Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)
- dda1996a
- Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 6:14 am
Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2018)
I'm down to watching at least 1 or 2 and if I like what I see I'll watch the rest
- furbicide
- Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:52 am
Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2018)
Part of me thinks this could be one of the most amazing audiovisual projects ever made. And then another part of me thinks that this is all just going to be a glorified Russian Big Brother Uncut in period dress.
- John Cope
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- Location: where the simulacrum is true
- domino harvey
- Dot Com Dom
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- Big Ben
- Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 12:54 pm
- Location: Great Falls, Montana
Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)
I'm reminded of a guy I met who tried to convince me he had watched all ten hours of Warhol's Empire. As I began to disassociate from reality as he spoke I began to wonder if he really felt some sense of intellectual pride (If he had done it.) or was simply trying to appear intelligent because he thought he'd pull one over on all us dweebs who were baffled at his statements. This feels like a more extreme version of that (Reading those critics supposed statements.) except that you can get the impression Warhol wanted by projecting his film all day in a museum. This, this I don't know. Why would I want to watch random strangers bang for hours on end?
- DarkImbecile
- Ask me about my visible cat breasts
- Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
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Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)
It appears that about nine hours of Dau is now available to stream online, with more to come
twbb, we expect a full review by noon EST today.
twbb, we expect a full review by noon EST today.
- therewillbeblus
- Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm
Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)
Perfect, I needed a valid excuse to cancel my treatment meetings today.
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
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Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)
The revival of this thread reminds me that the much-ballyhooed London staging scheduled for April 2019 or thereabouts never actually happened. Or at least I can't believe it would have been totally blanked in the media.
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- Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2020 1:06 pm
Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)
Next Dau films release dates
Dau.Nora's Mother: April 26
Dau.Three Days: April 26
Dau.Brave People: May 3
Dau.Katya Tanya: May 3
Dau.Nora's Mother: April 26
Dau.Three Days: April 26
Dau.Brave People: May 3
Dau.Katya Tanya: May 3
- sir_luke
- Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2013 9:55 pm
Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)
So, I watched both of the available films, Natasha and Degeneration, and with the caveat that there are (as previously discussed) some heavy ethical implications to the project — and some degree to which the line between loosely scripted and spontaneous becomes troubling, specifically in scenes of violence — I would say that these are pretty stunning works overall.
Natasha plays out in what feels like real time, in an extremely immersive two-and-a-half hours. Obviously I wasn’t sure what to expect of these films, and I was surprised at how intimate this piece was — limited primarily to a single location, and everything hangs upon the naturalistic and volatile interplay between a few key players. I was also surprised at how “light” the film is, until a whiplash turn plunges things into a much darker space. The much-discussed interrogation scene is as harrowing as it has been portrayed in reviews, but to me it was perhaps most distressing in its silences and spaces in between the moments of violence — an electric uncertainty exists in these scenarios, and I really felt a moment-to-moment unease that gave the bursts of cruelty an even more indelible sting. The Institute is a place where words likely have an opposite meaning and where nothing should be trusted implicitly, and those are certainly the types burbling feelings these films generate.
Degeneration seemed somehow less substantial despite its much weightier runtime, but it’s still a pretty overwhelming achievement. It introduces many new elements — a new time period, new characters (including some played by actors featured in the previous installment), more political intrigue, more scattered and messy romance, and a more pointed commentary on creeping fascism — and is similarly oppressive in its overhanging menace. One of the new elements is also one of the most controversial: the casting of real-life Nazi mouthpiece Maksim Martsinkevich as, well, a member of an ultra-right-wing who insidiously overtakes the existing regime by increasingly aggressive means. It’s a pretty difficult “artistic decision” to defend, one that sounds interesting on a very theoretical level but should be unconscionable in practice, though it’s hard to deny that knowledge of his IRL ideology contributes to the terror as his and his group’s intentions become increasingly apparent. In the talked-about sequence featuring extreme animal cruelty, which is contextually significant but very, very hard to watch, the other participants are palpably shaken in a way that seems far removed from any conscious character choice.
I’m very interested in seeing more pieces of the project, as I really think it has a deep and genuine value both as film and as performance art, but I won’t deny that I’m conflicted about continuing to support it.
Natasha plays out in what feels like real time, in an extremely immersive two-and-a-half hours. Obviously I wasn’t sure what to expect of these films, and I was surprised at how intimate this piece was — limited primarily to a single location, and everything hangs upon the naturalistic and volatile interplay between a few key players.
