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This film premieres at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2011 on February 1st and I highly recommend anyone attending Rotterdam here to check it out if they have a chance to. This is Buj's (pronounced "Boo E") second feature after The Eternal Present in 2004. I was fortunate enough to catch this at an advanced preview screening in Windsor, Ontario this past weekend.

The Super16mm photography alone is outstanding, the editing, sound design and soundtrack are also fine achievements in their own right. The film itself as a whole though was, IMO, absolutely remarkable. And I say this after having some time to contemplate my reaction to it.

I haven't reacted that strongly to a film since seeing Guy Maddin's similarly black magic-esque My Winnipeg , which felt like Maddin's screening had secret tubes leaking mind bending gases into the audience. I know there has been some great division on this forum over Maddin's film, but if you were among those who had a similar engaging, pleasurable and spellbinding reaction to that film, you'll be fascinated by this as well. The essence of the film's mystic core was conveyed so well - a real fine, studied nuanced methodical potion in the editing, sound design and soundtrack that had a similar effect to Maddin's... and specifically Maddin's repeated spell of "the forks, the lap", etc only far, far more subtle and artfully presented than Maddin's efforts ... by integrating that trance inducing methodoligy into the film's very construction via editing techniques, a ghostly unreliable sound design that swayed back and forth from being heard from the viewer's perspective to protagonist Marjorie's unstable vantage point. While challenging to the audience, the methodical editing style that at times can sooth and seduce the audience with dream-like crossfades between such casual over the shoulder shots lull the viewer into a meditative passivity only to be jarred at other parts by abrupt cuts, fast paced transitions and menacingly teasing cuts away from mysterious characters are they are about to speak.

Really quite a experience in every sense of the word.

AWA wrote:This film premieres at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2011 on February 1st and I highly recommend anyone attending Rotterdam here to check it out if they have a chance to. This is Buj's (pronounced "Boo E") second feature after The Eternal Present in 2004. I was fortunate enough to catch this at an advanced preview screening in Windsor, Ontario this past weekend.

The Super16mm photography alone is outstanding, the editing, sound design and soundtrack are also fine achievements in their own right. The film itself as a whole though was, IMO, absolutely remarkable. And I say this after having some time to contemplate my reaction to it.

Well I've seen this at the IFFR and I didn't like it much. The first 15 minutes were OK (mainly soundtrack, visuals) but after the truly abysmal "acting" kicks in the film spirals down to the level of "pretentious arthouse snobbery" (would be a good contender for such a prize). To compensate for her bad acting skills I was hoping for nudity from the (physically attractive) main protagonist (to kill the boredom, and because I like it...) but alas. I wasn't the only one who didn't like it. Out of about 20 people who saw the screening 18 left and the two remaining die-hards said it was the worst film they saw at the festival this year. It's no crowd pleaser for sure (yesterday it was in the last place and now in the 6th last place out of 190 competing films in the UPC audience award at the IFFR, 148 people voted thus far). It's the type of film which if I'd show or recommend it to non-cinefile friends they'd probably never want to see a film recommended by me again. Anyway ending on a slightly more positive note: let's just say a very exclusive crowd might possibly enjoy this.

L'amiDeVS wrote:To compensate for her bad acting skills I was hoping for nudity from the (physically attractive) main protagonist (to kill the boredom, and because I like it...) but alas.

On the plus side though, if you want to see some nudity, you live in the 21st century.

swo17 wrote:

L'amiDeVS wrote:To compensate for her bad acting skills I was hoping for nudity from the (physically attractive) main protagonist (to kill the boredom, and because I like it...) but alas.

On the plus side though, if you want to see some nudity, you live in the 21st century.

Haha I know, but in the context of this film (which I had to watch because I was an usher at this screening), it was something I really looked forward to during the screening.

(But since I'm here I'll take your advice to heart and will seek some compensation on the net =; )

Like I said - will probably get reactions comparable to that of My Winnipeg.

L'amiDeVS wrote:Out of about 20 people who saw the screening 18 left and the two remaining die-hards said it was the worst film they saw at the festival this year.

I have no idea what film you claim you attended (it certainly wasn't this one), or what imaginary "die-hards" you talked to after the screening, but I would kindly suggest that if you have a particular bone to pick on the internet with "pretentious arthouse snobbery," please articulate exactly what "pretentious arthouse snobbery" is. Instead of making simplistic personal attacks on the filmmaker in order to support your criticism (which I've yet to hear), give an honest explanation about why you didn't like the film, or please spit your venom on another forum.

I'm a regular visitor to the CF, but this is the first time I've posted. I've been looking for English language press on this film since I saw it in Rotterdam and this thread was what I came across first. When I saw Primordial Ties on Tuesday night, I found the film so beautiful, visually-striking and intellectually moving that I skipped the Thursday screening of Film/Socialism in order to see this film again (I have plans to see F/S at the Lightbox in Toronto anyway, so I wasn't missing much). Both of the screenings of Primordial Ties I went to were very well attended and the audience did not complain about the film at all. There were no en-masse walk outs and a good sized crowd (albeit apparently invisible to the ushers working the festival) stayed for the Q&A. I remember, in particular, one patron openly praising the filmmaker for being "brave" and doing something different.

I would definitely agree with AWA that there was a wonderful Guy Maddin fever dream vibe to the film. The predominant reds and greens in the gorgeous Super 16mm photography (rare these days because nearly everybody making a film on a low budget shoots on video) reminded me a lot of "Careful," and the quick shots of Marjorie (the film's protagonist) on the boat operlapped with the sound of the bells brought "My Winnipeg" and "Brand Upon the Brain" to mind. Needless to say I also felt a subtle flash of Kenneth Anger to the film as well.

L'amiDeVS wrote:Out of about 20 people who saw the screening 18 left and the two remaining die-hards said it was the worst film they saw at the festival this year.

Dear Mr. L'amiDeVS: I am the filmmaker, and while I can appreciate (and even respect) your antipathy toward the film for whatever reason you can barely manage to articulate, I absolutely do not appreciate the fact that you can feel so free to FLAT-OUT LIE about things like attendance, walk-outs, etc. to support your criticisms. I was at all of the public screenings and did in fact conduct a Q&A with each and every audience, and the audience numbers have been good-to-impressive to say the least, especially considering that this film was a last-minute invitation to the festival (yes, an actual all-expense paid invitation on behalf of two enthusiastic programmers) with little opportunity for proper promotion, etc. Just accept the fact that I aimed high with this project and didn't make the film for someone like you in mind. Actually, I would have really enjoyed it if you would have had the balls to stop me after the show and told me how you really felt about the film, etc. Maybe then we could have had an intelligent conversation.