:
Bill Morrison,
Bill Morrison
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: Not Rated
: Plexifilm
: Documentary, Independent, Art, Experimental/Avant-Garde
: 67 min.
: English
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Experimental filmmaker Bill Morrison created this non-narrative feature, which derives a large portion of its visual beauty from the physical nature of the film medium itself. Decasia is primarily compiled from a wealth of old and damaged footage, in which the scratches, scraped emulsion, bubbles, streaks, and decaying nitrate add an extra dimension of texture to a patchwork of images both extraordinary and mundane. Originally created as part of a multimedia environmental performance piece, with the film screened in tandem with a performance by a 55-piece ensemble, Decasia has also been screened in a version with recorded score, composed by avant garde percussionist Michael Gordon. Decasia was screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Special Features:
- Audio interview with Director Bill Morrison and Composer Michael Gordon
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| borrowed concept, weak execution, awful soundtrack
by Khaneil
March 26, 2006 - 11:31 PM PST
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1 out of 1 members found this review helpful
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| Lyrical Nitrate by Peter Delpeut is everything this film is supposed to be, and it predates Decasia. The soundtrack is without nuance or dynamics and varies between boring and annoying. |
| Mesmerised by Decasia
by CDill
September 16, 2005 - 5:16 PM PDT
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3 out of 4 members found this review helpful
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This is a fascinating, dreamlike peek into the world inside the film can. The old nitrate films from the early years were highly volatile: they could burn up if snagged in the projector, or the emulsion would slide off if the film got wet, or fungus would eat away at the image. Morrison takes snippets of film - everything from home movies to instruction films, travel films, dramatic treatments, and newsreels - and interweaves them together to make not a narrative, but a statement about the transitory nature of film, life, mortality. The motif of a wheel, whether it's a spinning person, a person spinning thread on a wheel, or a person being carried by a wheel - is repeated to great effect. Sometimes mystifying, sometimes touching, sometimes hair-up-the-back-of-your-neck creepy, the images are all powerful and the film's rhythm is emotionally affecting.
Although Decasia was made as a collaborative project with the score's composer, I found the music hideous and would have preferred a LESS dissonant, ominous soundtrack. Not that the "symphony" (which included rusty auto brake drums) wasn't effective or well-performed, if you like the sound of a falling off a cliff. (finally I whined so much my husband had to don headphones while I hummed to myself in peace - I know, "the wheels on the bus go round and round" is not usually acceptable accompaniment for avant guard film - but I liked the wheel/spinning motif as it came into play). All in all, WELL worth seeing, but to me, not worth hearing.
P.S. this review was written by CDill's wife. CDill liked the soundtrack very much, thank you. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.85)
52 Votes
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