LAMENTOS EN FAVOR DE SADE

Five voices speak intermittently, repurposing citations from the French civil code and juxtaposing them with aphorisms about love that mock the rigidity of the legalisms. The screen is white when they speak and black during silent intervals.

Toying with viewers’ overreliance on the visual to create meaning, Guy Debord’s unnerving and singular debut contains no legible images, defiantly shattering filmmaking conventions. Culled from external texts, the narration embodies the director’s penchant for remixing previously produced materials.