Looking back at that now, I see that Shteyngart discusses the movie "Flow":
... I took my son to see “Flow,” a new animated fantasy-adventure film from the Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis.... The protagonist, a black cat, journeys through this often scary landscape with newfound companions, including a Labrador retriever, a ring-tailed lemur, a secretary bird, and, of course, a capybara. Everyone in the audience laughed when the capybara first appeared onscreen, even the little kid behind us who had cried earlier, scared of some of the calamities befalling the feline hero. Just seeing that familiar barrel shape put people at ease. I was astonished by how well the writers and director had portrayed the capybara: in the film, the animal mostly sleeps, eats grass, and gets along with other animals. When scared, it retreats. An unlikely hero, but a perfect one for our times....
How many Latvian movies have you seen? There are only 1.5 million speakers of Latvian in the world, but — as I said — there's not even one word in this film. People of all languages and even no language can all watch with no disadvantage.
I see that Zilbalodis was influenced by Jacques Tati, who made some largely word-free films, such as the one I watching the other day and when Meade asked me what it was, I said "The greatest movie ever made":
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I've seen the picture for this on Max and wondered. Thanks for the details. We'll watch it next weekend.
"I've seen the picture for this on Max and wondered...."
Yeah, this was a case where the picture on the home page grabbed my attention and I clicked into it. That's very rare for me.
I think if you click it out of curiosity and start to watch with no commitment (as I did) you might stick with it. In any case, I recommend enjoying the pure visuals in the moment and don't worry about what's going to happen or anything.
That's how I like to watch a movie (just like I like to read a novel for the sentences not the whole story), but I don't like to think about "the future" — that is, I don't like predicting the plot. What does it matter? Either it will be predictable or it will be surprising. Are you a plot predictor? If so, do you predict a predicable plot (like betting on the favorite) or do you try to predict something surprising (so that if you are right, you win big).
I was already half an hour into this movie when Meade came in. I briefly explained what had happened so far and said the plot didn't really matter. He then predicted the plot and though I didn't want to think about anything other than the now, in the end, it turned out he was exactly right. Which is one more reason not to worry about the plot. If you try to predict it, you'll be right... and also beside the point.
This makes me think of that Billy Collins poem, "The Great American Poem" which contrasts a poem — favorably — to a novel. Excerpt:
But this is a poem, not a novel,
and the only characters here are you and I,
alone in an imaginary room
which will disappear after a few more lines...
Very Studio Ghibliesque. I'll have to watch it.
The cat got me, especially the post credit scene in the trailer. Spun up already for tonight before shut eye. Thanks for the pointer (and the one on Play Time)
My bread and butter is to dissect and write about plots for movies and stories, so, yes, I like a plot. I don't necessarily need to foresee the future, but I must feel that the author/director is leading me firmly and confidently.
When my kids were little we had a children’s book titled ‘Hooway for Wodney Wat’ about a cute little rat who couldn’t pronounce his R’s. The villain in the story was Camilla Capybara, a bully in a pink dress. I always think of her when I see anything about capybaras.
I’ve played the computer/video game Stray (where you play a cat, lost and searching, in a futuristic world) so this caught my eye. I think I shall watch it!
Thanks. That does look beautiful.
The Amazon's good - capybaras, dolphins, large otters
The Amazon's bad - caimans, piranhas, Jeff Bezos (plus Lauren)
Kids are home today for President's Day and it's cold outside. This is a great afternoon activity
Isn't this the type of weak azz bytch popular culture slammed by the Kid, Rock? Along with another story about Timmothee Shallamay on the blog, I detect a decidedly low T theme this far.
My dad didn't like "Star Wars," because he thought it was not consistent with the way things are. I thought he was letting his concrete thinking get in the way of enjoying a great movie; that he wasn't "suspending his disbelief."
I think now that he was focusing on things like the Storm Troopers not being able to shoot straight (in a world in which space travel and laser focused weapons were prevalent). He was an engineer with Raytheon. Or maybe he was bugged by the British Nazi bad guys. Maybe he saw some political analogies (intended or not) which annoyed him.
I think I am becoming my father (not a bad thing!). I can't get past the concepts that the little boat doesn't get destroyed by the cataclysm (or that at the very least the sails are trashed) or that the animals (even intelligent animals) can somehow sail the boat through horrific storms (without reefing!)
I used to skip right past those things (especially in fantasy or science-fiction). Now I see them and mentally roll my eyes. Drives my wife nuts.
We don't watch a lot of movies together....
Update: the kids asked to turn something on before lunch. I suggested this instead of Batman: the Animated Series, which they've watched zillions of times. Went to change the laundry and came back to mesmerized kids with slight smiles. I think it's a winner.
"Flow" looks interesting. If I remember to check it out, I will. (things happening around here at lightning speed since we got a new puppy...yikes...what were we thinking?). But if you feel a need to smile, sit and watch "Playtime". I think I smiled for the two+ hours watching it. And...it was not only smile-inducing, it was beautifully shot. Almost impeccably so.
Capybaras are the animals that usually get eaten by piranhas in nature programs.
Do you think the filmmakers set up all their equipment and just wait for one to happen by and wade into the Amazon at that specific spot, or do you think they just release or throw one into it?
The (mostly) wordless prologue to the Pixar movie "Up" is undoubtedly the most poignant eight or ten minutes of film in the history of animation, and one of the most affecting things I've ever seen in a movie theater.
I just watched it. It was…different, an apparently post-apocalyptic world free of humans. Whatever erased the humans (probably climate change) must have been quick, because domestic pets and boats were still around, but there are no human bodies. Visually and from a story-telling perspective, the movie is good. I seriously doubt I’ll watch it again or recommend it to my friends.
"... an apparently post-apocalyptic world free of humans...."
But it wasn't our Earth. The "whale" was an imagined dragon-like creature. The giant cat sculptures are nothing that exists on Earth. The ruins were more like something from the ancient world — no wires, no cars, no big ships, no paper and plastic trash. They were very aesthetically pleasing ruins! But the modern-human dog breeds existed... and they looked well groomed. The humans seemed to have disappeared instantly, without leaving dead bodies and other mess. The sculptor's studio looks like the sculptor just stepped out a few seconds ago.
So it was not "apocalypse" in the sense of the environmental collapse we've been warned about. It's more like The Rapture or like a dream — quite a common dream too (rising water, unfamiliar and weird city).
So it was a fable but what was the fable about? I don't think it was lecturing us about global warming. I viewed it as a fable about taking a path in life, finding your flow, growing up, making new connections, finding yourself, understanding death, overcoming adversity. With no dialogue, you have your own thoughts as the verbal component, and everyone's experience will be different.
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