Glance

Description

Glance is a dramatic short film about a painter and his muse.

Richard is an isolated artist who lives through his work. He is preparing for a major exhibition, but has become blocked and lacking in inspiration. One day he sees a removals truck pulling up at the house opposite. The unloading of furniture is supervised by the beautiful Isabella, who immediately captures his imagination. The following day, as he drinks his morning coffee, he sees Isabella through her bedroom window, admiring her naked body in the mirror. This glimpse is enough to inspire him to begin work on a new canvas. The next day the same thing occurs, but as he sketches her, their eyes meet. However, rather than being shocked she smiles and it becomes obvious that she is posing for him. As the days pass Richard taps into a rich vein of creativity, until one day when he is out buying food, they meet on the street. She comes with him to his studio and models for him in a series of poses. When the exhibition finally comes around, Isabella arrives with her husband, and Richard realizes that their relationship was not what he had hoped.

Biblical Connection

The Story of King David and Bathsheba. The setting, late afternoon in Jerusalem some 3,000 years ago, could easily be mistaken for the subject of a boudoir painting: A beautiful young woman bathes on the roof under the last rays of dusk, espied by the lustful eyes of a hidden admirer. Perhaps she looks like a Rembrandt nude, all dark shadows and pale flesh, or more like a Rubens, partially swathed in dark fabric and tended by her servants. But no matter the serenity of the vignette, there is something amiss in this vision, a scene wrought with irony. The admirer, King David, is not where he is supposed to be, on the battlefield with his troops, but instead has remained at his palace. And the woman, Bathsheba, is married to Uriah, a general in David's army. And though he is normally a righteous man, with a harem already full of wives and concubines, the king succumbs to his overwhelming desire. I am very interested in Bathsheba's complicity in this seduction, did she want to be seen and to become wife to the King, or was she a powerless victim of circumstance -and prey to the male gaze.