I just came across this the other day. Every once in a while I wonder what Shane Carruth is doing since he is from Dallas and used an actor (David Sullivan) from close to my area for Primer. Do any Texas/Dallas people know more info on this?
http://www.chud.com/70004/breaking-primer-director-shane-carruth-prepping-upstream-color-for-november-start/
UPDATED EXCLUSIVE: PRIMER-DIRECTOR SHANE CARRUTH PREPPING UPSTREAM COLOR FOR NOVEMBER START
By Renn Brown · 10.10.2011 · Filmstrip, Movie News
EDIT: I've gotten more details about the project and I can confirm a few things for absolute fact:
• The film is a new thing, unrelated to A Topiary. That project is still active and expected to shoot next year, but Upstream Color is its own thing and said to be a perfect kind of movie if you're a Shane Carruth fan.
• This is definitely a small, under-the-radar affair that looks to be very nearly as controlled and intimate as Primer.
There's no director for whom I've crossed my fingers tighter than Shane Carruth over the last few years. The director of the brilliant Primer, Mr. Carruth hasn't surfaced often in the seven years since his ultra-indie debut, which took Sundance by storm and has left a lasting impression on the science fiction genre. We all celebrated earlier in the year when we heard that Carruth had joined forces with Rian Johnson to contribute to Looper, but even more welcome is news that I can now bring you that the director seems to be prepping a "romance/drama/thriller" film of his own...
Currently going under the title Upstream Color, the film is in the process of casting and prepping for a shoot that will last forty days from early November through the end of January. Casting is taking place in Dallas, Texas where Carruth shot Primer. The film was written and will be directed by Carruth, who is joined by producer Ben LeClair (Nacho Libre, Gentlemen Broncos).
It's unclear if this film is based off the same script that Carruth shopped around for some time called A Topiary, which was described by those who read it as an "insane" follow up to his first film. The best plot synopsis anyone could muster was "an abstract arthouse take on Pokemon," a description which surfaced around the same time as what seemed to be the beginning of a viral site (which remains online and unchanged now). As it is still soliciting for actors to audition, I've gotten my hands on some character descriptions from Upstream Color that suggest this is a brand new script, though I suppose the characters could still possibly fit into A Topiary (or it could have been heavily re-written)...
Kris – This is the lead part, and beyond involving a severe haircut change in the film, little is said beyond her being intelligent and plain.
Other main roles include Wesley, a composer in his 50s who is also a farmer, as well as Evan, a guy who works in a record shop and sounds a bit like a psychopath.
There are a few secondary roles up for grabs as well: two 12 year olds from the inner city, along with 16-year old name Phoebe and her grandmother Elise, who are described as being very similar souls.
Upstream Color likely refers to an esoteric biopharmeceutical term that describes impurities present early in the processing/manufacture of a chemical. Such a source for the title of a Carruth film would not shock me –especially considering Primer is a symphony of jargon-filled dialogue– but it's even more interesting when the film's being listed as a "romance/drama/thriller." Come to think of it, a title referring to some kind of impurity or problem early in a chemical process isn't difficult to align with a story about a girl who had an unknown trauma early in life. That said, it could mean something entirely different in this context, and it could just be a working title.
I don't know much more about the scale of the film, aside from it being a non-union indie, and I don't have any more plot details but I assure you we'll be keeping our eyes peeled. This film has quite literally shot to the absolute top of my radar. You would do well to keep it high up on yours.
This is really exciting to me. If this movie turns out to be even half as smart and unique as Primer was, it will have been worth the wait.
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.iwatchstuff.com%2F2012%2F11%2F29%2Fupstream-color-poster-thumb.jpg&hash=e5ae64facff111c11bb79b21c313a2afc3c9dcce)
Release date: March 2013
Starring: Andrew Sensenig, Shane Carruth, Brina Palencia, Amy Seimetz
Directed by: Shane Carruth (Primer)
Premise: A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.
Co-edited by Ghostboy.
I have no idea what's going on, but I would murder a hobo with my bare hands to see this movie.
Is there any way to make that happen? Because otherwise this hobo died for nothing.
This is me watching that trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRhkEVrqZe4)
It's been too long since Shane Carruth directed a movie. I can't wait to see this.
Aw, I wanted to read more polkahyperbole. (polka'bole?) It's always the trailers about nothing that intrigue the most. If they have a reach that exceeds its grasp, well, that remains to be seen. See also: ye gods, that's the most infuriating, vague, intriguing premise I've read in a while.
New trailer = Tree of Life (The independent version)
Quote from: ono on December 13, 2012, 03:30:59 PM
Aw, I wanted to read more polkahyperbole. (polka'bole?)
This movie will be the Last Year at Marienbad of the 21st century.
Great, now I have to see Last Year at Marienbad.
You should! It's basically the Upstream Color of the 20th century.
Oh. Well, that clears things up nicely.
Fuck, I love that trailer.
This is close to the top of my list for movies I'm looking forward to most. I just watched this three times in a row... if I weren't at work, I'd keep watching it.
Anyone else recognizes the similar soundscape from the trailer? Its about a half step difference.
I understand that Shane Carruth did the scoring himself, and it is nonetheless impressive and appropriate, but geez, even the most stubborn and resistant indie filmmakers love to copy current hollywood fads.
This was also shot on a GH3, I believe. I think that's what Matt uses for his shorts?
Quote from: md on January 16, 2013, 10:46:00 AM
This was also shot on a GH3, I believe. I think that's what Matt uses for his shorts?
Do you have a source for this? I've been curious about what it was shot on. Nevermind, I found a few sources and even a behind-the-scenes picture with the GH2. Excellent.
I use a hacked GH2. The GH3 only came out a month ago, I think.
God damn! Can't wait to check this out.
I have not been following films, I am ashamed.
what a glorious surprise I've stumbled upon.
shane carruth is one smart man.
The Playlist has the soundtrack here (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/listen-shane-carruths-score-for-upstream-color-soundtrack-now-available-to-order-20130220).
I've been listening to it for the past couple days. Kind of has a Cliff Martinez sound. Really good.
An Interview with Shane Carruth on the score for Upstream Color
by Bill Pearis
In 2004, Shane Carruth wowed Sundance Film Festival audiences with his heady time travel flick Primer, which he made with no prior filmmaking experience and shot (on film!) for a budget of around $7000. Carruth is finally back with its follow-up, Upstream Color, which premiered at this year's Sundance and The AV Club's Sam Adams called "one of the most transcendent experiences of my moviegoing life." Upstream Color will play NYC's New Directors/New Films Festival in March and the film opens theatrically at the IFC Center on April 5. The DVD and Bluray will be out soon after, May 7. Like Primer, Carruth did almost everything on Upstream Color himself, including the soundtrack which was released today digitally and on vinyl. Ethereal and somber, Carruth's score definitely comes from the Eno, Vangelis and early John Carpenter school and, while I haven't seen the film yet, it's a lovely listen on its own. Shane was also nice enough to answer a few questions about his Upstream Color score and you can read that below.
