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Take your Time: On the Pleasures of Cinematic Slowness (Jakob Boer)

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 Jakob Boer here: Benoit kindly invited me to contribute a post to his wonderful blog (that I’ve been following for many years now). I would like to take this opportunity to report on the findings of a research project that I conducted on slow cinema spectatorship. On this blog, in film criticism, and in academic writing, slow cinema has been subject to lively and sometimes heated debates. Yet, some aspects of this contemporary cinematic phenomenon were left largely unexamined, which was the impetus for me to dedicate three years of my life to studying the topic. Scholars had done major film analytic work on the topic previously, and cultural critics had done the work of positioning slow cinema in a wider slow movement. Yet, I sensed that the unique type of aesthetic experience slow cinema affords, remained relatively unexplored. To me, the vocabulary used to describe it lacked richness and precision. I thought that the easy oppositions used in film theory–between fast/slow, atten...
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Zen Aesthetics through Contemplative Spectatorship (6) Ishin-Denshin

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  Claude Sonnet 3.7:  Japanese aesthetic principles derived from Zen tradition offer a powerful lens for understanding contemplative cinema across cultures. This series examines ten concepts forming a progression from initial receptivity toward deeper awareness—revealing how contemplative films create spaces that transcend narrative efficiency. These aesthetic principles don't merely describe techniques but constitute an entire epistemology of viewing where cinema becomes a meditative practice, enabling access to dimensions of experience often overlooked in conventional spectatorship.   以心伝心  Ishin-Denshin Direct Transmission Beyond Words Ishin-Denshin represents one of the most profound and elusive concepts in Japanese aesthetic and spiritual tradition, describing a mode of communication that transcends conventional linguistic and conceptual boundaries. The term itself—literally "from mind to mind" or "heart-to-heart transmission"—emerged from Zen Buddhist cont...
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Le mutisme au cinéma (Milène Chave)

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 Dernière addition à la page Bibliothèque sur Unspoken Cinema : "Avant même l’arrivée du parlant, le cinéma fut colonisé par le verbe : la parole fut dès lors instrument du discours, guide du spectateur. [..] Le sujet du silence nous a toujours fasciné car il touche à l’indicible, au non-dit. L’exclusion des mots qui, s’ils étaient prononcés, en réduiraient leurs sens, engendre une polyphonie du (des) sens en même temps qu’un pouvoir émotionnel fort. Elle est une capacité d’expression du langage très utilisée au cinéma. Dans cet univers d’absence de voix, le mutisme nous intéresse particulièrement : il nous renvoie à nos moments de doute, à ces instants où il est trop dur ou difficile de parler, où les mots ne semblent pas pouvoir exprimer ce qui est réellement ressenti. La richesse de ses significations et de ses utilisations permet au cinéma de mener le spectateur vers un travail d’intériorisation, dans un monde plus subjectif que pra...
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Zen Aesthetics through Contemplative Spectatorship (5) Wabi-Sabi

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Claude Sonnet 3.7:  Japanese aesthetic principles derived from Zen tradition offer a powerful lens for understanding contemplative cinema across cultures. This series examines ten concepts forming a progression from initial receptivity toward deeper awareness—revealing how contemplative films create spaces that transcend narrative efficiency. These aesthetic principles don't merely describe techniques but constitute an entire epistemology of viewing where cinema becomes a meditative practice, enabling access to dimensions of experience often overlooked in conventional spectatorship.   侘寂  Wabi-Sabi The Beauty in Impermanence and Imperfection Wabi-Sabi constitutes perhaps the most profound and distinctive contribution of Japanese aesthetics to global philosophical discourse on beauty, representing a radical counter-perspective to Western aesthetic traditions centered on permanence, perfection, and ideal forms. This aesthetic philosophy emerged from the convergence of Zen B...
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The Art of Visual Storytelling - Aravindan (Alka Mohan)

