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Old 11-20-2016, 11:21 AM   #188
teh b0lly!!1
Braindead
 
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Noi Albinoi

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_fXejJTKYqW...s1600/noi1.jpg

this post sponsored by the awesome buzzard, who graciously went to great lengths to help me get my sweaty jew hands on a good copy of this film.

we never got fully into it, but i got the sense he highly rates it, and well, justifiably so. what an offbeat, peculiar film. i can't say i'd seen anything quite like it until now. as it played i found myself thinking a couple of times that it reminds me of Jarmusch's Dead Man. something about the half-living protagonist, looking for meaning and having strange exchanges, wandering in a wasteland of sorts, to an isolating soundtrack. both even got those overexposed shots that make you squint. there midday forest, here blinding snow.

two things i was particularly fond of, is 1) how the film has a distinctly surreal air to it, although it never quite gets 'out there' enough to really justify being called that. it's just strange, slightly left of center, but it never becomes fully unhinged, or parodying. such a fine balance to achieve. really skillful. i appreciated that.

second thing i liked is 2) the lack of stylishness. or more correctly, perhaps - its style is in being un-stylish. i'll admit i am usually a sucker for great - or at least prominent - stylings: symmetrical shots, lyrical composition, (inspired usage of) slow motion, etc etc.

but, this was a stark contrast to all that. no symmetry, no 'perfection', no slow motion. at all. not even once in the film. it always remains very grounded in unglamorous reality. even shots where it would be exceedingly easy to just perfectly center everything and line up the angels, it refrained from doing so - that's admirable. very raw and powerful.

a third thing i liked (yes i said two but who cares nobody reads this) is how the storytelling is almost like a negative of a traditional plot. the actual film itself focuses on small moments, on facial expressions, on slight interactions, 'between the lines' kind of deals, and on conveying an atmosphere or mood. we're being shown, as the audience, that stuff is clearly happening 'in between' the scenes we're actually seeing (namely between Noi and Iris). the plot moves along, even though we don't see much of it. i don't know if it's purposely designed to contribute to a feeling of displacement and detachment, or if it's supposed to serve the slight surrealness of the film, but whatever the reason - it serves the story well.

it takes a while to pick up but by the end i almost literally felt suffocated with Noi being trapped in his 'safe place', and was completely heartbroken by the end of it. this film would probably benefit from multiple viewings. which i'll do sometime, no doubt.

buzz i will never find other people to talk to about this movie. tell me what you think about it

Last edited by teh b0lly!!1 : 11-20-2016 at 09:43 PM.

 
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