Ann Fuller
Milos Stehlik wrote:
> I've heard this comment (it's slow, nothing happens) about so many films so
> often about so many films from so many people that most of the time it's
> just not worth the argument, but I have to ask:
>
> what, exactly, is WRONG with SLOW? Not everything in life has to be reduced
> to fast food. And perhaps even more important, what is wrong with
> experimental?
>
> And isn't it the function of film festivals to show precisely those films
> which audiences will have a more difficult time dealing with? Otherwise, why
> not just take over the multiplex for the weekend, call it a film festival,
> and let the corporate chain in California book it?
>
> Life in Palestine, I would presume, is also slow, (let's face it, it doesn't
> set any records for the percentage of population employed) unless, of
> course, you happen to step into violence. I would argue that much happens in
> DIVINE INTERVENTION which is underneath the surface. It happens at a
> visceral level which touches on the deep personal anxiety, the absurdity of
> trying to live anything resembling a "normal" life (or maintain a personal
> relationship) and the rage which infects so many living there.
>
> In this, Suleiman accomplishes something new -- a view from the inside. He
> NEEDED that slowness to gradually strip off the surface layers and reveal to
> us the naked characters, in all their vulnerability.
>
> Lots of filmmakers (Antonioni, Angelopoulos, Kiarostami, Akerman, Tarkovsky,
> Sokhurov to name a few could be accused of that same slowness.
>
> As for the ending of DIVINE INTERVENTION being anti-Israeli, I think that
> does Suleiman an injustice; it's too reductive a characterization. He has
> made films with Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai and is far too smart to think
> that the Palestinian issue has a simple (or single) answer or point of view.
> Just read some of his interviews.
>
> We could all use a little more slowness in our lives just about right now -
> a rush to action or a rush to judgment has rarely proven to be the just way
> to go.
>
> Milos Stehlik
> Facets Multi-Media, Inc.
> 1517 West Fullerton Avenue
> Chicago, IL 60614 USA
> Voice: 1-773-281-9075
> FAX: 1-773-929-5437
> milos@facets.org
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: videolib-bounces@library.berkeley.edu
> [mailto:videolib-bounces@library.berkeley.edu]On Behalf Of Steve
> Fesenmaier
> Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2003 2:37 PM
> To: videolib@library.berkeley.edu
> Subject: Re: [Videolib] film suggestions please
>
> I just watched DIVINE INTERVENTION and thought the film was amazingly
> slow....I have seen the director's earlier film, CHRONICLE OF A
> DISAPPEARANCE, which was also slow. His films are experimental in
> nature. The ending of DIVINE is certainly totally anti-Israeli....I know
> the film has gotten much acclaim....but I think that only film experts
> will enjoy it....I doubt if even very many Palestinians would enjoy
> it...since almost nothing happens....sorta WAITING FOR GODOT in
> Palestine....it was beautifully made....few words are ever said...and
> almost all of the action is trivial, daily things....I told our local
> foreign film festival NOT to show it in May...purely because its
> experimental design will alienate 90 % of all viewers. - Steve
> Fesenmaier. Graffiti film critic -
> http://www.grafwv.com/showstory.php3?id=1102
>
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