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HERE: DIRECTED BY BRADEN KING
http://news.moviefone.com/christopher-atamian/here-directed-by-braden-k_b_1426961.html
Posted: 04/16/2012 5:17 pm
Braden King's recently-released feature film Here reminds us
of cinema's magical, almost limitless narrative and aesthetic
possibilities. Shot entirely on location in the Republic of Armenia,
Here is a metaphysical, philosophical road film, a love story and
travelogue, a meditation on technology's effects on contemporary
society and much more, a study on love, loss and the human condition
that leaves the viewer at once emotionally spent and renewed, as
paradoxical as this may sound.
Red haired, unshaven, rugged loner and American cartographer Will (Ben
Foster) has been hired by local Armenian businessmen (read: mafiosi)
to chart the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Fiercely
independent and unwilling to bow to Armenian dictates about women's
proper roles in society, photographer Gadarine (Lubna Azabal
of Incendies fame) plays the role of a prodigal daughter who has
returned home, if briefly, after a successful Parisian opening. Will
and Gadarine meet by chance and more or less instantly fall in love,
though King has the cinematic foresight to draw their courtship out
for close to an hour as the Armenian countryside unravels before their
and the audience's eyes. Braden's Armenia is all mountains and valleys,
running rivers and country villages, a charming if wild and rough-hewn
sort of place. When the two lovers stop near the Karabakh border to
enjoy a hot spring that Gadarine remembers from her childhood, the
camera and action are so realistic and still, the acting so true
to life that one almost feels as if one were swimming alongside
the two actors -- a lovely instance of participatory cinematic
voyeurism. Using Google Maps a bit farther on, Will shows one of
Gadarine's friends the exact location of his house in San Francisco,
and in the process reveals the existentially remarkable changes that
technology has wrought on our sense of place and scale: What does it
mean to be able to show your home on a map to someone three thousand
miles away, and what does it really change to our daily lives? Does it
bring us closer, or as King perhaps is unconsciously suggesting here,
does it further alienate us by giving us an impression of closeness
and proximity that is in the end all but illusory? (One wonders what
Baudrillard would have thought of Google maps!)
King bookends and intercuts Here with stunning visuals effects: dark
screens dotted with lights, celestial maps that mirror the ones that
Will is trying to map, as Peter Coyote's sultry voice-overs lull one
into a semi-meditative state. King also intercuts the narrative with
experimental films by directors such as Garine Torossian. Here is a
particularly rich film because the director is able to successfully
explore theoretical and structural issues as well as tell a story,
exposing us to narrative film, experimental film and video art all
at once.
As the road, seemingly unending, continues to wind, we slowly learn
about Will and Gadarine's inner lives, as well as the similarities
that draw them together: Both are fiercely independent, both in love
with adventure. And Lol Crowley's cinematography is simply stunning at
times, all about the play of light against dark. The portraits that
he and Braden draw of local Armenians torn apart by war, distance
and simply old age, are also remarkably touching.
If you want to be reminded of film's ability to transport the viewer
to a different, parallel reality, then Here is a must-see. The pace
is slow at times, but it is the same slowness that leads a mountain
spring down a hill or the human heart back home.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
http://news.moviefone.com/christopher-atamian/here-directed-by-braden-k_b_1426961.html
Posted: 04/16/2012 5:17 pm
Braden King's recently-released feature film Here reminds us
of cinema's magical, almost limitless narrative and aesthetic
possibilities. Shot entirely on location in the Republic of Armenia,
Here is a metaphysical, philosophical road film, a love story and
travelogue, a meditation on technology's effects on contemporary
society and much more, a study on love, loss and the human condition
that leaves the viewer at once emotionally spent and renewed, as
paradoxical as this may sound.
Red haired, unshaven, rugged loner and American cartographer Will (Ben
Foster) has been hired by local Armenian businessmen (read: mafiosi)
to chart the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Fiercely
independent and unwilling to bow to Armenian dictates about women's
proper roles in society, photographer Gadarine (Lubna Azabal
of Incendies fame) plays the role of a prodigal daughter who has
returned home, if briefly, after a successful Parisian opening. Will
and Gadarine meet by chance and more or less instantly fall in love,
though King has the cinematic foresight to draw their courtship out
for close to an hour as the Armenian countryside unravels before their
and the audience's eyes. Braden's Armenia is all mountains and valleys,
running rivers and country villages, a charming if wild and rough-hewn
sort of place. When the two lovers stop near the Karabakh border to
enjoy a hot spring that Gadarine remembers from her childhood, the
camera and action are so realistic and still, the acting so true
to life that one almost feels as if one were swimming alongside
the two actors -- a lovely instance of participatory cinematic
voyeurism. Using Google Maps a bit farther on, Will shows one of
Gadarine's friends the exact location of his house in San Francisco,
and in the process reveals the existentially remarkable changes that
technology has wrought on our sense of place and scale: What does it
mean to be able to show your home on a map to someone three thousand
miles away, and what does it really change to our daily lives? Does it
bring us closer, or as King perhaps is unconsciously suggesting here,
does it further alienate us by giving us an impression of closeness
and proximity that is in the end all but illusory? (One wonders what
Baudrillard would have thought of Google maps!)
King bookends and intercuts Here with stunning visuals effects: dark
screens dotted with lights, celestial maps that mirror the ones that
Will is trying to map, as Peter Coyote's sultry voice-overs lull one
into a semi-meditative state. King also intercuts the narrative with
experimental films by directors such as Garine Torossian. Here is a
particularly rich film because the director is able to successfully
explore theoretical and structural issues as well as tell a story,
exposing us to narrative film, experimental film and video art all
at once.
As the road, seemingly unending, continues to wind, we slowly learn
about Will and Gadarine's inner lives, as well as the similarities
that draw them together: Both are fiercely independent, both in love
with adventure. And Lol Crowley's cinematography is simply stunning at
times, all about the play of light against dark. The portraits that
he and Braden draw of local Armenians torn apart by war, distance
and simply old age, are also remarkably touching.
If you want to be reminded of film's ability to transport the viewer
to a different, parallel reality, then Here is a must-see. The pace
is slow at times, but it is the same slowness that leads a mountain
spring down a hill or the human heart back home.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress