tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post5800772124820652784..comments2024-01-26T00:54:19.338+08:00Comments on Lessons From the School of Inattention: Walang Alaala ang mga Paru-Paro (2009)Oggs Cruzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03041599863258946384noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-74011195949840520172010-05-17T20:46:53.701+08:002010-05-17T20:46:53.701+08:00oh.. well, thanks anyway.
The last time I heard i...oh.. well, thanks anyway.<br /><br />The last time I heard it was screened was last february at UPFI, I have this copy available online, though I can't afford to watch it again in one sitting. Haha,Epoy Deytohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14787308187083484304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-35300043918653754332010-05-17T19:12:05.162+08:002010-05-17T19:12:05.162+08:00I honestly don't remember, I would love to see...I honestly don't remember, I would love to see Ebolusyon again...Oggs Cruzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03041599863258946384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-86408136524936257722010-05-17T18:52:40.787+08:002010-05-17T18:52:40.787+08:00Hey Oggs, just a bit off topic, i've been aski...Hey Oggs, just a bit off topic, i've been asking this around. Just finished watching Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino. And I have some questions in my mind:<br /><br />1. The characters of Joel Torre and Pen Medina is plotting an assassination against Lino Brocka, right?<br /><br />2. Who is TagaTimog?<br /><br />thanks!Epoy Deytohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14787308187083484304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-33286876915812760532009-12-11T09:37:48.344+08:002009-12-11T09:37:48.344+08:00Re: Empire - you and me both!
Lav's remarkabl...Re: <i>Empire</i> - you and me both!<br /><br />Lav's remarkable intuition - the first thing that comes to my mind is that shot in <i>Melancholia</i> when Julian and Alberta are talking in the derelict building/shelter (as it rains hard around them), and the camera is static for nearly 20 minutes. What's so striking is that the composition actually <i>intrigues</i> for that length of time - it's organised around a series of angles + diagonal lines that point across + out of the frame, sending your eye searching around the points/depths without being able to exhaust them. It says as much about the placement of the characters in <i>their</i> world(s) as it does about what mise-en-scène is, and can do - the mark of a natural eye, and a very careful one...Matthew Flanaganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17377516945046894253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-51691082851281457082009-12-10T11:19:25.799+08:002009-12-10T11:19:25.799+08:00I should start watching more Warhol; I'm embar...I should start watching more Warhol; I'm embarrassed to admit that my knowledge on his filmmaking is quite limited, although I'd love to have Empire as a permanent fixture in my room.<br /><br />With regards to Lav. I always thought of Lav as a natural when it comes to framing and compositions. There's very little procedure in his cinematography; he places his camera where it suits his films and more often than not, it works --- the extreme long takes in almost all of his films would not have worked if it weren't for this aesthetic intuition. As for Butterflies, could it be that the short form hurt him? that we aren't allowed to invest as much in his compositions as we did in his past films? I doubt it, because I'm with you, save for certain parts (the long sequence of the abandoned mine quarters, the last scene), this is probably Lav's weakest in terms of aesthetic.Oggs Cruzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03041599863258946384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-44849538818461528392009-12-09T07:54:10.560+08:002009-12-09T07:54:10.560+08:00Yeah, I saw the 40 minute Visitors version unfortu...Yeah, I saw the 40 minute <i>Visitors</i> version unfortunately, and have been told that the hour-long one does make (a bit of) a difference. I'm definitely prepared to give it a go when I get my hands on it, but have a feeling it won't convert my gut reaction...<br /><br />It's interesting thinking about "dullness", as this would no doubt be the first time Diaz has actually tried (inflicting) boredom - or a sort of material "flatness" - as a stylistic option, despite what people say about him! I'm not sure that it's a meaningful approach even if it was the point - Warhol gets to this level sometimes (in, say, sections of <i>The Chelsea Girls</i>, or the first half of <i>Beauty #2</i>, etc.), but its too nonchalant to be an <i>effort</i> - and, to be honest, I don't really get on with it either. Give me <i>Empire</i> or <i>Henry Geldzahler</i> anyday!<br /><br />Also, I should say that there was an intriguing "squareness" to the compositions - their frontalality + centrality, which for some reason made me (totally superficially) think of Straub/Huillet. There just doesn't seem to be any concreteness carrying the ideas here - the shot is always a frailty, never an entity...Matthew Flanaganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17377516945046894253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-55016686009249448022009-12-08T09:34:18.411+08:002009-12-08T09:34:18.411+08:00Hi Matthew,
Thanks for the comment. Did you see t...Hi Matthew,<br /><br />Thanks for the comment. Did you see the director's cut version (which is around 58 minutes) or the forty minute version in Visitors? I agree that this is perhaps Diaz's least visually interesting work (except for that final scene which I thought was quiet sublime; a mixture of everything that Diaz embodies); even his 10 minute short in Imahenasyon was more stirring. However, despite, the flatness of the visuals, there is something stirring amidst the dullness --- perhaps, the dullness is the point, a representation of boredom, of the idleness that has consumed the villagers. I don't know; I'm continuously intrigued.<br /><br />By the way, I loved the way you put it --- "Unlike any of the other Diazs that I've seen (which are epics, or stares), this one just feels like a protracted fade, filmed through drooping eyelids..."Oggs Cruzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03041599863258946384noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31058461.post-87594570735960048382009-12-07T23:15:49.326+08:002009-12-07T23:15:49.326+08:00Oggs, this is a very illuminating + generous piece...Oggs, this is a very illuminating + generous piece about a difficult (and, imho, disappointing) work. All the themes + ideas that you write about are there, but I could't help feeling that they were let down by the visual representation - the images were so weak I honestly thought they were going to disappear from the screen! Unlike any of the other Diazs that I've seen (which are epics, or <i>stares</i>), this one just feels like a protracted fade, filmed through drooping eyelids...Matthew Flanaganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17377516945046894253noreply@blogger.com