Bresson and Tarkovsky

[Doug Millison]

I saw Landscapes in the Mist at the old (tiny) Northside in Berkeley a
while back and found it extremely slow, but beautiful. I came out of the
theater thinking that it should have been cut in half by cutting each shot
in half. But I'll also concede the possibility that some of the film's
power comes from the tension and suspension of waiting and wondering.

I've foundtThis film/novel time thread quite interesting. I won't try to
keep up with the theoretical speculation, but will note another film maker
who may be of interest in this respect:  Ozu Yasujiro of Japan. "Tokyo
Story" (1953), the film I remember best,  moves very, very slowly, happens
mostly (entirely? it's been a few years since I saw it) inside, and is shot
largely (perhaps entirely?) from the POV of a person seated on a tatami
mat. Sit and wait, somebody comes in a room, hear shuffling, finally a
woman comes into the scene and slides open a door to reveal a lovely garden
perspective, plenty of time to examine the pattern of her obi and kimono,
the wallpaper, the prints on the wall, the garden. It's the pace of life,
in a slow-paced world -- the story is of elderly parents whose children
have moved away and no longer have time for in their lives; I've enjoyed it
immensely each time I've seen it.

Pynchon and other fine novelists demonstrate mastery over reading speed, of
course, through a variety of means, as some posts have noted. Complex
syntax, long sentences, few "events", complex ideas, literary and
historical allusion and reference  -- all contribute to slow a reader down
in a novel. When Pynchon does it, we slow down and read it. Shorter,
simpler sentences, more action, quicker "cuts" from scene to scene,
witholding information and promising to reveal it soon -- suspense -- speed
it up. Melville's that way too, in Moby Dick especially, lots to linger
over and savor, but the pulse quickens considerably when they close on the
white whale.

Cordially,
Doug




At 6:14 PM 6/26/97, Paul Murphy wrote:
 But I also like
>Theo Angelopoulos, the bastard son of Tarkovsky and Antonioni, whose
>_Landscapes in the Mist_ and _Ulysses's Gaze_ are slow to the point of
>static. And I also like Jacques Rivette (speaking of watching paint dry).
>Sometimes, slow is good.


D O U G  M I L L I S O N---->millison at online-journalist.com
    Today in history (26 June):
       1284. The Pied Piper lured 130 children of Hamelin away
and they were never seen again.