Message Machine

United States

2002

6 Min

Color

English

No Subtitles

Audio in English

Currently 1.9/5 Stars.
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26,929 Views

DIR Azazel Jacobs

Synopsis

“I made the drive from LA to NY with a friend in three days, meaning no sleep, basically in shifts. We had plans to continue cutting my first feature “Nobody Needs To Know” there, and I got dropped off at my folks place in lower Manhattan at night, September 10th, 2001. The personal story that unfolded the next morning is too long to go into, but needless to say, there was no cell phone service for a while, and when it was restored, my message box was filled with concerned people. I did not know what I wanted to do with the recording, other than to hold onto, so when I could I purchased some kind of suction recorder from Radio Shack and transferred. A year later, still very much haunted, and still going through a lot of footage I had shot before 9-11 of lower Manhattan, I took some of the outtakes featuring the towers and married it with the voicemails with the intention of making another portrait of that day." —Azazel Jacobs

Director

Azazel Jacobs

Azazel Jacobs, son of avant-garde filmmaker Ken Jacobs, was born in 1972 and raised in New York’s lower Manhattan, where he was surrounded by important and innovative artists. He went to undergraduate school at the film department of SUNY Purchase and graduated in 1995. His thesis film, “Kirk and Kerry,” won Best Short film at the Slamdance Film Festival in 1997 and recently became part of the permanent collection at the Donnell NY Public Library. In 1999 he moved to Los Angeles to study in the directing program at The American Film Institute. While getting his Masters he made the experimental video “Nobody Needs To Know,” which had its world premiere at the Rotterdam Film Festival in 2003.

Two years later he premiered “The GoodTimesKid,” at the AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles. The film was co-written with Gerardo Naranjo (director of “Drama/Mex” and the upcoming “Voy A Explotar”) who also starred alongside Azazel’s longtime girlfriend Sara Diaz. The super
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Aguaespejo

31Mar13

Recalls vividly the sudden sense of community a disaster calls up; has a very ambitious sound conceptions reminding me of some of Welles' radio broadcasts. As to those who complain that nothing happens (!! Are the changes in light nothing? The incredibly layered soundtrack nothing?) as Marianne Moore reminded us “The deepest feeling always shows itself in silence; not in silence, but restraint”

jlew0welj

15Jul12

I think this is a terrific meditation on 9/11. The reviews listed below seem to focus on the fact that nothing "happens," but I think that's this film's power. The crunching together of time/space; the visuals of pre-9/11 and the audio of post-9/11; it's as if the actual act of destruction is too much to handle. By sidestepping the event it makes it much more visible in the mind. Well done.

Aguaespejo likes this

WillTech

5Jul12

Good focus on audio and multiple voices giving a sense of concern, with individual voices when needed, and the punctuation of the voice-mail works really well. The door opening and closing is so dramatic that I think viewers would expect more visually, and be disappointed when nothing happens. The anti-climax usurps expectations, which you may want, but then it is distracting. Innovative and enjoyable, nice work.