THE MEMORIES WITHIN
Sometimes I wish moments could last forever, and that I could live in that moment for just a little bit longer than what it actually lasts. Then I am snapped back into reality, and the stresses of my life come crashing back into my consciousness. Other moments and memories I wish I could erase. They are too painful to deal with. I am a very emotional person, which makes it hard for me to deal with my emotions. I end up holding things in and pushing them aside. I allow myself to live a lie. If I don’t think about something, maybe it didn’t happen. But I can only live this lie until something jolts it back into my memory and I can no longer hide from it. I have to face it. And deal with it. And my emotions explode, uncontrollably. With time, the painful moments lose their power and it is the happy and carefree moments that I try to cling onto.
For Reuben, objects hold memories in this film. His story is told through flashbacks, as he picks up objects and is bombarded by the memories he tried to forget. He is, in a sense, reliving these moments of his life at the flea market. For this reason, I choose to leave the flashbacks in color as opposed to black and white. By the end of the film, Reuben is changed only because these memories came flooding back at him all at once. Memories affect a person from within. Memories shape how we act and react. It creates and molds character. Memories influence how we see the world, how we see strangers, and how we see objects. How we see everything. Our past is forever clinging to us.
corinne abbiss, director
