The fifteenth chapter in "32 Days of Movies", an audiovisual tour through 366 films.
(2015 update: included Vimeo embed after the jump)
Tuning In
Something in the cinema is simultaneously hardening and loosening. On the one hand, we have a claustrophobic, voiceless train ride; the aching beauty of a poem for a leper; and a hardbitten, sun-boiled trek up an endless mountain path - Sisyphus in Latin American hell. There is a restrained but emotional parlor scene and then...a restless youth party with flirtation and gameplaying, another train ride raucous rather than restrained, a moody walk in the free air along a canal, and then a slow-boil gaze full of explosive energy and dynamic colors. Unmistakable through all these selections is that feeling of frenetic anticipation, when time stands still yet you know in a moment everything will be thrown in the air, pieces end up where they may.
Today's films seem to be tuning in to a new frequency, especially near the end of the chapter. Every day we are advancing further into new territory, with only the enigmatic familiarity of certain faces (Vitti's, Karina's) and the elusive traces of directorial vision to steady us. There's a new soundtrack now too, as sixties youth culture gears up and popular music joins the party that the cinema had already begun. There are several representations of the kinetic new Pop world finding its voice on the screen here, but perhaps the last clip contains the keenest sense of a sonic awakening. Here it is not music, not exactly music anyway, that fills the airwaves, but sounds broadcast from another zone of consciousness. And that familiar face turns its head and then leaves the frame, leaving us to stare in wonder at the abstractions of the telephoto canvas before us, in glorious color.
Just a note: I see from stats that way, way more people are visiting these intro posts then following through on the video. What's stopping you? Jump in! Especially now that it's the weekend, and you don't have the boss snooping over your shoulder...
Tomorrow: That Total Film
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Yesterday: Runaway Cinema
Visit the Video Gallery for a complete list of the chapters so far.
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