Bela Tarr, Robert Bresson, Tarkovsky, Werner Herzogs films from the 70s, Ozu, Teshigahara, all have shown me so much more in a single shot than many more fast paced filmmakers have shown me in an hour. I cherish these auteurs.
Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos was another Maestro. His 1975 film The Travelling Players and 1984 film Voyage to Cythera, 1988 film Landscape in the Mist had such intoxicating effect on me.
I'm currently taking a Visual Literacy class as a part of my first year of College. We've been assigned to view many examples of slow cinema, such as _A Juice Box Afternoon, Discontinuity, Swimming in your Skin Again,_ & _Two Cars, One Night._ And I'll be honest, they all drove me _mad._ Each film provides hints, but never answers, resulting in immense confusion and irrational need to 'understand' within me. I would have to wait an entire week before we discussed the film as a class, and it was only then, as classmates shared their thoughts, that I would come to understand what the directors might've been thinking. Hot media has done us all a disservice, but I will still forever appreciate the fast-paced art for what it can be. I'm just glad my patience is being tested _now_ before I become too complaisant with our infinite source of content. Fantastic essay!
I think the assistant uses boredom so well. I like to describe it as watching paint dry. It’s beautiful, painful, gritty, and real. I’d highly recommend it.
This is a great video essay. Slow Cinema is my core area of interest as well, though im not a filmmaker but theory student. So glad to find this channel!
Thanks for the amazing essay! I am a student studying video game making and this was really helpful. Current video game industry is full of fast-paced games without any artistic aspiration or even a small amount of meaning. I want to create something meaningful through video game and differentiate my games from other games. I am also trying using slow-paced progression in my games to encourage players to respond interactually. Again, thanks for this wonderful essay! It deserves more views :D
A beautiful video on beautiful films. I have long been fascinated by cinema as a place of introspection (rather than simply shock, novelty or nostalgia), and it is deeply heartening to see others share this interest.
One of the best essays I”ve ever seen! Amazing, really encapsulates all my feelings and philosophies about cinema and filmmaking! Very inspiring, thank you!
Thank you for the wonderful essay, I loved ghost story. There's something about slow cinema that really nourishes the soul. Among my favourites are Lake Tahoe, Uzak and In the city of Sylvia.
I love this video essay. It's so thought provoking and inspiring. You are truly gifted. From your writing, speaking, editing, and to the way you view films. I hope you continue to make more. Also do you have a Letterboxd? I love learning about new films and perspectives by following people who are this knowledgeable and passionate about film.
very cool video. its as if my eyes got opened now aboout the potentiial this medium witholds with it to transform mankind. and where has it been going in the comercial space. thank you!!
Great essay! Although there may be better examples of “Slower” films than Ghost Story, it serves perfectly in support of your thesis. Ghost Story has to be one of my favourite movies of all time!! Good Luck in you ambition to direct Slow Cinema, I endeavour to do just the same thing. If only there was more of an audience, it could be more viable to produce such films. These films take time and money, breaking even would be great. Making a living? Now THAT would be a dream!!!
First of all I would like to clarify, I enjoyed this video a lot! I have a few points of contention though: My main gripe is a small detail, but I disagree with the sentiment that the long take is a recent development. Touch of Evil, The Player, Saving Private Ryan, and infamously Goodfellas. Heck, even gladiator has a few long takes in it. Also the recent Bond films, as well as Mission Impossible have employed long takes to great effect. I say this not to be nitpicky, but to point out the balance of Cinema. A film like Children of Men is a wonderous example of how a skilled filmmaker can use both slow and fast paced editing to their advantage. I enjoy long takes and down moments, but I often find a lot of films in this slow cinema movement tend to lack substance (obviously not all). Vitalina Varela is a really good example. I think it genuinely be on the most beautiful films I've ever seen from a purely visual standpoint. Yet I found myself in less of a meditative state, and more distracted and bored. The story of Vitalina is a straightforward one, not needing much explanation, but it seems as if there is almost not text. It's a purely sub textual film. To me this is just as dangerous as the overly textual (or expositive) blockbusters coming out. They're opposite extremes of the spectrum of film, rebelling against each other. All this to say, it's not that I necessarily disagree with the appreciation or the observations of this video, but just the sentiment that one is better than the other... P.S. Mad Max is an art film: change my mind.
