Control

This weekend I watched the biographical film Control, made by Anton Corbijn in 2007 and posted on the blog in conjunction with our Queer studies presentations, this one particularly in relation to the Punk community. I have posted earlier about the Punk community, I find it very interesting and under noticed.

This film illustrates Ian Curtis, a young singer of Joy Division. His band was revolutionizing music and entering a movement to promote two new emerging genres into the music scene (a combination of New Wave and Goth). As a result, he suffered personal, professional and romantic troubles and died at age 23 of suicide.

The film originally portrays Ian Curtis as a mundane, sad man working for an employment agency. It is not until he meets the films heartthrob, Debbie, that he falls in love and begins to take risks and follow his dreams. As his band gains success, Ian's relationship with his young wife begins to distance itself and he begins an affair. I thought that the showing of Deborah, his confused wife trying to understand her husbands depressed soul, was particularly moving.   It is a commutation of this new success, family problems, and the emotional difficulty of being an artist which lead to his mental collapse.

The key to Control is understanding Ian's depression. He is constantly fighting epilepsy internally, and he lives in constant fear that his next seizure may be his last. He is driven to no other option than to swallow a daily cocktail of prescribed drugs with horrible effect, causing him to lose control over his own life.

This beautifully made film gives the viewer an intuitive perspective into the spirits of one of the most influential alternative bands in history. We are given exposure into the punk rock scene of the 1970's as well as a view into the troubled mind of a revolutionary artist during this time.

I recommend it to all interested in the Punk Movement as well as anyone curious about the life of a struggling artist. It creates a much more relatable reality of what a man like Ian Curtis would experience.

---Mary Lempres

Le Purgatoire (a Davidson Library find!)

Something I discovered during my Intro to Library Studies class was that we have a whole section of the library (Third Floor) dedicated to artifacts and historical items. During a presentation on this section, the librarian brought out first edition, original Salvador Dali artwork. In the collection she brought, there was authentic works from both "Le Paradis" as well as "Le Purgatoire". These are just some of the many pieces of art contained within these books. If anyone ever has time, come check it out on the third floor library. I heard there are many other works from other artists as well.

- Joseph Din

The Taqwacores

Michael Muhammad Knight's 2003 fictional novel, The Taqwacores, inspired the emergence of Punk Islam. The word Taqwacore combines the Arabic word for god-consciousness and punk essence. The characters within Michael's novel, prompted real life Muslim youth within the punk scene, to actively redefine the look and sound of Islam.

The 2009 documentary Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam: http://www.taqwacore.com

The feature length 2010 film The Taqwacores:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1308165/

Heavy Metal in Baghdad

A personal favorite of mine, this film is available at the UCSB Davidson Library.

In the summer of 2011, I spent nearly four months in Amman Jordan with my wife who was part of a group of Arabic Language students from California. A friend of ours who was also a student,  noticed a store clerk wearing a tee-shirt promoting an obscure metal band from Norway. In broken Arabic and English, the pair played snippets of songs from their tiny phones. The visit to the corner market had transformed into a competitive yet friendly display of Heavy Metal fanaticism.

What happened that evening was unexpected and memorable. Out of the hundreds of people that we had encountered in a major city over the entire summer, he was the only metalhead that we knew of. This film reminds me of how we (as foreigners) identified with the alienation felt by a local citizen.

From the website:
Heavy Metal in Baghdad is a feature film documentary that follows the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to the present day. Playing heavy metal in a Muslim country has always been a difficult (if not impossible) proposition but after Saddam’s regime was toppled, there was a brief moment for the band in which real freedom seemed possible. That hope was quickly dashed as their country fell into a bloody insurgency. From 2003-2006, Iraq disintegrated around them while Acrassicauda struggled to stay together and stay alive, always refusing to let their heavy metal dreams die. Their story echoes the unspoken hopes of an entire generation of young Iraqis.



http://www.heavymetalinbaghdad.com/home.html


-James

Russian Ark

This post was prompted by the class discussion of Walter Benjamin's "aura" within the film experience.

Director Aleksandr Sokurov's 2002 film, Russian Ark, features "200 cast members, 3 orchestras, 33 rooms, 300 years, ALL IN ONE TAKE."

The film follows a 19th century French aristocrat with the viewer as his silent companion, as they travel through 300 years of Russian history and the people that shaped it. It was filmed in the Russian State Hermitage Museum and required a great deal of logistical planning. The film itself was accomplished on the third attempt and is considered by many to be the longest tracking-shot in cinematic history.
The viewer is integrated as a silent voyer and companion, and seemingly addressed by many individuals throughout the film. Could the viewer and their viewing environment be considered an essential component of the film and thus a part of it's "aura"? Is the initial experience by a viewer of the continuous tracking-shot, considered the immersion effect found within the "aura"? Consider the demand that Sokurov places upon the viewer as an accomplice in order to make this artwork complete.




Trailer for Russian Ark: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3011510553/

Film critic Roger Ebert wrote an interesting commentary on the film with a particular interest in the merit of the continuous shot. Should it be considered a novelty or an innovation within cinematic history? How might this film be different without it?

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/russian-ark-2003

Baraka and Samsara

Baraka is the 1992 film collaboration between Director/Photographer Ron Fricke, Producer Mark Magidson and Composer Michael Stearns.

The film was shot in 25 countries on six continents with a custom-built computerized 65mm camera. The process took over 30 months to complete which included 14 months on location.

"The goal of the film," says producer Mark Magidson, "was to reach past language. nationality, religion and politics and speak to the inner viewer."

The principal photography utilized TODD-AO 70mm film which introduced viewers to a cinematic experience in scale and detail not found in traditional theaters.

Fricke commonly refers to the film as "a guided meditation on humanity."

Filmed over five years in twenty-five countries, SAMSARA is a new, non-verbal documentary from filmmakers Ron Fricke and Mark Magidson, the creators of BARAKA. It is one of only a handful of films shot on 70mm in the past forty years.

Official website :http://barakasamsara.com/baraka/about

Non-Verbal Films

Director Godfrey Reggio, Jon Kane and Composer Philip Glass have collaborated on several films that are known for their striking images that examine the global effect of the human presence. What makes these films unique is the lack of spoken dialogue. The visual documentation is instead supported by Glass's riveting musical backdrop which complements the patterns of industrial automation, human behavior and the catastrophic ripples of modern industry which threaten nature.

Additional info and link to the official Qatsi series :  http://www.koyaanisqatsi.org/index.php

KOYAANISQATSI "Life Out of Balance."
Full length film : http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi3856793625/

POWAQQATSI "Life in Transformation"

NAQOYQATSI "Life as War"
Trailer : http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2558328857/

Anima Mundi is an addition to the Qatsi trilogy that places emphasis on the complex order of Nature.

Director Godfrey Reggio reveals humanity's trance-like relationship with technology, which, when commandeered by extreme emotional states, produces massive effects far beyond the human species.

Trailer : http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1262332185/