If there is any recent auteur that actually took tremendous amounts of effort to understand and appreciate, it's Pedro Costa. My initial reaction to his films were either apathy or boredom, but by the time I came to Colossal Youth, suddenly his films clicked with me instantly. Perhaps one of the most modern directors as his style of working is unique and intimate with all the possibilities digital has given him.
"You see a sound, an image, an actor, and you say to yourself, ‘Hey, I've never seen that in my life, what a strange thing, this is my world, my society, and I've never seen anything like it. It's so weird.’"
Wrote up an analysis on Costa and his work. Would appreciate some readers! http://www.thehydramag.com/2010/05/10/the-colossal-cinema-of-pedro-costa-part-one/