Ute Aurand's Paulina Case

Ute Aurand’s Paulina is the first in a series of five films depicting close family members of hers. The film focuses on her daughter over a span of roughly twelve years, from childhood to young adulthood. According to Aurand, she produced the film from a vast amount of footage she had taken of her children growing up. A possible concept of this film is the change in behavior of a young person over time, specially the loss of physical excitement and surge of psychological curiosity. Further, I believe the concept is even more complex in that the film depicts this idea subjectively through the eyes of Aurand and her memories. Aurand uses numerous methods to convey this concept, including the structure in conjunction with visual composition, the coloring/ angles of the film, and the editing pace of each sequence.

Paulina depicts several sequences of Aurand’s daughter from various times in her youth. However, these shots are shown out of sequence. The film starts of with shots of a young Paulina, switches back and forth from shots of her as a small child to a young woman, and returns to shots of the young Paulina. Aurand probably did this so that we would become familiar with the rambunctious Paulina, and then contrast the daughter’s behavior from different ages, rather than just watch her grow older. Close-ups of her face as a child and young adult are juxtaposed when shown close together. As a young child, she plays around, skates, and smiles, while an older Paulina sits solemnly, reads, and sleeps. This comes to us as a surprise after watching a small child enjoy the world, and we continually see this contrast until the end of the film. Aurand specifically shows close-ups of the older daughter’s face with lugubrious expressions and her holding the book Truman Capote and a cellphone, while the younger daughter takes chances climbing along the outside of stairs and hanging onto trees from her legs. Not only does this show her lack of physical enthusiasm as a young woman, but her switch from a curiosity with the outside world to her inner inquisitiveness and need for mental stimulation.

Coloring and angles also play an important part in this concept. Each shot of the older Paulina is in black and white, while the shots of the younger Paulina are in color. Aurand was probably trying to convey two things.