Rowan Sullivan

436

Son of Saul (Hungary)

Son of Saul Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Are you ready to watch an amazing visual recreation of the Holocaust? You will see it all from the point of view of Saul, a Jew forced to help in the Nazi death camps. The camera shoots the whole film with Saul’s head in close up. We see everything he does, as if we are controlling him in a video game. If you liked the long takes of Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men, or Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, you will appreciate this film.

Why Watch Son of Saul?
  • It won the Foreign Language Academy Award in 2016, beating the equally incredible Embrace of the Serpent
  • For some amazing long takes that reminded me of Alfonso Cuaron’s Birdman and Children of Men.
  • For another great, but harrowing Holocaust movie. Son of Saul offers a different aspect to what you have seen in Life is Beautiful and Schindler’s List
  • Learn about the SonderKommando – groups of Jews who were forced to carry out the Nazi’s dirty work
The Breakdown

The film starts with a blurred image full of green vegetation. You can just about make out two people with their shirts off, digging a hole by a tree. A man approaches the camera and his head comes into focus. The camera sticks to him, always showing his head in close-up focus and everything happening around him out of focus. He herds people onto a train and into the Nazi Death camps where they are frantically stripped and sent to their deaths in the gas chambers.

The man who the camera has stuck to is Saul, a Sonder Kommando. The Sonder Kommando were strong men, usually Jewish, selected by the Nazis to clear the gas chambers. We see them clearing dead bodies, rifling for valuables in the dead’s clothes, and digging burial plots. They were effectively slaves for the Nazis. If they didn’t obey the Nazis, they were shot and replaced. However, like the prisoner in A Man Escaped, there is hope where there is life and always opportunity to rebel and escape.

The director, Lazlo Nemes, chooses to focus on one man, Saul, throughout the film. The camera stays glued to Saul’s face for the whole film. Our view is restricted by Saul’s movement – even the background is rarely in focus. It gives us a unique point of view which immerses us in the horrors of life in the Nazi death camps. However, the blurred background hides a lot of the gore and violence from clear view (even though we know what is happening). I believe the director leaves these blurred to show that Saul has become accustomed to the horror/violence. He knows it is there, but doesn’t want to see it any more, so he blurs it out of his memory.

Conclusion

As hinted at before, Saul blurs out the horror and violence of the Holocaust as he doesn’t want to see it. As a result, his perspective and life retreats into himself as he tries to leave reality. He makes it his duty to ceremonially bury a boy killed by the Nazis who is left for experimentation. He prioritises this over everything else (escape, rebellion, and protection).

“You have failed the living for the dead” – One of the Sonder Kommando to Saul.

437

The Courtyard of Songs (O Patio das Cantigas) – Portugal

The Courtyard of Songs Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Image result for o patio das cantigas

If you’re looking for a bunch of laughs after a long hard day at work, watch this. You have the option of watching the classic original from the Portuguese golden age, or the updated version (which I’ve reviewed here). Either way, watching it is your chance to experience life in Lisbon. You’ll meet a mix of Portuguese stereotypes that you’ll quickly fall in love with.

Why Watch The Courtyard of Songs
  • To see life in beautiful Lisbon!
  • For a good, light comedy (a rarity on Film Root, for more comedy check out the German Toni Erdmann)
  • It’s a great alternative to art-house Portuguese film (such as Tabu or In Vanda’s Room) and the old Portuguese classics (Aniki Bobo)
  • It was recommended by a Lisboeta (someone from Lisbon)
The Breakdown

The film starts with a view of the neighbourhood. We can see lines of colourful bunting stretched across a courtyard in Lisbon surrounded by houses with balconies. A guy with a slicked back hair and a Mohawk walks out onto his balcony, scratches his balls, and cat calls an attractive woman walking past. The woman acknowledges him (luckily they know each other) and the narrator steps in to introduce us to all of the characters in the neighbourhood.

In this neighbourhood, everyone knows everyone. They are like one big family. They fight, they argue, but they will also support each other when it matters (such as when Amalia sings or when Evaristo bails out his neighbours). On the street, they share their emotions: their life ambitions, their love interests, and their gossip, which travels like wildfire. Gossip is their form of news. People are so eager to be on top of the local news, that they all follow the inspector round to try and solve the crime before him!

In addition, pay attention to the structure of the neighbourhood because it is typically Lisbon. The neighbourhood is divided into two levels: the street level, and the balcony level. People go to their balcony when they want to watch life in the neighbourhood and each character uses it differently. Evaristo uses it to watch out for Rosa, another character uses it to cat call girls, Amalia uses it to showcase her figure, and another uses it for his exercise bike. In contrast, people go to the streets when they want to share their emotions and party.

Conclusion

The Courtyard of Songs is great to watch to get an understanding of neighbourhood dynamics in Lisbon. The film is full of wittiness and laughs, a lot like a good episode of Friends. Watch this if you’re interested in visiting Lisbon, and if you want to go make sure you visit during the June festival!

 

438

An Investigation On the Night that Won’t Forget

Investigation on the Night that won’t Forget Film Difficulty Ranking: 5

Image result for an investigation on a night that wont forget

Lav Diaz is always a challenge to watch, so don’t start watching this on a first date. He is the master of slow-cinema, so expect long takes (55 minutes to be precise) and silence. I’d recommend checking out the more Filipino Elegy to the Visitor of the Revolution or even the 7 hour Melancholia before this one. In contrast, Investigation on the Night that Won’t Forget is a documentary centring on Erwin’s story.