BV: You are truly a DIY filmmaker, handling almost all aspects of production, including the score. I imagine for Primer, you did the score yourself for budgetary reasons. Did you consider hiring an outside composer for Upstream Color?
Shane Carruth: The short answer is no, I didn't. Something happened in the writing where I started to understand the emotional weight of what was being explored, the romantic promise that exists when characters are broken to their core. At that point I fell so hard so fast for the story that I couldn't have waited around for a another composer if I wanted to. So I would compose at the same time as writing the screenplay and let each affect the other in real time.
Both the Primer and Upstream Color soundtracks have a similar vibe. Did you approach the score to the new film differently? A different set of goals?
I view them as vastly different works, but maybe that's just me. I'm so grateful for the response that Primer has had, but I'm a bit insecure about its rough edges and that goes for the music too. Upstream is something I could not be more proud of in both its ambition and execution. The music is more accomplished I think and is so much in service of the exploration that it's hard for me to sever in it my head from the visual language. The film has an aesthetic of tactility, mania, and being affected at a distance so the music always relays the subjective experience of the characters, not what the audience is meant to feel which can be two different things.
You were an engineer before Primer. What is your musical background?
None.
Is the score entirely keyboard/sample based or are their live/organic instrumetns involved? (It's hard to tell anymore.) What do you compose/record on?
It's a combination of everything. There are real instrument recordings, synths, and samples that start as soundscapes but have been converted to instruments by pitching (ex. the hum of underwater sodium lights). Everything is done on my laptop and Logic is the software I use the most.
Do you make music when not working on a score? Ever been in a band?
Not really, no.
What are some of your favorite soundtracks? Composers? What are you listening to these days?
Just referencing the most played albums on my phone (no order):
1. The Appointment - John Barry and Michel Legrand
2. Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud - Miles Davis
3. Shame - Harry Escott and Various
4. Vertigo - Bernard Hermann
5. Channel ORANGE - Frank Ocean
You're releasing the Upstream Color score on vinyl. Are you a vinyl enthusiast? How many copies are you pressing?
I've become one very recently. I dismissed the whole idea for years, but I can't deny there is a real quality to vinyl that I've been missing. I haven't delved into whether it's imagined or not, but even the simple ritual of setting a record spinning has become something I go to to relieve anxiety. We've pressed 500 this time.
9 years between his first and second films. AND he started at 32.
freely admits he doesn't know shit about music but scores his films anyway. shoots on things we can all get our hands on.
THIS is someone losers like us can look up to (with exception of the few winners in our midst).
although.. 9 years. NINE.
Agree. But I think the 9 years is the most inspiring part.
9 years can fly by.
the thing is to do it.
This guy really just baffles me on so many levels. Thanks for posting the interview.
Quote from: max from fearless on February 23, 2013, 06:31:01 AM
Something happened in the writing where I started to understand the emotional weight of what was being explored, the romantic promise that exists when characters are broken to their core. At that point I fell so hard so fast for the story that I couldn't have waited around for a another composer if I wanted to. So I would compose at the same time as writing the screenplay and let each affect the other in real time.
This guy is a film-making chemist.
he said tonight, has this been reported, that he's self-releasing and has booked 42 theaters
i saw a clip-o-matic trailer for atropia (and for looper, 'cause johnson moderated the q&a). such a trailer is a composite of pre-existing movie clips (jurassic park, e.g.) and designs for the new feature. it's basically a proof of concept for producers. there was test footage of robotic animals
upstream is really gorgeous and sweeping. everyone's going to have a lot of praise and questions for lowery. the editing is as important as the cinematography, which is as important as the script. obviously this kind of harmony made this movie electric and forward thinking cinema
and i need to see it again, it's one of those
List of when/where it'll be screened.
http://erbpfilm.com/film/upstreamcolor#screenings
Quote from: trashculturemutantjunkie on March 05, 2013, 01:06:05 AM
he said tonight, has this been reported, that he's self-releasing and has booked 42 theaters
i saw a clip-o-matic trailer for atropia (and for looper, 'cause johnson moderated the q&a). such a trailer is a composite of pre-existing movie clips (jurassic park, e.g.) and designs for the new feature. it's basically a proof of concept for producers. there was test footage of robotic animals
upstream is really gorgeous and sweeping. everyone's going to have a lot of praise and questions for lowery. the editing is as important as the cinematography, which is as important as the script. obviously this kind of harmony made this movie electric and forward thinking cinema
and i need to see it again, it's one of those
Sounds fantastic.
The screenplay for A Topiary was dense but incredibly unique. Obviously Carruth would be Acre Stowe.
He really does seem to have his heart in A Topiary despite the fact he'll be directing The Modern Ocean soon. Anyone have any info on that one.
it sounded like mixed trouble with special effects and money keeps him from a topiary
the thing he said about the modern ocean is that he thinks upstream color is a thousand times better than primer and at least in his opinion this new one is a thousand times better than upstream color
in addition to the self-releasing he designed the poster and cut the trailer. he said he'd often say "nevermind, I'll do it"
Quote from: trashculturemutantjunkie on March 05, 2013, 05:07:45 AM
he thinks upstream color is a thousand times better than primer and at least in his opinion this new one is a thousand times better than upstream color
wow primer must be the worst movie ever.
he has a self-deprecating personality, referred to himself as a moron multiple times
i came here to post the soundtrack but see it was posted on the last page. here it is again, a direct link:
https://soundcloud.com/shane-carruth/uc-score-track-14/s-LAUW7
curious what other people think of it, 'cause tbh the music i like i like a lot, but also the music i dislike i dislike a lot
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/movies/shane-carruth-of-primer-directs-upstream-color.html?_r=0
Interesting stuff. Also, he discusses his new thing.
I knew I was right. As in he said 8 years ago that 'What I'm working on now is a romance. An oceanography prodigy falling for the daughter of a commodities trader. It's set at sea off the coast of Africa in Southern Asia.'
http://au.ign.com/articles/2004/10/21/ign-interviews-shane-carruth?page=3
But in the new interview it says:
"Mr. Carruth's next project, "The Modern Ocean," which he hopes to shoot this year, was conceived as a romance between an oceanographer and the daughter of a shipping magnate but has now "morphed into this other massive thing that is impossibly tragic," he said. "I'm really curious about how far it can be pushed."
