La région centrale (1971)

Director:

Michael Snow

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

quebec | avant garde | no dialogue | experimental film | independent film

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Canada

Filming Locations:

Chicoutimi, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 29,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

180 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Entirely shot using a robotized camera set on the top of a mountain in the Canadian wilderness - in winter. The camera was mounted on a mechanical arm that could move in any direction (even upside down). Using instructions recorded on magnetic tape, the filmakers could control the arm's movement, creating short "routines" that had do be checked and programmed daily. During the entire movie the only sound heard are mechanical blips and electronic noises synchronized with the camera movement. In an interview, Michael Snow said that his aim to show the kind of images that an alien probe landed on Earth would report back home.

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Connections

Referenced in Blow Out (1981)

User Reviews

Pure and hypnotic

I saw this film projected many years ago and was completely drawn in by the use of sound and image. I found it to be deeply profound and comical, yet nearly impossible to describe, for it is the type of structural film that actually makes you think on numerous levels. So much has been written about this film, but I truly believe it is completely open to ones interpretation. Without doubt this is Snow's greatest film; a truly hypnotic masterpiece.