Jean Vigo is a great example of a young filmmaker who died very young and is adored today by cinema freaks. While the body of his work is minuscule (only four films), in some circles he's considered a genius--even though only one of his films ("L'Atalante") was full-length. And, two of his other three shorts are more experimental films than anything else. I frankly don't quite get his reputation, but for fans of this writer/director, Criterion has released a DVD with all four of his films.
"Taris" is an odd little film about the French swimming champion, Jean Taris. In some ways this is an art film--with very unusual camera angles and composition. And, in other ways, it's a rather dull 'how to' film--one that shows the viewers how to swim like Taris--as he demonstrates various strokes, breathing, turns and the like. It's not at all a film the average person would enjoy or even look for in the first place. However, as I said above, film buffs who adore Vigo would be happy to see this--even if it is not the most exciting film I've ever seen (far from it, actually). Competently made, rather dull but full of exciting camera work.
"Taris" is an odd little film about the French swimming champion, Jean Taris. In some ways this is an art film--with very unusual camera angles and composition. And, in other ways, it's a rather dull 'how to' film--one that shows the viewers how to swim like Taris--as he demonstrates various strokes, breathing, turns and the like. It's not at all a film the average person would enjoy or even look for in the first place. However, as I said above, film buffs who adore Vigo would be happy to see this--even if it is not the most exciting film I've ever seen (far from it, actually). Competently made, rather dull but full of exciting camera work.