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 Latest addition to the Library page: "[..] G. Aravindan’s films stand as exemplary works of visual storytelling, blending Indian aesthetics with modern cinematic language. Through Esthappan and Kummatty, Aravindan transcends conventional narrative frameworks, offering profound insights into spirituality, interconnectedness, and the relationship between humans and their environment. His films exemplify the potential of cinema as a medium for cultural and philosophical exploration, solidifying his position as a master of contemplative cinema." Indian Aesthetics and Cinema: The Art of Visual Storytelling in the Selected Movies of G Aravindan         Alka Mohan; January 2025; Bangalore in  The Academic
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Zen Aesthetics through Contemplative Spectatorship (4) Yasuragi

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Claude Sonnet 3.7:  Japanese aesthetic principles derived from Zen tradition offer a powerful lens for understanding contemplative cinema across cultures. This series examines ten concepts forming a progression from initial receptivity toward deeper awareness—revealing how contemplative films create spaces that transcend narrative efficiency. These aesthetic principles don't merely describe techniques but constitute an entire epistemology of viewing where cinema becomes a meditative practice, enabling access to dimensions of experience often overlooked in conventional spectatorship.   安らぎ Yasuragi Tranquility and the Poetics of Stillness Yasuragi, conventionally translated as tranquility or inner peace, represents a complex aesthetic-philosophical principle within Japanese cultural tradition that extends far beyond mere calmness to encompass a profound state of harmonious being. This concept emerged from the intersection of Buddhist contemplative practices and indigenous Japan...
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The contemplative style in the ethnographic documentary (Francesco Marano)

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Latest addition to the Library page: "In fact the contemplative and immersive films do not show any relationship between the filmmaker and the subjects, neglecting the participation as one of the fundamental principles of the fieldwork, that in many cases could transform itself into collaboration entailing the share of the research scopes in order to produce social improvement [..]" The contemplative style in the ethnographic documentary between observation and immersion Francesco Marano ; 2022 ; Italy
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Zen Aesthetics through Contemplative Spectatorship (3) Chinmoku

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Claude Sonnet 3.7:  Japanese aesthetic principles derived from Zen tradition offer a powerful lens for understanding contemplative cinema across cultures. This series examines ten concepts forming a progression from initial receptivity toward deeper awareness—revealing how contemplative films create spaces that transcend narrative efficiency. These aesthetic principles don't merely describe techniques but constitute an entire epistemology of viewing where cinema becomes a meditative practice, enabling access to dimensions of experience often overlooked in conventional spectatorship.   沈黙 Chinmoku The Eloquence of Cinematic Silence Chinmoku, translated as silence or profound reticence, constitutes one of the most sophisticated concepts in Japanese aesthetics, extending far beyond mere absence of sound to embody a positive philosophical principle with ontological significance. Within Zen Buddhist tradition, silence represents not emptiness but plenitude—a fullness of potential m...
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Peter Hutton et les fantômes de l’Hudson River School (Benjamin Léon)

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Dernière ajout à la page Bibliothèque : "C’est avec la même latitude contemplative que le cinéaste Peter Hutton explore depuis plus de trente ans les paysages – qu’ils soient naturels ou urbains – à la manière d’un témoin dont la caméra se fait le relais. Cette façon d’immortaliser des moments subtils qui semblent être inconséquents, reflète une méthode puissante devant son appréhension au monde. [..]" Peter Hutton et les fantômes de l’Hudson River School : L’image suspendue (espace, regard, mythe) Benjamin Léon ; 2014 ; Université Sorbonne-Nouvelle
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Zen Aesthetics through Contemplative Spectatorship (2) Boketto

