Very Slow Movies

53   6.4   5.8 

Just a 45-minute zoom. Not quite minimalist - stuff happens - all within that inexorable zoom.

Wavelength is not an easy film to find (at least on film); when I saw it at a local avant-garde film screening, you could hear the nervous creaking of seats as spectators tried to take in a unique visual experience. Odd effect at the end of the film: even though, like the other spectators, the film made me uncomfortable, the first thing I wanted to do when it ended was see it again.

Goofoff's rating:

109   8.2   7.7 

The slowest narrative film I've ever seen, "Jeanne Dielman" is the 'poetry of everyday life' in the most literal sense. Most of this film's 200+ minutes shows the title character engaged in common domestic chores: cooking, doing the dishes, cleaning, and (to avoid 'spoilers') other perhaps more exciting (?) activities.

It took me about a half hour to get into the rhythm of the film; at first I was tempted to just give up on it (nothing's going to happen!) but I glad I stuck with it. Often read (probably correctly) as a feminist manifesto, I like to think of "Dielman," like "Wavelength," as an indication of one thing the cinema can do well, if it does it rarely.

Goofoff's rating:

40   7.8   7.2 

"The Long Day Closes" is a beautifully shot meditation on memory, where (as with anyone's reminiscences) ordinary life is transformed into the extraordinary. Who would have thought a shot of a carpet could be utterly fascinating?

Goofoff's rating:

137   7.8   7.5 

Goofoff's rating:

100   7.4   7.1 

Goofoff's rating: