Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2001 22:05:24 -0500
From: Reagan Ross <rmross-AT-ufl.edu>
Subject: Re: too long or too fast?








Yes this is a similar concern of mine. In general my experience with my
students is that many of them have great difficulty with long and/or slow
films (_Tokyo Story_, _An Angel at My Table_, _Battleship Potemkin_, _Eyes
Wide Shut_, _Broken Blossoms_, and so on; and interestingly I regularly
teach _The Shining_ and I often hear from students that though they like
the film it is "too slow" or it is "a little long"). I am not thoroughly
convinced of this because at times they do respond well to films I think of
as somewhat slow moving (well at least _The Seventh Seal_ did fairly well).
Still my recent interest in music videos and of course our routine summer
blockbusters (becoming more like thrill rides it seems than anything
aesthetically inclined, though nonetheless at times still enjoyable!)
suggests a cutting pattern that is much more rapid and hyperkinetic (in
bursts of an adrenaline rush a la _The Matrix_ or in whole). Even in less
escapist films the pacing often seems to be relatively fast. I haven't
researched this rigorously to say this definitively but my passing
observation (and my Marxist leanings) makes me suspect that like everything
else film is moving towards supplying mass viewers with a more pleasurable
product where the term "instant gratification" means just that.

Best,
Reagan

  








At 05:47 PM 01/30/2001 -0800, you wrote:
>It seems that the worst thing that can be said about a
>movie nowadays is that it is too long or to slow. For
>years, I used to object to that notion, simply because
>there are many excellent movies that are long and
>slow. Seeing some of these classic movies again for
>the second or third time, however, I find I have to
>admit to a certain kind of discomfort. They actually
>*do* take long! And I am not just talking Bergman or
>Antonioni here, I'm talking Taxi Driver, The Shining,
>and many other great movies that had me poised on the
>edge of my seat when I first saw them. Paradoxically
>said, I can't keep up with that pace anymore. If you
>can't believe me, go check for yourself.
>It's not that these movies are no good anymore, they
>can still be watched and enjoyed. They're great
>movies. It's just that you can't make movies like that
>anymore. There is a need for speed.
>Last night at the Film Festival in Rotterdam, I've
>found that this need for speed has brought about a new
>way of film making altogether. In Miike Takashi's
>latest, the action packed 'City of Lost Souls',
>virtually every scene is interrupted, even before we
>know what's going on. Men approach each other, they
>take out their guns, start shooting and <CUT!> it's
>time for another scene again. It's like we don't even
>want to know anymore.
>The style of shooting and editing is called Manga and
>it's very much like Oriental cooking: a lot of
>preparation and only a few seconds of actual cooking
>in very hot oil. I will admit that I liked it a lot.
>It is wild. It's like a drug. But I also regret not
>being able to appreciate the old tempo anymore. And I
>am wondering where this is going to end. How fast can
>we go? Soon, we'll wind up having an essentially empty
>screen, a blur, a painting. Then, finally, time, that
>silly factor that cinema is so dependent of, will play
>no role anymore.
>Comments?
>
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