The fifth entry in an on-going series of audiovisual essays by Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin.
***
Inside every narrative film is a non-narrative film struggling to get out. A film of details, of in-betweens, of atmospheres; of nothing-much-happening and everyday banality. A film of redundant repetition and obligatory scene-setting. A film where glances fall into the void rather than guiding a drama; where gestures and actions happen for their own sakes rather than for the symbolic or thematic meaning they project. A film where the background surges forward and becomes the foreground; where rooms and objects for once really do become (as that lousy reviewing cliché loves to say) ‘characters in their own right.’
A film without intrigue. Or, at any rate, only the most minimal filigree of intrigue, perhaps a single turning point or shock. In their great and too-little-known 1998 book To Dress a Nude: Exercises in Imagination,...
***
Inside every narrative film is a non-narrative film struggling to get out. A film of details, of in-betweens, of atmospheres; of nothing-much-happening and everyday banality. A film of redundant repetition and obligatory scene-setting. A film where glances fall into the void rather than guiding a drama; where gestures and actions happen for their own sakes rather than for the symbolic or thematic meaning they project. A film where the background surges forward and becomes the foreground; where rooms and objects for once really do become (as that lousy reviewing cliché loves to say) ‘characters in their own right.’
A film without intrigue. Or, at any rate, only the most minimal filigree of intrigue, perhaps a single turning point or shock. In their great and too-little-known 1998 book To Dress a Nude: Exercises in Imagination,...
- 1/12/2015
- by Cristina Álvarez López & Adrian Martin
- MUBI
Film Review: Delta
Cannes Film Festival, In Competition
Unreal characters and story shackle this gloomy tale of unconventional love between a long-lost brother and sister, who create their own version of paradise on a remote Hungarian island in "Delta". This academic, albeit beautifully shot, exercise will appeal mainly to those who like their Greek tragedy served with no frills or explanations and a bare minimum of dialogue.
The Delta depicted so atmospherically here is a wild maze of waterways and isolated towns populated by wizened-faced villagers straight out of "Deliverance". They don't much cotton to the arrival of the handsome newcomer (Felix Lajko), a Mystery Man of few words, who has been away so long he didn't even know he had a younger sister (Orsi Toth.) She flees her rapist stepfather to live on her brother's island, where together they build a house on stilts in the middle of the river. The incest issue is not of great concern for them, but for the villagers it is unforgivable. The air of foreboding that hangs over the young lovers explodes in the final scenes, leaving audiences more perplexed than satisfied.
Cast: Felix Lajko, Orsi Toth, Lili Monori, Sandor Gaspar.
Director: Kornel Mundruczo
Screenwriters: Yvette Biro, Kornel Mundruczo
Producers: Viktoria Petranyi, Susanne Marian, Philippe Bober
Director of photography: Matyas Erdely
Production designer: Marton Agh
Costume designer: Janos Brecki
Music: Gabor Balazs
Editor: David Jancso
Sales Agent: Coproduction Office, Paris
92 minutes.
Unreal characters and story shackle this gloomy tale of unconventional love between a long-lost brother and sister, who create their own version of paradise on a remote Hungarian island in "Delta". This academic, albeit beautifully shot, exercise will appeal mainly to those who like their Greek tragedy served with no frills or explanations and a bare minimum of dialogue.
The Delta depicted so atmospherically here is a wild maze of waterways and isolated towns populated by wizened-faced villagers straight out of "Deliverance". They don't much cotton to the arrival of the handsome newcomer (Felix Lajko), a Mystery Man of few words, who has been away so long he didn't even know he had a younger sister (Orsi Toth.) She flees her rapist stepfather to live on her brother's island, where together they build a house on stilts in the middle of the river. The incest issue is not of great concern for them, but for the villagers it is unforgivable. The air of foreboding that hangs over the young lovers explodes in the final scenes, leaving audiences more perplexed than satisfied.
Cast: Felix Lajko, Orsi Toth, Lili Monori, Sandor Gaspar.
Director: Kornel Mundruczo
Screenwriters: Yvette Biro, Kornel Mundruczo
Producers: Viktoria Petranyi, Susanne Marian, Philippe Bober
Director of photography: Matyas Erdely
Production designer: Marton Agh
Costume designer: Janos Brecki
Music: Gabor Balazs
Editor: David Jancso
Sales Agent: Coproduction Office, Paris
92 minutes.
- 6/3/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Stoneraft
Montreal World Film Festival
Director George Sluizer's Spanish-language picture "The Stoneraft" is a paean to the virtues of absurdity. In a kind of bent-out-of-shape science fiction story, Sluizer ("The Vanishing") uses quirky humor and New Age philosophizing to chart the journey of an eclectic band of pilgrims searching for the cause behind a mind-boggling geological event. The bulk of the film is marred by a contrived effort to appear obscure, though a meditative finale ultimately provides some food for thought.
"Stoneraft" received its world premiere In Competition at Montreal, where the idea of one country detaching itself from another touched a nerve with independence-minded Quebecois viewers. Festival appearances are a probability, but this Netherlands-Spain co-production is probably too esoteric to do much business internationally.
