Ever since Thoreau published “Walden” in 1854, the eponymous pond has taken on a life far more metaphysical than geographic, appropriated by writers wanting to give a name to their own special place where life at some point in the past had the potential for time-stopping splendid isolation. In Czech director Bojena Horackova’s “Walden,” a lake in Lithuania named by the characters after Thoreau’s book is but one of many recognizable elements suffusing this low-key memory film, composed like a palimpsest where all influences are detectable.
Episodically constructed with conscious tips of the hat to Jonas Mekas, Eric Rohmer, Ingmar Bergman and Sharunas Bartas, the film has a quiet pull, yet the lack of chemistry between characters plus the piecemeal storytelling leave the viewer in customary admiration of co-dp Agnès Godard’s masterful framing without connecting to their emotions. , both as a teenager in early 1989 Lithuania, just before the collapse of communism,...
Episodically constructed with conscious tips of the hat to Jonas Mekas, Eric Rohmer, Ingmar Bergman and Sharunas Bartas, the film has a quiet pull, yet the lack of chemistry between characters plus the piecemeal storytelling leave the viewer in customary admiration of co-dp Agnès Godard’s masterful framing without connecting to their emotions. , both as a teenager in early 1989 Lithuania, just before the collapse of communism,...
- 8/12/2020
- by Jay Weissberg
- Variety Film + TV
Set in Lithuania at the tail end of Communist rule, Bojena Horackova’s “Walden” offers a bittersweet look at a group of youths on two sides of a generational change.
Selected as a part of Cannes’ Acid sidebar and making its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival, the film follows its withdrawn protagonist Jana across two timelines – both as a 17-year-old who falls in with a roguish crowd as she prepares to go west on a student visa, and then as middle-aged woman who has returned to her native city after spending 30 years in France.
Both narrative strands move forward with the limpid focus of a short story, and both culminate at a secluded lakefront retreat Jana’s rakish teenage boyfriend calls Walden.
“It’s classic structure, showing one character at two different points,” Horackova tells Variety. “But I liked that both took place around the lake… I was...
Selected as a part of Cannes’ Acid sidebar and making its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival, the film follows its withdrawn protagonist Jana across two timelines – both as a 17-year-old who falls in with a roguish crowd as she prepares to go west on a student visa, and then as middle-aged woman who has returned to her native city after spending 30 years in France.
Both narrative strands move forward with the limpid focus of a short story, and both culminate at a secluded lakefront retreat Jana’s rakish teenage boyfriend calls Walden.
“It’s classic structure, showing one character at two different points,” Horackova tells Variety. “But I liked that both took place around the lake… I was...
- 8/10/2020
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Selection aims to connect works by emerging directors with distributors and audiences.
France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) has unveiled the nine films selected for its special 2020 programme, replacing its 27th annual parallel Cannes showcase which was cancelled this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Despite the circumstances, we’ve chosen to maintain the criteria of Acid Cannes programming, namely to commit to supporting as many films, nine feature films, with the same special attention given to films without distributors and first features,” the body said in a statement.
Paris-based Acid was created in 1992 by a...
France’s Association for the Diffusion of Independent Cinema (Acid) has unveiled the nine films selected for its special 2020 programme, replacing its 27th annual parallel Cannes showcase which was cancelled this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Despite the circumstances, we’ve chosen to maintain the criteria of Acid Cannes programming, namely to commit to supporting as many films, nine feature films, with the same special attention given to films without distributors and first features,” the body said in a statement.
Paris-based Acid was created in 1992 by a...
- 6/4/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
This is a talk given by French director of photography Caroline Champetier at the La Roche-sur-Yon International Film Festival in October 2012, originally published in two parts on the festival’s site (www.fif-85.com). This translation is being published with their kind permission. This year's festival will take place from October 16-21, Kelly Reichardt will be the guest of honor. Many thanks to Emmanuel Burdeau, programmer of the festival, Jordan Mintzer and Caroline Champetier.
Caroline Champetier: I’ve always tried to take a step back from what I’m doing. The more I work, however, the less I’m able to deal with this exercise. I just finished production on Claude Lanzmann’s The Last of the Unjust and have barely said goodbye to David Teboul, a young director who I worked with on Cinq avenue Marceau (2002), a film I think very highly of and that’s about Yves Saint Laurent’s last collection.
Caroline Champetier: I’ve always tried to take a step back from what I’m doing. The more I work, however, the less I’m able to deal with this exercise. I just finished production on Claude Lanzmann’s The Last of the Unjust and have barely said goodbye to David Teboul, a young director who I worked with on Cinq avenue Marceau (2002), a film I think very highly of and that’s about Yves Saint Laurent’s last collection.
- 9/20/2013
- by Ted Fendt
- MUBI
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.