And there's a reference to PDL in there.
Quote from: Lottery on March 17, 2013, 07:11:47 AM
And there's a reference to PDL in there.
for the lazy, here's the shout out, which follows on directly from the bit Lottery quoted:
By "it," he explained, he means a more exploratory approach to narrative, which he has found in movies as different as Paul Thomas Anderson's "Punch-Drunk Love" and Steven Soderbergh's "Solaris."this guy needs to start releasing more movies so he can get his proper dues. i haven't seen any of them (well the one available so far) and after all these interviews i already want to list him as one of my favourite living directors. he's like if Robert Rodriguez had turned out to be a good director.
He's basically a less wanky Peter Greenaway. I can't get enough of this guy.
There's that selfish and warm feeling when someone likes what you like. PDL was one of his favourite films around when Primer was out.
Buckle Your Brainpan: The Primer Director Is Back With a New Film
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/03/primer-shane-carruth/all/
$19.99 Blu-Ray/DVD preorder on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BC75H5S/ref=gno_cart_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER)
Here's the Carruth/UC cover story from Filmmaker Magazine. This really blew my mind. Bought tickets to the Sundance London screening and cannot wait. Hope he gets to make 'A Topiary'.
Great article, thanks for posting!
There's a nice Ghostboy shout-out on the fifth page of the article (not counting the cover).
Should I wait until after watching the film to read that?
Quote from: matt35mm on March 24, 2013, 05:17:30 PM
Should I wait until after watching the film to read that?
It said a whole lot about the film, to the extent of technically spoiling it. However they maintain the film is near-impossible to spoil.
It's a good read but I would avoid it if you want to go in fresh.
It's not spoilery, I skipped over certain parts when they started getting into specifics though. The way he spoke about the subtext of the film, not many people make films with this kind of depth.
I'm really hoping this film is as amazing as the way he speaks of it, and the way he articulates in general.
http://indie-outlook.com/2013/03/29/shane-carruth-on-upstream-color/
Interview.
Quote... I know that P.T. Anderson is one of, if not the greatest living American director. Maybe even just THE greatest director. I'm inspired by all of his work.
Good lad.
EDIT:
And another.
http://www.blackbookmag.com/movies/sinking-into-the-world-of-upstream-color-with-director-shane-carruth-1.60265
Nice and detailed.
Quote from: Carruth
I had forgotten that I was following the script as I was shooting it. I was following my own instructions. I don't know how things happen. I'm just an old man [laughs].
The way those sentences leap just makes my tummy tingle.
Ghostboy posted an up-close and drunk interview of Carruth on twitter:
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9109223/getting-drunk-upstream-color-director-shane-carruth (http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9109223/getting-drunk-upstream-color-director-shane-carruth)
:yabbse-thumbup:
I just want Carruth to be happy (and to continue to be a unique spirit).
Steven Soderbergh & Shane Carruth Talk 'Upstream Color,' Its Lack Of Cats & Suspicious Marketing In China
via The Playlist
Now "retired" filmmaker Steven Soderbergh has Oscars, a Palme d'Or and other accolades to his name. At a whirlwind pace, he directed 26 feature-length films in 24 years (not counting shorts and TV projects) mostly free of any signature filmmaking brand, omnivorously moving from style and genre to style and genre to keep things fresh. And while Soderbergh is well-celebrated for his contributions to cinema, one thing audiences tend to forget is his mentorship and how the "Side Effects" helmer got behind several filmmakers.
He's acted as producer for many filmmakers who were then on the rise, putting his name on "The Daytrippers" for Greg Mottola, Lodge Kerrigan's "Keane," Anthony and Joe Russo's "Welcome To Collinwood" (and he recommended them to Marvel for "Captain America 2"). And he executive produced projects from friends and peers in order to help give the extra push to get them made with Lynne Ramsay's "We Need to Talk About Kevin," Todd Haynes' "Far from Heaven" and Gary Ross' "Seabiscuit" all bearing his imprint. And let's not forget, after a slightly-unknown filmmaker named Christopher Nolan had trouble finding distribution for "Memento," Soderbergh was a loud vocal champion for the film ("When a film like Chris Nolan's 'Memento' cannot get picked up, to me independent film is over. It's dead," he famously said at the time).
The filmmaker also got behind Shane Carruth after his 2004 time travel puzzler, "Primer," and along with David Fincher, attempted to executive produce his still-unmade, largely-now aborted would-be follow-up "A Topiary." The film never came to pass, all studios too risk-averse to take the plunge, but a friendship was formed. Soderbergh and Carruth recently appeared at the IFC Center in New York at a post-screening Q&A of Carruth's latest mindbender, "Upstream Color." A bewitching, transcendent and strange picture about free-will, love, nature and the life-cycle of all things, "Upstream Color" deals with some big bold and abstract ideas and then presents them in a dazzling abstract manner (here's our review from Sundance). It's head-scratching to some, moving, mysterious and beautiful to others. You'll probably need to have seen the film to fully understand this Q&A, but regardless, here's a recap of the post-Q&A conversation between Soderbergh and Carruth.
Steven Soderbergh: What the hell was that that we just saw?
Shane Carruth: [Laughs] Thanks for getting that out of the way. Thanks for being part of this, by the way.
Here's a real question: are you prone to believe in conspiracies? Do you see patterns in the world as a person?
No, but it's interesting, I've never been asked that and I actually feel the opposite. I would point to things in the film that showed the opposite -- the lack of conspiracy. This story didn't start with its weird elements, the life cycle, the worm/pig/orchid, it started at the center with these characters that I needed to strip of their identity and their narratives so they could be forced to regrow it and that leads to a whole set of other things. But I needed a construct to make that happen, so that's where these other elements came into play and they are specifically made in a way that there is no conspiracy and there is no management -- the thief, the pig farmer/sampler and orchid harvesters are all performing these little tricks in nature that benefit them, but are not, in their minds, they don't care what came before or after. They're not aware of that. To me, I was trying to create something that was long-lived and permanent and universal and not conspiratorial. And not good or bad, not malicious or benevolent.
This recent mysterious story about thousands of pigs being thrown into a river in China is conveniently timed.
Well, that's a marketing effort that was very expensive [laughs]. And not ethical at all.
Pigs in river under very suspicious circumstances. Hmm...
Coincidence, so near the release of this movie. We don't have big ad buys, we're not on during the Super Bowl so we do what we can.
