ASPHYXIUM ZINE

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Film Review: LUCID: A SHORT FILM BY SKY CLAUDETTE SOTO by Dave Wolff

LUCID: A SHORT FILM BY SKY CLAUDETTE SOTO
Cast: Sky Claudette Soto
Editing by: Sky Claudette Soto
Filming by: Vlad Marco and Sky Claudette Soto
Lighting by: Sky Claudette Soto
Music by: Wendy Rule from the album Persephone
Copyright: Svproductions13, 2019
Release date: March 9, 2019
The latest production by Sky Claudette Soto and the NYC performance group Eros Fyre, according to Soto, is “a dreamlike daydream of curiosity and purging one's soul, clearing away fear of the unknown, death, rebirth, saging and cleansing the spirit within and without, and opening up the key to the soul.” This description of the ten-minute film called something to mind of a Nietzschean attitude of accepting the light and darkness within oneself, or what is considered light and darkness, as equal characteristics of his or her soul. Without the need to separate one from the other or to purge one impulse in favor of the other. Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil” explores these ideas more comprehensively. “Lucid” represents a similar journey to what Nietzsche proposes, to abandon dogma and discover one’s inner self. You might interpret this video differently, but it conveys this idea in visuals representing poetry and spirituality. “Lucid” begins with an image of a wilderness in winter (the kind often associated with black metal bands), that is vast and empty. From there a mysterious character (the spirit child of fire and curiosity) enters a house situated somewhere in that wilderness, descending a flight of stairs with nothing but curiosity. This sequence is followed by imagery of nature, snakes, fire, masquerade, urban legends and the occult, and before long she becomes part of the scenery as she begins to discover her soul. The songs included in the soundtrack, contributed by the Australian artist Wendy Rule, is as important to this production as the locations chosen for filming. Her compositions “The Dark Earth Opened,” “The Panic” and “Underworld Queen” are taken from her latest album “Persephone,” which has received favorable reviews from Rolling Stone Australia, The Age Good Weekend (Australia), The Music (Australia) and New Witch Magazine (USA). Her album retells the tale of the Greek goddess Persephone’s descent into the underworld. The tracks mentioned above serve to complement the journey taken by Soto’s character. Cerebral and introspective, “Lucid” is a huge improvement from Eros Fyre’s older film shorts and shows how far they’ve come telling their tales since they started in 2002. Soto has also appeared on Bravo, Fuse and Playboy TV. -Dave Wolff

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