All the familiar pleasures of a beach getaway – seafood feasts, open-air concerts, lazy lounges under the hot sun – take on a fascinatingly odd dimension in this idiosyncratic documentary. The second feature from directing team Julia Gutweniger and Florian Kofler, Vista Mare foregrounds the invisible labour that goes into the business of holidays on Italy’s north Adriatic coast.
The film opens in the grey months of the off-season, where the only signs of life are the rhythmic churning of a sand dredger. Soon, umbrellas are erected on the beach, while restaurants and souvenir shops start gearing up for business. Shown in static shots, these vignettes reveal the behind-the-scenes logistics not captured in glossy travel brochures.
These episodic moments are so engrossing that, by the time the holidaymakers finally appear, their rowdy presence feels like an intrusion into the calm. This sense of disruption is also evoked through the film’s intriguing sound design. The blaring noises of beach aerobics or blasting DJ sets are juxtaposed with the more silent routines of manual workers, as they tend to the tasks that often go unappreciated.
While the soundscape suggests a compelling mixture of boredom and productivity, the stillness of the visual compositions pleasantly recalls the deadpan absurdism of Roy Andersson’s cinema. The film’s observational approach is also far from apolitical; on the beach is where a microcosm of class and labour hierarchy unfolds. In one scene, the well-oiled machinations of the holiday season are briefly brought to a halt as a group of seasonal workers take to the streets to protest for their rights. Subtly subverting postcard-perfect ideals of cerulean waters and golden sands, Vista Mare casts its astute gaze on the troubled waters that swell beneath the bright blue sky.
• Vista Mare is on True Story from 7 February.
