The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby

[jenkins]

Director: Ned Benson
Writer: Ned Benson

Stars: James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, Bill Hader, Isabelle Huppert, William Hurt, See full cast and crew »

the last i felt like i felt during "them" (this movie has "him" "her" and "them" versions; them was the first to be released theatrically) was while watching my dog killer in that i was unable to fully concentrate on the movie while watching it and i didn't follow it sometimes, so i'm not a witness in a trial on the movie, but i can describe what seeing the movie was like for me and some thoughts and feelings i had while watching it

1. i thought about shenmue a lot during the movie. a lot. embarrassing amount. for me it felt like some cinematic version of a videogame about a person. i felt like i was taking travels and trips and encountering people along the movie. after the movie i shared this with my friend, who hadn't heard of shenmue, but a funny thing my friend said that i think creates a parallel discourse is "i felt like i wasn't watching people. i couldn't believe them." because i couldn't have had the thoughts i had without myself feeling at a partial distance from the idea of the characters as humans

2. there was often background noise that i could tell was inserted into the soundscape, and by being able to notice it was an implanted sound i was unable to appreciate the movie's aesthetic of reality. for example, the background chatter in a cafe didn't give me a sense of the dimensions of the cafe or the sitting locations of the people chatting. it was a hum. it was a hum of chatter and its nonfiction was dubious. and this is actors. of course it's fiction. so what i'm saying is i felt like there wasn't harmony between the intention of realness and the execution. my friend and i also talked about appreciating the concept of this movie over the move itself. but i already admitted i didn't do a good job of watching this movie, imo

3. the idea must be, and i think this is a reason to see the movie, the idea must be to avoid leading the character with cinema. the alternative is to follow the character with cinema. and that sounds crazy the way i just said it but, stay calm, because while thinking it i realized i should find an interview with the director and see what he says and he says the same thing:

Not to technically lock in what you need, not to force a take, not to have any preconceived notion of what a scene has to be, and allow the scene to find life elsewhere.

http://moveablefest.com/moveable_fest/2013/09/ned-benson-disappearance-eleanor-rigby.html

and well here's a quote from the same article for this crowd:

Together, all these pieces add up to a debut of staggering power, quite possibly the most exciting announcement of a new American filmmaker since Paul Thomas Anderson picked up the camera for "Hard Eight."

(^say whaaa. do people always just say that anyway? like how everyone's the new kubrick?)