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Tagged ‘film’

The Zanni analyses (III): The Fifth Day

Photo #5, The Fifth Day

Released in January 2009, our third data cinema work by Carlo Zanni challenges the very essence of cinema by, in fact, not being a movie clip at all but giving the impression it is. The Fifth Day is a slideshow (for lack of a more flattering comparison) heightened with an extremely cinematic soundtrack. By the latter I mean to point to the relationship between the presented photographs, their transitions and the sense of movement created by their visual aspects in conjunction with the music. The narrative suggested, as Zanni himself clarifies, is the invisible protagonist’s taxi ride across Alexandria, Egypt (Zanni, 2009b). Ten stills portray the progression across the city, with no other semblance of coherence than an overall feel of spatial cohesion and the narrative music’s bonding presence (the stills are cataloged here). Continue reading

The succesful emptiness that is ‘Nine’

Nine (2009) has not lived up to expectations.  Divided between devastating disparagement and only mildly enthusiastic nods of approval, it has barely bit the 37% on Rotten Tomatoes.  Is it as bad a film as it sounds, though?  Never mind that it should have swept away the masses in the blitz and glamor of undisguised entertainment – its biggest mistakes might just add to the odd charm of this apparent flop.

The stellar female cast of Nine

Besides being a work by Rob Marshall of Chicago fame, the stellar cast was one of the causes for the extreme enthusiasm enshrouding Nine’s release and the consequent disappointment.  Generally accused of lacking depth and development, the characters in Nine are indeed pretty flat.  I do not, however, believe this to be a major flaw.  Have we forgotten what musicals are all about? Continue reading

L’Enfer of the Megalomaniac

François Cluzet and Emmanuelle Béart in L'Enfer.

François Cluzet and Emmanuelle Béart in L'Enfer.

L’Enfer, c’est magnifique. Nothing less can be said about Claude Chabrol’s 1994 masterpiece.  The film is a true accomplishment; the hell it constructs is unbearable.  Its overt tensions suffused by its subversive undercurrents deny a comforting stability to the viewer, thus pulling the audience into the madness that slowly unravels onscreen.  And once we’re in its clutches, the film will never let go.

It would cost him blood and tears, but Paul finally manages to open his hotel on an idyllic patch of French countryside.  Concurrently, he falls in love and marries.  Nelly is young, ravishing and bubbly; her good humor, which is sometimes pushed to the limits of the grotesque, seems never to abandon her.  Bits and pieces of their first years of marriage flash in front of our eyes – a blink and the next scene is rolling.  Their son is born, he walks, the hotel fills up.  And then, the tiny seed of ensuing ruin is planted: after six years of leading a seemingly blissful life, Paul suffers from stress-induced insomnia. Click here to read more


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