thoughts on a sunless film

Apr 29, 2012 22:10

chris marker stalks exotic women, makes a pretty movie about it.

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danschank April 30 2012, 05:30:54 UTC
SEE BILLY I TOLD YOU

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bad_juice April 30 2012, 06:01:11 UTC
i did say "pretty movie"

!

i actually did like it. i thought what was beautiful and elliptical and occasionally haunting about it was good enough that it sort of made up for how occasionally offput i was by what seemed to be pretty unchecked exoticism and a creepy tendency to film attractive women whether or not they actually wanted to be filmed (the moment when he attempts to read the psychology of the african women who are at first avoiding the gaze of the camera and then glancing at it furtively struck me as especially stalker-ish and frightening).

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danschank April 30 2012, 06:24:54 UTC
haha, i know... i saw the "three stars" on mubi... happy to hear you liked it as much as justin bieber: never say never (that's also sort of a joke)...

and yeah, marker likes pretty girls. even his new stuff is like that. it never struck me as stalkerish, but it's definitely distracting and sometimes disappointing. i think the exoticism is tempered by a pretty nuanced understanding of social history, though it's definitely something to consider. i should rewatch it, it's been years...

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dystempted April 30 2012, 10:36:41 UTC
Marker likes cats more ;)

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danschank April 30 2012, 15:30:13 UTC
yes! the criterion edition is "guillame approved," haha! he's very forthcoming about his fascinations in general. maybe this is why the exoticism of sans soleil didn't bother me? (i need to rewatch)

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bad_juice April 30 2012, 15:39:58 UTC
i guess the small bit that struck me as stalker-ish about it was that the girls seemed clearly uncomfortable but the tone of the narration felt like "these girls might seem uncomfortable, but secretly they like it"

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glazomaniac April 30 2012, 16:43:50 UTC
well played, sir.

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discotarantula May 2 2012, 15:00:11 UTC
you win the prize.
the prize is that your life continues exactly the same :)

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