Lars von Trier may cite Andrei Tarkovsky as a huge influence, but the two are incomparable. von Trier is a spiritually inept filmmaker who sees the world as bleak, violent, and nothing but. If he would be honest with himself and express this without letting his own self-consciousness get in the way, I could maybe be more forgiving. As it seems most of you agree, what Tarkovsky achieves in his cinema is something far more interesting, profound, and breathtaking. Tarkovsky looks inward, at the murky, mysterious, beautiful, and frightening. With von Trier’s work, I never forget that I am watching a constructed film, full of the residue of an angry man incapable of looking deeper into himself or his characters. For me, a film like “Andrei Rublev” is a cinema which transforms and leaves its imprint on the soul. The only filmmaker I can think of who works in the same vain now is Bela Tarr.
Thought I would re-post my review of the film, for anyone who would like to start a dialog ;-)
NE CHANGE RIEN- Torture, Beauty, and Song
At the AFI Film Festival, Pedro Costa introduced his latest documentary,
“Ne Change Rien,” expressing that he sought to make a film about the process
of creating music and in so doing, captured his friend, who, disillusioned with
the caliber of the roles offered to her as an actress, decided to pursue singing.
Being that Costa’s work usually focuses on the marginalized and poverty
stricken in his native Portugal, it is intriguing that his new subject is French
actress, Jeanne Balibar.
Widely known for her work on a range of international films, I fondly remember
Balibar for her performance as Antoinette in Jacques Rivette’s unrequited
love story, “The Duchess of Langeais.” Playing a 19th century high society lady
turned cloistered nun, she realizes her part with precision, passion, and a lingering
vulnerability.
Now in Costa’s creation, we see her play her self—a chain smoking, mysterious,
soulful eyed chanteuse with a profound commitment to her music. Not so far
removed from Antoinette, Balibar exhibits an intensity that is both fueled and
tortured by her relentless quest to find meaning in the everyday.
“Ne Change Rien” is about the condition of creating, about the trance-like qualities
of making music—about notes, rhythms, duration, pacing, friction, seduction, and misery.
Balibar and her collaborators create melodies which are dreamlike but also
terribly sad, about things such as the torture of love and the devil within. Costa
intimately shows us their practice and recording space, sinking, even drowning
deeply into their music as they sift through their own emotions.
Opening with the image of Balibar’s abstracted figure singing on stage
surrounded by a velvety darkness, Pedro Costa sets the scene for a film
which will take its time to reveal or perhaps never deliver a story, but with a beauty so
intense it is difficult to look away. The film’s pacing is slow, sometimes torturously so,
but honest in depicting the drudgery and obsession involved in the musical process.
Costa keeps us in our seats with his sophisticated, stunning black and white imagery,
which in itself is an inspiring study of the textural potential of DV to convey emotionally
charged images. In moments, I suspect Costa presses his fingers on his lens to add a
soft, organic, visceral haze around Balibar. Reminiscent of cinematography employed
by the great Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr, Costa’s chiaroscuro lighting intensifies
and heightens the presence of Balibar and her collaborators, as they record and drift
through their Paris studio. Contrasted, rich, and smoky, the texture of the projected imagery
is breathtaking—with rich blacks and shimmery whites creating a mood of polarities and
raw sensations.
Just as directors have filmed, even loved their actresses with bewitching
framing and lighting, so too does Costa. With long takes and extreme
close ups absorbing the resonance and breathes in between the group’s
music, he depicts Balibar with adoration. Perhaps in a trance himself, Costa
enables Balibar to keep us at a distance, her music a barrier in-between.
We experience her singing, compulsively repeating melodies, watching her
relate to her band mates, in a circular, never ending pattern that delivers no resolve.
Balibar’s voice is unconventional, seductive, and beautifully flawed. In her
quest to develop her singing, she takes classical lessons, straining her voice to
reach difficult notes. We are reminded of the demands of her practice, but also
question why this rebellious chanteuse even cares about traditional training,
ridden with rules and limitations she breaks in her experimental music.
It is clear that Balibar has a rigorous work ethic, desiring to be the best at her
craft, seeking to be able to star in an opera as much as she can a show.
