The Captive’s Tale that fills three chapters (39-41) is not being told. There is a story, but it is kept away, to avoid the redundancy that would turn images into illustrations. Instead we see the images of captivity, which remain silent. The telling of the Captive’s story may be presented on an audio tape, juxtaposed to the silent scene at some distance. It is told, not enacted. The images of the silent scene have no direct bearing on the story; they are not “illustrations”. The somewhat long and even tedious story-telling should give a sense of the relative futility of story-telling in the face of the situations and events we see. The images are fragments of memories of captivity. Standing behind bars, grabbing the bars, the images suggest the dilution and disappearance of the character and of the cinematic image. Other images that signify captivity and the possibility of liberation, such as, for example, hugging a tree and looking at the sky, are offered to the visitor to interpret.

Image: Ebba Sund