자나트 알샤노바의 영화 《비커밍》(2025) 연구

초록

This study examines Zhannat Alshanova’s feature debut, Becoming(2025), a film that departs from the ethnographic clichés often associated with Central Asian cinema to confront the ontological transformation of a teenage protagonist within the framework of modern institutional discipline. Premiering at the Locarno Film Festival's “Cineasti del presente” competition, the film offers a universal narrative of youth by navigating the tension between subjective formation and systemic assimilation. The narrative analysis focuses on the transition from the “unstable verticality” of the mountain resort to the “established horizontal regulation” of the swimming pool. Abandoned by her mother’s emotional neglect, 17-year-old Mila seeks structure in an open-water swim team. However, the study argues that this pursuit of belonging leads to a paradoxical outcome: the adoption of the very predatory survival mechanisms she once despised. The historical context of surveillance, inherited from her grandfather and modernized through Coach Vlad’s dehumanizing training methods, suggests that growth is frequently a process of institutional capture rather than autonomous evolution. Aesthetically, the film is defined by Caroline Champetier’s cinematography and Lila Desilles’s editing. Champetier utilizes standard focal lengths and deep focus to objectively situate Mila within her environment, while the water-level POV captures the physiological rigors of survival. Desilles’s mid-tempo editing synchronizes the narrative rhythm with the protagonist’s breathing, structuring her psychological state through time rather than mere sequence. Ultimately, the title Becoming functions as a poignant irony. Mila fails to achieve a conventional social adulthood but succeeds in reaching a state of “subjective stasis”. The final “pause” in the open water and the abrupt smash cut represent a refusal of the teleological growth narrative and a sovereign decision to recover her own breath amidst a corrupt system. This study concludes that Becoming redefines the essence of youthful alienation in the face of modern disciplinary structures, presenting the act of stopping as a profound assertion of individual identity.

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