Sophie Dros' documentary has a trailer as fascinating as her subject.
A formidable figure haunts luxury cruises which mixes the retired and the young rich. There is something about Baron Ronald Busch Reisinger of Inneryne which is gripping from his very first appearance and it is not his size. I think it is his stillness as he observes people passing by.
Shot from a distance, we observe him as he does the same to others.
Sophie Dros turns her camera on this Baron, a figure with a title from another world suggesting luxury and decadence as he takes a cruise and tries to mingle with people. He cuts a lonely figure and somewhere he knows that his title is what either attracts people to him or maybe keep them at bay. But he can't stop announcing it. He also knows that this is the only thing that makes people notice him.
It is a clever trailer that conveys so much in just under two minutes but the framing of this film and simultaneously shows how the Baron is impossible not to notice and yet he is also almost invisible to others.
There is a shot where the Baron dozes off in a corner. He is kept at the extreme right of the frame but he is what you will see. This is contrasted with other shots where he is at the center, and yet people pass him by without paying attention.
The cruise seems to have a character of its own. It's, as expected, gaudy and expensive looking but ironically, it is the Baron who comes across as most sophisticated.
The trailer does not seem to be bothered to offer a 'narrative'. It posits itself as an observation piece and this trait tells the viewer that whatever is revealed about the Baron is honest too.
Fascinating.
VERDICT: I'm In!