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An Unfinished Film 2024
Reminds us that the pandemic was a cinematic experience, too. As we became more isolated we sought to re-establish connections through screens. For those who were forcefully quarantined, like the film crew in this metacinematic docudrama, cinema switched from being conceived as an occasional creation, reflective and deliberate, to an integral part of everyday life, a lifeline to the outside world. It became like the air we breathed, so omnipresent that we didn't even realize it was cinema all around…
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The Docks of New York 1928
Probably the greatest of von Sternberg's silent work (what remains of it, anyway). Behind the vulgar setting of its rowdy waterfront saloon, it exudes a tender, melancholic feel. The background noises, all the laughter, punches, and dripping beer mugs serve to focus, not distract, our attention on Betty Compson's forlorn gaze. This is a movie of gazes. The actors speak with their eyes more than their mouths. The film awakens our desire and renders us helpless in the face of…
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Umberto Eco: A Library of the World 2022
Of all the nuggets that Umberto Eco offers here regarding collective memory and libraries, what resonated most with me were his thoughts on selection. At a library, he argues, you might find three books on a given subject; you'd borrow these, read them, and learn something. In comparison, you might find 10,000 sources on the internet, which is overwhelming and unhelpful. It becomes noise. The library may be our collective memory, but it is also selective. Not everything can or…
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Twin Peaks: The Return 2017
The most abstract work David Lynch has ever made. The small town intrigue that structured the original series is gone, or at the very least distorted, as if the entire show had submerged into the disorienting netherworld that is the Black Lodge for 25 years like Cooper himself, only to re-emerge into an even deeper labyrinth of mysteries. At 17 hours, Lynch has the time to let his scenes linger without urgency. Most episodes end, for instance, with an unhurried live…
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