reactionary mode, judging the film as visual poetry as opposed to traditional narrative drama. The film is subtitled "Story of a Red Sea Crossing", this of course referring to the parting of the Red Sea that allowed the Jews to escape slavery in Egypt. Given Menkes' devout faith, this would seem to position the narrative as an allegory of sorts for Ida's escape from the world of prostitution. But that reading is too simple; too reductive. Ida seeks love, but squirms with stoic visage as men thrust and pant on top of her. She once loved a man so much she wanted to die, she says, and seeks that level of passion again. Echoes of a man asking to be kissed on the lips haunt her thoughts. A murder takes place that she's accused of and imprisoned for, but she maintains her innocence. This aspect of the narrative is toyed with and made deliberately confusing. After all, this is less about who did what than why.
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