How to Disappear

The subtitle of this remarkable film is "Deserting Battlefield." However, as the narrator eloquently explains using images taken from the video game Battlefield V, meticulously played by the filmmakers to avoid combat at all costs and to produce specific actions of avatars to elicit precise reactions from the algorithms, it is nevertheless impossible to desert this virtual battlefield. Designed solely and explicitly to allow gamers to "play" war, a war game exists with only one intention: to fight and kill. Therefore, it is impossible to choose not to participate in the confrontations or to oppose them by dropping one's weapon (which is an integral part of the avatar like its arms or legs), by preventing another avatar from firing, by executing pacifist or cowardly companions (who remain standing), or even outright deserting, unlike real wars where it is possible to oppose all these actions, even at the risk of one's life. In the end, the only way to oppose combat is to disappear from the game. A double absurdity that highlights both the absurdity of the game and that of all real wars. A uniquely crafted documentary short film, with no original footage shot or created for the film, but rather those generated by the diverted use of an existing video game, How to Disappear is a brilliant deconstruction of the act of resisting war, and consequently, a masterful and compelling illustration of an anti-war plea.

Claire Valade
Critic and programmer