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LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated An Elephant Sitting Still (2018) in Movies
Oct 28, 2021
RIP - Hu Bo
Misery porn with gigantism, the most contagiously bleak movie I've ever seen to the point where my mind went to some very dark places of isolation during viewing - and I nearly had to shut it off. The uncomfortable closeness of the shots, the pitch-black subject matter, the merciless length consisting of sparse cuts and only extremely sporadic uses of any sort of music... it all adds into such a memorably unsparing experience. And yes, of course Hu Bo tragically committing suicide before the film was released does cast an unshakeably morbid shadow over the film as well - but there's so much more to it than just that. Still not convinced much of this works though, a lot of the melodrama on display is pretty basic and cloying which initially turned me off from it. But as a technical feat the thing is simply astounding: the long takes are beyond impressive, the performances are all a true feat of acting, the visuals are grim without sucking the beauty out of them, and every song from the score adds into some of the most evocative pieces of music ever used in a film. I can't imagine the kind of discipline it would take to make a film like this, let alone the intelligence. The masterful way in which it never gives up its deep feeling of savage cruelty for almost four whole hours actually even makes the beginning stuff - which at first rang pretty regressive/simplistic (even suffocating at times) for me - retroactively pretty good in my mind. It's rare you see a swing this fuckin' wide and *this* fuckin' confident out of the film industry, a work only capable of a real artist - kills me that we won't get to see anymore films from Bo, a genius with a crystal clear vision.
Misery porn with gigantism, the most contagiously bleak movie I've ever seen to the point where my mind went to some very dark places of isolation during viewing - and I nearly had to shut it off. The uncomfortable closeness of the shots, the pitch-black subject matter, the merciless length consisting of sparse cuts and only extremely sporadic uses of any sort of music... it all adds into such a memorably unsparing experience. And yes, of course Hu Bo tragically committing suicide before the film was released does cast an unshakeably morbid shadow over the film as well - but there's so much more to it than just that. Still not convinced much of this works though, a lot of the melodrama on display is pretty basic and cloying which initially turned me off from it. But as a technical feat the thing is simply astounding: the long takes are beyond impressive, the performances are all a true feat of acting, the visuals are grim without sucking the beauty out of them, and every song from the score adds into some of the most evocative pieces of music ever used in a film. I can't imagine the kind of discipline it would take to make a film like this, let alone the intelligence. The masterful way in which it never gives up its deep feeling of savage cruelty for almost four whole hours actually even makes the beginning stuff - which at first rang pretty regressive/simplistic (even suffocating at times) for me - retroactively pretty good in my mind. It's rare you see a swing this fuckin' wide and *this* fuckin' confident out of the film industry, a work only capable of a real artist - kills me that we won't get to see anymore films from Bo, a genius with a crystal clear vision.
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