How did the collaboration between you and The Megaphonic Thrift first form?

[The Megaphonic Thrift] got in touch with me after seeing the video I did for Chris Holm’s song “When I Die” (a dark dance/performance-based video of a young woman’s love for her dying horse (Editor’s Note: You can see it embedded at the bottom of this post.) I had only one very specific cult-oriented idea for the song, and luckily, the band liked it.

You had a lot of freedom in composing the visuals for this track. The song is rather upbeat and seemingly cheerful; the women in the music video can be seen as delicate and feminine. Stereotypically “dark” symbols, however, flash into sight occasionally. Why were they chosen for this video, and is there a message to be found in their presence?

It’s really wonderful to be given such freedom in the way you interpret something you are working on. I’m always drawn towards contrast and opposites in my visuals. I felt the song had both a lightness of touch and darkness of mood to it so I wanted to manifest that visually. I added the flashes of animals and anatomic drawings to play tricks on the subconscious in a dramatic and potentially humorous way. I felt it would add energy to the video as the song has this hypnotic drive and delivers constant sonic surprises.

How do you relate to those naturalistic symbols personally? Do you find them fascinating and approachable, distant and creepy, etc.?

I find them creepy and funny which is my favorite combination.

Considering the title, do you know if the track is David Lynch-inspired? If so, did that impact the video concept at all?

Everyone gathered in front of that TV to watch Twin Peaks back in Norway in the early 90s. Quite bizarrely it was sort of a family thing. I think the dark woods and the absurd humor communicated especially well with us. I was way too young and it scared me half to death but because of that I think David Lynch inspires everything I do a little bit. Maybe the band had the same experience?

Was there much research and preparation into the topics portrayed in the video prior to shooting?

When I get asked to do the video for a song, I walk over Williamsburg bridge to Manhattan and listen to it over and over until I have the right images in my head. It’s more like a fragmented dream than a story, usually. I tend to feel like too much narrative disturbs the song more than supporting it. I want to convey or heighten, sometimes contrast, the mood and a feeling of a song, not tell the story — that’s what the lyrics are for. With this one, the guitar riff made me think of ’90s films like The Craft and The Blair Witch Project. That led me to looking for images of women in formations and furthermore, looking at videos of nuns. I became fascinated by the rituals of these Roman Catholic nuns — women who surrender their life and self-control to an unseen force that’s nurtured by their dedication and sacrifice. I was drawn to a clip of a nun getting ready to join the order; the other woman was helping her get ready. There was something fascinating about their quiet joy and held excitement.

Do you or The Megaphonic Thrift have any relationship or interest in occultism or the rituals shown in the music video?

I was raised without any religion so I’m very fascinated by religious rituals. It seems there’s quite a bit of art being made about that nowadays.

Is there anything else you think we should know? Anecdotes or surprises, perhaps?

I always work with the same DP, Zachary Galler; his sense of light and movement is unique. He’s wonderful to work with. We are making our first feature-length film in the fall. We shot the video in Upstate New York in a friend’s house. A very raw and inspiring place.

Ω

Related posts:

1. Black Feather – “Razor Blade” Music Video
2. Lyonnais – A Sign From On High / Modern Calvary Music Video (w/ Director Interview)
3. Stomacher – “Untitled/Dark Divider” Music Video

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

The Megaphonic Thrift – Fire Walk With Everyone Music Video (Interview w/ Mona Fastvold)

Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) is upon us again, and we have whittled down their list of 100+ international shorts and full-length films to pick what we have determined to be the best and most interesting of the bunch.

Portland International Film Festival 2012 runs from February 9th through the 25th, with more than one screening for most movies (exceptions generally being shorts and midnight film series).

Looking for something to do this upcoming week? How about one of these films?

Those interested in documentaries can see a list of documentaries we recommend for PIFF 2012 or see here for all PIFF coverage.

SNOWTOWN
AUSTRALIA

Directed by Justin Kurzel
Snowtown is director Justin Kurzel’s examination on a series of murders throughout the 1990s, all committed under the leadership of Australia’s most famous serial killer, John Bunting. A terrifying suburban horror film, rooted in real life mysteries. Winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival.
02/24 – 6:30pm – Lloyd Mall 6
02/25 – 8:30pm – Whitsell Auditorium

SURVIVING LIFE
CZECH REPUBLIC

Directed by Jan Svankmajer
All hail Czech surrealist Jan Svankmajer, who is back – surprisingly – with a new film! Here, Svankmajer explores the human subconscious and dreams; a man who finds himself repeatedly dreaming about a mysterious fictional woman consults a doctor on how he can delve deeper into dreamland, to continue his new romantic saga.
02/15 – 8:45pm – Whitsell Auditorium
02/22 – 9:00pm – Whitsell Auditorium

THE LONELIEST PLANET
GERMANY

Directed by Julia Loktev
Gael Garcia Bernal’s latest movie has him alongside Hani Furstenberg, in a romantic drama about a couple that was madly in love but fall apart once resentment and disappointment seeps in silently. A character portrait on how contempt and wordless physical and mental cues can transform the course of a relationship.
02/20 – 5:15pm – Cinema 21
02/24 – 8:45pm – Cinema 21

THE TURIN HORSE
HUNGARY

Directed by Bela Tarr
Black and white minimalism push forth this Hungarian philosophical and metaphysical tale, inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche’s mental collapse after his witnessing of the Turin Horse. (FULL REVIEW)
02/18 – 8:15pm – Cinema 21
02/21 – 7:00pm – Cinema 21

FOOTNOTE
ISRAEL

Directed by Joseph Cedar
Father and son, both working in Israel as Talmudic scholars, must learn how to resolve a conflict of pride when one is mistakenly told he has won the famed Israel Prize.
02/18 – 8:30pm – Whitsell Auditorium
02/19 – 5:00pm – Cinema 21

