La Ciénaga - Lucrecia Martel (2001)

There are films that everyone talks about, everyone praise and nobody can really express why. This is one of those films. For the same reasons you're scared of watching them. Over ten years after it was released and unanimously acclaimed, I managed to see The Swamp.

First thing was to try and be objective and not hate it just because. And I did. I didn't adored the film, I think it was okay. I tried to understand what it meant at the time. It probably has a different rhythm and structure than most of the films at their time. It's very much a film about the North West of Argentina, rather than capital city based stories. That's the main innovation. It's about a bourgeois family, the relationships between them and with the people around them. But nothing happens. I always talk about engaging characters and empathy. These are empty characters, you just observe them, almost in a voyeuristic way. With pity or maybe despising them a little. You don't feel anything. There's no human drama.  Just everyday life. Even more boring than real life. Naturalism without emotion.

Painting a social environment that you don't normally see in films was a good achievement. But the best thing about La Ciénaga is the use of sound. Argentinian cinema doesn't have a tradition of good use of sound. Moreover, it has a "bad sound" reputation that almost turned into a cliché. Since this film I can see there have been changes and you can see sound is going somewhere and it is important now. My theory is that the most important change was done by emerging directors who were now trained at film school and were more aware that sound was also a narrative element of film (yes, films being audiovisual never gave previous directors a hint before)

What's so innovative about the sound? It also paints the picture. You don't have to make an effort to listen to what the actors are saying. You can feel the atmosphere through sound too (a film like this without the sounds of an approaching storm or the strong presence of nature wouldn't be right). The awkwardness of situations is even more awkward because of the way sound is used. Nothing outstanding or significantly more expensive, just a little bit of extra work and respect for the sound department. At the time this was a huge improvement.

La ciénaga

Sur Mes Lèvres - Jacques Audiard (2001)

I'm not sure where to begin with this film. First, I watched it over in a couple of nights. That means it's not a great film.

I had seen it before and enjoyed the French thriller thing. I still did. Though I do think it's not really strong all the time.

It's implied in the story that people don't shower. Ever.

I liked the cinematography. The cold colours and dark ambiences appeal a lot to me. The camera work is very good at making the story look unclean: dodgy characters in a grime situation... That is done very well. Very delicate in parts too. 

I've seen De Battre Mon Coeur S'est Arrêté and I can't remember much about it, but I thought he played with delicate parts too. Still at the time. I thought I liked Read My Lips better. Now I think it's because of the actors. I think they are dodgy and weird but very strong in their acting, particularly Emmanuelle Devos.

The Sound work. I decided to rewatch it because I was looking for how a deaf character is presented and how does her world sound. Hm. I was a little disappointed.

You'd think a deaf character is a good opportunity to play with sounds.

Does her world sound different with or without a hearing aid? Well. Yes... sort of. She continuously keep turning it on and off and things getting quieter. I like a scene where there's a fight and she can't hear much until  she finds her hearing aid and then it is a fight in sound too.

There's a playing with delicate sounds and loud ones too. As if that was the way she sees the world. That I liked.

But she goes from hearing to not hearing, without anything in particular happening when she's deaf. No ringing in her ears, no nothing....

And the music. It's alright music. Delicate, again. But there's just too much of it, used indiscriminately. Personally, I would have left those music moments for when she's alone in her world, no hearing aid. It would have made it more about her, rather than being everywhere and taking the beauty out of it.

I thought the sound could have been bolder. Sure it's technically very good, but it could have been a lot better if they had pushed it only a little bit more. Shame.

The story develops okay... but the end is not very surprising. (Even if it's your first watch)

Sur mes lêvres