Go to content Go to navigation Go to search

- 29 04 2004 - 02:45 - katatonik

Late night TV

Zelimir Zilnik, “Crni Film” (“the black film”) Yugoslavia 1971. Camera Karpo Godina. The director meets a few homeless people in the street and offers them to live with his family, in a comparably luxurious 48 square-metre flat (parents with two kids). While they stay at his home, he walks around the town, Novi Sad, asking people what to do whith them (“I have these homeless people at home.” – “Nice of you.” – “But they stink.” – “You should get rid of them. What about prison? Nothing free for them there?”).

Mathias Müller, “Alpsee”, Germany 1991. Seen before, somewhere, but who knows where and when. A 1950s-style household, mother and son, household chores, ironing, closing, a lot of closing (windows), spilled milk, fears, and fearful images of them. Interspersed film scenes from black-and-white Hollywood movies seemed superfluous to me, and too obvious, but the film has its way of working its fears into one’s memory.

Cate Shortland, “Flowergirl”, don’t know when, don’t know where. Two young Japanese boys and one girl share an appartment in Sydney. Youth, surfing, moving cameras, all in Japanese. Not so interesting as film, but noted here for future reference.

John Smith, “The Girl’s Chewing Gum”, 1976. A street in black-and-white. People and vehicles pass by, people queue up in front of a cinema. The director says things like “now I want the guy with the cap to walk from left to right, and he takes of his glasses”. Commands or not, one wonders, and then again not.

  Textile help