Gavagai

Gavagai

It isn't uncommon to encounter a film that is insultingly bad. What is rarer, is to watch something comically bad, almost a parody of itself. Supposedly taking pride in long shots, this film doesn't mind if those long shots are completely meaningless and unexplained. Anything inarticulate will be scooped up by a (supposed) theme of human inability to communicate. Perhaps also bad acting and horrible dialog? Or sappy music and obligatory few seconds too many on the tail of every shot... yes, all this made me laugh! But the top comical place is reserved for the camerawork: I've never seen such almost purposely bad operating, with camera that seems unable to find a level horizon, always lags behind the actor's movement, and keeps undecidedly correcting the frame even though nothing is changing within it! Even the light and color correction could be done better by anyone on the first year of a film school. There are few (long) full body shots where camera operator can't decide whether to include the actor's shoes and chop off his forehead, or the other way around. Yes, a genuine comedy.

Beautiful shots that have time to breathe and speak for themselves, really entrancing and makes you feel like you're there watching what's happening. The poetry is a little hard to grasp, but in the scope of what's happening it's clear how they would affect the main character so deeply.

This one is a real dud, technically (sound & camera) and direction/cutting too. Overly long shots that overstay even the mood-setting welcome. Felt like a film-school project designed by a fan of Tarjei Vesaas to convey his poems, but they actually suffer from delivery in this tedious presentation