Migraine

Migraine is the simple story of a headache. This short experimental, from Belgium, tells of a splitting headache from a time past, that still lingers on in memory; not to be so easily forgotten. Filmmaker Frederick Roussel takes a sore little memory and builds an artful story around it. When the pain in the head was like a nail being hammered in, the sufferer turns to many solutions, one after the other, only to discover that there is nothing to remedy his condition that day. Migraine is the firsthand narrative of what happened that day.

A true blood experimental film, Migraine is also a beautiful example of classic storytelling. It is delightful to watch the three-act structure brought into this experiment with perfection, forming its spine. The visual treatment of the film, with a dash of motion blur to the images, good choice of shot volumes, smart shot compositions and a monochromatic treatment, makes the storytelling come alive in all its splendour. The timing and placement of the text on the screen enhance the suspense and the reveal, at various points in the narrative.

Migraine is sure to bring to mind, some of the viewer’s own experiences of similar headaches experienced. A delight to watch, considering that the experience being discussed is not something that anyone would like to relive, this experiment deserves to be appreciated for telling a wee story in a simple, engaging manner. The film also leaves us with some very pertinent questions like, where did he go and how did he manage to placate his Migraine that day?