Time for a bit of film chat. The compulsion for me to actually spend some cash and go and see a movie is often a completely random thing. I try and speed read reviews so I don’t actually wind up knowing the whole plot but it proves sufficient for me to digest something, a gist or a theme. Even how the film looks can nudge me to watch something, from this accumulated heresay I can usually make a decision and word of mouth from trusted sources can assist things too.
I spotted some stills from a film called “Silent Light” the other day in a magazine, worthy of further investigation I thought and duly noted the details in my phone (very useful if my notebook isn’t to hand!). The film was released at the end of 2007 written and directed by Carlos Reygadas, a Mexican film-maker apparently deemed a bit of an enfant terrible judging by reaction to his previous two films; “Japón” (2002) and “Batalla en el Cielo” (2005). He favours long-takes and often uses non-professional actors. The wonderful cinematography is from Alexis Zabe.
The film is set in a Mexican Mennonite community who practice nonviolence and pacifism and deals with a married man who falls in love with another woman. It is a quiet and very slow film, not always a bad thing and the reviews were fairly glowing. I shall investigate and post back. Definitely a bit of Terence Malick about him looking at the stills.
One film I have seen recently that made a deep impression was “Into the Wild” (2007) directed by Sean Penn. I was really put off this film by some of the reviews and so decided against seeing it at the cinema. The main criticism seemed to be that the hero was so flawed, egotistical and selfish that the audience simply hated him too much. The result being that any message the film wanted to reveal was lost in a sea of annoyance.
Though I would not go so far as to say the critics were wrong, in fact many rated it highly, it simply goes to prove how we are all so different in our tastes and take different things from the cinematic experience as a result. The film is based on a true story and a book written in 1996. It is the fascinating tale of a gifted American student who decided to drop-out, hitchhike to Alaska and live in the wild.
With his films Sean Penn sometimes has a tendency to veer into smugness and simplicity (though I believe his heart is in the right place) and maybe this explains the mixed reviews, I am not sure, but if you love open spaces and sometimes tire of the materialistic road we seem to be freewheeling down then I would say give the film a go.
scatterdrum is a personal blog by Gill Moore. Gill is a professional photographer based in Manchester in England.
She works for commercial and editorial clients together with shooting personal projects. This side of her work often includes exhibiting, publishing and working with like-minded collaborators on an environmental theme.
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