Khadak & My Re-entry . . .
It has been far too long since I posted here. However, this evening I watched one of the best films I've seen in a while. Khadak has blown me away! In every way moving, even when I wasn't sure what exactly was going on . . . one must "feel it" just as one of the lead characters, Bagi, would say with his very few words. It brings a stunning mix of cinematography, music, visual texts and contexts, and implied narratives all of which drew me into the absurd and beautiful which arises out of the tragic and mundane.
At times the visuals reminded me, ironically, of a famous painting by Andrew Wyeth called Winter, 1946,
only this story takes place in Mongolia in winter. I lost track of time, and was struck by how aware/unaware I was of my perceptions of time solely by my visual interactions. Ultimately it's a film about universal themes such as one's search for meaning, the sanity of what we might perceive as insane; and then more particularly profound issues around the glory and tragedy of the prophetic lifestyle and ensuing revolution!
I find that I'm most often moved by those few films that sparingly use verbal language to convey meaning. The first film that did this to me was Never Cry Wolf (and now as I write that I'm thinking perhaps it's the winter weather in the film . . . just kidding). Or maybe it is the winter, maybe it is the starkness of winters that inspires me. Certainly winter is a metaphor for the paring down of the things that at first appear "beautiful," and in Khadak I felt winter. I'm remembering earth tones with white flecks of snow, ugly apartment buildings standing out on the plain like a sore thumb, the contrasting images of transitory yurts and a nomadic life with the brutality and loneliness of industry, the sublime sensations when a life is saved, and then the tiny bursts of color (red particularly) that remind me of warm flesh.
I'm only able to put words to a small portion of what the movie has caused in me. However, it worked enough magic in me to force my "re-entry" into the blogging world, a place I've been avoiding for a while . . . let's call it a sabbatical of sorts.
It should be noted, though, to all 3 of you who read this blog that in just a few days (and I really do think it's going to happen) my website will be up and running, fully functioning, and a delight to look at. I will be updating the blog with some visuals of my own work, but one can always check out new stuff every few months on the website as I attempt to make art that means to others even a fraction of what films like Khadak mean to me.