B

What I think I enjoyed most about last week's screening was the variety we saw, despite the fact that we were considering only two filmmakers. Breer and Brakhage have such incredible eyes for beauty and form--although what they choose to examine about life and about aesthetic is extremely separate. I did not come as caffeinated as I could have, and yet there was no way I could have fallen asleep. Yes, Brakhage's films were difficult in their combination of fast-pace, silence and length, but they were so overwhelmingly real--that is full of shots and sequences that capture life in a more raw and ambitious way than we have have previously seen. Personally I didn't enjoy the fast-movement sequences or those shot from a moving car as much because I am pretty susceptible to motion sickness and those parts honestly made me feel a little physically ill. What I reallllyyy loved was Brakhage's use of light in his films. The contrast between night and day shots as well as the isolation of the moon and its reflective qualities as well as the use of circus lights to create a contrast between natural and artificial light...I thought that was so well done and striking. I was planning on writing this entry about Breer, but it seems that Brakhage has infiltrated. What does this say? Probably only something about my inability to focus. On that note I really enjoyed our discussion of Breer's short films on Tuesday in class. When we saw them at the screening, I fell in love a little bit but I didn't really get why. I was hoping it wasn't because of their refreshing shortness. That WAS part of it, but it was also about their length in combination with the amount he is able to do within each. REcreation was my favorite. While, as I mentioned in class, I was frustrated by the slowness of my eyes and my inability to take in every single image he shows us, the experience of the film on whole is somehow both overwhelming and calming. I really like that Breer is able to successfully transfer his ideas as an abstract painter into film. He feels like a Golden Age filmmaker who happened to be born a little later. Anyway, I really appreciated his "moving collage" and his studies in form and color. While I cursed the slowness of my eyes, I also thanked Breer for taking that into consideration when he made this film.