With a title as simple as Deny, the audience is bound to wonder what exactly is being denied and why. Is someone being denied housing or some other government benefit, as the first scene might suggest? Is the philandering boyfriend going to deny the affair he’s about to embark on? Is the mysterious Russian woman engaged in some form of espionage that she’ll have to deny at some point? All of these are possibilities.
But, to take a step back, Deny was written, directed and produced by Alioune Binaté. This is, according to IMDb, the first short he’s produced, and we feel immediately that we are in good hands. The opening scene is in fact a brilliant set piece that shows off Binaté’s directing and writing skills. We see Karen, a young mother of colour sitting awkwardly in the office of some sort of agency devoted to helping young mothers. The clerk, who we might initially like since he’s working to help the less fortunate, very quickly rubs us the wrong way by insisting that Keren sit up straight in her chair since, as the clerk rudely notes, he is trying to help her after all. He wants to help, but he also wants to feel powerful. We learn a tremendous about from this opening scene: Keren is poor, a parent of one, lives in South London, uncomfortable in the face of so-called authority figures, and she appears quite used to the sort of abuse we see her taking here. Binaté has gotten great performances out of these actors. The visual style here and throughout the film is striking and constantly engaging. We’re treated to a visual tour of South London that makes us feel like we’re really there.
But this opening sequence only hints at the plot that’s about to unfold before us. Keren is in fact living with Jahlil who turns out to be the real protagonist of the film. It’s not entirely clear what he does for a living, but he soon meets Lizavieta, a Russian in London for reasons that aren’t entirely clear. She’s exotic, strong and interested in Jahlil for some reason. Lizavieta, who claims to study politics, is oddly aloof when asked about Putin or anything else about Russian politics.
As a side note, in this film everything to do with Russia seems to be a stand in for a mysterious world that Jahlil wants to escape to. There are Russian films that look like they’re a universe away from what we’re seeing n South London, Russian music. We also hear news reports about the political situation in Russia. It all hangs in the air as a representation of a way out for Jahlil.
But, on a more mundane level, Jahlil starts spending more and more time with Lizavieta. He studies Russian, which is no easy task. He explains to the barely credulous Keren that he’s learning the language because he wants to get into marketing and Russian will serve him well. But he spends more and more time away from her and from his son. There is a wonderful montage with Keren cooking, cleaning, feeding baby, while Jahlil spends one evening after another at the bar drinking with Lizavieta. Interspersed throughout the montage are images of onions cooking in oil. They go from white, to brown, to black and then they catch fire. This can only represent Keren’s mood as her relationship and life situation deteriorate.
In the midst of her gloom, Keren decides to take in an old Russian silent film. She seems to empathize with the silent film’s protagonist: a woman being shot down by soldiers while out walking her baby in a stroller. She empathizes too with the baby, whose stroller then bumps down the stairs to an unknown fate. Unfortunately, in a moment all too familiar to parents, she can’t finish watching the film because her actual baby has woken up crying. At the absolute nadir of her predicament, Jahlil goes out for a fancy dinner with Lizavieta and completely forgets that it’s Keren’s birthday. Keren is left home to fend for herself.
When it turns out that Lizavieta isn’t everything that Jahlil was hoping for, and that her motives weren’t quite as straightforward as his, he tells Lizavieta that he wants nothing more to do with her. But there’s a surprise waiting for him at home.
To return to the title, I personally would like to think that it is Jahlil who is in denial about his situation and how good he’s got it at home and he risks it all for an exotic dream that vanishes into thin air.
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