Unspoken Cinema

New addition to the Library page at Unspoken Cinema: "Responding to the accelerating technological landscape and contemporary life, this paper researches how the concept of ‘time’ plays a significant role. The author, an experimental filmmaker, charts an experiential journey within several pivotal ‘dream films’, along with relevant artists’ moving images in relation to time and slowness in the moving image as critical media.  As contemporary life has become more and more fast paced, and one year on the impact of COVID-19 is still being felt, the idea of stillness is beginning to become a more desirable commodity. The author explores ‘slow cinema’, acknowledging seminal directors Andrei Tarkovsky and Claire Denis, as well as art films which frequently emphasise long takes, offering minimalist aesthetics with little or no narrative. In an endeavour to portray different  temporalities and reveal and allude to the invisibility of time, the author relates to Julia Kristeva’s notio...

 New addition to the Library page at Unspoken Cinema: "This thesis explores Slow Cinema as a form of quiet resistance to contemporary cultures of acceleration through carefully designed mise-en-scène and sustained duration. As life is increasingly shaped by speed and efficiency, cinema has mirrored these changes implementing rapid editing and spectacle. Drawing primarily on Byung-Chul Han’s (2015) exploration of “burnout” provides a framework for understanding these changes.  By situating this thesis within this cultural context, the research considers how slow cinema disrupts linear time and space and offers an alternative affective experience that encourages contemplation, relaxation and stillness as a response to the exhausting, pressurised current cultural condition.   Through a visual analysis of Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003) directed by Tsai Ming-liang, this thesis examines how production design creates interstitial spaces that function as temporal containers, al...

The old man (Venkatesan) 8th Street (2026/Abdul RAHMAN/India) 1h Film review by Benoit Rouilly for Unspoken Cinema (containing spoilers voluntarily). A clean, well directed piece by Abdul Rahman, who in just one contemplative hour and three cryptic chapters, evokes the devious outlines of five mysterious stories within four opaque characters… Some stories will remain unresolved as others stand open-ended. Everything takes place, practically in real time around 2am, in a single night-bar, named “8th Street”. A lovely place, with marble pedestal tables, wooden chairs and comfy booths. There are rounded corners to the door-frames like on a boat. Coffee bean wooden patterns form a see through ceiling. And a neo-classical sepia painting on the back wall, representing customers at coffee tables, completes the atmosphere. The protagonist enters the bar last, a clean, well lighted place, and penetrates by the front door this “huis-clos” (=a single action takes place in a single space behind c...

Latest addition to the Library page at Unspoken Cinema: "This article examines how Abbas Kiarostami’s The Wind Will Carry Us (1999) creates sacred experience through systematic absence within contemporary slow cinema aesthetics. While previous scholarship has focused on religious content in spiritual cinema, this analysis demonstrates how formal techniques—particularly strategic concealment and extended duration—generate contemplative states without explicit religious references. Drawing on Paul Schrader’s transcendental style theory and recent slow cinema scholarship, the article traces how Kiarostami adapts Persian poetic traditions, particularly concepts of pardeh (veiling) and the interplay between bāṭin (hidden) and ẓāhir (manifest), to create meaning through what remains unseen. The dying woman who never appears, the acousmatic voices of invisible characters, and the village spaces kept off-screen transform absence from lack into generative force. Through comparative analys...

"Acclaimed filmmaker Tsai Ming Liang has opened a new space in the hills of Xindian, and it feels like an invitation into his world. Set inside a restored mountain house, the newly unveiled art space extends the director’s long-standing exploration of time, solitude, and slow living beyond the cinema screen. Visitors will find paintings, film posters, video installations, personal collections, and a café serving coffee and light meals curated by Tsai himself. Known for films that linger in silence and embrace the passage of time, Tsai has spent decades crafting a cinematic language defined by slowness. That same sensibility now shapes the space itself, where every detail, from the exhibition layout to the atmosphere of the café, reflects his personal touch. In a city that rarely slows down, this may be one of Taipei’s most unexpected new cultural destinations." The Taipei Edit; 5 June 2026; Instagram ; Substack . No. 152, Zhangchun Rd, Meitan Village, Xindian District, New Ta...