Should this have been called "Downstream Color"? Cause water goes...
Oh, my god! You're right! Because everything in it is so disconnected, especially the central characters being so affected by things off screen and at a distance -- in my head it meant something that you couldn't know where it was coming from. That it would also seem to be coming from some place that is -- you would expect some effort to go and find it.
I like cats, but there are no cats in this. What's up with that?
Laughs, you're right. Unfortunately, you're right. I had to pick a target demographic and yeah, pigs. People respond to livestock and not felines.
The editing patterns are so sophisticated. How much did the film change in post?
Well, it did. It changed a few weeks before we started shooting and maybe a week into editing. There was a period there -- now that I know that it exists -- where you're coming to understand the visual language and I had what I thought was the final score already built, because I was doing it while I was writing. So all of these elements start to come together, Amy Seimetz is cast and we start to see what she's going to be doing and how effective that's going to be, and so the equation changes. All of the different elements change each other, so in that sense, yes, there was a version I thought of it in writing, there was a version as we approached and there was a version was probably malleable within the first week of production and after that we knew that language pretty well and had internalized it, so from that point forward it didn't change very much.
David Lowery was brought in to edit, he's a wonderful editor and director of this film "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" that's coming out in a few months. He's astounding and I had met him before and I knew he was going to have a big film made literally after a few months after we wrapped. But he was brilliant and we had a true collaboration. He really took on what had been established and reproduced that perfectly and then started bringing together in his own ideas. I would go out and shoot for his edit and he would edit from my shoot and it was really collaborative. And we ripped off "The Limey" a lot so that was good.
I was just ripping off Nicolas Roeg and Alain Renais.
Yeah, great.
I noticed you did a lot of jobs on this film, but not the catering.
I had to leave something for my mom and sister in law.
Just how much of the cutting to black in the film was a re-centering?
That's interesting. The parts you're talking about are the middle third which to me is the most subjective. If the first third of the film is mainly about the mechanics of the world and its more locked down than the rest of the film and it's about control and putting Kris (Amy) through a process, the next third of it is much more subjective and seeing Kris and Jeff react to the events that we know they've been through, but they don't know so my attempt was -- as well as I could without any dialogue, without any POV shots -- to convey subjectivity, their experiences. The music, the editing, the cinematography is meant to communicate that. Even using sound and soundscapes to as a way to show connectedness, or light and flares of light to suggest a presence. So those cuts to black they are my attempt at removing any sort of concrete timeline or sequence. I don't think you can nail down exactly how much time has passed -- whether this is a relationship that bloomed in a week or two and they got married they married 6 months later or the next day or what, its all meant to be a bit fragmented to convey that.
How do you judge information that you want to stick because I find that always, I'm always stunned what people latch onto and what they don't.
I don't know. That's tough. I wouldn't be comfortable with something like a test screening because I wouldn't know what to do with it. I wouldn't know what 85 percent of people are getting it, means something or doesn't. With all the collaborators, Amy, David, our production designer Tom Walker, once we had confidence in what we were doing and it felt like a true collaboration at that point, If I'm getting this and a couple other people are, that's more or less it. I guess I'm just not that worried about that. It's like "Primer" which is one of the most obtuse films out there and yet I feel like there was consensus that formed that pretty much nailed everything the film was attempting to do so if a narrative is purposefully going to be veiled in some way, I don't know how to decide how veiled it should be other than to go by my sensibilities. That's it I guess.
Are you an outdoorsy type? Are you concrete or dirt?
I have a Denim shirt. No, not really. I don't spend a lot of time in nature. Probably less than most people that live in urban Texas. The nature in the film arises from – I needed this construct and I needed it to satisfy this criteria. And I think there's a lot of ways to do that. If you just want to strip someone of their identity, their narrative, I think there's lots of ways to do that. It could be they get in a car wreck and there's amnesia or it could be an alien presence or a pharmaceutical one, or all of these different things, but what I needed was something that didn't feel specific, didn't feel modern, didn't feel foreign as if it had entered the arena in some way, because that would be saying something about where it comes from and I don't want it to come from anywhere. I want it to always be here. I want what's different about this is Kris' experience, not how she's put into this system, but how she gets out. And I guess I was worried if it was anything other than that it would be too pointed and that lead me to – well, if it's been here forever, that goes to the natural world and if it's got a life cycle, it's got a cycle.
Was the pigfarmer/sound composer there from the script stage?
He was. There was a slightly different version of him at the beginning of the writing process he was a originally going to be a reclusive composer and so when he's moving through his goldfish bowl of emotional experiences, this corral of pigs and shopping for the right experience to be inspired by, it would be to help him in his composing work. But it was meant to be for his symphony and at the end, he would be launching that symphony and coming back into the city and all of our abductees would respond to hearing a bit of advertisement on the radio – that's what they would key into and that's what would bring them together. That got thrown out.
So it's not an accident that "Walden" gets thrown into this circle of ideas. Is that your favorite nature book? It's free.
[Laughs] It is free; it is in the public domain. It was that and that I had to put Kris through these menial tasks that she's meant to perform. I needed a work of fiction that she would be re-writing and re-writing page by page and creating these paper chains. Great, what is this book? My only recollection of Walden was reading it in high school and not having a positive experience with it. I thought of it as very dry and boring and you typically knew all you need to know with three pages of it. So I picked it knowing it had to do something with the natural world and knowing that it wouldn't be anything that would incite someone to wake up from their hypnotic state because there's not much going on in it and it's very passive and meditative. And then I have this bizarre plot structure that's using all of these elements from the natural world and it's using light and sound in both figurative and real ways and so I go looking through Walden for a bit of prose that I need for the plot to connect a few moments here and there and it's a very bizarre thing because I don't know what to do with this. But I began to see a lot of language in there that's too appropriate. There's a line in my script with [the thief] saying "my head is made of the same material as the sun," and I'm seeing phrases [in the book] that say, "a halo of light over my shoulder and the sun is but a morning star." And there's all this language of light and sound at a distance and the way sound works underwater and above water and [in my script] I've got this woman who is haunted by soundscapes, she is looking for pebbles underwater as part of -- maybe I shouldn't say too much about that –
God forbid.
[Laughs] And it just seemed way too appropriate so I almost got rid of it entirely. What it had looked like somebody had grabbed "Walden" and taken every fifth passage and said, "Ok, now that's a plot" and I was worried about that. But it just ended up being too perfect so we ended up playing up some of the elements that I thought were more effective. Especially when Kris is in the pool near the end and she's able to do nothing but recite lines from "Walden" then I would grab lines that were part of her experience. Like she says lines like, "for want of food and also sleep," but they are appropriate to her experience.
