CCC Auteurs Watchlist : Ariane MICHEL
"Missing" (in cinema) for 13 years :
Ariane MICHEL who last made a unique film Les hommes in 2008. She since has made conferences, gallery installations and exhibitions. She is mainly interested by animals, their vision, how we perceive them and how they perceive us. I am awaiting for a new CCC feature film in the same vein as this one.
Les hommes (=Humans) is a French documentary by artist Ariane Michel.
Upon the occasion of a scientific journey on the East-Greenland arctic seas, onboard, Tara, a schooner (2 masted, aluminium-hulled sailboat) of the oceanographic community, Ariane Michel cautiously films the Nature surrounding them. This hostile environement where humans are mostly absent, is an intemporal world. Few animals and fewer vegetation reign supreme, practically alone, on this icecap. Ariane Michel positions these silhouettes of scientists as intruders on this protected landscape, and takes the point of view of the fauna and flora, in a very quiet and languid pace. This vantage point makes us question the time scale of humans in comparison to the time scale of geological eras. Scientific manipulations and animals subjectivity. Love of Nature and indifference of the vegetation.
Without (audible) dialogues, or voice-over commentary, this contemplative documentary relies on a succession of slow shots to expose the eery atmosphere of this amazing boat ride. This is not an educational scientific lecture. This is not a didactic journalistic lesson. This is not National Geographic reconstituted documentary. This is not a grandiose highway for humanised penguins. In fact it is an experiential journey made of snapshots and soundscapes along the ride, accumulated like sudden glimpses of a distant memory. Ice, Seals, polar bears, rocks, birds, plants as seen in 2006-2008 which puts their survival in perspective with their images today... in 2021. A time capsule of a world we will probably not see that way again.
More :
Comments