Abbas Kiarostami, 24 Frames, 2017

 

Stillness and life
Abbas Kiarostami, 24 Frames, 2017
(source: Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa in the web site of Jonathan Rosenbaum)
no copyright infringement intended

A few scattered thoughts.

Watching 24 Frames I understood another of Kiarostami's works, Five Dedicated to Ozu. It was a collection of five propositions on cinematic purposes, gathered together as a tribute to the great Japanese master - while also a reference to Ozu's own ways in the movies' art.

Here in 24 Frames Kiarostami takes again his propositions, like a painful meditation about the subtle interactions between stillness and life. Painful, because 24 Frames is much more than an experimental movie: it's a cinematic experiment. An experimental movie is made to be screened in front of an auditorium, risking to be rejected, or accepted . A cinematic experiment is produced in a laboratory, and only some buffs will be there, to witness a birth drama, in all its pains. 

Each frame is perfect in its absolute stillness. The action comes and passes, as an accident, in total brutality. The frame remains unaware of what's taking place. The action is unaware of the frame. And despite their mutual unawareness an interaction is born: stillness and life become movie.

Abbas Kiarostami, 24 Frames, 2017
(video by Bitting Nails)

(I'm in the Mood for Kiarostami)