You make some really great points, thank you for commenting!! It wasn't my intention to suggest that one is better than the other, I was trying to highlight the devices commonly used in slow cinema. I definitely should have clarified these devices aren't new or exclusive to slow cinema, and they can be used effectively in mainstream film. And children of men is definitely a brilliant example of that, and its one of my favorite films. I have noticed however that more commercialised films have started to adopt these devices, especially the long take, almost in what feels like a superficial way. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I think it was interesting to talk about how a device that is used so frequently in slow cinema, to create boredom or reflection is now a Hollywood trend. Although again I acknowledge that its not a totally new trend. I also agree that some slow cinema is so hard to get through, whilst I can really appreciate some slow films like Yi Yi, or Kaili Blues, others like the works of tarkovsky (which are undeniably stunning) can be frustrating and are more confusing than it sparking introspection. Anyways, I dont know if any of that made sense, just some thoughts 😂
I understand all those facts. but how can one decide how much time is required for the audience to feel that emotion. I sometimes feel some emotions quickly, as in the real life too. you suddenly see a person in pain and you instantly relate to them. I do not need to observe them for long to feel the same. however, we can never feel the same pain as the character as there is a lot of backstory with the core emotional subconscious attached to it. if you have shown this in the film(which is almost impossible in a three hour film as per the 'rules' of slow cinema), then it's justified, otherwise you are just forcing your intellect upon them.
I don't understand the use of the word "boredom". I mean, yes, these are harder films and ones that ask a lot more from the viewer, but that's just another way of watching a film, and I can say I've never felt like that effort asked to me by the movie causes boredom. Maybe I get tire, but more as when you do physical exercise. I'd say it is boring if you look at these films from the view of hollywood blockbusters, but if you don't, I truly think these films are amazingly entertaining.
@@soupesoupe Well, that's what I'm criticizing. Accepting that these films are in anyway "boring" is accepting the Hollywood gaze. In my case, well no, these films are not boring at all, actually, they are refreshing and entertaining. Just because there's an hegemonic way of understanding cinema does not mean we've got to follow it.
I like films that take their time to build up a certain mood, to create fleshed out characters, or to establish topicality before a plot takes off. I like to be given time to take details in, to linger on the beauty or ugliness of a scene, to immerse myself in the world inhabited by the characters, to make up my own mind about what is going on instead of being rushed and forcefully told by characters and closeups what to pay attention to. That's why this essay is interesting to me. Thanks for the insights. Here's a few well-paced movies I can recommend: "2001: A Space Odyssey", "The American", "Apocalypse Now", "Arrival", "Blade Runner", "Call Me by Your Name", "The Cement Garden", "The Crying Game", "Dark Star", "Dead Man", "Dead Man Walking", "Easy Rider", "Far From Heaven", "Foxcatcher", "Hana-bi", "Heaven's Gate", "The Hunger", "In Bruges", "The Invitation", "The Lighthouse", "Lost in Translation", "Loving Vincent", "Mandy", "Marriage Story", "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World", "mother!", "Nightcrawler", "Once Upon a Time in the West", "Only Lovers Left Alive", "Parasite", "Portrait of a Lady on Fire", "The Quiet American", "Rear Window", "The Sixth Sense", "Slow West", "Snow Falling on Cedars", "Solaris", "Stoker", "Taxi Driver", "There Will Be Blood", "Tideland", "The Tree of Life", "Valhalla Rising", "Vanishing Point", "Wadjda", "The Way West", "Winter's Bone", "The VVitch", "Witness", "World on a Wire".
Bela Tarr, Robert Bresson, Tarkovsky, Werner Herzogs films from the 70s, Ozu, Teshigahara, all have shown me so much more in a single shot than many more fast paced filmmakers have shown me in an hour. I cherish these auteurs.
Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos was another Maestro. His 1975 film The Travelling Players and 1984 film Voyage to Cythera, 1988 film Landscape in the Mist had such intoxicating effect on me.
Believe I heard Antonioni’s trilogy can also be considered slow cinema? Anyone know if this is true? I’ve yet to dive into it
@@illz47 yes it can! Antonioni’s frames are so focused and spacious it creates this slow metaphysical mood, also the pacing
@@shubhranshubasistha9002 eternity and a day is my fave ! what do you think of it
Could Yang be in the picture with a brighter Summer Day and Yi Yi
I'm currently taking a Visual Literacy class as a part of my first year of College. We've been assigned to view many examples of slow cinema, such as _A Juice Box Afternoon, Discontinuity, Swimming in your Skin Again,_ & _Two Cars, One Night._ And I'll be honest, they all drove me _mad._ Each film provides hints, but never answers, resulting in immense confusion and irrational need to 'understand' within me. I would have to wait an entire week before we discussed the film as a class, and it was only then, as classmates shared their thoughts, that I would come to understand what the directors might've been thinking.
