I heart slow film
Recently a friend came over and cooked Kale slowly… so slowly in fact that it seemed like an eternity (maybe 2+ hours) to make a pasta that was… delicious. His wife claims that when she makes it, it’s not nearly as good because she’s impatient and cooks it fast. We talked about the “Slow Food” movement briefly… basically the mission to counteract the fast food and fast life we have today with an emphasis on local food, traditions and a focus on how food is made and how it tastes. I couldn’t help but think that maybe we need to think about film in a similar way… Could there be a slow film movement? Could we counteract the “fast” films we have today with an emphasis on films made locally, focusing on the filmmaking process and how we then experience it?
When you look at the business and consider the product… most filmmaking definitely feels like a kind of fast production line. Studio productions and Indie films generally follow the same mandate, which is to spend the least amount of time and money to get (hopefully) the best product. Very few films grow organically out of a particular location. Most of them are set in film production capitals like L.A. or New York or some other place with good film incentive tax laws. During the actual production there isn’t a lot of flexibility to re-think or re-shoot, unless you’re someone like Kubrick. Many films are cookie cutter or hybrids of other films that made money or won an Oscar, so much so that sitting in the theater I have feelings of deja vu far more than I’d like. Many so-called “independent” films are fast films in disguise. They can taste as stale as canned food even though they are served up as something new and fresh. Of course some of these “fast” films are amazing and powerful and I’m the first to admit that … but we need to make sure our film diet doesn’t get to boring or too expected.
Just as the slow food movement worries about biodiversity of food, I worry about cinematic diversity of films. With the current economy, fewer people are buying organic from local farms and fewer film investors are taking risks on films that are made locally, slowly and differently. But there’s no reason to get depressed yet. There are still a few slow cooked films out there to enjoy. I’ve decided to make this week my own Slow Film Appreciation Week. If you feel like joining in, here are a few ideas.
In the theater…
24 CITY directed by Jia Zhang-ke, an experimental fiction-nonfiction hybrid that’s grown locally at an actual Chinese state-owned factory building that is being demolished to make way for a new development. You are not sure whether you are munching on documentary or fiction as the flavor keeps changing, playing with expectations. Check out Mahnolia Dargis excellent review here… and the following taste:
Jim Jarmusch’s LIMITS OF CONTROL. Jarmusch boldly simmers his images with only a splash of plot in this dreamlike film that was apparently made from a very spare recipe (screenplay). This minimalist creation is not for everyone but all I can think is thank God for Jarmusch and his stubborn daringness to experiment.
Also one of my recent favorites BALLAST (2008) – almost on DVD. and directed by Lance Hammer. Ballast was filmed in Mississippi with a cast of mostly local non-professionals, with a script that evolved over several months of rehearsal. Several months of rehearsal???!! The idea makes a filmmaker salivate. The result… a film that breaks your heart… and apparently even made Roger Ebert cry. See his passionate review here.
And of course here’s a little taste…
-LR
