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Tuesday, May 03, 2016

SLOW CINEMA - Have We All Gone MAD!

'Slow Cinema' is a movie genre which is been around for several years and practiced by a number of European filmmakers. 

'Slow Cinema' is just what it implies - everything is slowed down and drawn out - but, to me, in a bad way.  According to its devotees, it is cinema that must be still and inactive, challenging mainstream cinema's reliance on motion and action.

Now, I get fidgety when I view a movie that is anywhere near 3 hours long let alone the time-span of slow cinema movie.

The worst (or best if you really like this stuff and have no life) is a movie entitled, 'Ambiance' by Swedish director Anders Weberg.  According to Anders, 'Ambiance' is "an abstract, nonlinear narrative summary of the artist's time spent with the moving image.  A protest against the re-creation of old, classic films".  I'm not quite sure of what Weberg means by that statement but I think he's saying he doesn't like movies. 

To give you some perspective on Slow Cinema, Ambiance's' first trailer was 72 minutes long, a second trailer, just released, is 439 minutes long, and the final trailer (to be released in 2018) will be 72 hours in length! 'Ambiance', scheduled for release in December 2020, will be a mind-blowing 720 hours long! No, I'm not joking, this movie is 30 days long!

This takes binge viewing to a whole new level. As you can imagine Slow Cinema is a lot, lot, lot about nothing. True reality of nothingness. Can a few, anything for fame, cameramen (I refuse to call them film-makers) call this a genre - worthy of people's attention. Is this entertainment? Where does the funding for this nonsense come from? Anyway if you happen to see 'Ambiance' on your local cinema's marquee and have a month's worth of time to waste - go for it. Just remember to bring a sleeping bag and a ton (literally) of snack food.

Just saying,
Jim



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