"Upstream Color" is in limited release now. To learn more about when it will come near you, check out the film's website (http://erbpfilm.com/film/upstreamcolor). For more Shane Carruth and unveiling the mysteries of "Upstream Color" you can read three parts of our interview with the filmmaker here (part 1 (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/upstream-color-director-shane-carruth-reveals-details-on-next-project-the-modern-ocean-his-work-on-looper-and-more-20130401?page=1)), here (part 2 (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/shane-carruth-on-trying-for-the-perfect-album-film-with-upstream-color-20130403)) and here (part 3 (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/shane-carruth-reveals-the-mysteries-of-upstream-color-20130408)).
Just watched this twice in a row. Absolutely beautiful both times. I came in with some expectations and they were exceeded tenfold. The whole film is interconnected in a way most films with this kind of aspiration wish they could pull off. The film was chaotic and ordered as nature is.
Hyperbole's aside, if this doesn't make people believe that film isn't dead, they may be blind...because of the film itself, and the way it was produced. Imagine more filmmakers having the balls and vision to do this.
Me want to watch.
http://www.craveonline.com/film/articles/479705-the-b-movies-podcast-exclusive-shane-carruth-interview
This is a fantastic interview. Lots of good quotes from Carruth.
Also a shout-out to The Master.
Spoilers...
Reminded me of the Matrix in a 'moment of clarity' kind of way. The fighting sequence between the kids in the beginning, the planted bug and the feeling of freedom that circles around when the Sampler is shot, has a very liberating quality to it that finally adds up the whole to the sum and allows the movie to click for full catharsis.
The filmmaking is humbling yet audacious. Its like the stripped down nature and full control finally allowed for true intimacy and honesty. I really think Carruth can act outside of doing the plethora of other tasks. In fact, I'm not sure how this guy does it. He would give Jason Batemen a run for his money.
The most recent episode of the Q&A podcast with Jeff Goldsmith includes two hours of interviews with Shane Carruth - first being interviewed by Rian Johnson, and then by Goldsmith himself. I haven't listened to it yet. At this point I just want to see the damn film before I rear or hear anymore about it. Podcast link here: http://www.theqandapodcast.com/2013/04/upstream-color-q.html
Elvis Mitchell interviews Carruth:
http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/tt/tt130417shane_carruth_upstre
Another interview today with Tom Ashbrook on On Point. Podcast should be up tomorrow. GB gets a shout out!
Wow.
This thing is dancing around in my head so much right now. I loved it so much. Still wrapping my head around it (though I was really surprised by how much of it I grasped the first time around)... going to have to see it again REALLY soon. Maybe tomorrow... fuck, maybe tonight.
RK:
Skype Q&A tonight at Violet Crown 7:25pm showing (I'll be there)
Skype Q&A tomorrow at Slaughter at the 7-ish showing.
Might as well do one of those if you can.
I'm feeling the same way Karate. Gonna go for thirds pretty soon. He set out to make an "album film" and succeeded. And by the way, it actually gets funnier the second time.
Quote from: matt35mm on April 19, 2013, 06:51:53 PM
Skype Q&A
Damn, missed this and can't go tonight. How was the Q&A?
It was great. He's got a ton of interviews that he's done and recorded Q&As that you can find online. I've been obsessively listening to them so I had heard a lot of his answers before, but he manages to still say everything really earnestly and had a few extra illuminating tidbits that he offered up.
But yeah, loved the movie, just like I knew I would. I mean, he's getting up to all the stuff that I am too excited by to have anything but a positive reaction to this movie, and it's all executed so dazzlingly. I also felt like I understood all of the plot on first viewing, but I'll want to re-watch just because it's enjoyable.
So I didn't like The Master and now this. Am I some kind of philistine? Do I need to return my cinephile card?
Showing Hollywood the way: how 'Upstream Color' hit iTunes without leaving theaters (http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/20/4341392/how-shane-carruths-upstream-color-hit-itunes-without-leaving-theaters)
Simultaneous digital release is what many big studios are pining for, and Shane Carruth just beat them to it
By Russell Brandom on May 20, 2013 02:00pm
Two weeks ago, Shane Carruth's Upstream Color pulled off an interesting trick. After about a month in theaters, it went online, streaming from the movie's website and plugging into the larger markets at iTunes and Amazon Instant Video. Here's the interesting part: it never left theaters. If I wanted to watch the movie right now, I could stream it onto my laptop here, or I could walk down to my local arthouse theater and see it on the big screen.
"I SORT OF CAN'T BELIEVE IT WAS POSSIBLE."
That sounds simple, the kind of thing you'd expect to be able to do in 2013, but in the past 10 years, simultaneous release has become a kind of holy grail for the film industry, both inevitable and impossible depending on where you sit. Unifying digital and theatrical releases could help fight back many of the studio's biggest problems — heading off piracy, replacing dwindling DVD sales, and tapping into millions of customers who simply don't like going to movie theaters. But theater owners have taken every proposal so far as a death sentence, and every time it's been proposed, it's gone down in flames.
Somehow, Upstream Color managed to pull it off where the studios failed. It wasn't easy, but it's a sign of how how independent projects can also find their way through the gummy jungle of modern film distribution. When it works, they can do things Hollywood can only dream of.
On the face of it, Upstream Color isn't obviously a success. The film is currently edging towards a meager $500,000 in gross box office revenue; in most cases, that's an unmitigated flop. But for Carruth, everything's going according to plan. It's part of a distribution scheme that Carruth masterminded himself, working through his production company erbp. The plan was to give the film just enough of a theatrical release to legitimize it before unleashing it to the more lucrative online markets. "I sort of can't believe it was possible," he told The Verge. But so far, it's working.
"IT'S CABLE VOD, IT'S BLU-RAY, DVD, IT'S NETFLIX STREAMING... ITUNES, AMAZON INSTANT, GOOGLE, VUDU, HULU."
Part of the story is Carruth's famously small budgets. His first film, Primer, was made for just $7,000, and while he's kept quiet about Upstream's budget, it's rumored to be under $100,000. It was also shot digitally and shipped to theaters on consumer-grade Western Digital hard drives, driving costs even lower. At the same time, Carruth expects the theatrical box office to bring in just a small slice of the ultimate revenue. He offered Primer as an example, which grossed less than $500,000 at the box office, but made "single-digit millions" on home video. Two weeks in, he expects Upstream Color to end up with a similar ratio, and that's just the beginning. "There's just so many channels," Carruth told us. "It's cable VOD, it's Blu-ray, DVD, it's Netflix streaming eventually, there's iTunes, Amazon Instant, Google, Vudu, Hulu, subscription-based or ad-based, which will happen eventually." He's also partnered with a streaming service called VHX to offer a $20 DRM-free download direct from the site. Already, he's hit #1 on the iTunes independent list, and unlike a theatrical release, these streams can continue indefinitely. As long as people are talking about Upstream Color on the internet, whether it's six months from now or six years, they'll never be more than a few clicks away from buying it.
