ECHO - a film on perspectives

At times we make judgements on what we see based on our experience.  More often than not, our experience tends to make us skeptical and critical of what we encounter.  Only if we look closer and deeper do we uncover a new dimensions of something thrust before us.

I recently encountered the film "Echo" in a MOOC on film making.  The story revolves around a 17 year old girl, Caroline, who receives a phone call while walking on the street.  From the conversation, you  deduce that it is about her Dad getting into an accident.  Passersby notice the distraught Caroline and offer to help by getting her a cab and giving her money.  As soon as she takes the cab, her face changes and she stops the cab a few meters away from the scene.  Later you find Caroline at home with her family. Her mom upset about her being late.  In the next scene you find her having the same phone call and a passerby helping her.  This is cut short with the arrival of her brother. He asks who the guy is and how does he know about their dad.   In the final parts of the film, Caroline once again has the phone call experience with people helping her.

At the first sequence  of Caroline's phone call experience, you conclude that she is a fraud, taking advantage of the kindness of other people.  The film shots are taken from a distance, giving you the point of view of an outsider.  The middle part of the film gives you a glimpse of Caroline's family life. You get hints about an incident in the past that the family is coping.  The third part gives you an insight of how Caroline is feeling during the phone call experience.  With upclose camera shots, you find that she is highly emotional as if she were reliving the whole experience of her Dad having an accident.

The use of repetition and variation in this film gives you an insight to the same phenomenon from different angles.  By watching this film, one realizes that a story has many dimensions depending on the point of view you look at it from.  It reminds me of Akira Kurosawa's film "Rashomon" where a single storyline is told from the perspective of many witnesses with the end left for the audience to present a verdict.

I'm curious to know what you think of this film. Feel free to comment.