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I'm curious if those little clone stampish effects on still 1,3 and 4 are in the actual film. It would seem unlike him to do digitally effected photography.

Alan Smithee wrote:I'm curious if those little clone stampish effects on still 1,3 and 4 are in the actual film. It would seem unlike him to do digitally effected photography.

Agreed, it's interesting. Also - is the film in academy ratio? Or just the production stills? Few things make me more excited these days than visually-oriented filmmakers working in 1.37:1, there is just something about it.

Poster. Clip coming soon. Time for its own thread.

I want to like that, but fuck is it awful

For better or worse, that's happening optically inside the camera (or rather, directly in front of the lens) so what you see is what you're gonna get. I think it's pretty arresting myself. Academy ratio, direct sound, practical optical effects - lovely.

Yeah the photographer just used something like a 80mm lens and shot with a high aperture to have a very restrained depth of field...

Although in the stills there seems to be some 'effects' like the ones in Sokurov's Faust and it was quite great in Faust...

I finally saw this extremely unusual film... I can't tell much about it except that its very abstract and I didn't find the "Post Tenebras" part. The first shoots were beautiful... I wish I could see it again now that I know what to expect...

A bit irrelevant, but does anybody here know of a good essay on Reygadas particularly in regards to the Mexican identity and native peoples? I screen his short from revolution is class yesterday with several students voicing concerns over how he portrays lower class versus middleclass and I want to be able to give a good answer.

knives wrote:A bit irrelevant, but does anybody here know of a good essay on Reygadas particularly in regards to the Mexican identity and native peoples? I screen his short from revolution is class yesterday with several students voicing concerns over how he portrays lower class versus middleclass and I want to be able to give a good answer.

This thesis has a very good section on Reygadas. Should help.

Thanks greatly. That's even better than what I was looking for especially with the influence of Deleuze on the piece making it work very well in the context of the class. Obviously I have yet to read the whole, but the little I have is superb.

Picked up by Strand for U.S. release.

I look forward to the interlaced single-layer hardsubbed DVD in two years, then.

It's a truly beautiful film. Echoes of Apichatpong and even Malick, much as Reygadas would probably want to deny them. Can't for the life of me understand why this was so hated at Cannes, but I am certain its reputation will quickly be reevaluated.

I'm not as resigned as Oedipax, but I share his misgivings. I'd say that now's the time for anybody who cares to email Strand and let them know you won't be interested in purchasing a home video release of this if it isn't a worthy transfer and a decent HD encode on a Blu-ray with a respectable bitrate and, at the the bare minimum, the option of removable subtitles. Tell them it's time to up their game after their merely adequate Uncle Boonmee Blu.

We all went through the VHS age of seeing a film in poor quality because it was the only way to see it. I can deal, but is it really not going to be given a small theatrical release? The Cannes coverage I read wasnt that bad. Reygadas is elite I don't understand.

Alan Smithee wrote:We all went through the VHS age of seeing a film in poor quality because it was the only way to see it. I can deal, but is it really not going to be given a small theatrical release? The Cannes coverage I read wasnt that bad. Reygadas is elite I don't understand.

I don't think there's any evidence there won't be some sort of theatrical release. Just like there's no evidence that Strand knows how to treat a film like this one on DVD or Blu-ray.

warren oates wrote:

Alan Smithee wrote:We all went through the VHS age of seeing a film in poor quality because it was the only way to see it. I can deal, but is it really not going to be given a small theatrical release? The Cannes coverage I read wasnt that bad. Reygadas is elite I don't understand.

I don't think there's any evidence there won't be some sort of theatrical release. Just like there's no evidence that Strand knows how to treat a film like this one on DVD or Blu-ray.

Ah totally mis-read this thinking this was the release in general.

The opening and the bathhouse scene were weird and mindblowing, but overall, this strikes me as a lesser work. I still think Battle in Heaven is his best.

Oedipax wrote:I look forward to the interlaced single-layer hardsubbed DVD in two years, then.

strand releasing who got the u.s. rights (theatrical and home) are pretty decent. dvd should be out in the u.s. through them this year, probably in the fall.

limited theatrical release starts in may.

jbeall wrote:NY Times review

Thanks for the link. This past weekend I saw the film in Atlanta (with Reygadas present), and I think Manohla Dargis provides a thoughtful and sympathetic review that does justice to the complexities of the film. The only thing I might add is that the concept of "evil" in the film is not just an abstract concept, but appears to be a specifically male force. Many of the problems in the film to originate from male sexual desire, the drive for power/ownership and the capacity for violence. This thematic framework certainly doesn't explain everything in the film, but I believe the film has far more underlying coherence than what might appear on the surface.

While watching it I wasn't sure that everything in it worked, and possibly it was too long, but images from it continue to haunt me. I really want to see it again, and frankly I applaud the Cannes festival jury for having the courage to give such an artistically challenging and potentially divisive work the Prix de la Mise en Scene. It is a must on the big screen!

UGH! I had no idea it was screening in Atlanta with Reygadas no less. And I'm even on the High Museum's mailing list. Fuck, that is really annoying.