tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004423696675838467.post1593794014903491714..comments2024-03-14T02:24:22.876-07:00Comments on Essay Daily: Talk About the Essay: Soll-SearchingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004423696675838467.post-35037189522310874332011-04-18T20:29:52.505-07:002011-04-18T20:29:52.505-07:00No, though I think most documentaries have essayis...No, though I think most documentaries have essayistic qualities because of their nature- I mean, I think a filmmaker who is going to spend a lot of time and money filming and then editing (or having edited) that film on a certain subject, is doing it to attempt to explore something, or to understand something that strikes him/her. I think that most of the time a filmmaker conveys some theme through the arrangement of edited parts of a film. Unless we are talking about news media, which aims to record the facts without a POV, I think it is rare to find documentary that doesn't essay something. But again, I may be projecting my own interpretations onto the film I am watching. I see a puppeteer or a director saying they feel isolated, intercut with a long shot of a scene where they sit at a dinner table together after rehearsal, and I immediately think, why did the filmmaker choose to insert this scene here? What are they trying to tell me? And I create connections. Whether those are the connections the filmmaker intended me to make or not is a whole other story...Miekenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004423696675838467.post-42168643185978667152011-04-18T20:13:16.890-07:002011-04-18T20:13:16.890-07:00Thanks for the response.
Would you consider all d...Thanks for the response.<br /><br />Would you consider all documentaries essayistic?Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05557075411415609610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6004423696675838467.post-18845803289001392702011-04-18T19:31:54.071-07:002011-04-18T19:31:54.071-07:00While I think there may be issues with Puppet as a...While I think there may be issues with Puppet as a film, I found many lines of introspection that one might label "essayistic". For example, there was a whole segment that explored how people believe they can see the puppets crying or changing expression, while they are inanimate objects made of wood and incapable of changing facial expressions. The puppeteer being interviewed talks about how we, as humans, project ourselves onto the puppets. I think this theme is reflected in the way the director projects himself onto the tale of Disfarmer as well. I'd say that's introspective. <br /><br />I also think there is another underlying notion that is being essayed about the value of art- about whether the reception by society or the process of creating is what matters in art. This director spent years on his productions, only to have the New York Times dismiss them and the shows close after only a handful of performances. I think we get Soll's nod at the idea that what matters is not the commercial viability or reception, but the process of making art. We hear the puppeteers talk about how little they get paid, but talk about how they believe in it as an art form. We get shots of them eating together and forming community in the process of creation. Those shots of them dining together were edited in with a purpose, as was the deliberate pointing out of the failure of the director's productions from a commercial standpoint, and I think Soll has more to say that you give him credit for. I actually believe he is essaying in this film, and not just documenting facts. And perhaps I was projecting my own triggered ideas onto the film, like an audience member onto a puppet, and I am seeing themes that weren't actually intended in the film, but isn't that an intriguing notion as well?Miekenoreply@blogger.com