Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Films we love: Sweetgrass


Sweetgrass is stunning, wild imagery mixed with rich, interesting sound.  Not too much talking or camera movement.  The life comes from the unique subject.  Each shot tends to last just long enough to make you uncomfortable, at which point you notice a few more things, which leads to a deeper connection with the film.

Scene that's not to be missed: slow pan of a sweeping mountain view while we hear a cowboy sobbing to his mother over his mobile phone. 

But this is just one of many mind blowing scenes.  Overall, it's a completely immersive work of art.

And it came at a price.  From the producer's statement:  "When Lucien got down from the mountains that fall, he was unrecognizable – bearded beyond belief, 20 lbs lighter, carrying a ton of footage, and limping. He would later be diagnosed with trauma‐induced advanced degenerative arthritis, caused by carrying the equipment day and night, and need double foot surgery."

2 comments:

Jason Campbell said...

Playing in NYC

Sep 15: 92nd Street Y Tribeca, New York City

ceramicmatters said...

Thank you Jamie. Powerful atmosphere in the scenes!
I remember, as a little boy, my grandpa used to put me inside the open bags of wool to trample it down to pack the wool tighter in the bags. . .