The film, based on a book by Portuguese novelist Jose Saramago, begins with a strange event. A giant rift appears down the Pyrenees, detaching Spain and Portugal from France. The new island then begins to sail away from Europe toward America at high speed. Blame for the happening falls on a motley quintet of citizens that includes a man pursued by a giant flock of starlings and a woman with a never-ending ball of wool. Cramming themselves first into a tiny 2CV car, then into a pony and trap, this confused crew sets out on a pilgrimage around the country to try and discover what really happened and whether they were indeed responsible.
The theme of the film seems to be the old nugget that the world's ultimately an illogical place, so why waste time trying to understand it logically? But instead of staying in an absurdist "Blow-Up" world, New Age-ism creeps in when the characters decide that the answers to their questions are in their feelings and intuitions. If you're true to your feelings, the film says, you'll find solutions, and everything will come right.
The main problem is that Sluizer's focus on events and phenomena means he never pauses to fill out his characters. Consequently, they're too sketchily drawn for the viewer to notice their feelings, let alone accept them as a route to spiritual transformation. Only in the final third does enough conflict occur for some personalities to shine out. Here, tension over the two women in the group finally causes some bite, and the characters develop as a result of it.
The film's at its best when Sluizer diverts to poke cheeky fun at the geographical ramifications of a free-floating Spain. Some laughs are had at the expense of the Americans, who are initially called in to try and winch Spain back to continental Europe (they fail). The Brits, meanwhile, are happy, as Gibraltar becomes detached from Spain -- this brings the difficult debate over the rock's sovereignty to an unexpected end. Funny special-effects shots of Spain whizzing through the waves contrast nicely with the generally droll verbal humor.
THE STONERAFT
MGS Film and Sogecine present
Credits:
Director: George Sluizer
Screenwriters: Yvette Biro, George Sluizer
Producers: George Sluizer, Fernando Bovaira, Luis Bordallo Silva
Executive producers: Anne Lordon
Director of photography: Goert Giltaij
Art director: Felix Murcia
Costume designer: Jany Temime
Editor: Jan Dop
Sound: Antonio Bloch, Peter Flamman
Music: Henny Vrieten
Cast:
Pedro: Federico Luppi
Maria: Iciar Bolla
Running time 117 minutes
no MPAA rating...
Director George Sluizer's Spanish-language picture "The Stoneraft" is a paean to the virtues of absurdity. In a kind of bent-out-of-shape science fiction story, Sluizer ("The Vanishing") uses quirky humor and New Age philosophizing to chart the journey of an eclectic band of pilgrims searching for the cause behind a mind-boggling geological event. The bulk of the film is marred by a contrived effort to appear obscure, though a meditative finale ultimately provides some food for thought.
"Stoneraft" received its world premiere In Competition at Montreal, where the idea of one country detaching itself from another touched a nerve with independence-minded Quebecois viewers. Festival appearances are a probability, but this Netherlands-Spain co-production is probably too esoteric to do much business internationally.
The film, based on a book by Portuguese novelist Jose Saramago, begins with a strange event. A giant rift appears down the Pyrenees, detaching Spain and Portugal from France. The new island then begins to sail away from Europe toward America at high speed. Blame for the happening falls on a motley quintet of citizens that includes a man pursued by a giant flock of starlings and a woman with a never-ending ball of wool. Cramming themselves first into a tiny 2CV car, then into a pony and trap, this confused crew sets out on a pilgrimage around the country to try and discover what really happened and whether they were indeed responsible.
The theme of the film seems to be the old nugget that the world's ultimately an illogical place, so why waste time trying to understand it logically? But instead of staying in an absurdist "Blow-Up" world, New Age-ism creeps in when the characters decide that the answers to their questions are in their feelings and intuitions. If you're true to your feelings, the film says, you'll find solutions, and everything will come right.
The main problem is that Sluizer's focus on events and phenomena means he never pauses to fill out his characters. Consequently, they're too sketchily drawn for the viewer to notice their feelings, let alone accept them as a route to spiritual transformation. Only in the final third does enough conflict occur for some personalities to shine out. Here, tension over the two women in the group finally causes some bite, and the characters develop as a result of it.
The film's at its best when Sluizer diverts to poke cheeky fun at the geographical ramifications of a free-floating Spain. Some laughs are had at the expense of the Americans, who are initially called in to try and winch Spain back to continental Europe (they fail). The Brits, meanwhile, are happy, as Gibraltar becomes detached from Spain -- this brings the difficult debate over the rock's sovereignty to an unexpected end. Funny special-effects shots of Spain whizzing through the waves contrast nicely with the generally droll verbal humor.
THE STONERAFT
MGS Film and Sogecine present
Credits:
Director: George Sluizer
Screenwriters: Yvette Biro, George Sluizer
Producers: George Sluizer, Fernando Bovaira, Luis Bordallo Silva
Executive producers: Anne Lordon
Director of photography: Goert Giltaij
Art director: Felix Murcia
Costume designer: Jany Temime
Editor: Jan Dop
Sound: Antonio Bloch, Peter Flamman
Music: Henny Vrieten
Cast:
Pedro: Federico Luppi
Maria: Iciar Bolla
Running time 117 minutes
no MPAA rating...
- 10/15/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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