“Ne Change Rien,” is a unique music documentary which pulls us into Balibar’s
world without compromise. Pedro Costa offers us a film which realistically,
hypnotically, depicts the creative lives of his subjects in their connect, disconnect,
beauty, and torture. He drags us through every detail, whether we like it or not.
Highlighting the often overlooked underworld of music, his mise-en-scène is
impressively cool and layered. The film leaves one feeling delirious,
but moved, with an appreciation for the efforts of artists to pursue their
dreams—maybe even the feeling that as an artist yourself, you
aren’t alone in your self-inflicted creative isolation.
It’s true that the internet is an amazing resource— but honestly, after watching this on the large screen at the Mann’s theatre, that is really the way to see this. It’s a film that is so much about the look/texture—where the images have an overwhelming quality when projected that contributes largely to the strength of the film. It would be great if Criterion considered it, but I don’t think there’s a large enough audience—- I mean, Criterion doesn’t even carry Red Desert by Antonioni!!
Re distribution, I don’t believe the film has any—at least that was the census after the AFI screening a few weeks ago. But that’s not surprising when the screening itself wasn’t even half filled.
I doubt the the film will see light of day in theaters here, other than at universities and places like REDCAT or the Hammer Museum…
I am highly disappointed in the name change to MUBI. Even writing the word out makes me cringe.
While I appreciate all of the efforts and work that goes into creating this site—which is, indeed, an amazing accomplishment— The title The Auteurs was not at all exclusive and in fact carried with it an elegance, wit, and homage to cinema that I found so wonderful and refreshing.
The word Auteur/Auteurist is used all over the world to connote a creative signature— which is what good movies and art embody. To say this is a word the international community cannot relate with is insulting and misinformed. I truly wish your team would reconsider this unfortunate re-branding. I feel betrayed.
Von Trier vs Tarkovsky over 2 years ago
Lars von Trier may cite Andrei Tarkovsky as a huge influence, but the two are incomparable. von Trier is a spiritually inept filmmaker who sees the world as bleak, violent, and nothing but. If he would be honest with himself and express this without letting his own self-consciousness get in the way, I could maybe be more forgiving. As it seems most of you agree, what Tarkovsky achieves in his cinema is something far more interesting, profound, and breathtaking. Tarkovsky looks inward, at the murky, mysterious, beautiful, and frightening. With von Trier’s work, I never forget that I am watching a constructed film, full of the residue of an angry man incapable of looking deeper into himself or his characters. For me, a film like “Andrei Rublev” is a cinema which transforms and leaves its imprint on the soul. The only filmmaker I can think of who works in the same vain now is Bela Tarr.
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Von Trier vs Tarkovsky over 2 years ago
gross
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Von Trier vs Tarkovsky over 2 years ago
gross
Go to Comment
NE CHANGE RIEN (Pedro Costa, 2009) over 2 years ago
Thought I would re-post my review of the film, for anyone who would like to start a dialog ;-)
NE CHANGE RIEN- Torture, Beauty, and Song
At the AFI Film Festival, Pedro Costa introduced his latest documentary,
“Ne Change Rien,” expressing that he sought to make a film about the process
of creating music and in so doing, captured his friend, who, disillusioned with
the caliber of the roles offered to her as an actress, decided to pursue singing.
Being that Costa’s work usually focuses on the marginalized and poverty
stricken in his native Portugal, it is intriguing that his new subject is French
actress, Jeanne Balibar.
Widely known for her work on a range of international films, I fondly remember
Balibar for her performance as Antoinette in Jacques Rivette’s unrequited
love story, “The Duchess of Langeais.” Playing a 19th century high society lady
turned cloistered nun, she realizes her part with precision, passion, and a lingering
vulnerability.
Now in Costa’s creation, we see her play her self—a chain smoking, mysterious,
soulful eyed chanteuse with a profound commitment to her music. Not so far
removed from Antoinette, Balibar exhibits an intensity that is both fueled and
tortured by her relentless quest to find meaning in the everyday.
“Ne Change Rien” is about the condition of creating, about the trance-like qualities
of making music—about notes, rhythms, duration, pacing, friction, seduction, and misery.
