In my review entry for "Wavelength" (1967) I proudly said that I was happy films like those don't have a director's cut version, otherwise it'd be painful to sit through a whole pretentious art that doesn't reveal anything meaningful to me. I was wrong. Accidentally, I discovered that there is such version; however it's a reduced form and the title says it all: "For those who don't have the time". Yes, Michael Snow jokes us about the audiences who don't have the patience to endure those 40 torturous minutes of his experiment filmed in one location, a collage of superimposed images that seem to reveal about a crime scene.
So, in this edited version, Snow cut those long minutes and reduced into 15 minutes and somehow, it was a slight improvement to his "classic" piece. Revelation of all: I've finally saw the waves! The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" gladly stays in the picture and for the first time, I could actually see the movement Snow intended for us to see...the gradual close-up to the apartment's window, very slowly and then there's something that calls our attention: the ocean's movement, the room about to get flooded. Yet I still don't get more than just the visual, no meaning or anything. And yes, apparently, he removed that godawful noise that followed the whole thing.
A rambled and disjointed piece that cannot be qualified as art, neither prequel or sequel, deserves a special view. We're not learning anything from it except some elaborated shots here and there. It says nothing about our lives or about a problematic about the human condition. It's just peeping through an empty apartment where minor and gradual changes take place and where's life above that? Where's the expectation? Internet, TV or a theater, whatever you're watching this get out of the room immediately. Go read a book or take a long walk and see the sights. The ones more daring, watch it and endure the pain some cinematic forms can cause in your life. Trust me, it's not worthy. As consolation, this edit is better than the original. It's less dumb. 3/10
So, in this edited version, Snow cut those long minutes and reduced into 15 minutes and somehow, it was a slight improvement to his "classic" piece. Revelation of all: I've finally saw the waves! The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" gladly stays in the picture and for the first time, I could actually see the movement Snow intended for us to see...the gradual close-up to the apartment's window, very slowly and then there's something that calls our attention: the ocean's movement, the room about to get flooded. Yet I still don't get more than just the visual, no meaning or anything. And yes, apparently, he removed that godawful noise that followed the whole thing.
A rambled and disjointed piece that cannot be qualified as art, neither prequel or sequel, deserves a special view. We're not learning anything from it except some elaborated shots here and there. It says nothing about our lives or about a problematic about the human condition. It's just peeping through an empty apartment where minor and gradual changes take place and where's life above that? Where's the expectation? Internet, TV or a theater, whatever you're watching this get out of the room immediately. Go read a book or take a long walk and see the sights. The ones more daring, watch it and endure the pain some cinematic forms can cause in your life. Trust me, it's not worthy. As consolation, this edit is better than the original. It's less dumb. 3/10
