Facical and stylistic
If there should be a certain gravitas when exploring the complexities of eating disorders, Club Zero does not submit, and this will cause some consternation among audiences, critics and advocacy groups. There is, however, an alternative, more universal way to view the film. In a bold move by director Jessica Hausner (Lourdes and Little Joe), the illnesses that are anorexia and bulimia appear to be central to the plot, but they’re not in any way what the film is about.
Miss Novak is the new nutrition teacher at a privileged boarding school in an unidentified European local. She begins by asking the small group of students sitting in a circle of chairs why it’s important to practice conscious eating. One student is concerned about the environment. Another wants to be fit and healthy to better her chances in trampolining competitions. Another is frightened by the over consumptive society we live in. Another thinks it will be a fairly easy course that will lift his grades and allow him to hold onto his scholarship. Miss Novak then explains mindfulness in eating, how our bodies simply do not need as much food as we currently put in it and if we eat smaller portions, cut our food so that our bites are very small, and then think about chewing slowly, about the food going into our bodies, we’ll soon be able to make better eating decisions. And then they meditate. This doesn’t sound like a bad idea, but when Miss Novak introduces them to a concept called autophagy – the body’s consumption of old cell parts to ensure better cell function – she tells the class that people don’t need to eat. Rejecting their parents’ concerns and supporting only each other, when the students stop eating, they don’t so much work hard for their grades as they work hard for Miss Novak and their entrance into her exclusive and superior Club Zero.
Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are both eating disorders characterised by a disturbed perception of body weight and image, and it’s important to note that these children (bar one) are not concerned with those things. Their concern lies with whatever Miss Novak tells them. When she tells them they must be strong in their hunger practice because they will be of the very few with conviction, she asks, ‘Why do we seek scientific proof for something that obviously works?’ When she urges them to keep their fasting a secret from their parents, she says the adults won’t understand because they’ll oppose anything that challenges their truth. For these children, it’s fairly easy to follow their teacher’s thinking because their parents (again, bar one) are wrapped up in their wealth and their work and have pushed their children to seek nurturing elsewhere. One student, when exclaiming how good they feel, says they had no idea how brainwashing society was until they stopped eating. This is not a film about eating. It’s about the cult of conspiracy theorists.
Mia Wasikowska plays the unassuming Miss Novak with deadpan movements and expression, as do the rest of the cast. The near-blank composure of the actors lends itself to an absurdity bordering on both black humour and horror, but never quite reaching either. If the film pushed harder in either direction, a comparison to Yorgos Lanthimos wouldn’t go astray. In fact with such a farcical concept, stylish aesthetic and Markus Bindersimple’s intensely simple yet unnerving score of primitive drum beats, plucked strings and humming, it’s a wonder Club Zero resists both labels. Perhaps it’s out of respect for the role that eating disorders play in youth culture.
Reviewed by Heather Taylor Johnson
Club Zero is currently showing as part of the Adelaide Film Festival.
Click here for screening details and to book tickets.