Balibar and her collaborators create melodies which are dreamlike but also
terribly sad, about things such as the torture of love and the devil within. Costa
intimately shows us their practice and recording space, sinking, even drowning
deeply into their music as they sift through their own emotions.
Opening with the image of Balibar’s abstracted figure singing on stage
surrounded by a velvety darkness, Pedro Costa sets the scene for a film
which will take its time to reveal or perhaps never deliver a story, but with a beauty so
intense it is difficult to look away. The film’s pacing is slow, sometimes torturously so,
but honest in depicting the drudgery and obsession involved in the musical process.
Costa keeps us in our seats with his sophisticated, stunning black and white imagery,
which in itself is an inspiring study of the textural potential of DV to convey emotionally
charged images. In moments, I suspect Costa presses his fingers on his lens to add a
soft, organic, visceral haze around Balibar. Reminiscent of cinematography employed
by the great Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr, Costa’s chiaroscuro lighting intensifies
and heightens the presence of Balibar and her collaborators, as they record and drift
through their Paris studio. Contrasted, rich, and smoky, the texture of the projected imagery
is breathtaking—with rich blacks and shimmery whites creating a mood of polarities and
raw sensations.
Just as directors have filmed, even loved their actresses with bewitching
framing and lighting, so too does Costa. With long takes and extreme
close ups absorbing the resonance and breathes in between the group’s
music, he depicts Balibar with adoration. Perhaps in a trance himself, Costa
enables Balibar to keep us at a distance, her music a barrier in-between.
We experience her singing, compulsively repeating melodies, watching her
relate to her band mates, in a circular, never ending pattern that delivers no resolve.
Balibar’s voice is unconventional, seductive, and beautifully flawed. In her
quest to develop her singing, she takes classical lessons, straining her voice to
reach difficult notes. We are reminded of the demands of her practice, but also
question why this rebellious chanteuse even cares about traditional training,
ridden with rules and limitations she breaks in her experimental music.
It is clear that Balibar has a rigorous work ethic, desiring to be the best at her
craft, seeking to be able to star in an opera as much as she can a show.
“Ne Change Rien,” is a unique music documentary which pulls us into Balibar’s
world without compromise. Pedro Costa offers us a film which realistically,
hypnotically, depicts the creative lives of his subjects in their connect, disconnect,
beauty, and torture. He drags us through every detail, whether we like it or not.
Highlighting the often overlooked underworld of music, his mise-en-scène is
impressively cool and layered. The film leaves one feeling delirious,
but moved, with an appreciation for the efforts of artists to pursue their
dreams—maybe even the feeling that as an artist yourself, you
aren’t alone in your self-inflicted creative isolation.
Go to Comment
NE CHANGE RIEN (Pedro Costa, 2009) over 2 years ago
It’s true that the internet is an amazing resource— but honestly, after watching this on the large screen at the Mann’s theatre, that is really the way to see this. It’s a film that is so much about the look/texture—where the images have an overwhelming quality when projected that contributes largely to the strength of the film. It would be great if Criterion considered it, but I don’t think there’s a large enough audience—- I mean, Criterion doesn’t even carry Red Desert by Antonioni!!
Re distribution, I don’t believe the film has any—at least that was the census after the AFI screening a few weeks ago. But that’s not surprising when the screening itself wasn’t even half filled.
I doubt the the film will see light of day in theaters here, other than at universities and places like REDCAT or the Hammer Museum…
Sad, but true
Go to Comment
Why did we change our name to MUBI? about 2 years ago
I am highly disappointed in the name change to MUBI. Even writing the word out makes me cringe.
While I appreciate all of the efforts and work that goes into creating this site—which is, indeed, an amazing accomplishment— The title The Auteurs was not at all exclusive and in fact carried with it an elegance, wit, and homage to cinema that I found so wonderful and refreshing.
The word Auteur/Auteurist is used all over the world to connote a creative signature— which is what good movies and art embody. To say this is a word the international community cannot relate with is insulting and misinformed. I truly wish your team would reconsider this unfortunate re-branding. I feel betrayed.
Go to Comment