My friend just sent me a VCD copy of the new Affleck / Casey film “Gerry” … I was all excited to watch a “new” movie, and the description turned me on … it sounded right up my alley … a film about 2 friends lost in the desert … good landscapes … a “psychological” film, they say.
Okay … well, I just finished it and I feel really quite ill. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to, and if that proves the film succeeds in what it sets out to do. But I really feel awful. I feel kind of numb, depressed, tired. That movie was a bad trip, it was like accidentally taking the blue pill when you wanted to take the red. I need some empathy from anyone who has seen it. Can you explain what that film does to your psyche? Is it worth it?
I usually love experimental filmmaking, long shots, slow pacing … but … but … I just feel so let down.
kali, I saw it two weeks ago and came away feeling exactly as you do. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, and certainly during the extended scenes it almost became laughable. But in retrospect, I was really glad to have seen it. I thought that, despite loving or hating it, it’s almost a mandatory viewing. It takes the form of film and flips it upside down to be very true to “real life,” where often nothing happens for quite awhile. That 15 minute tracking shot of them just walking is a great example. The whole movie practically is. But also the film has a place in context – it borrows from past filmmakers who wanted to make use of the passage of time, where it becomes something that can almost replace dialogue. The scenes where they said very little? Those were augmented by the fact there was so much silence in the film, allowing us to essentially understand their inner dialogue without having to listen to them.
I thought the panning shots of the horizons became very disconcerting the further into the film I got. At first it was beautiful, but then it became almost malovalent, knowing they had all that to trek to get out of Death Valley.
And the final scene between them…done very well. Cutting to shots of their legs while they struggled, it was genius.
Give the film a few days. It’ll be one of those films where you kind of sit back, think about it, and smile. You’ll find it rewarding, I think.