Hot media has done us all a disservice, but I will still forever appreciate the fast-paced art for what it can be. I'm just glad my patience is being tested _now_ before I become too complaisant with our infinite source of content.
Fantastic essay!
I think the assistant uses boredom so well. I like to describe it as watching paint dry. It’s beautiful, painful, gritty, and real. I’d highly recommend it.
This is a really high quality essay. Congrats and thank you. Keep it up.
I thought the same this deserves more attention ✌️
This is a great video essay.
Slow Cinema is my core area of interest as well, though im not a filmmaker but theory student. So glad to find this channel!
Thanks for the amazing essay! I am a student studying video game making and this was really helpful.
Current video game industry is full of fast-paced games without any artistic aspiration or even a small amount of meaning. I want to create something meaningful through video game and differentiate my games from other games. I am also trying using slow-paced progression in my games to encourage players to respond interactually.
Again, thanks for this wonderful essay! It deserves more views :D
A beautiful video on beautiful films. I have long been fascinated by cinema as a place of introspection (rather than simply shock, novelty or nostalgia), and it is deeply heartening to see others share this interest.
This is one of the most beautiful essay that i've ever seen. And i've seen plenty of them.
I 100% agree!!!
Thank you so much!
One of the best essays I”ve ever seen! Amazing, really encapsulates all my feelings and philosophies about cinema and filmmaking! Very inspiring, thank you!
Really enjoyed this. I've been doing long performances, and slow cinema is the way I'm approaching its documentation. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for the wonderful essay, I loved ghost story. There's something about slow cinema that really nourishes the soul. Among my favourites are Lake Tahoe, Uzak and In the city of Sylvia.
Amazing work and well presented 👏🏾
Loved it. Congrats.
I love this video essay. It's so thought provoking and inspiring. You are truly gifted. From your writing, speaking, editing, and to the way you view films. I hope you continue to make more. Also do you have a Letterboxd? I love learning about new films and perspectives by following people who are this knowledgeable and passionate about film.
very cool video. its as if my eyes got opened now aboout the potentiial this medium witholds with it to transform mankind. and where has it been going in the comercial space. thank you!!
Such a great and genuine video essay. I seriously wonder why you don't have more subscribers.
This is a fantastic essay - I hope that you will continue I am very impressed.
And we NEED more female video essayists!
This is such a well woven video. Thank you for sharing! It's a great video to show people who might not vibe with this style of film making.
Great essay! Although there may be better examples of “Slower” films than Ghost Story, it serves perfectly in support of your thesis. Ghost Story has to be one of my favourite movies of all time!! Good Luck in you ambition to direct Slow Cinema, I endeavour to do just the same thing. If only there was more of an audience, it could be more viable to produce such films. These films take time and money, breaking even would be great. Making a living? Now THAT would be a dream!!!
Really enlightening video essay! I not only learned a lot but really enjoyed it too.
Thanks for this video essay - very insightful.
Always loved slow cinema, love it more now.
great work!
amazing! love this video and love your voice 🖤
This was a great watch. I loved it!
amazing video!
I'm interested in seeing what you do with the techniques. Good luck to you.
Hey, could you perhaps provide a small list of films which could serve as a nice introduction to slow cinema?
First of all I would like to clarify, I enjoyed this video a lot! I have a few points of contention though:
My main gripe is a small detail, but I disagree with the sentiment that the long take is a recent development. Touch of Evil, The Player, Saving Private Ryan, and infamously Goodfellas. Heck, even gladiator has a few long takes in it. Also the recent Bond films, as well as Mission Impossible have employed long takes to great effect.
I say this not to be nitpicky, but to point out the balance of Cinema. A film like Children of Men is a wonderous example of how a skilled filmmaker can use both slow and fast paced editing to their advantage. I enjoy long takes and down moments, but I often find a lot of films in this slow cinema movement tend to lack substance (obviously not all).
Vitalina Varela is a really good example. I think it genuinely be on the most beautiful films I've ever seen from a purely visual standpoint. Yet I found myself in less of a meditative state, and more distracted and bored. The story of Vitalina is a straightforward one, not needing much explanation, but it seems as if there is almost not text. It's a purely sub textual film.
To me this is just as dangerous as the overly textual (or expositive) blockbusters coming out. They're opposite extremes of the spectrum of film, rebelling against each other. All this to say, it's not that I necessarily disagree with the appreciation or the observations of this video, but just the sentiment that one is better than the other...