SpoilerShow
There is a sudden fourth-wall-shattering moment that does something to partially reveal the degree of psychological distress to which the participants in this “experiment” have been subjected, and it took the breath out of me like very little else I’ve seen in cinema.
Degeneration seemed somehow less substantial despite its much weightier runtime, but it’s still a pretty overwhelming achievement. It introduces many new elements — a new time period, new characters (including some played by actors featured in the previous installment), more political intrigue, more scattered and messy romance, and a more pointed commentary on creeping fascism — and is similarly oppressive in its overhanging menace. One of the new elements is also one of the most controversial: the casting of real-life Nazi mouthpiece Maksim Martsinkevich as, well, a member of an ultra-right-wing who insidiously overtakes the existing regime by increasingly aggressive means. It’s a pretty difficult “artistic decision” to defend, one that sounds interesting on a very theoretical level but should be unconscionable in practice, though it’s hard to deny that knowledge of his IRL ideology contributes to the terror as his and his group’s intentions become increasingly apparent. In the talked-about sequence featuring extreme animal cruelty, which is contextually significant but very, very hard to watch, the other participants are palpably shaken in a way that seems far removed from any conscious character choice.
I’m very interested in seeing more pieces of the project, as I really think it has a deep and genuine value both as film and as performance art, but I won’t deny that I’m conflicted about continuing to support it.
- Mr Sausage
- Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
- Location: Canada
Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)
There goes my interest in seeing this one. What happens?sir_luke wrote:In the talked-about sequence featuring extreme animal cruelty
- sir_luke
- Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2013 9:55 pm
Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)
Mr Sausage wrote:There goes my interest in seeing this one. What happens?sir_luke wrote:In the talked-about sequence featuring extreme animal cruelty
SpoilerShow
At the end of a night of drinking and tense discussion, the right-wing group brings a pig into the house with the students and others and slaughters it in front of them. I could be wrong, but I’m fairly certain it was real.
- Dr Amicus
- Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:20 am
- Location: Guernsey
Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)
The BBFC certainly believed it to be real - that sequence (or about 55 secs) has been cut in the UK.
- sir_luke
- Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2013 9:55 pm
Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)
For some reason, it appears Natasha is no longer available, at least in the US.
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)
Or the UK.
- ando
- Bringing Out El Duende
- Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 6:53 pm
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Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)
Watched this recent virtual critical intro/discussion to the project just now. Fairly essential, imo.
- TMDaines
- Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
- Location: Stretford, Manchester
Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2018)
I had read about DAU. Natasha a few times, but had failed to appreciate the wider body of work surrounding it and the circumstances of its development. I'm now utterly fascinated by it and will almost certainly watch everything released over an extended period. Plan is to watch DAU. Natasha this weekend with the missus and either to carry on watching films together or go alone if she has no interest.DeprongMori wrote: ↑Thu Jan 10, 2019 2:53 pmNot so fast! Isn’t that exactly what they’ve successfully done with the Marvel Comics Universe?
(Tongue only half in cheek here.)
It's weird how with American TV, the general public embraces the bloat and glosses over the fact that 80% of most series is just sheer filler, but when it comes to doing the same with cinema or other forms of media, people baulk at the runtime.
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- Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:54 pm
Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2018)
I agree with this. I'd also note it's more than tv. Things like comic book/graphic novel-based film franchises also get this kind of embrace.
- knives
- Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm
Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)
Chapter breaks seems like a reason. In binging tv you have little breaks built in. A four hour movie has a cultural expectation for one sitting.
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- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 2:42 pm
Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)
Having now watched all of the available films on the UK version of the website, I have to say that there is a lot more to this project than the sensationalist elements mentioned above. The closest comparison that I can come up with would be Fassbinder, although there are some aspects that make me think of Bergman (and even Ibsen) too. Jürgen Jürges (previously a cameraman for Fassbinder) may be responsible for some of that, but there is also the pessimistic worldview and the communicative breakdowns that lead me in that direction.
If you want to give this film a try on that basis, I strongly recommend Nikita Tanya, Three Days and Nora Mother. I really hope that they continue to put films online or put these onto DVD at some point.
If you want to give this film a try on that basis, I strongly recommend Nikita Tanya, Three Days and Nora Mother. I really hope that they continue to put films online or put these onto DVD at some point.