NORWEGIAN WOOD
JAPAN

Directed by Tran Anh Hung
A film adaption of Haruki Murakami’s novel of the same name, Norwegian Wood. Is a slow-paced romantic story about dysfunction, tragedy, and love. Beautifully shot, with a soundtrack crafted by Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead.
02/12 – 8:00pm – Lloyd Mall 6
02/21 – 7:00pm – Cinemagic

AURORA
ROMANIA

Directed by Cristi Puiu
This is the second film in Romanian director Cristi Puiu series, Six Stories From The Outskirts Of Bucharest, where a seemingly “normal” guy commits intensely violent acts, driving home the message the perspectives can always be challenged.
02/20 – 6:00pm – Lloyd Mall 6
02/22 – 6:30pm – Pioneer Place Mall

THE DAY HE ARRIVES
SOUTH KOREA

Directed by Hong Sang-Soo
A film professor finds that notable circumstances in his life keep reoccurring day after day, challenging him to determine whether his days have become mind-numbingly routine or if the same day is somehow replaying over and over again.
02/14 – 6:15pm – Whitsell Auditorium
02/23 – 8:30pm – Whitsell Auditorium

EXTRATERRESTRIAL
SPAIN

Directed by Nacho Vigalondo
In this unlikely romantic comedy, two strangers – who have just met after a one-night stand – find themselves in close quarters after massive alien spaceships arrive in Madrid.
02/24 – 8:45pm – Whitsell Auditorium
02/25 – 6:00pm – Whitsell Auditorium

ETERNITY
THAILAND

Directed by Sivaroj Kongsakul
This Thai epic oscillates back and forth between mirth and tragedy, life and death, past memories in a spiritual and poetic way that is at once confusing and enrapturing.
02/22 – 6:00pm – Lloyd Mall 6
02/25 – 8:15pm – Lloyd Mall 6

ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA
TURKEY

Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
A mesmerizing murder tale, which REDEFINE writer George Shaefer describes as possessive of an inherent intrigue — a subtle, masterful work, worth many viewings and good conversations about meaning.” FULL REVIEW
02/19 – 7:30pm – Cinema 21
02/24 – 3:00pm – Cinema 21

Related posts:

1. Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part One
2. Portland International Film Festival 2012: Documentary Film Preview Guide
3. SIFF 2012 Festival Preview: European Film Picks, Part One

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part Two

Directed by Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky
Hungary

After finishing The Turin Horse, I read some quick blurbs on the web about the film. I was curious if anyone had written about the significance of the film’s focus on six days. Not that six days, instead of five or seven, is significant in and of itself, but I wondered nonetheless. It may be that 6 is an even structural number. However, in the case of The Turin Horse, it is likely that the sixth day reflects God’s command that the land “bring forth living creatures,” and then the consequent shaping of humans in His image and likeness. Heavy. Well, it’s hard to approach a film based on a critical moment in the life of Friedrich Nietzsche and assume it to be removed from philosophy.

To my–now evident–shame, I have never seen a Béla Tarr film before. There was a screening of the Hungarian director’s seven-hour Satantango (1994) this past spring at the University of Chicago, but I missed it. Damn. And I mean that.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW

The very first scene of The Turin Horse is a long take (the film is all long takes: 2.5 hours long, 30 shots) of the horse and the cab driver going forward brutally, mercilessly into the wind. The camera takes us alongside the horse, then in front and close to its nose, as it breathes and snorts at the dust in its face. It stays with the horse and cab, allowing us to see and feel the resilience of the two beasts to the wind. The melancholy strings–somber, yet oddly soothing, and bound to the Sisyphusian might of the creature and its vast presence within the screen–touched me. I love that first shot.

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Unlike the narrative expanse of a film like Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, where story and dialogue drive the sound and visuals, The Turin Horse works to dissolve story in favor of visual instance. The meticulous occupation of watching Tarr’s superb crafting of a tactile sense of space pressures us to see his world in its particulars. Tarr is both subtle and exact, in the picture frame of a woman as the daughter packs her luggage box or the lame right arm of the father—which only becomes explicit after repetition and detail. The moments where daughter and father sit at a stool and look out the window at the harsh wind contain, for me, the humiliation and conviction of humanity.

ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW

The story of Nietzsche and the Turin horse is something of a parable of the madness and cruelty of this earth and a creature’s refusal to abide the lashings of an imposed order. (Read more about Nietzsche and the Turin horse.) This sentimentality is the initiative of the Übermensch. But The Turin Horse isn’t an interpretation of Nietzsche so much as a meditation on those impositions against which Nietzsche railed–order, morality, indoctrination, humanity removed from its animality–which is survival and life as a daily expenditure. It is a hard movie to watch; some people may think it bleak, may think the world “broken” or hopeless. The Turin Horse is cinema where narrative is transposed to light and shadow, to visual instances where a woman pulls water from a well, where a rough hand peels a hot potato. The lingering, omnipresent details of space and livelihood are the film’s metaphysics, and they are our means of understanding and empathizing. We are the horse and Nietzsche.

It is really encouraging to me that a film like The Turin Horse was made now, in 2011. I associate this type of film with Robert Bresson (the equine connection with Au hasard Balthazar), Ingmar Bergman, and arthouse films of the ’60s and ’70s–so it is awesome to attach the word contemporary” to Tarr. It is a shot of intellectual and spectatorial adrenaline rush.

Related posts:

1. Portland International Film Festival 2012: Festival Preview Guide, Part Two
2. Shadow Shadow Shade – “White Horse” Music Video Trilogy
3. Bodyguards and Assassins (2009) Film Review

music art film review - REDEFINE magazine

The Turin Horse (2011) Film Review