Post by klep on Jun 10, 2019 6:49:21 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 6/10: Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One
FACT OR FICTION WEEK!
In Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One, director William Greaves films a set of auditions/screen tests for what sounds like a pretty dreadful knockoff of films like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. But there's also someone filming him film it while helping to film it. And there's also a third person filming them and whatever else catches his eye. The stated intent is to let this all go and just see what happens.
The proper way to cover a film like Symbiopsychotaxiplasm is probably to watch it with someone else, comment on it throughout the film, and post the video recording of the experience. It's a very unique attempt at interrogating the line between creator and performer, between fiction and reality. Unfortunately I don't have those kind of resources, so instead you're just getting an essay.
At first the film seems like a weird haphazard attempt at documentary. We see Greaves as his own protagonist fumbling with his job directing this scene with a few different sets of actors. He doesn't seem to have written a particularly good scene - the dialog is dreadful. He doesn't seem all that certain of what he's doing. He doesn't even seem to have a good handle on what it's all about - he says it's about sexuality as he points his camera at a large-breasted woman riding by on horseback.
The crew seems to feel the same. We're given a look at footage they themselves shot discussing the project. They debate whether Greaves has any idea what he's doing, why he's doing it, and whether it's at all valuable or welcome for them to be filming their discussion in this way. It's a discussion yet another level removed from what we've been watching to that point, and it deepens the question of just what the hell is being achieved.
But then it eventually dawns on you. Whatever Greaves is or is not doing - however competent or not he is - what you're seeing is what he chose for you to see. You don't know if his sexism is him or an affectation. You don't know if his fumbling attitude is real or a put on. You don't know if he seriously likes the dialog in the scene or if it's a joke. You don't even know if the shots of the crew arguing are genuine or something he scripted for them. Everything before your eyes is at the same time potentially real and potentially fake.
The result is an experience that is more than a little disorientating. What on screen can we possibly trust? Are the frequent, off-putting homophobic or sexist remarks a reflection of the times in which the film was shot, or a deliberate provocation of the viewer? Was the cop car driving into and backing out of a shot a serendipitous incident or a staged joke? Is the homeless guy at the end whose rambling seems suspiciously on-point really a homeless guy or a paid actor (or both)? Is Greaves really this uncertain of himself, or is it just an act for the camera?
And in the end, does it really matter? Is it possible all that really matters is that these are the shots that Greaves wanted us to see; that he cut together in the editing room for us to interpret as we will? Is Greaves' true experiment the film and the process by which it was made, or is his experiment the exposure of his film to audiences to see how they react? There are innumerable questions posed by Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One, but only one answer: all film is artifice.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 6/17: The Watermelon Woman
PRIDE WEEK!
For Pride Week we'll be watching the first feature film ever to be directed by a black lesbian, which sadly didn't happen until 1996. Join us next week for our discussion of Cheryl Dunye's film wrestling with the frustrating history of black women in early Hollywood. The Watermelon Woman is available for rent on Google Play and Vudu, and available with a couple different subscription trials on Amazon Video.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 6/11: Godzilla (1954)
Godzilla has roared into theaters once again, so next week as the first part of its pairing the Next Picture Show podcast looks back to the first appearance of the King of All Monsters in IshirĂ´ Honda's 1954 classic Godzilla. Join us Wednesday for our discussion of the film that started it all, available on the Criterion Channel and for rent in the usual places.
FACT OR FICTION WEEK!
In Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One, director William Greaves films a set of auditions/screen tests for what sounds like a pretty dreadful knockoff of films like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. But there's also someone filming him film it while helping to film it. And there's also a third person filming them and whatever else catches his eye. The stated intent is to let this all go and just see what happens.
The proper way to cover a film like Symbiopsychotaxiplasm is probably to watch it with someone else, comment on it throughout the film, and post the video recording of the experience. It's a very unique attempt at interrogating the line between creator and performer, between fiction and reality. Unfortunately I don't have those kind of resources, so instead you're just getting an essay.
At first the film seems like a weird haphazard attempt at documentary. We see Greaves as his own protagonist fumbling with his job directing this scene with a few different sets of actors. He doesn't seem to have written a particularly good scene - the dialog is dreadful. He doesn't seem all that certain of what he's doing. He doesn't even seem to have a good handle on what it's all about - he says it's about sexuality as he points his camera at a large-breasted woman riding by on horseback.
The crew seems to feel the same. We're given a look at footage they themselves shot discussing the project. They debate whether Greaves has any idea what he's doing, why he's doing it, and whether it's at all valuable or welcome for them to be filming their discussion in this way. It's a discussion yet another level removed from what we've been watching to that point, and it deepens the question of just what the hell is being achieved.
But then it eventually dawns on you. Whatever Greaves is or is not doing - however competent or not he is - what you're seeing is what he chose for you to see. You don't know if his sexism is him or an affectation. You don't know if his fumbling attitude is real or a put on. You don't know if he seriously likes the dialog in the scene or if it's a joke. You don't even know if the shots of the crew arguing are genuine or something he scripted for them. Everything before your eyes is at the same time potentially real and potentially fake.
The result is an experience that is more than a little disorientating. What on screen can we possibly trust? Are the frequent, off-putting homophobic or sexist remarks a reflection of the times in which the film was shot, or a deliberate provocation of the viewer? Was the cop car driving into and backing out of a shot a serendipitous incident or a staged joke? Is the homeless guy at the end whose rambling seems suspiciously on-point really a homeless guy or a paid actor (or both)? Is Greaves really this uncertain of himself, or is it just an act for the camera?
And in the end, does it really matter? Is it possible all that really matters is that these are the shots that Greaves wanted us to see; that he cut together in the editing room for us to interpret as we will? Is Greaves' true experiment the film and the process by which it was made, or is his experiment the exposure of his film to audiences to see how they react? There are innumerable questions posed by Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One, but only one answer: all film is artifice.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 6/17: The Watermelon Woman
PRIDE WEEK!
For Pride Week we'll be watching the first feature film ever to be directed by a black lesbian, which sadly didn't happen until 1996. Join us next week for our discussion of Cheryl Dunye's film wrestling with the frustrating history of black women in early Hollywood. The Watermelon Woman is available for rent on Google Play and Vudu, and available with a couple different subscription trials on Amazon Video.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 6/11: Godzilla (1954)
Godzilla has roared into theaters once again, so next week as the first part of its pairing the Next Picture Show podcast looks back to the first appearance of the King of All Monsters in IshirĂ´ Honda's 1954 classic Godzilla. Join us Wednesday for our discussion of the film that started it all, available on the Criterion Channel and for rent in the usual places.