🎬 #108 Film As Background Music.
Casey Neistat is a huge filmmaker on YouTube. I came to his work late a few years ago. One thing that struck me is that in his studio he has a monitor that plays, I believe, The Godfather and The Godfather Part Two on repeat, looping all the time. This really stuck with me. It's cool that he treats these two films like music or a piece of art. Like a photography or painting, hung on the wall - always there in the background to be admired at a glance - to be tuned in and out of. They add to the vibe of the studio - they conjure up at atmosphere all on their own when used in this way. In fact, in some odd way the overall work of the film might become more clear - the effect of pacing, sound, image juxtaposition - all of it can be appreciated when the film itself is background - playing as a whole over and over.
Those two films obviously are fuelled by a plot, filled with multiple complex characters - and he’s seen them a lot, so he doesn’t need to watch them or ‘keep up with them’ in the traditional sense. But it made me think of other films that you could watch in a different way - treating them more like a moving painting to be glanced at occasionally - to be experienced and enjoyed in a loose, tangental way. Films that have a strong vibe, where plot is either so intricate and complex that it makes it more important to feel the film. Or, on the other side of the scale - a film where plot is minimal. Where the filmmaker has captured a feeling and is keen to present that to viewers.
This week I wanted to talk about films that are very pleasant to watch even if you don’t ‘keep up’ with the action. Like looking into a fish tank of tropical fish, unconcerned if you’re following the dramatic arc of the Angel or the plot that’s driving the Clown.
Happy choosing, happy viewing
Bry
FILM ONE: SOMEWHERE
2010 Dir Sofia Coppola
[1hr 37 mins]
Somewhere is the perfect example of the second type of film that I mentioned in the intro - minimal plot, maximum vibe. Sofia Coppola, is arguably one of the few filmmakers who can create such a strong ‘vibe’ consistently in their work. Focusing on character and the experience of their situation, rather than intricate plot details - her work never fails to satisfy me. I look forward to seeing into the life of someone seeing Japan for the first time, or in the case of Somewhere — a glimpse into the life of a Hollywood Superstar having an existential crisis.
Thanks to the lens and stock choice you can feel the texture of these lives. Cinematographer Harris Savides, in this case, captures the relaxed, almost ghostly atmosphere of the Chateau Marmont. Lonely souls encountering each other, all equally lost - like they’re in a kind of limbo, preparing to go out into the real world again. It all feels lived in and comforting, like the clothes of Stephen Dorff’s Johnny Marco, who barely seems to change his outfit.
We feel like we’re hanging out in these places with these characters - you don't have to hear what they say or even follow what they do, to have an enjoyable experience. The hazy California sunlight lulls us in - like we’re on a holiday. The simple framing - the editing only when necessary - makes it a tranquil moving painting to behold. Coppola by her own admission said that she wanted this to be an experiment in minimalism. What’s the least amount of coverage, the fewest angles, the least number of edits possible to tell a story. Or to present us a world to watch go by, to dip in and out of at our leisure.
TL;DR Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere is almost best enjoyed in the same state as the protagonist, staring at the screen or out the window, then coming back to it when you want - bonus points if you enjoy it reclined, on a sun-dappled sofa or lounger.
*Available for a small rental fee on Amazon, Apple, Google and YouTube in the US and UK.
Fact: The screenplay was only 43 pages long, with Chris Pontius, [aka Party Boy from Jackass, improvising a lot of his dialogue].
FILM TWO: TENET
2020 Dir Christopher Nolan
[2hrs 30 mins]
Now, hear me out - Tenet sits on the same continuum as a film like Somewhere - but at the very very opposite side of the scale. Deemed too complex to follow by a lot of audiences and too dense. I reckon this is exactly why it’s best enjoyed, purely for the feeling it invokes, the vibe that Nolan and his cast and crew have engineered.
Even Nolan himself in the press for the film encouraged audiences to feel it, rather than try and work it out like an equation. And is Tenet my favourite of his films, no, but I still enjoy it and find it remarkably rewatch-able. Especially, if you just let it wash over you - the tones, the score, the choreography - the locations. It all adds up to an enticing work that you can enjoy purely for the act of watching. Picking up on a great piece of production design here, a masterful fight scene there, perking up to notice the scale and texture of a gritty, Yeezy-colourway battle scene.
These are my own favourite moments from the film. The muted, then bold colour combinations, textures - they draw me in every time. The grandness of the environment and the premise of the film wrote large in one master is pure - you can forget about everything else you thought you needed to pay attention to and just enjoy the motion and the sound.
TL;DR Nolan’s divisive, ambitious, project lands better when you don’t think too hard about it.
*Available for a small rental fee on Amazon, Apple, Google and YouTube in the US
and UK.
Fact: Sir Michael Caine was only given his scenes to read - not the entire script - so he had no idea what the film was about.