James Benning’s first film called The United States of America was a 1975 trip across the country, capturing its scenery through a car windshield. This second one also crisscrosses the nation, but without a car, carving it up instead into a series of static shots of just under two minutes, one for each state, presented alphabetically, from Heron Bay, Alabama to Kelly, Wyoming. The names of the places are nondescript, but the images attached to them are anything but, immaculately composed shots of landscape, cityscape and the spaces in between. As we move from A to Z, the images coalesce into a portrait of today’s USA, tracing out its fault lines almost in passing: fenced-off facilities, a river bed running dry, factories and refineries, run-down streets and gas stations, a camp under a bridge. The past is there too, seeping up through the songs and speeches that sporadically pierce the background noise or the motifs that evoke a whole career; the clouds, trains and cabins are stand-ins for films, not just states. As always, there’s time for more abstract thoughts too: each image may stand for a state, but representativity is slippery. Which state is more cinematic than the rest?
純手打,可能有拼寫錯誤,見諒
Heron Bay, Alabama (配樂: Carperter, (They Long To Be) Close To You)
Cooper River, Alaska
AJO, Arizona
Tucker, Arkansas
Wilmington, California
Grand Junction, Colorado
New Milford, Connecticut
Wilmington, Delaware (畫外音: Eisenhower, Farewell Address)
District of Columbia
Key Biscayne, Florida
Okefenokee, Georgia
Kilauea, Hawaii
Shoshone, Idaho
Minier, Illinois (配樂: Woody Guthrie, This Land is Your Land)
Gary, Indiana
Rice Lake, Iowa
Wallace, Kansas
Willard, Kentucky
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Albion, Maine
Baltimore, Maryland
Tonset, Massachusetts
Muskegon, Michigan
Hibbing, Minnesota
Fayette, Missisippi (畫外音: Kwane Ture Speech Part)
St. Elizabeth, Missouri
Stemple Pass, Montana
Omaha, Nebraska (畫外音: 啟示錄 17:3 片段)
Warm Springs, Nevada
Carroll, New Hampshire
Laurence Harbor, New Jersey
VLA (Very Large Array), New Mexico
New York, New York
Ashford, North Carolina
Grassy Butte, North Dakota
Cleveland, Ohio (配樂: Minnie Riperton, Lovin' You)
Duncan, Oklahoma
Durkee, Oregon
East Berwich, Pennsylvania
Arecibo, Puerto Rico (配樂: Buena Vista Social Club, Dos Gardenias)
Jamestown, Rhode Island
Kershaw, South Carolina
Little Eagle, South Dakota
Paris, Tennesse
Valentine, Texas
Hanksville, Utah (畫外音: a part of speech related to the Indians)
Milton, Vermont
Norfolk, Virginia
Okanogan, Washington
Meadow Bridge, West Virginia
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (配樂: Imagine, singer unknown)
Kelly, Wyoming
幽默扮檸的全新力作,內(nèi)容標(biāo)題直白到無需多言
【Doc Fortnight 2022】像在翻閱一本動態(tài)的美國相冊
原來是他
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landscape film / 美 像詩歌 讀一句能想一天 #DocFortnight
用極米投影儀投到墻上看,結(jié)果過了一會兒以為網(wǎng)斷了,我看的是極米自帶的屏保。有些影像的畫外空間感挺有意思的,比如賽車和馬。但是整體上看,是不是該忽視極簡表達(dá)中一直覺得杜尚的小便器就是小便器的恍惚感呢?
補標(biāo)
玩歸玩,鬧歸鬧,別拿紀(jì)錄片玩笑。
【4.5】當(dāng)你以為是美國風(fēng)情畫——平等地掠過生態(tài)、經(jīng)濟、政治、人文的表面,結(jié)果是關(guān)于“虛構(gòu)”的玩笑。不一定是最好的班寧作品,但卻是最幽默的。
“好萊塢”電影(在“攝影棚”里看到整片大陸)。虛構(gòu)是一個關(guān)于地平線的問題。地平線是一個關(guān)于虛構(gòu)的問題。想立刻在GTA V內(nèi)“翻拍”之。
靜態(tài)與動態(tài)相融,依靠聲音的變化。文字、圖像、聲音互為闡釋,卻也可能不是,正如黑白后的彩色永遠(yuǎn)未知一樣。影像是可以通過靜物來促使理解和想象力的,喜歡這一份信任。3.8
這是今年香港國際電影節(jié)看的第一部電影,是美國著名紀(jì)錄片導(dǎo)演占士班寧的退休作。英文原名叫USA,電影節(jié)給翻譯了一個很文藝的名字叫“花旗五十二景”。開映之后才發(fā)現(xiàn),其實就是導(dǎo)演取美國五十二個洲的標(biāo)志性景觀,每個州拍了兩分鐘靜止畫面,加起來一共100分鐘。由于取景都在一些鳥不拉屎的荒郊野外,所以這個電影非常無聊,中途退場絡(luò)繹不絕,甚至還有睡著打呼嚕的。但是如果堅持到最后,就可以發(fā)現(xiàn),這部沒有任何情節(jié)人物,只有52個場景的ppt電影,結(jié)局處竟然有驚人反轉(zhuǎn)。
#HotDocs2022# 8+
3.5,近幾年最喜歡的班寧之一。
無法擁有快速通過荒地的速度,所以 緩慢地發(fā)現(xiàn)了在靜止中的深度。因為離河面太近或太遠(yuǎn),分辨不出湍急的水流被哪種音樂所替換了。美利堅的地景生態(tài)、或是紐約的虛假黃昏,那些微弱的光亮;排列成一段幻覺的喧嘩。
82/100 #MomaDocFortnight# 美式景觀(田野與天空、工業(yè)與沙漠等)與美國問題(種族和開發(fā)問題等),1975年之后至今,在精神錯亂中還能找到美國式理想嗎。聲音與畫面的不同步,帶來不少“戲劇性”,像是銀幕外的騷動,對影像的“作假”,讓觀眾意識到老頭從未停止他玩笑式地實驗。
3.5,假象
3.5,退休之作。
3.2
9.4/10 #MoMA Doc Fortnight 按各州首字母順序,依次選不知名地點/建筑/物品拍攝兩分鐘后切換。(然而影片最后揭露,本片基本全部在加州拍攝,似乎成為不具真實性的沙盤,或尖銳的對國家認(rèn)同的嘲諷) 文化身份的多元性被更為抽象與泛指的多樣性替代:荒原,工業(yè),道路,住宅,自然等等。地貌從某種意義上被去歷史化(除威斯康星部分配上Kwame Ture的講話),甚至脫離其在地性,被班寧挪用以制造一張?zhí)搨蔚娜宋?文本地理學(xué)志地圖。大部分州內(nèi)地名選擇都避開主要城市,甚至多次選取人煙稀少的非建制區(qū)域,并利用其命名語義來衍生更多遐想(譬如田納西州的“巴黎”市)。部分配樂/聲引入“人”的曾經(jīng)在場(特拉華時截取部分艾森豪威爾退休演講,內(nèi)布拉斯加時配啟示錄17章選段) 結(jié)尾拍攝緊閉鐵門配上"私人領(lǐng)地"的標(biāo)牌則甚是嘲諷: 總結(jié)全片關(guān)于“領(lǐng)地”的主人的叩問。