Unspoken Cinema

Films made by 22 recurrent Contemporary Contemplative Cinema figureheads since 1967 [ Google sheet ] It's time to update the CCC timeline 2008 , I hastly put together 12 years ago, at the origin of this blog. I had omitted back then Peter Hutton, Franco Piavoli, Tacita Dean, Elia Suleiman, Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Sergei Loznitsa & Kazuhiro Soda, who I didn't know, as well as most of James Benning's output. But a few also don't make the cut this time around (Omirbaev, Kore-eda, Costa, Ceylan, JZK, GVS, Martin, Escalante, Serra) for various reasons (too few CCC films, too "speechy"/narrative in comparison to the other main figureheads, but it doesn't mean they are not contemplative, just they are not part of the chosen few CCC role models)... in order to paint a clear picture, more radical, of this new narrative cohort. One thing did change : the year of debut of this narrative mode, now 1967 instead of 1970. In restrospect, we can see clearly now the years...

Fuller Studio : 26 April 2018 Paul Schrader : "Tarkovsky's films mark a deviding point in the history of Durational Cinema. Before Tarkovsky, the use of withholding and distancing devices which Deleuze calls "Time Image", took place in the context of commercial theatrical cinema. Transcendental Style falls into this category. After Tarkovsky the use of these devices became increasingly exagerated, and their films fell into the domain of film festivals and art museums. The 3 sec Bresson's shot of a door became a 10 min static view of traffic. Transcendental Style had morphed into the hydra-headed monster we call "Slow Cinema". Without going into length, I'd just say that Slow Cinema refers to films of considerable length where very little happens. [...] This is why I say it's outside the perview of commercial cinema. Cinema in my opinion is inherantly narrative." Paul Schrader : "To me when movies move away from their narrati...

Aleksandr Sokurov (Russia) Master of Contemporary Contemplative Cinema Drawing by Benoit Rouilly

Here are some books, magazines or PhD thesis on slow cinema/contemplative cinema available online (latest addition to the Bibliography page ): “ Nocturnal Fabulations: Ecology, Vitality and Opacity in the Cinema of Apichatpong Weerasethakul ” (Érik Bordeleau, Toni Pape, Ronald Rose-Antoinette, Adam Szymanski; 2017) “ Cierta tendencia (nostálgica) del slow cinema ” (Horacio Muñoz Fernández; 2017) “ Speeding Slowness: Neo-Modern Contemplative and Sublime Cinema Aesthetics in Godfrey Reggio’s Qatsi Trilogy ” (Boczkowska Kornelia; 2016) “ Mexican Minimalist Cinema:Articulating the (Trans)national ” (Bolesław Racięski, 2016) “ Het dwaallicht vertaald naar Slow Cinema -De wandelaar in hedendaagse langspeelfilm ”  (Anne Verbeure; 2015) on Lav Diaz, Albert Serra, Jia Zhangke, Lisandro Alonso “ As Slow as Possible: An Enquiry Into the Redeeming Power of Boredom for Slow Film Viewers ” (Jakob Boer; 22 January 2015) “ Leave to live? Placeless people in contemporar...

I usually refuse to compare CCC films on a merit basis, since this blog is dedicated to the study of the aesthetic, of this narrative mode, not to fuel the craving of detractors for reasons to dismiss "bad" CCC films (because they don't know how to find CCC-specific reasons to blame a film for failing to achieve its goal). But in the context of Sight & Sound 2012 Top10 canon, let's also establish a referential standard for the quintessence of CCC, the greatest achievements of this particular aesthetic, which is now a little over 40 years old. My (partial and non-consensual) Top10 ballot of the greatest aesthetic achievements in Contemporary Contemplative Cinema since 1970 : Sátántangó (1994/TARR Béla Tarr/Hungary) Mother and Son (1997/SOKUROV/Russia)  Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles  (1975/Chantal AKERMAN/Belgium) The Turin Horse  (2011/TARR Béla/Hungary) Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks  (2003/WANG Bing/China) I don't want to ...

Aleksandr SOKUROV / СОКУРОВ Александр (born 14 June 1951/Russia) = 56 yold in 2008 46 films / 20 screenplays (1st film: 1974/latest film: 2007) INSPIRED BY : Andrei Tarkovsky, Grigori Kozintsev? C.C.C. films : Alexandra (2007); The Sun (2004); Father and Son (2003); Elegy of a Voyage (2002); Moloch (1999); Confession (1998); A Humble Life (1997); Mother and Son (1996); Oriental Elegy (1996); Spiritual Voices (1995); Elegy from Russia (1992); Stone (1992); An Example of Intonation (1991); The Second Circle (1990); A Simple Elegy (1990); Mariya (1988) INFLUENCE ON : ? Quick scroll : BIBLIOGRAPHY ONLINE ARTICLES INTERVIEW SOKUROV TEXTS WEBSITES DOCUMENTARY Alexandra / Александра / Aleksandra (2007) - Cannes 2007 The Island of Sokurov (official website) Cinema Guild (official distributor website) " Sokourov à la frontière " By: Eugenio Renzi (Fév 2007, Cahiers du cinéma #620) [FRENCH] Cannes 2007 press kit PDF " Approche de Sokou...