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  Claude Sonnet 3.7:  Japanese aesthetic principles derived from Zen tradition offer a powerful lens for understanding contemplative cinema across cultures. This series examines ten concepts forming a progression from initial receptivity toward deeper awareness—revealing how contemplative films create spaces that transcend narrative efficiency. These aesthetic principles don't merely describe techniques but constitute an entire epistemology of viewing where cinema becomes a meditative practice, enabling access to dimensions of experience often overlooked in conventional spectatorship. ボケット Boketto The Cinematic Gaze and Empty Awareness Boketto, a concept that describes the act of gazing vac antly into the distance without focused thought, represents an essential aesthetic principle in Japanese cultural understanding of perception and consciousness. This mode of awareness occupies a unique position within Japanese phenomenology—distinct from both concentrated attention and mind...
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Iceberg Foundation: Slow Cinema (The House of Tabula)

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The Ultimate Film Studies Iceberg (YouTube) 1h43' (The House of Tabula) 15 pril 2025 Welcome to Episode 2 of 'Foundations of Film', an ongoing series by The House of Tabula. Foundations of Film seeks to give a comprehensive guide for film studies to all interested in the field. Episode two features a method on how to understand the deepening tiers of cinematic complexity. TIER 5 Slow Cinema (starts at 1:02:46) Films cited : - Winter Sleep  - An Elephant Sitting Still  - Evolution of a Filipino Family  - The Turin Horse  - Dead Souls  - Elephant  - The Lonely Voice of Man
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Zen Aesthetics through Contemplative Spectatorship (1) Shoshin

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Claude Sonnet 3.7: Japanese aesthetic principles derived from Zen tradition offer a powerful lens for understanding contemplative cinema across cultures. This series examines ten concepts forming a progression from initial receptivity toward deeper awareness—revealing how contemplative films create spaces that transcend narrative efficiency. These aesthetic principles don't merely describe techniques but constitute an entire epistemology of viewing where cinema becomes a meditative practice, enabling access to dimensions of experience often overlooked in conventional spectatorship. 初心 Shoshin Beginner's Mind as Cinematic Entry Point Shoshin, or "beginner's mind," represents a foundational concept in Zen Buddhism that transcends its religious origins to offer profound insights into aesthetic perception itself. This principle describes a consciousness deliberately emptied of accumulated knowledge and preconceptions—"the readiness of mind that makes learning pos...
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Céline Sciamma on Chantal Akerman (BFI)

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  Céline Sciamma on Chantal Akerman | BFI in Conversation (YouTube) 55'22" (BFI) 15 April 2025 "Chantal Akerman's cinema has had a profound influence on Céline Sciamma, the French screenwriter and director of acclaimed films such as Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) and Petite Maman (2021). The Belgian auteur's radicalism has long inspired Sciamma on set but also shaped her wider view of filmmaking. Join us for a unique tour of Akerman's work from a director who believes that the art form should always be under the influence of teenagers in their bedrooms."
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Sensing Slowness (Jakob Boer) PhD

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Latest addition to the Library page at Unspoken Cinema: Jakob Boer's PhD thesis at Groningen university, for which he called for participation from Contemplative Cinema spectators in 2022. I participated anonymously to this study. Here are some excerpts: "A number of clearly identifiable stylistic characteristics are succinctly listed by Asbjørn Grønstad: "the long or super-long take, action unfolding in real time, framed tableau shots, hyperrealism, and de-dramatisation. [...]The use of ellipsis, minimal exposition, episodic progression, diluted causality, contingency, ambiguity, open endings, improvisation, location shooting and use of natural light." Giulia Tronconi then summarises some narrative and thematic tropes: ‘quiet mundane activities, lack of communication and languidness of action distinguish the contemporary slow film’. [..]" "A challenge for the pilot study was therefore to find these viewers who form a small section of an already confined a...
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More Like This (5) Perfect Days

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 Watch More Like This Film : Perfect Days (2023/Wenders) keywords = Mundanity + Loneliness + Carpe Diem + Mutism (*) Non-Contemplative films More kitchen: Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975/Akerman) More poetry: Paterson (2016/Jarmusch) More mutic: Days (2020/Tsai) More lawnmower: The Straight Story (1999/Lynch) *More silent: People on Sunday (1930/Siodmak/Ulmer/Gliese) *More drama: Punch-Drunk Love (2002/P. T. Anderson)
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