Change Your Image
sivan070
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
Interreflections (2020)
Wierd, In a good way?
Let me first say that i've been following the developing train of thought that Peter Joseph has been putting out for years, and I find his political analysis in the economic field accurate, possibly solitarily relevant among the trains of current political thought. I've watched and listened to many if not most of his online material.
I'm a film student, and I have to be blatantly honest that I wasn't expecting much, the trailers show bits that are disconnected from the whole (speaking of the devil) and the blurry vignetted visual style that peter joseph clearly has or strives for is not my cup of tea.
I thought this was going to be a purely intellectual piece, with hardly any merit to the fact that it is a work of fiction and not his usual documentary - essay type of expression. I was very wrong.
Sure, the visual style of most of the live action bits of the film are still not my idea of cinema, there is much to say about the needless cutting - the unnecessary angles - (like the cutting to a dual split screen shot of the conversation between john and the main villain, which was a weird move but I was drawn and found it a powerful composition, to cutting 3 seconds later to the same - shot reverse shot with that high angle and slight camera movement that is abundant in american pop films today and seemed redundant and uninspired - an 'unchoice') i could just hear the teachers at film school rolling their eyes and gawking over this or that image or the composition or general technical point.
But this is where it becomes interesting, because there is a sort of "outsider" aesthetic through the entire film that you know what? Is a complete plus.
This is intriguing cinema just for that very reason, it is free of form in a slightly awkward but confident manner that just somehow works in its benefit.
There is an 'auteur' aesthetic that you can see Peter's clear visual footprint all over these shots, but i wonder how it would turn out if he worked with a DP that had a vision of his/her own - would it add or hinder?
The reflexive quality, without saying too much, some of this film's strengths are its moments of self-awareness that save it from a pompous doom. The reflexivity was rich and effective, while not being over-done, innovative ways of reminding the viewer that what he is watching is ideology, by definition.
This instinct, if instinct it was, is the sign of a true natural. While the over polished style might hinder the film as a work of art, the ingenuity of moments throughout the film in terms of usage of the language of cinema would interest any "cold hearted academic"...
One can speak about the realism that was needed sometimes, and the switch for a moment when the phone rang back to the cheaply made stage I couldn't not think that I wanted to stay 'there'. When we cut back to "the film" I felt regret, a film about structural change could be argued to need a structural approach to filmmaking. Learning from films like "alphaville" about how to create a dystopian reality out of nothing but well placed cameras, this is what cinema is good at, and it seems that at least a great part of the craft's potential was not used (as most films of netflix today btw) the minimalist approach might have given a lot to the feel of this work, making it not simply a brilliant contemporary political-art piece with flaws to a' flaw wielding masterpiece'.
Still, peter joseph can create a visual - image - accompanying of spoken rhetoric like a true pro - the animations and illustrations can of themselves be judged as an over-explanation but at the same time are quite a radical use of the visual-arts or image language, a non-classical attitude that can either only come from a true 'outside' artist or a rebel.
I might also be so rude as to suppose that some if not all of the excess cutting is due to realtime failures while filming - the complex dialog and rhetoric is spoken quite fluently and acted well - i didn't find myself eye rolling at the drab long scientific tangents but rather quite absorbed and engaged. This done in a budget with which I'm sure there wasn't enough time to get "the perfect take" - probably far from it. Rehearsals, time, actors these things are expensive and the fact that this works at all is not to be taken lightly - this shows quite a natural tendency towards directing, which as a film student I think I can say - rather rare.
More on minimalism -
The main possibly only true critique i would offer is the one on language - the minimalism that should have or could have applied here,
Most of the film is done with green screen and computer generated effects, probably the most expensive area of the industry, while it might be a cheaper way to bring the director's vision to life with least amount of compromise on accuracy, I think this could have been a striking piece if it were indeed filming on cardboard boxes, the illusion of the spaceship was less powerful somehow the the imitation, if that makes sense. I think it would have been part of the message to create a film by using the least amount of effects or means possible- perhaps not as dogmatically as 'dogma 95' but still there are lessons to learn from the manifesto and others in the history of cinema. Again this being the down side to the outsider approach to film. Less does not mean less necessarily (as the famous sentence goes...) less work, less debt, less expense, if you preach degrowth you should as an artist practice or strive to do this perhaps.
Oblivion (2013)
Great movie, not all potential filled
While Tom Cruise's acting in the film was good, I think Jack should have been portrayed by a new face to eliminate that recognition of Jack as Tom Cruise and to allow the viewers to perceive him as an unknown person now referred to as "Jack". The overall acting in the film was very well done. Morgan Freeman was excellent and somehow didn't interfere with meeting his new character.
The Post-apocalyptic scenery is jaw dropping and really gives the sense of exploration and adventure while watching. The drones were perfect in their visual appearance and sound design, with each drone noise your heart skips a beat and they project intenseness and power, as were the towers and power stations, the visual and graphic work is truly something to admire.
The story contains great thinking and ideas that can be developed and explored creatively to produce a true masterpiece of the mind and since the writer is the director, he would have projected this creativeness on screen. But I can't get rid of that feeling that Oblivion is a work in progress and not a completed story ready to be put into the world of visual story telling. It just lacks some of the depth and detail that could be included in it, or perhaps is only in the graphic novel. It felt very short.