P.S. Mad Max is an art film: change my mind.
You make some really great points, thank you for commenting!! It wasn't my intention to suggest that one is better than the other, I was trying to highlight the devices commonly used in slow cinema. I definitely should have clarified these devices aren't new or exclusive to slow cinema, and they can be used effectively in mainstream film. And children of men is definitely a brilliant example of that, and its one of my favorite films. I have noticed however that more commercialised films have started to adopt these devices, especially the long take, almost in what feels like a superficial way. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I think it was interesting to talk about how a device that is used so frequently in slow cinema, to create boredom or reflection is now a Hollywood trend. Although again I acknowledge that its not a totally new trend.
I also agree that some slow cinema is so hard to get through, whilst I can really appreciate some slow films like Yi Yi, or Kaili Blues, others like the works of tarkovsky (which are undeniably stunning) can be frustrating and are more confusing than it sparking introspection.
Anyways, I dont know if any of that made sense, just some thoughts 😂
Very glad i came across this channel🔥🔥quality content
Great video..
Make more of these
wow, great great video.
Tokyo Story is one example for slow cinema imo.
Really nice work
Amazing essay. Thank you 🌻
loved it!
brilliant
Really great!
its great! is there any chance to get the essay in text form?
I'm astonished you haven't hit 1k.
I just made a short film using these principles
I loved your use of language! Are you on Twitter?
Amazing Essay. Would you consider 2001 to be slow cinema?
thankyou so much!
please provide captions..thnx :)
Continue making more content :>
❤
I understand all those facts. but how can one decide how much time is required for the audience to feel that emotion. I sometimes feel some emotions quickly, as in the real life too. you suddenly see a person in pain and you instantly relate to them. I do not need to observe them for long to feel the same. however, we can never feel the same pain as the character as there is a lot of backstory with the core emotional subconscious attached to it. if you have shown this in the film(which is almost impossible in a three hour film as per the 'rules' of slow cinema), then it's justified, otherwise you are just forcing your intellect upon them.
I don't understand the use of the word "boredom". I mean, yes, these are harder films and ones that ask a lot more from the viewer, but that's just another way of watching a film, and I can say I've never felt like that effort asked to me by the movie causes boredom. Maybe I get tire, but more as when you do physical exercise. I'd say it is boring if you look at these films from the view of hollywood blockbusters, but if you don't, I truly think these films are amazingly entertaining.
You just answered the question yourself.
@@soupesoupe Well, that's what I'm criticizing. Accepting that these films are in anyway "boring" is accepting the Hollywood gaze. In my case, well no, these films are not boring at all, actually, they are refreshing and entertaining. Just because there's an hegemonic way of understanding cinema does not mean we've got to follow it.
and Guy Maddin? nice video by the way
2:41 5:03
Beatles Eleanor
I like films that take their time to build up a certain mood, to create fleshed out characters, or to establish topicality before a plot takes off. I like to be given time to take details in, to linger on the beauty or ugliness of a scene, to immerse myself in the world inhabited by the characters, to make up my own mind about what is going on instead of being rushed and forcefully told by characters and closeups what to pay attention to. That's why this essay is interesting to me. Thanks for the insights. Here's a few well-paced movies I can recommend:
"2001: A Space Odyssey",
"The American",
"Apocalypse Now",
"Arrival",
"Blade Runner",
"Call Me by Your Name",
"The Cement Garden",
"The Crying Game",
"Dark Star",
"Dead Man",
"Dead Man Walking",
"Easy Rider",
"Far From Heaven",
"Foxcatcher",
"Hana-bi",
"Heaven's Gate",
"The Hunger",
"In Bruges",
"The Invitation",
"The Lighthouse",
"Lost in Translation",
"Loving Vincent",
"Mandy",
"Marriage Story",
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World",
"mother!",
"Nightcrawler",
"Once Upon a Time in the West",
"Only Lovers Left Alive",
"Parasite",
"Portrait of a Lady on Fire",
"The Quiet American",
"Rear Window",
"The Sixth Sense",
"Slow West",
"Snow Falling on Cedars",
"Solaris",
"Stoker",
"Taxi Driver",
"There Will Be Blood",
"Tideland",
"The Tree of Life",
"Valhalla Rising",
"Vanishing Point",
"Wadjda",
"The Way West",
"Winter's Bone",
"The VVitch",
"Witness",
"World on a Wire".
What's your Instagram.