Recent Films
Since returning from Belgium, I’ve been immersing myself in film again. Got a rather dodgy video of Fellini’s Satyricon from the local library; been fascinated in all things Satyricon-related since reading about it in Against Nature (and I finally managed to get hold of a translation of Petronius’s original - thank you Keith). Watched it on the small screen, I think it deserved bigger, when I watch stuff on TV my attention gets distracted, it doesn’t feel as compelling. As a result, I felt that I missed a lot of what was going on in the film, most of it went over the top of my head. But I loved the beautiful-ugly sets and grotesque characters. I think I need to hire it out again and watch it bigger. But one thing I did really notice was the music and soundscapes. At one point some electro-accoustic noises jumped out at me and I thought “that can’t be anyone but Ilhan Mimaroglu”. Checking the credits, I was right. Also some music by Tod Dockstadter in there: I didn’t realise he was working in the 60s, thought he was a lot younger than that.
Then yesterday I hoofed it over to the Showroom to see Uzak: I’d wanted to see this film since I read a synopsis when it played at Cannes, and when Peter Bradshaw in the Guardian Review said “It is one of the best movies of the year, perhaps of many years - the work of a brilliant film-maker” then I knew I had to go. Well, perhaps not my favourite film of many years, but very good nonetheless, and extremely touching. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a film with such long dragged-out painful scenes of nothing happening (except perhaps for Eraserhead). Yet despite this, the scenes are never too long, never dragged out to unbearability. The Turkish title of the film translates as “distance”, and everywhere in the film there is distance, particularly between the main characters but also between… everything else in the movie. It was wonderful.
Then even more perfect… in the evening we finally got around to watching the DVD of Requiem for a Dream. A perfect pop-video of post-Koyaanisqatsi narrative, this was gripping and moving every minute of the way. Wow. Didn’t exactly go to bed happy though.
Next week: Jules et Jim.