Why Watch this Film?
  • For another film from the master of slow-cinema – Lav Diaz
  • It’s an exploration of spontaneous storytelling and cinema’s role in documenting memory
  • There’s a very poetic and cinematic prayer to end the film
  • Hear about the struggle against Filipino bureaucracy and politics
The Breakdown

This film opens with the title card: “Part 1: Cradle of Memory”. Erwin sits uncomfortably in a chair in the middle of a small office, framed by a door frame. There are many books piled on his desk as he starts to tell us the story of two of his friends who were murdered in their own home.

The interview is shot in one long 55 minute take. He speaks in a mixture of English and Tagalog, often switching between the two mid-sentence. He pauses every once in a while as he either tries to remember details or to reflect. Erwin is not interrupted for the whole take. We hear all of the story that his memory can recount. He actually states that “it’s good that we are recording as my memory is failing,” emphasising that we only hear what he can remember.

Lav Diaz uses one long take to show the fragility and spontaneity of memory. One minute Erwin is confident in what he says, only to recount the same detail as he remembers more. Erwin’s natural, spontaneous narrative, is evidence that every source is limited. We do not doubt anything he says, but his many corrections and pauses indicate that his memory may have forgotten some details. Lav Diaz presents film as an answer, as he documents Erwin’s story to protect it from further decay.

Conclusion

Lav Diaz’s slow films are a challenge to watch, and this one proves to be no exception. However, where there is a challenge, there is often a reward. In this case, it is a chance to explore memory and narrative; how events are remembered and how they can be reconstructed from the depths of the mind.

 

439

Letter

Letter Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

Image result for loznitsa letter

Here’s another opportunity for you to see a way of life hidden in a remote part of Russia. Again, Loznitsa’s short-documentary is available to watch on YouTube. So you have no excuses for avoiding 20 minutes of immersion into an intriguing mental asylum.

Why Watch Letter?
  • For another Loznitsa short documentary (I’d recommend checking out Factory and Portrait before this one)
  • Experience life at a mental asylum in remote North-Western Russia
  • See how Loznitsa experiments with blurred vision
  • Another dreamy, peaceful way to spend 20 minutes – find the film here on YouTube
The Breakdown

The film opens with a picture of a forest covered in a thick layer of mist. You can hear the wind blowing and a bird crowing. The forest cuts to a hut in blurred vision which obscures the face of a figure that repeatedly walks to the front of the house to shake a white bed sheet. A lightning strike hits and another human silhouette appears against the whitewashed front of the small mental asylum.

Loznitsa documents a handful of scenes from life in the mental asylum. We witness the residents helping out with harvesting the grain fields and feeding a cow that is left to roam the grounds. One particularly memorable shot shows two men standing at the forefront of the frame whilst a man sits behind them playing an accordion. While a cow meanders around the shot, the taller man nicks the shorter one’s hat and puts it on his head. The shorter man quickly grabs it back before they both carry on staring.

The whole 20 minute film uses blurred vision. Whilst it makes it hard to watch, it does respect the mental asylum residents. Their identity and their location are kept hidden, allowing them to continue life in their isolated existence. In addition, the human sounds, possibly sounds of pain, are kept quiet to respect their lives.

Conclusion

Loznitsa’s Letter is a another short and serene documentary. His experimental techniques make it harder to watch than Factory and Portrait, but it is equally intriguing. Loznitsa’s short documentaries are opportunities to immerse yourself in ways of life that you are probably unaware of. Enlighten yourself and watch them all on YouTube.

440

The Factory

Factory Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Image result for factory loznitsa

You’ve got no excuses for ignoring Loznitsa’s documentaries. They are available on YouTube (links below) and are only 30 minutes long. If you are looking for a portrayal of 1930s Russia go watch Portrait. For an otherworldly depiction of a working factory, watch Factory. You’ll be hypnotised by the mechanic sounds and glowing lights in a world where humans have become machines. Is this the future of humanity?

Why Watch Factory?
  • Just like Portrait you can watch this here on YouTube
  • To gain a greater appreciation for your current job
  • Experience factory life – where human’s become machines
  • To relax from another day’s work – the sounds, colours, and perfect processes will sooth you.
The Breakdown

It is still dark. There is a light blanket of snow on the ground. A long billboard of portraits is illuminated by the golden light of two small lamps. A few people walk by, their silhouettes blending into the darkness. The people walk from the darkness into an entry room lit in a spacey green. They all pass through a small turnstile and into the factory to become part of the machine.

In the factory a man crawls out of an orifice in the metal machinery. He picks up a long rod and starts to shovel metal back into the mouth of the machine. A group of women alternate grabbing a metal slab from a slow moving conveyor belt and shelving the blocks on a shelving unit behind them. Both men and women have become parts of the machine. Their movements have become as coordinated and reliable as the machines they work with. Have these people become robots? Are they losing their humanity?

The colours and sounds of the factory create a weirdly relaxing atmosphere. It reminded me of the warm feeling you feel when someone softly speaks to you as you are slowly falling asleep in a warm bed. The sounds of the machinery represent almost every onomatopoeic word. You hear bubbling, grinding, rattling, sloshing, and hissing. Then there are the colours. The warm reds and oranges of the molten metal against the otherwise dark factory and the futuristic greens and blues create an otherworldly environment. It could almost be an image of a dystopian future where humans work for/with the machine.

Conclusion

“What interests me is the possibility of realising thoughts with the resources that make up cinema. The rest is secondary…First an impression, then reflection, then realisation”

– Loznitsa (the director)

In Factory Loznitsa focuses on the physical stuff that makes up an image, namely the location and occupants. Here he moulds an extraordinary film of a Russian factory by depicting the harmony between machines and man. He makes what is real seem unbelievable – as if we are witnessing an alternate dystopian reality.