i have seen like 4 of his films i think (as avi's of course), and at first I kind of didn't like them at all, but recently I've been thinking about what he's setting out to do and I think they're kind of perfect, from what I remember, actually, haha. so i requested a couple books and i plan on revisiting them soon.
I've seen.... 3? Maybe 4? I think he's a really interesting structualist (though I think most structuralists are interesting tbh) and people whose lives end horribly are always extra appealing (but maybe I'm just a horrible person).
Have you read Gidal's Structual Film Anthology? I keep meaning to really focus on structuralism (and post structuralism) and think it might be a good groundwork.
I got it from inter-library-loan and only ended up reading Gidal's essay that sort of lays down his ideas on structural film before I had to return it. However, I found it ultimately frustrating & limiting (in the same way that I find a lot of early minimalist sculptors's "mainfestos" frustrating), which resulted in me kind of losing interest in the book. I actually sort of rail directly against Gidal through a "character" in my ABYSS IS THE FOUNDATION OF THE POSSIBLE novella, haha. uhm, yeah, i mean, i definitely like a lot of structuralist films, (even Gidal's 45 minute "blind" film is really sublime) but Gidal's contextualization was completely off putting. I'm still vaguely interested in the rest of the articles, but there's a lot of other stuff on film I'd prefer to read first before I went back to it.
all the images are from tumblr i think only the first one is a cap to be honest second one is an art piece i think, third is ostensibly a crime scene photo
yeah, the story behind the 3rd one is really interesting:
The Most Beautiful Suicide
On May Day, just after leaving her fiancé, 23-year-old Evelyn McHale wrote a note. ‘He is much better off without me … I wouldn’t make a good wife for anybody,’ … Then she crossed it out. She went to the observation platform of the Empire State Building. Through the mist she gazed at the street, 86 floors below. Then she jumped. In her desperate determination she leaped clear of the setbacks and hit a United Nations limousine parked at the curb. Across the street photography student Robert Wiles heard an explosive crash. Just four minutes after Evelyn McHale’s death Wiles got this picture of death’s violence and its composure. The serenity of McHale’s body amidst the crumpled wreckage it caused is astounding. Years later, Andy Warhol appropriated Wiles’ photography for a print called Suicide (Fallen Body).
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Have you read Gidal's Structual Film Anthology? I keep meaning to really focus on structuralism (and post structuralism) and think it might be a good groundwork.
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i think only the first one is a cap to be honest
second one is an art piece i think,
third is ostensibly a crime scene photo
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(The comment has been removed)
The Most Beautiful Suicide
On May Day, just after leaving her fiancé, 23-year-old Evelyn McHale wrote a note. ‘He is much better off without me … I wouldn’t make a good wife for anybody,’ … Then she crossed it out. She went to the observation platform of the Empire State Building. Through the mist she gazed at the street, 86 floors below. Then she jumped. In her desperate determination she leaped clear of the setbacks and hit a United Nations limousine parked at the curb. Across the street photography student Robert Wiles heard an explosive crash. Just four minutes after Evelyn McHale’s death Wiles got this picture of death’s violence and its composure. The serenity of McHale’s body amidst the crumpled wreckage it caused is astounding. Years later, Andy Warhol appropriated Wiles’ photography for a print called Suicide (Fallen Body).
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