Darren Hughes is writing an essay on non-narrative filmmaking: “The Limits of Traditional Narrative Cinema as a Medium for Spiritual Contemplation” … which he qualifies as “A Witless and Obnoxiously Literal Working Title.” I can’t wait to read it.
Darren is one of those writers who always strikes me as being miles ahead on a journey I’m trying to make (as time allows). And yet he writes with grace, with a voice that invites readers along with him, instead of condescending to those who don’t see things his way. That’s a rare gift, and I appreciate it. I’ve learned a lot from following his journeys into international cinema and his notes on learning to watch differently. (I included some of Hughes’ thoughts on Dreyer’s Ordet in Through a Screen Darkly.) When I hear him shouting back about something that has captured his attention, I find myself paying close attention and revising my own viewing plans.
Well, that’ll be the last time I spill my romantic musings over the internet…maybe. A guy can dream, can’t he?
Silva’s got all sorts of good points–and I’m glad someone in the industry is saying them–but when my family left the business in the mid-80’s those same problems were more than evident then. So, on the one hand, it’s been bad for a looong time. (I will say I think it’s gotten worse; I find it hard for me to even set foot in a C.B.S. these days.) On the other hand, it’s refreshing to see serious people actually talking about the problem.