Still: Preoperational Model - Philip Ullman

During the preoperational stage of a child’s cognitive development, he or she is able to assess matters in symbolic terms while developing more sophisticated language skills. They also develop a keener sense memory and imagination, which allows them to understand the difference between past and future, as well as engage in make-believe.

In Preoperational Model, director Philip Ullman explores this stage of development to the max, both conceptually and cinematically, as an anthropomorphic princess (Sophie) and her maid (Jessica) prepare for a new day in the royal court. As the film progresses we see that Sophie struggles within a world of duty and role play, and the two characters gradually begin to assume an equal status. Finally, we encounter Sophie as a toddler on a regular train with her mother and realise that maybe she dreamed up the whole princess experience. Or perhaps Princess Sophie is dreaming of being a regular kid with a regular mum… 

Ullman explains why the film is set in the rarefied, one may argue idealised, world of a royal court.

“The royalty [aspect] came from, at least where I grew up, this common role play of being a princess and the kind of naivety of this role of the princess in contrast to its actual meaning. That was a starting point, where you will find somebody struggling to understand their world, but still having this kind of ideal of wanting to play the princess.”

They further confirm the processes at play within their film. “It starts with the princess and the maid, but the princess is unable to do this role play and then gradually the power dynamics shift because the princess cannot lead the role play,” they underline. “So she goes from being in control to [a point] where they're a bit more equal, at least in terms of perceived power dynamics, as they are children of the same age. Then in the end, the princess becomes the child, a role she can play because she has no agency and just follows her mother, Jessica, who leads the roleplay.”

Ullman doesn’t have an academic background in cognitive development but their film nevertheless represents a search “for understanding how the world works.” Their interests are rooted in “empathy and the creation of empathy,” they explain, as well as a desire “to understand why construction of empathy differs from the construction of logic.” In their first film What Dying Feels Like* they present the example of an animated lab mouse. “This was a creature that a lot of people feel empathic towards, but one who is simultaneously used and discarded like an object for the extension and improvement of human life. It’s an exploration of how empathy and logic can co-exist.”

The Preoperational Model anthropomorphic figures (half human, half animal) are, depending on your sensibilities, cute or repulsive (despite the feminine musicality of their voices). What’s more, as the film progresses, they seem to develop skin lesions, modelled on living coral formations.

“Some people are a bit disgusted as this looks like a disease, but it's also just another form of life. So I think the construction of the animals are a lot about this exploration of empathy and projections and what makes us feel certain things. Constructions of aesthetic categories such as cuteness, repulsion and the uncanny are explored to confront this question. What kind of feelings do we project on other beings and why do we project those things? Hopefully this is a question I can leave the viewer with after the film.” 

Preoperational Model, which world premiered at IFFR and now has its international premiere at Berlinale, is produced by Daan Milius and Tim Rutten of Video Power.

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*Film is supported by the Netherlands Film Fund