Again I think about those stories with various tribes and mystics who refused to have their photo taken out of fear that the camera will steal their soul. And there’s something to be said about the reluctance many people have when it comes to being filmed without their knowledge or accord, on the street, for… Read More An image is something which is potentially dangerous
Between cinema and reality there is inevitably a difference (it is both an absence and an abstraction), the goal of which is twofold and somewhat paradoxical: first, it turns cinema into something which is its own universe, governed by its own rules and principles, a something-else-ness whose reason for being resides in itself; secondly, because… Read More Disparate notes on cinema
Possession. Jung I’d very much like to know what Jung had to say about possession cults and the deeper reasons behind such experiences. Especially since I’ve always wondered if the entities which supposedly possess the initiate could be regarded as aspects of one’s Self. As far as I know, though, Jung spoke about possession in… Read More Notes on possession trance. Jung. “The Miracle of Bali” (1969)
I discovered and watched the largest part of this splendid series some years ago, but only got to see its final episode today. I was struck by the same feeling of deep-seated warmth and vigour and, for reasons that I am yet to fathom and which, dare I say or like to think, have accompanied… Read More “The History of Africa” BBC series
When L. imagines how, in a few years, the new students will “close their eyes with the tiredness of being alive”, one can easily replace “being alive” with “identity,” since being alive (incarnated), means being subjected to certain limitations, conditions, and contingencies, all of which are limited and limiting (even the very fact of having… Read More Payal Kapadia’s “A Night of Knowing Nothing”
I wasn’t expecting this video to turn into a cinematic experience. First of all it’s fascinating as a recording of a process, with all the ensuing preparations, accidents, and recalibrations. Secondly, it works as an implicit view on cinema, where what one chooses to shoot and in what way is a testament in this regard.… Read More Static shots. Perception. The specificity of cinema. A concert by Etran de l’Air
“One may ask, on the other hand, whether reality can be staged so accurately that the camera-eye will not detect any difference between the original and the copy. Blaise Cendrars touches on this issue in a neat hypothetical experiment. He imagines two film scenes which are completely identical except for the fact that one has… Read More I shield myself with Kracauer against the mindless expansion of AI
Mesmerizing time capsule, with a restoration featuring a superb contemporary soundtrack by Jeff Mills, which brings out surprising latent qualities of the film. Supposedly praised by Renoir and Vigo, it further fueled my hunger for rewatching (and watching) dozens of French movies (oh, the ultimate cinephilic cliché, but what can I do), and my recent… Read More Études sur Paris (André Sauvage, 1928)
So many times, when watching a movie, I experience a sense of frustration: I cannot touch the image, I cannot grasp it, fix it, or retain it (remember that moment in Godard’s “Les Carabiniers” when Michelangelo literally tries to enter the projection screen?) A frame is replaced by another in a way that, although logical… Read More When cinema is no longer needed