Even if studios don't share Carruth's artistic ambitions, the economics are hard to deny. Theatrical release is great for raising awareness of a film, but it's not a great way to make money. Once you factor in the advertising and the theater's share of ticket sales, profit margins are razor-thin. Video-on-demand channels offer more reliable profits thanks to their small overhead, but by the time a film arrives on iTunes, it has often sat on the shelf for over a month and lost much of its earlier buzz. Naturally, distributors would love to move the digital release date earlier, but any move in that direction has been met with outright hostility from theater owners.
THE RESULT IS A STANDOFF BETWEEN STUDIOS AND THEATERS
The biggest issue is something called the release window, the length of time a film stays exclusive to theaters. The 90-day release window has been a major-studio standard for decades, and even though most films disappear from theaters within a month of the premiere, theater chains refuse to budge. They see shifts in the window as an assault on the entire industry, moving towards a world where moviegoers watch everything at home and big-screen projection goes the way of the compact disc. Declining audience numbers over the last 10 years have done little to convince them otherwise.
The result is a standoff between studios and theaters. One studio executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment, pointed to studio efforts to promote a service called "Premium Video On Demand" in 2010, which would have let viewers stream theatrical films in their homes if they were willing to pay more than twice the price of a movie ticket. Theater chains went nuclear, threatening to boycott major films in retaliation, and the plan was scrapped. Just a year later, when Universal tried to test out pre-release VOD for Tower Heist, Cinemark refused to screen the film until the studio backed down. Still, many in the industry still hold out hope. "Day-and-date is eventually coming," the studio exec said, referring to the prospect of premiering a film in theaters and online on the same day. "We just have to move carefully because of the theater owners."
"DAY-AND-DATE IS EVENTUALLY COMING."
For more integrated distributors, it's already here. Magnolia Pictures offers more than a dozen places to watch its films before they hit theaters, and the company can be sure its films won't be blackballed because its parent company, 2929 Entertainment, also owns Landmark Theaters. It's a savvy piece of vertical integration that gives 2929 the prestige of a theatrical release along with the profit stream of immediate on-demand revenue. It would be hard to release a blockbuster that way, but for Magnolia's slate of low-budget indies, it works just fine. Todd Wagner, co-owner of 2929 Entertainment, explained his reasoning at a Tribeca Film Festival panel earlier this year. "I'm not saying every movie should be day-and-date and put it everywhere at once. I'm saying, some movies, maybe. Some movies, a month later. Some movies, three months later. Be unique to what the movie is," Wagner told The Verge's own Joshua Topolsky. "I wish we had the freedom to do that."
"THESE COMPANIES DO NOT WANT TO GIVE UP DATA."
Since he's only distributing one movie at a time, Carruth faces a different set of challenges. Upstream Color isn't big enough to change anyone's business model, but it also doesn't have the clout to make larger theaters budge. Carruth's plan from the outset was to have a 30-day theatrical release window followed by an online release (whether the movie was still in theaters or not), but it wasn't always an easy sell. Arthouses were willing to accommodate his plans because of their interest in the film, and didn't see streaming access as a threat. Carruth says IFC Center, one of the first to sign on, actually saw a bump in ticket sales after the film started streaming. (Weekly figures show a slight decline in total box office with a small jump in per-screen average.) But for larger chains, the 30-day release window was a dealbreaker. When Carruth approached Landmark Theaters, its offer was 90 days or nothing. In the end, Carruth chose nothing. Upstream opened small, filling 43 theaters at its peak. Having Landmark on its side would have more than doubled that number.
""THE TWO MOVIES I'VE MADE, WHATEVER THEY ARE, THEY ARE NOT DISPOSABLE."
He's also faced an uphill battle getting hold of the viewing data that online services have used so effectively. Netflix knows how and when people are watching each film, and it's using that information to great effect, but like any business asset, it's not eager to share the information. "These companies do not want to give up data," Carruth says. "I've had to constantly remind everyone that I need this information because I need to make decisions based on it. It's been difficult to convince everybody how important that is." In Netflix's case, the information is potentially valuable as a negotiating tool: If distributors know how popular their film is, they could push for more money when the service wants to renew its license. As a result, they've kept quiet, and Carruth has had to get his data from third-party hacks like InstantWatcher.
But the biggest reward may not be money at all. As long as Upstream is available digitally, Carruth can be sure it'll never go out of print, a guarantee Hollywood can rarely make. "The two movies I've made, whatever they are, they are not disposable. If somebody watches them, they tend to want to talk about it or revisit it somehow." The new crop of platforms ensures that they'll be able to revisit it long after theaters have lost interest. As Carruth put it, "We came out May 7th, and we know we're going to be there for the next 20, 30 years. That window is now infinite."
Additional reporting contributed by Greg Sandoval.
i fucking called it!
Quote from: Pubrick on April 29, 2013, 02:07:41 PM
when kubrick talks about building better wings, apart from what i've elucidated in an earlier trance (http://xixax.com/index.php?topic=11173.msg292372#msg292372), the more apt connection we can make here is to new distribution methods. the lesson from the greats (even quitters like sodey) is not to stop believing in art because the Power will always squash it, but to give greater power to art, and artists. so we can draw from this that the emergence of new popular technology is absolutely a positive development, albeit whose power is virtually unexplored.
to add a myth on top of another, i feel like what we have been given in this golden age of consumer electronics and interconnected media is an Excalibur of sorts. the frustration we all share currently lies in our inability to wield this sword in a way that unleashes its full potential, eventually returning power where it belongs. whether this means it will take a single King Arthur (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1503403/) to come along and show everyone how it's done, or perhaps, in a different telling the saviour will need help from some lady of the lake (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megan_Ellison), i feel a major eschatological transition for cinema or for movies is nigh.
he delivered.
NOW ON NETFLIX INSTANT
:shock:
I know what I'm doing tonight.
(I meant watching this.)
(Get your mind out of the gutter.)
