Hey - Want to watch a good movie?
Today is the 5th of December, the birthdates of film directors Fritz Lang (1890) and Jean-Luc Godard (1930).
So. . . let’s talk cinema . . .
and specifically about a film that's
been described as . . .
• A cinematic septuagenarian assessment
of Life's Topsy-turvydom •
• QUESTION •
Where can you see ONE FILM created with ALL of these directors?
David Lynch, Bela Tarr, Akira Kurosawa, Woody Allen, Hlynur Pálmason, Roy Andersson Fred W. Wilcox, Henry Jaglom, Edgar J. Wilmer, Marcel Carne Jim Jarmusch, Liv Ullmann, Ken Burns, Pedro Almodovar, George Pal, Joseph Stantly, Ross McElwee Krzystof Kieslowski, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Sergei Parajanov, Larry Charles, Richard Linklater, Michelangelo Anotonioni, Alain Tanner Adam Curtis, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Laszlo Benedek, Robert Wise, Jean Cocteau, Alejandro Jodorwosky, Spike Lee, Gaspar Noe, James Bidgood, Maike Brochhauss, Erika Lust, Dusan Makavejev, Radu Jude, Anthony Harvey, John Sayles,Roger Stahl, G. W. Pabst, Sergei Bondarchuk, Stanley Kubrick, AleXander Hirka, Elia Suleiman, Jonathan Lee, Terrence Malick, John Cassavetes, Payal Kapadia, John Cameron Mitchell, Louis Malle, Frank Capra, Richard Lester, John Huston, Andrei Tarkovsky, Francois Truffaut, and Terry Jones.
ONE FILM made in ALL of these countries.
Hungary, China, Austria, Denmark, Iceland, France, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Chile, Armenian, Argentina, Romania, England, Japan, Serbia, Italy, Russia, Finland, India, Australia, and the United States.
ONE FILM with ALL of these performers?
Clark Middleton, Ingvar Sigurdsson, Larry David, Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Nielsen, Stephen Dillane, Venessa Redgrave, Julie Bishop, Bela Lugosi, Roberto Benigni, Jean Gabin, Leonard Cohen, Lena Efdre, Erland Josefson, Tom Waits, Hal Holbrook, Tilda Swinton, Alan Young, Rod Taylor, Marx Brothers, Charleen Swansea, John Turturro, Julianne Moore, Christopher Walz, Steven Buscemi, George Harrison, Katherine Hepburn, Bassem Youssef, Michael Ontkean, Kyle McLaughlin, Bob Dylan, Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Maya Simon, Russ Tamblyn, Brigitte Horney, Wallace Shawn, André Gregory, William Vedder, Marcel Robert, François Simon, Dylan Moran, Jean Marais, Agnes Varda, Paul Benjamin, Robin Harris and Frankie Faison, Fred Ward, Alan Watts, Lou de Laâge, Jack Nicholson, José María Caffarel, Mildred Natwick, Richard Beymer, Joe Morton, Chandra Wilson, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Slim Pickens, Donovan Leitch, Paul Goodman, Elia Suleiman, Neil Young, Tony Benn, Enrique Arce, Peter O’Toole, Val Kilmer, Gloria Munoz, Marisa Paredes, Wojciech Klat, Henryk Baranowski, Gena Rowlands, John Adames, William Holden, Ryu Daisuke, Ringo Starr, Alan Mandell, Jay Brannan, Jim Carrey, Cary Grant, Tuli Kupferberg, Leonard Bernstein, Joe Queenan, Natasha Abramova, Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, F. Murray Abraham, Bernard Menez, Michael Palin.
And ONE FILM with music by . . .
Mihaly Vig, Alan Hovhaness, Ludwig van Beethoven, Klaus Schulze, Franz Schubert. Donovan Leitch, Neil Young. John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Bob Marley, Van Morrison, Frank Sinatra, and original music by AleXander Hirka.
• ANSWER •
After many months and endless hours, I just finished the film project I’ve been passionately and obsessively working on.
I would like to share it with you!
"Dusk Eyes"
• A review, a trailer, and production details below •
Get thee to the popcorn maker — fluff up your couch pillows — and set aside sixty-seven minutes for fun and thought-provoking cinema. Satisfaction guaranteed.
You’ll want to invite your friends and family for a second viewing.
I will take your response to this
newsletter/email
as a Yes Please,Thank You
and I’ll begin the process
of getting the film to you.
Being as the completion of my 74th spin around the sun approaches towards the end of December, please consider this creative adventure as a present from me.
I am quite confident that you will enjoy it.
AleXander
As one of the introductory characters in the film says
— ”This is Existentialism 101.”
A one-minute trailer . . .
“Dusk Eyes”, a review
by Zena Koan, Anomalous Films Quarterly
“The scope of topics in "Dusk Eyes" — the new film being released this month by artist AleXander Hirka — is wildly diverse, and yet the film ultimately presents a thematically cohesive, satisfying assemblage.
Death, art, technology, sex, war, philosophy, consumerism, music, the environment and more — are presented through a succession of perspectives and ideas which are meticulously unveiled for our contemplation throughout its sixty-six minutes.
As one of the introductory characters in the film says —”This is Existentialism 101.”
This film is a "cinemontage"—utilizing a montage film editing technique—a sequence of short shots, edited together to compress narrative, and thus conveying a large amount of information in a short span.
"Dusk Eyes" is primarily composed of clips from independent and commercial films around the world — none of which exceed one minute in time — whose kaleidoscopic vision is augmented by video clips recorded by the director.
Through a septuagenarian lens, attentive to a sense of lifetime completion and achievement, it looks at all these themes as they are reflected in work, in life, in expectation, and in dreams.
With an exuberant pace, there is a flow and rhythm to “Dusk Eyes” that draws in the eye and captures the imagination — presenting the viewer with an engaging opportunity to approach, and perhaps challenge, their own thoughts on all these motifs.
Highly recommended to anyone who appreciates the magic and possibilities of cinema.”
After you respond . . . the download process:
In the days following you'll receive an email from WeTransfer with a download link. Click on it, and the film, plus the enclosed detailed Dusk Eyes Exposition Program pdf, will begin downloading to your computer. (You'll have one week to start it. and once started, please leave that browser window open until it has completed downloading.)
Depending on your internet speed, it should take anywhere from 2 to 15 minutes to download.
Production Notes.
No Netflix, no YouTube, no streaming. Because much of the film is a montage of brief clips from commercial films, I found it easier to bypass the possible copyright issues by sharing the film directly. The original was a high-resolution 75GBfile, but I have reduced it to under 2GB. Some quality was lost but it has been tested, mirrored over to the large flat screen TV, and it looks/sounds excellent.
DUSK
The time just before night when the daylight has almost gone but when it is not completely dark.
EYES
Organs of sight in the head. In the term “good eye”, a special ability to notice or recognize a particular thing or quality.
CINEMONTAGE
A portmanteau of "cinema" and "montage," referring to the film editing technique of montage — a sequence of short shots, edited together to compress narrative and convey a large amount of information in a short span, often set to music.
Cinema — movie, film, motion-picture.
Montage — a work which consists of a juxtaposition of elements put together, often in an unusual combination or sequence.