From the director’s statement on his website : “This project challenges traditional documentary storytelling. I aimed to create an immersive, meditative experience that invites patience and openness from viewers. With its mostly silent narrative, the film emphasises the unspoken — highlighting the power of stillness and the sounds of silence. It invites viewers to interpret and create their own stories for each character, filling in the quiet moments, and embracing the ambiguity. Its length and rhythm requires a conscious commitment, but I believe this approach offers a meaningful journey — one that suspends the noise of modern life and offers a space for empathy and reflection. Ultimately, THE VALLEY is a contemplative journey — a chance for viewers to slow down, breathe, listen and observe. It celebrates the power of solitude and the importance of community. In these challenging times, it offers a quiet affirmation of inner peace, resilience, and the profound beauty of stillness.” ...

  I Reject The Invitation From God | Missed Movies (YouTube) 45'35" (Missed Movies) 12 March 2020 Written - Directed - Edited by Abdul Rahman Tamil (subtitled in English) My review: I Reject The Invitation From God (2019/Abdul Rahman/India) 45’ One widower patiently awakes from a comatose sleep on the unmade bed, at the insistent sound of an old fashioned ringtone. His body lies face up and stretched out like a corpse. Slowly, very slowly, he sits up and rubs his bearded face, like the weight of the years bearing on his shoulders, numbing his whole body, his every joint. He speaks no words, since he lives on his own and sees no one all day. The film title reveals everything from the start. But when will it happen? What are we looking at? A dream? A miracle? Or just another day?  Abdul Rahman’s fourth short film opens slowly and without speech (the first word uttered comes out right before 7’ 30”). The shots are long and almost always static, but we enjoy partaking in the pro...

  L’Ambassadeur de France en Thaïlande a remis les insignes de Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur au cinéaste thaïlandais Apichatpong Weerasethakul, le 10 juin 2026.

  GRIS Gameplay Walkthrough Part 1 FULL GAME [1080p HD PC] - No Commentary (YouTube) 2h14'50" (MKIceAndFire) 15 Dec 2018 * * * The Beauty Of Gris (YouTube) 2'35" (TheBeautyOf) 26 Sept 2021 Voir aussi sur Wikipedia : Gris (jeu vidéo) See also at Unspoken Cinema :  A Slow Year (conceptual videogame)

Latest addition to the Library page at Unspoken Cinema: Abstract: "Minimalism has been seen as a movement in cinema based on simplification in terms of aesthetics and narrative. Minimalism in cinema is generally defined by diluted narrative elements, limited dialogues, long-shot sequences, and natural setting elements. Indeed, Yasujiro Ozu's minimalist approach in Japanese cinema has developed an aesthetic based on Zen philosophy, unlike Western art. Robert Bresson, on the other hand, has deepened the narrative by using non-visual elements and off-screen areas with metonymic minimalism. This study analyzes the use of Kovács's “analytical minimalism” theory adapted to the relevant film level, based on Michelangelo Frammartino's film Il Buco (2021) as the research object. Il Buco is constructed with long shots, slow camera movements, and natural sound design, while addressing the existential images of an old peasant in Calabria who continues his life with the cycle of...

 1000 posts (articles, citations, comments, illustrations, theory, reviews, video essays, webcasts, interviews...) about Contemplative Cinema since 2006, in 20 years, on Unspoken Cinema ! As well as 1327 comments. 1000

“Valley Time” is a peculiar pace of life. Such life is nonchalant, carefree, and at times delightfully indifferent. Adopted by the residents of the village of Kangaroo Valley (shy of 900 souls) strung along the meandering Kangaroo river, nestled amongst rocky sandstone cliffs. This secluded settlement sits a mere two-hour drive south of Sydney, in Australia. Throughout this silent landscape, distances stretch vast until the next neighbour. Community is bound not by proximity, but by a shared introspective state of mind. Such space is unique to the mountainous and isolated terrains. Such pace is unique to the insulated people living far apart yearning for each other.  The documentary The Valley (2026) crafts a multifaceted, deeply evocative portrait of this remote enclave over the course of 3 hours. It shifts from one dairy farmer/painter to a gardener cultivating vegetables to a baker kneading dough to lonesome locals running errands… and so on, and so forth. A seamless human tape...