THE GRAND BIZARRE
Dir. Jodie Mack
https://i.imgur.com/EQGfKri.jpg
IMDb page
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THE GRAND BIZARRE
Dir. Jodie Mack
https://i.imgur.com/EQGfKri.jpg
IMDb page
This was a mubi release earlier in the year, I actually thought I made a thread for this already but I guess I forgot. I'm not really familiar with Mack, I saw one of her short films at TIFF a couple years back and now this, but I really enjoy her approach to materials and use of stop-motion animation. The Grand Bizarre in particular has really great editing and overall rhythm, and an equally playful soundscape, and it uses textiles in a really fascinating (and entertaining!) way to explore the patterns of globalization. It's a big yay, really enjoyable.
Through arresting soundtrack (skype noise warbling at one point), colorful images, and dazzling editing, Jodie Mack has crafted her own rhythm of intensive stop-motion filmmaking labor, as a stand-in for larger industry of human labor in general. But above all, the film is just a playful, exuberant, ear- and eye-pleasing experience, with what Mack accomplishes here giving me mental image of a wondrous one-woman conducting band. 8/10
This was an absolute joy. Playful, colorful, even funny at times. It encouraged in me a deep appreciation for something (textiles, prints, etc.) I don't have a habit of noticing in my everyday life, which in turn encouraged me, on a broader scale, to question why I don't appreciate certain beautiful things ("the small things," one might say). It's a little long for a movie of its type, but the sound design helps immensely in ushering it along. Seriously, the music is fantastic, an electronic orchestra of found sound reminiscent of Herbert or Matmos. The Brakhage-style ending (thinking mainly of Mothlight) had me in a submissive daze, but epileptics beware.