Re-watched it tonight. Still managed to make me feel all moody and contemplative. Also reminded me how much I have to step up my game. There are no excuses with a movie like this. He made it in a similar way to how I make movies, with not much more money. He even shot it on the same camera I use. This was smarts and talent and not being lazy in the ways that most movies made like this are lazy.
God. Damn.
Shane Carruth is better at everything than I'll ever be at anything.
Well, that was pretty great.
This is awkward. I feel like anything I say would be kind of pointless. If you've seen it, the film speaks for itself just fine. If you haven't seen it, it's impossible to convey exactly what it is and why it's good.
I deeply appreciated how much sense it made in its own way. It's not abstract at all. It has a clarity of meaning that few things ever have.
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on June 09, 2013, 01:24:09 AM
i deeply appreciated how much sense it made in its own way. It's not abstract at all. It has a clarity of meaning that few things ever have.
This might sound overly picky, but I thought the film was too logical, not abstract enough. It left me not really wondering very much at all. I loved my initial viewing, but after that there wasn't much to dig up. I still appreciate this film like no other, but the after-taste of it wasn't as crave-inducing as I was hoping. This is a very slight criticism, but for me it's a big deal. When a film like this doesn't balance the order/poetry(can't think off a better word at the moment) the film may have a coherence that doesn't provoke enough curiosity in me. This film posed as something that could do both, but it leaned on the side of order and logic too much for my taste. But again, I'm fucking reaching for this criticism. So much good here.
I know where you're coming from, but maybe that comes down to expectations. It's probably more narrative than most people were expecting. I think it hits a sweet spot... I'm not sure what I would have gotten out of a more abstract film.
There are one or two scenes in this which makes me think that Carruth could make a really good romantic comedy if he wanted to.
Really don't have much to add. A great film. I really admire Carruth anyway simply in terms of what he's achieved - created two films that have garnered the attention of cinephiles and now, with this film, is really paving his own way in terms of DIY distribution and his business model. As has already been noted, in several years time, the indie scene will look back and have a lot to thank him for.
Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on June 09, 2013, 01:24:09 AM
I feel like anything I say would be kind of pointless. If you've seen it, the film speaks for itself just fine.
I completely agree, and I felt the same way with Primer. I never understood why people made such a big deal about "figuring it out" - wasn't it all always obvious? I guess the media just need some way to spin his films whenever they write about them, and for whatever reason they've decided to categories his output as "abstract" or "complex to decipher."
uh anyone saying they got this film on the first try is posturing ridiculously. you may have had ideas and theories and whatever that brewed in your head after watching it, but anyone that has seen it more than once knows that repeat viewings, as with any film, yield greater understanding.
Oh, I agree, and I will rewatch it. This movie is made to be rewatched. We're just saying that the basics seem pretty clear. (MILD SPOILERS) I remember it being somewhat clear in the middle, then there's this epic convergence of meaning at the end, when everything crystallizes.
I think I have a good understanding of the movie. Although I guess I could throw out a question...
MASSIVE SPOILERS
I'm really interested in The Sampler. Is he working towards some kind of larger scale Pied Piper scenario, or is he content with the current life cycle thing? Also, what's the relationship, conceptually, between his audio sampling and his work with the abductees? Is he "sampling" their lives or their essences in a way?
REGARDING JB'S MASSIVE SPOILERS
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the first impression i had of the samplers audio work was that it was a process he had been doing to capture and recreate the memories of the grubs and where they came from and therefore tap into the abductees. i might be way off.
MORE SPOILS
...
This article from Slate (http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/04/09/upstream_color_faq_analysis_and_the_meaning_of_shane_carruth_s_film.html) suggests that the Sampler's motive is just to draw inspiration for his music. (From their sampled lives/essences, like I was saying.) And it makes sense. (I feel like I should rewatch before I read the rest of that article.)
I guess in the same way a life cycle has various moving parts, this abduction scheme is segmented — there is no mastermind, no singular malevolent vision. The Sampler is the Sampler, the Thief is the Thief, and the orchid harvesters are the orchid harvesters. As such, there is no ambition for expanding things — the cycle is what it is.
SPOILS
Yeah, at first the one thing that left me wondering is how the Thief and the Sampler were related, if they had any awareness of each other and then I realised that it's cool to think of it like in nature- animals and plants aren't entirely aware of the system they're in but they continue to perform these actions in an unending cycle. That is until something/someone e.g Kris breaks it.
Quote from: 03 on June 10, 2013, 06:32:50 PM
uh anyone saying they got this film on the first try is posturing ridiculously.
you know a movie is going to be a mind fuck when
03 says you can't get it on first viewing.
you're right. i came away with a barebones understanding of the mechanics of the story. at first, because we have absolutely zero idea what the hell is going on, i became a bit distracted and started looking at the film as a showreel for what a hacked GH2 could do. then when carruth appeared i started paying more attention.
so i dunno, my tip to first time viewers is just let it happen. this thing is like no other.
Quote from: 03 on June 10, 2013, 06:32:50 PM
uh anyone saying they got this film on the first try is posturing ridiculously.
I've been trying to think of the best way to respond to this attack. I'm not trying to "posture ridiculously" at all, but I hardly think this is a mind fuck. Without taking anything away from the film at all (as I said, I am an admirer of Carruth and think he's produced two exceptional films), I maintain that I am satisfied with my understanding of the film after one viewing. Maybe that's because these days I tend to react to a film more on an emotional level rather than having a need to pick apart every narrative strand or come at it from an technical appreciation standpoint. I feel like I got it. If you don't, no sweat. I know most people on this board are much more intelligent, but its clear that I come at films from a very different perspective. I'm much more interested in responding honestly to a film on my own level. At the end of the day, film is art. I don't feel the need to dissect it to the point where it becomes something else.
Quote from: 03 on June 10, 2013, 06:32:50 PM
you may have had ideas and theories and whatever that brewed in your head after watching it, but anyone that has seen it more than once knows that repeat viewings, as with any film, yield greater understanding.
For sure. I think we'd all agree that some of our favorite films as a collective (There Will Be Blood, Children of Men, Punch Drunk Love, Tree of Life, Eternal Sunshine, Lost in Translation) all reveal new truths each time you revisit them, but are you honestly suggesting that you didn't "get" any of them on your initial viewing? I understand what you're saying, but I fail to see how Upstream Color is different than any other film in this regard.
spoilers but does that matter at this point...
dude, i wasn't attacking you. i said anyone. i basically meant that if someone was like 'whats the thing about' youd be like 'these guys in the snow find some alien creature and try to fight it'. if someone said 'whats upstream color about', if youd seen it one time then youd be like 'uh, well these two people are hypnotized by this worm but you dont really see the other persons thing as much as the one you see in the beginning and then they meet bc they both had the same thing..' you see what im saying man? i got the film on first viewing as much as i get a painting that could be interpreted as anything bc its not a concrete image. anyway, third viewing in, its still the best film this year and im still finding little tiny stuff in it.
