Silent Light @ The Sydney Film Festival
June 5th 2008 22:15
Last night's screening was an entry into the official competition at the Sydney Film Festival, which means that Reygadas' third film stands a good chance to be awarded accolades here in Australia.
Australians should resonate with the imagery present in "Silent Light"; as its title suggests, light plays an important role in the movie, illuminating nearly every scene, casting shadows away from the screen. The open landscape, lush with harvest, baking under the fierce Mexican sun is not so unnatural to farmland in Australia. Reygadas spoke after the screening, revealing to the audience that every shot in the movie is filmed using natural light, without any computers or processing, and all the audio is recorded during filming, without foley. Silence and light play heavily in the film, used to augment the austere tone of the setting.
The opening and closing scenes of the movie seem to deny this fact - they consist of long extended takes of a sunrise and sunset, beautifully compressing one hour of visuals into a five minute shot. Sunrise never looked so beatific, while the setting of the sun reveals the mysterious lights of the stars.
A silent five minute shot of a sunrise sets the tone of the film; Reygadas films the Mennonite community in long, silent takes, capturing the atmosphere of the isolated famers, even down to their language, Plautdietsch. They are silently pious people, only making noise to belt out haunting hymns.
Reygadas brings a moment of impropriety to the Mennonites, though, as he constructs a story of an upstanding farmer that has an illicit affair with a single woman; his wife, though she may be heartbroken, stands by his side, head bowed, only her eyes revealing the pain of being less than enough. The farmer's guilt is magnified by the idea that his relationship with God is somehow strained by his fall to temptation.
"Silent Light" is not a film that everyone can enjoy, though it is one that I'd strongly recommend. The long, silent shots seem disconcerting after years of Hollywood explosions, but, as the BBC noted, you acclimatize to the pace, settling into the tranquility of the landscape, but drawn into the sense of desperate longing, the need to feel emotions.
Thanks to Sophie Hodges from Next Step Media for the passes to see the premiere of "Silent Light"!
I say: A stirring, breathtaking film that Reygadas fashioned out of years of hard work. All the actors are Mennonites, most from the community shown on screen, and Reygadas spent four years getting into their circle of trust, long enough to convince them to let him film the community. A testament to filmmaking. See it if you've got the patience.
See it for: Filmmaking aside, "Silent Light" is a brilliantly educational film, showing the life of the Mennonites in their daily routine: farming, bathing, eating and praying.
*the image and the video found on Cannesfest
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Paul, thanks for your comment! We've been talking about "Silent Light" all day. If you liked this, come back to read the rest of my coverage. I hope to cover some great films in the festival!
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Matt, we'll have to coordinate for the next one.
2nd anon - oooh, I'm embarrassed. Thanks for the correction. That Christmas carol really ruined it for me.
Amy, too bad! Lots of great movies on show!