July 26, 2006

A summertime question for Susan Gerhard.

Way back in 2002, we had plans. We were going to interview a slew of critics. Well, one thing led to another - primers, a coupla articles, a blog - and I only got around to two (others would pick up the ball, as when Jennie Rose talked with B Ruby Rich). But for starters, I think I did pretty damn well, choice-wise: Jonathan Rosenbaum and Susan Gerhard. Susan's now editing the excellent SF360, co-published by the San Francisco Film Society and indieWIRE, and my question for her is: "What's the best vacation to be had via DVD player?"

Battle in Heaven

Maybe it's because I believe you can't really call it a vacation until you've survived at least a few moments of murderous frustration and intense alienation (see also: air travel) that I have to pick Carlos Reygadas' Battle in Heaven as the best vacation to be had via DVD player. You don't get that hard-won holiday improvement in personal outlook without surviving some bumpy mental "transitions" along the way. With only two films, Reygadas has developed a reputation for original location-shooting amongst the clichés of the scenic - riffing off the most cloyingly beautiful of landscapes (rural in Japón and urban in Battle in Heaven) with plenty of psychic breakdowns and unexpected sexual twists from the human (and, yes, animal) worlds.

Against the possibly familiar-to-many Battle in Heaven backdrops, including the pilgrimage to Mexico City's Basilica de Guadalupe and flag-guard rituals at the Palacio Nacional, Reygadas deposits a soundscape that takes audiences inside the deteriorating margins of one man's brain. Reygadas's jarring shifts in sound/sanity perspectives - from what I recall as blaring brass to noxious conversation to the white-noise of street traffic to pilgrim chants to notable silences - are a fascinating contrast to the film's patient, frequently still camera, which often photographs characters stunned into immobility in the most public of places.

Like the best and worst of vacations, Battle in Heaven is filled with unpredictabilities. But along with night sweats and roads that go nowhere, it offers a story that - as with its incredible views - kind of dares you to look away.



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Posted by dwhudson at July 26, 2006 10:35 AM

Comments

What an interesting choice, Susan! Were you able to take advantage of Reygadas' residency at the Center for the Arts?

Posted by: Michael Guillen at July 26, 2006 12:55 PM

Way back in 2002, we had plans. We were going to interview a slew of critics.

It's never too late to interview critics, David. They're out there in record numbers.

Posted by: N.P. Thompson at July 26, 2006 3:40 PM

It's true, I did get a chance to see the film and talk to Reygadas because of YBCA's programs.

Posted by: Susan at August 1, 2006 10:35 AM