I'd like to think I came a way with more of an understanding of the meaning rather than a simple summary of the plot, isn't that what it's actually about?
Then tell us the meaning.
Tell us what it's actually about.
Spoils
To me, it was about fate. Or at least the battle between fate and free will. This is demonstrated in micro in the first act kidnap sequence. Kris and Jeff are destined to be together. As JB and Lottery pointed out, there are different parts of a bigger pattern at work but they don't work together or are even necessarily aware of each other - but none of the pieces would function were it not for the Sampler. He's like God. But not an omnipotent, careful God. He makes mistakes. He's constantly trying to create this sense of perfection, but it always evades his grasp. He succeeds in some ways - he brings Kris and Jeff together - but even he cannot control their desire to explain things. By trying to figure out every little detail, they destroy him - and yet they are still left with questions.
I'd be interested to hear what meaning you took from it beyond analyzing it in a mechanical sense.
There are so many interviews of Carruth online stating almost exactly what it's about and exactly where everything comes from. Identity and cycles yo.
Jesse Thorn interviews Shane Carruth:
http://www.maximumfun.org/bullseye/bullseye-jesse-thorn-shane-carruth-upstream-color-and-rodney-ascher-room-237
It's really an exquisite interview.
- Didn't see Primer yet.
- Before picking up Upstream Color I was watching films of Antonioni (finished most of his filmography few weeks before). Note: little to no dialogue is only one of similarities.
- I'm big fan of Bill Hicks and was listening to interviews with David Milch just day before watching Upstream Color. How this is relevant at all? SPOILER: Both are broken souls and big believers in one cosmic consciousness (played huge part how I perceived movie).
- As emotional viewer I was happy after seeing ending. This is great romantic movie: they are in love from the first view and till the end they hit obstacles that could separate them, one after another (and bigger than live). Yet they succeed.
Five minute or so interview with Carruth on this week's Empire Podcast. They talk about how the self-distributing side of thing works when it comes to streaming movies. Purchases on iTunes yields much more profits than licensing to Netflix, at least for a movie of Upsteam Color's box office.
Amazing movie. Kept waiting for the full Carruth experience and watched Primer and Upstream Color back to back for my first time viewings of both films. Primer has mysteries, but they revolve more around the plot and character relationships. The filmmaking more or less supports the plot very well. However, Upstream Color is a full expression of filmmaking and the experience is still buzzing in my head. Will definitely have to watch again.
Glad to see the responses here to such a daring film. It was, to me, a humbling experience. That said and in all honesty, I feel more admiration than love. Both for the director's achievements as for the film itself, which on it's own, without any background info on how it was made, it's beyond impressive.
I was expecting a complete mindfuck and was, I guess relieved, that it became clear a few minutes in that I was seeing a very linear story. But the editing just asks too much from the viewer and understandably, some people can't keep up with it. I mention this because the editing was my favorite part (I know Ghostboy did this too and Jesus, this guy, I mean this is no normal editing of a film, is a masterclass in itself), but also because back in The Master thread I mentioned that the editing of that film is what makes it such a difficult sit for some people, not because is slow or boring but because it's the exact opposite. The pace of these two films is incredibly fast. Just look at how much happens in Upstream Color in just 96 minutes. Every moment is stripped to it's bare bones essence. And I think with that, these two films are onto something pretty special in terms on linear narrative.
Yet the vibe of connectedness and transcendence that the film has becomes a little too much when the score (which I also admire more than I like) does all it can to maintain the film in what feels like one emotional state, one emotional note. At some point it started to feel like everything is looked from the same distance, and the pace made it harder and harder to care. The score is present during most of the film, but it's so commited to the idea of all being part of a bigger picture that it renders the intensity of what happens flat...well, not really flat, but stable. I'm sorry but as the film operates in visuals and moods and sounds it's also very difficult to put my own feelings about it into words. I hope this makes at least some sense. So this is a strange thing to happen. Because the very ingredients that makes this unique prevented me from getting fully immersed and interested in the experience. I don't know if the film should have been any different, but well, that's how I felt on my first viewing.
Quote from: Alexandro on October 17, 2013, 09:06:11 PM
Yet the vibe of connectedness and transcendence that the film has becomes a little too much when the score (which I also admire more than I like) does all it can to maintain the film in what feels like one emotional state, one emotional note. At some point it started to feel like everything is looked from the same distance, and the pace made it harder and harder to care. The score is present during most of the film, but it's so commited to the idea of all being part of a bigger picture that it renders the intensity of what happens flat...well, not really flat, but stable. I'm sorry but as the film operates in visuals and moods and sounds it's also very difficult to put my own feelings about it into words. I hope this makes at least some sense. So this is a strange thing to happen. Because the very ingredients that makes this unique prevented me from getting fully immersed and interested in the experience. I don't know if the film should have been any different, but well, that's how I felt on my first viewing.
this is an excellent comment. a master class in criticism right here. it's hard to explain something so subjective as your response to music but you've really captured something i was unable to put into words and bugged me after my first (and only) viewing.
obviously this is a movie that isn't supposed to be "grasped" in the first go but it starts and maintains such a heightened state of expectation from the viewer that it can wear people down. i found the criticism about the music to be somewhat reflected in the acting style of the principal performers. it's too easy to say they were just hitting one note all the time, it's more that the entire thing operated on that unified level that you mention which makes every emotional cue feel like it lacks any crescendo.
i normally hate talking about movies in this fragmented way, it's really amateur hour to talk about individual elements of a film (music, editing, acting, etc) like we're talking about the build quality of an automobile but i think this is the effect of the "totality" approach present in the film.. thematically and formally.
don't know if i have the energy to revisit this. i really admire carruth for what he's doing in cinema though. i just wonder if it can be done with a crowd pleaser.
The UK cover for Upstream Colour is...well...
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fecx.images-amazon.com%2Fimages%2FI%2F71abSKQlE9L._SL1117_.jpg&hash=4b5420a8204de53819f3dd7f9dc0ece377f8f219)
Quote from: Drenk on December 30, 2013, 04:29:40 PM
The UK cover for Upstream Colour is...well...
"Utterly haunting"? My prediction: some audience will pick it up expecting gory horror.
Is this Carruth or another distro company? Odd move.
But appealing to the gore-horror crowd is an interesting move.