NYFF podcast. Stellet Licht.

"The microcosm that is the world of Stellet Licht is no gimmick, but rather the perfect stage for this passion play that is as much about spirituality and sacrifice as it is sex and love," writes Andrew G (as Filmbrain). "Stellet Licht has stayed with me more than any of the other fifteen films I've seen so far at the festival. A near-masterpiece that should silence detractors who view Reygadas as little more than a courter of controversy."

Screens Tuesday and Wednesday.

Updated through 10/4.

This is "one of the best films I have seen at this year's festival," writes Tom Hall of this "story of a love triangle set in the world of a Mennonite community in Northern Mexico. The film, which is in the medieval German Plautdietsch dialect, has been discussed in spiritual terms, probably because it features a faithful family at its core, but I didn't find anything remotely spiritual about it; The movie is absolutely carnal, deeply connected to the majesty and beauty of the knowable, physical world."

"[I]n its cyclical representation of life and death, good and evil, beginning and ending of relationships, Reygadas also channels familiar Bruno Dumont themes and the essentiality of his representational images (most notably, in the framing of landscape and casting of non-actors as physical archetypes) to create a film that is decidedly anti-Dumont," writes acquarello.

Earlier: Toronto and NYFF reviews and previews.

Updates, 10/2: Nick Schager: "Reygadas' dedication to exacting formalism is impressive, but said form is itself the height of pomposity, his plethora of prolonged takes and amateurish acting conveying nothing that might qualify as spiritual, but revealing plenty about the vanity of its maker, who ultimately seems to care far less about his one-dimensional, designed-to-impart-messages characters than he does for his own show-offy artistry."

"So far, Stellet Licht is my favorite film of this year's NYFF." Michael Tully explains.

This film's a natural for Jim Emerson's Opening Shots Project; Paul Clark does the honors: "If I wasn’t sure before whether Reygadas was worth taking seriously, this shot put my misgivings to rest."

Update, 10/4: "Slowly but surely, Carlos Reygadas is becoming one of the great directors of our time," declares Michael Joshua Rowin at Reverse Shot. "It's unfortunate that his new Silent Light might disappoint some with its sober spiritualism replacing the bolder experiments of his first two (and better) films, Japón and Battle in Heaven, because to miss out on what Reygadas has attempted and succeeded here is to miss out on Reygadas's development. It would be further sad if others were to mistake Silent Light as merely a tasteful improvement on the less pleasant content of Reygadas's previous films. No, Silent Light is something unique, if not before unseen, and it should be recognized for what it is, rather than what others wish it to be."

Posted by dwhudson at October 1, 2007 2:11 AM