James Benning’s first film called The United States of America was a 1975 trip across the country, capturing its scenery through a car windshield. This second one also crisscrosses the nation, but without a car, carving it up instead into a series of static shots of just under two minutes, one for each state, presented alphabetically, from Heron Bay, Alabama to Kelly, Wyoming. The names of the places are nondescript, but the images attached to them are anything but, immaculately composed shots of landscape, cityscape and the spaces in between. As we move from A to Z, the images coalesce into a portrait of today’s USA, tracing out its fault lines almost in passing: fenced-off facilities, a river bed running dry, factories and refineries, run-down streets and gas stations, a camp under a bridge. The past is there too, seeping up through the songs and speeches that sporadically pierce the background noise or the motifs that evoke a whole career; the clouds, trains and cabins are stand-ins for films, not just states. As always, there’s time for more abstract thoughts too: each image may stand for a state, but representativity is slippery. Which state is more cinematic than the rest?
纯手打,可能有拼写错误,见谅
Heron Bay, Alabama (配乐: Carperter, (They Long To Be) Close To You)
Cooper River, Alaska
AJO, Arizona
Tucker, Arkansas
Wilmington, California
Grand Junction, Colorado
New Milford, Connecticut
Wilmington, Delaware (画外音: Eisenhower, Farewell Address)
District of Columbia
Key Biscayne, Florida
Okefenokee, Georgia
Kilauea, Hawaii
Shoshone, Idaho
Minier, Illinois (配乐: Woody Guthrie, This Land is Your Land)
Gary, Indiana
Rice Lake, Iowa
Wallace, Kansas
Willard, Kentucky
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Albion, Maine
Baltimore, Maryland
Tonset, Massachusetts
Muskegon, Michigan
Hibbing, Minnesota
Fayette, Missisippi (画外音: Kwane Ture Speech Part)
St. Elizabeth, Missouri
Stemple Pass, Montana
Omaha, Nebraska (画外音: 启示录 17:3 片段)
Warm Springs, Nevada
Carroll, New Hampshire
Laurence Harbor, New Jersey
VLA (Very Large Array), New Mexico
New York, New York
Ashford, North Carolina
Grassy Butte, North Dakota
Cleveland, Ohio (配乐: Minnie Riperton, Lovin' You)
Duncan, Oklahoma
Durkee, Oregon
East Berwich, Pennsylvania
Arecibo, Puerto Rico (配乐: Buena Vista Social Club, Dos Gardenias)
Jamestown, Rhode Island
Kershaw, South Carolina
Little Eagle, South Dakota
Paris, Tennesse
Valentine, Texas
Hanksville, Utah (画外音: a part of speech related to the Indians)
Milton, Vermont
Norfolk, Virginia
Okanogan, Washington
Meadow Bridge, West Virginia
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (配乐: Imagine, singer unknown)
Kelly, Wyoming
3.2
无法拥有快速通过荒地的速度,所以 缓慢地发现了在静止中的深度。因为离河面太近或太远,分辨不出湍急的水流被哪种音乐所替换了。美利坚的地景生态、或是纽约的虚假黄昏,那些微弱的光亮;排列成一段幻觉的喧哗。
玩归玩,闹归闹,别拿纪录片玩笑。
原来是他
82/100 #MomaDocFortnight# 美式景观(田野与天空、工业与沙漠等)与美国问题(种族和开发问题等),1975年之后至今,在精神错乱中还能找到美国式理想吗。声音与画面的不同步,带来不少“戏剧性”,像是银幕外的骚动,对影像的“作假”,让观众意识到老头从未停止他玩笑式地实验。
3.5,退休之作。
幽默扮柠的全新力作,内容标题直白到无需多言
用极米投影仪投到墙上看,结果过了一会儿以为网断了,我看的是极米自带的屏保。有些影像的画外空间感挺有意思的,比如赛车和马。但是整体上看,是不是该忽视极简表达中一直觉得杜尚的小便器就是小便器的恍惚感呢?
静态与动态相融,依靠声音的变化。文字、图像、声音互为阐释,却也可能不是,正如黑白后的彩色永远未知一样。影像是可以通过静物来促使理解和想象力的,喜欢这一份信任。3.8
#HotDocs2022# 8+
“好莱坞”电影(在“摄影棚”里看到整片大陆)。虚构是一个关于地平线的问题。地平线是一个关于虚构的问题。想立刻在GTA V内“翻拍”之。
3.5,假象
3.5,近几年最喜欢的班宁之一。
这是今年香港国际电影节看的第一部电影,是美国著名纪录片导演占士班宁的退休作。英文原名叫USA,电影节给翻译了一个很文艺的名字叫“花旗五十二景”。开映之后才发现,其实就是导演取美国五十二个洲的标志性景观,每个州拍了两分钟静止画面,加起来一共100分钟。由于取景都在一些鸟不拉屎的荒郊野外,所以这个电影非常无聊,中途退场络绎不绝,甚至还有睡着打呼噜的。但是如果坚持到最后,就可以发现,这部没有任何情节人物,只有52个场景的ppt电影,结局处竟然有惊人反转。
landscape film / 美 像诗歌 读一句能想一天 #DocFortnight
【Doc Fortnight 2022】像在翻阅一本动态的美国相册
+
补标
9.4/10 #MoMA Doc Fortnight 按各州首字母顺序,依次选不知名地点/建筑/物品拍摄两分钟后切换。(然而影片最后揭露,本片基本全部在加州拍摄,似乎成为不具真实性的沙盘,或尖锐的对国家认同的嘲讽) 文化身份的多元性被更为抽象与泛指的多样性替代:荒原,工业,道路,住宅,自然等等。地貌从某种意义上被去历史化(除威斯康星部分配上Kwame Ture的讲话),甚至脱离其在地性,被班宁挪用以制造一张虚伪的人文/文本地理学志地图。大部分州内地名选择都避开主要城市,甚至多次选取人烟稀少的非建制区域,并利用其命名语义来衍生更多遐想(譬如田纳西州的“巴黎”市)。部分配乐/声引入“人”的曾经在场(特拉华时截取部分艾森豪威尔退休演讲,内布拉斯加时配启示录17章选段) 结尾拍摄紧闭铁门配上"私人领地"的标牌则甚是嘲讽: 总结全片关于“领地”的主人的叩问。
【4.5】当你以为是美国风情画——平等地掠过生态、经济、政治、人文的表面,结果是关于“虚构”的玩笑。不一定是最好的班宁作品,但却是最幽默的。