Nothing’s All Bad is a film from Denmark that showed at the Milwaukee film festival. The film follows a series of characters whose lives intertwine as they approach the brink of their individual struggle with solitude and questions of belonging. The film focuses on the concept of sexual escapism as a vehicle for both a desire for self fulfillment and destruction. The resolution comes when the individual characters reach the climax of their struggle and find solace in each others’ circumstance. I found the narrative to be a poignant, sincere, and enthralling study of the human condition, one’s need for companionship paired with an eternal solitude.
Considering light can be both a particle and a wave, Taryn Simon’s images displayed at the Milwaukee art museum are both beauty carried upon a wave of energy and particulates of fact and figure. Her photographs inspect the reliability and circulation of information in the photographic plane. As light passes through the celluloid and is bounced from print to eye, realities are transformed and the original photons that once carried truth are given a proxy. What results are the viewers’ endless interpretations that can be anchored by text, but are forever indebted to the original image; an object that can only attempt to render a whole narrative. Thus, her works is not about the objects themselves, but the viewers’ act of gazing upon them. Simon invites the viewer to analyze their own act of assumption and reevaluation of an image. Further, to contemplate the difference between looking and reading and understanding, and to come to terms with their own limits of understanding.
The Milwaukee Show segment of the Film festival really surprised me this year. The short films ranged from the delicately poetic to cinematically elaborate. I was fascinated by the film “don’t go”. It peeked my curiosity and appealed to the humorous and lighthearted. Though while the subject matter of a person moving into an apartment seems mundane, it calls up feelings of anxiety and loneliness from my own past experiences. I was able to relate to this film in a number of ways both seriously and humorously.
Going to see Morgan Spurlock speak in the union was enlightening, considering my strong interest in independent documentary. Not to mention my role in American culture as a consumer. After screening his film Super size me, a lot of my childhood nostalgic experiences were called into question and I was left considering my own role in this dystopian American landscape. I enjoyed his choice to use himself in the role. After talking to Spurlock after the show, I learned that he did a lot of journalism before he did film and stated that doing it himself was the only way to get an accurate and truthful result. Though, the most enlightening part of the event has to be when Spurlock told us about how he ended up making the film. After already being tens of thousands of dollars in debt he decided to make another film rather than throw the money into the hole of debt payments. It’s interesting to hear the struggles of an independent film maker and the risks associated.
The film “Martha Marcy May Marlene” Is troubling and revealing. Its delicately constructed narrative slowly reveals the past of a young woman’s life before running away from a cult/farm. It’s especially eerie considering the setting of this cult in the middle of a modern landscape. It makes one wonder how many lost souls fall through the cracks and find themselves in these situations. Making this realization ever more frightening is the charchter of the cult leader Patrick who acts at once as a father figure and a sex offender. Throughout the film this character is shown manipulating these women in a number of ways. It’s disturbing to consider how possible and real the film becomes.
The film Art and Copy is a refreshing and captivating look at the advertising world. It traces the past and people involved in the evolution of the industry and leaves the viewer inspired by the specter and in awe of the power the advertising industry holds. It uses a clever vehicle during its progression by cutting back to clips of a day in the life of a billboard flipper. More important than the facts and figures and history of the business are the interviews of the people involved in this history. They are all incredibly insightful, captivating individuals. The film is built upon the insight and free spirited imaginations these individuals possess.
Becoming Santa is not only an interesting character piece but also revealing about our socio cultural relationships and unexpected importance we put into the character of Santa. Wen confronted by the typical Mall Santa, I was unaware how important this role is to some. The amount of depth this film reveals is astounding as it follows the character from the streets to classes, as he alters his appearance and contuse on the path I am left exhausted with empathy and respect for the struggle and dedication of one man to an idea as simple as Santa.
The film Strong Man reminds me exactly how human we all are, and that’s exactly what describes this film, very human. The verite style and intimate nature of this film goes beyond a simple show and tell of a metal bending strong man and reveals his weaknesses and struggles too. The conflict the main character deals with in his life is at once relatable and novel, simple yet complex. It brings to mind questions of humanity in everyone, try as we might to overcome obstacle of daily life or the erosion process of time itself when does it become too heavy to lift?
The Dish and the Spoon is film about the real word and fantasy, and the union of the two. When the main character is left heartbroken by an affair she seeks refuge in an abandoned lighthouse only to find another lost traveler. Their shared heartbreak draws them together and they begin conspiring about revenge fantasies and take part in childlike adventures. The story eludes to the fantasy of a hidden place, hidden from the real world. Though in this film the fantasy world is the landscape of love and the real world are the troubles it brings.
The Bengali Detective is an absurd and comical look at a Bollywood inspired detective as he navigates crime scenes of India. As entertaining and over the top as certain elements may be, the film still manages to give a tactful interpretation and evaluation of modern Indian culture. For example, the is a distrust of authorities in India and many are turning to private detectives. The result is a somewhat complex character and narrative structure that leave the viewer with a critique of and in some ways very honest feel for the pulse of Indian culture and anxieties.
Points of Interest is a local film about the life of both an independent band searching for growth and a group of young men looking for growth in themselves. As they tour the American landscape the music they create and the people they meet seem to feed off of each other. The film reveals an interesting and intimate perspective on the concept of the young touring band as a vehicle for reflection, meditation, and growth for the individuals taking part in the journey. Rather than simply focus on the tour of music, it looks into the tour of young men growing up in this American landscape and trying to both make sense of it and make something of themselves.
Breaking and Entering is not only a film documenting the absurd and the extraordinary feats of our species, It is a look at the human being behind these feats and what makes them tick. As the film jumps from event to event like one would flip through the pages of the Guinness record book, the viewer is given something more. They are not only given an honest look at exactly who the person is but the context of our social landscape. The film gives viewers a forum in which to contemplate the role of these activities in our daily lives and our culture’s fascination with them. In the world of YouTube and social media we live in, it is no wonder so many of these people are dedicating their lives to the absurd.
