Notes on "Butter on the Latch (2013)"
20 June 2018 (8am)
A tapestry of beautiful shots. Where most contemporary independent films tend towards lazy composition or composition-lite handheld, Decker and Connor's camera is one with an intuitive sense of what's interesting, what's beautiful. A wide shot set slightly on tilt, using the ground as a dynamic diagonal as one character (Sarah, I think) goes to investigate a noise in tall grass; frequently, D&C split the screen up, such as one shot outside a house-party where the party fills screen left with rainbow light and a bevy of people, while screen right two characters speak against a dark wall with a bright light coolly illuminating them. Especially striking and with great efficacy are fully rotated camerashots, especially ones that return back into upright position, a fluidity and persistence of watching that helps establish the idiosyncratic rhythm of the film. It defies not only narrative but interpretation. A film made outside of context. There's a suggestion about dangerous eroticism––it never quite coheres but throughout sexuality and sexual acts are associated with violence and seediness, and the dangers of sexual violence filter through many sequences of the film. Imagery of the horror film are subverted with the bastard child aesthetic of drug-induced music videos and the soundscapes of thrillers. Refreshingly void of drained color pallet that too many contemporary films abuse. Natural lighting is used to great effect and contributes to many of the most striking shots/sequences, such as one character falling to sleep with the ebbing of firelight or a character jumping out of sleep halflit with window-sourced pale light. Against all this is a rather peculiar and I-dont-know-what-to-do-with-it-yet music festival/retreat. More than anything, it seems like a credible and atmospheric grassroots excuse for the vague outline of a plot and the forest setting.
A tapestry of beautiful shots. Where most contemporary independent films tend towards lazy composition or composition-lite handheld, Decker and Connor's camera is one with an intuitive sense of what's interesting, what's beautiful. A wide shot set slightly on tilt, using the ground as a dynamic diagonal as one character (Sarah, I think) goes to investigate a noise in tall grass; frequently, D&C split the screen up, such as one shot outside a house-party where the party fills screen left with rainbow light and a bevy of people, while screen right two characters speak against a dark wall with a bright light coolly illuminating them. Especially striking and with great efficacy are fully rotated camerashots, especially ones that return back into upright position, a fluidity and persistence of watching that helps establish the idiosyncratic rhythm of the film. It defies not only narrative but interpretation. A film made outside of context. There's a suggestion about dangerous eroticism––it never quite coheres but throughout sexuality and sexual acts are associated with violence and seediness, and the dangers of sexual violence filter through many sequences of the film. Imagery of the horror film are subverted with the bastard child aesthetic of drug-induced music videos and the soundscapes of thrillers. Refreshingly void of drained color pallet that too many contemporary films abuse. Natural lighting is used to great effect and contributes to many of the most striking shots/sequences, such as one character falling to sleep with the ebbing of firelight or a character jumping out of sleep halflit with window-sourced pale light. Against all this is a rather peculiar and I-dont-know-what-to-do-with-it-yet music festival/retreat. More than anything, it seems like a credible and atmospheric grassroots excuse for the vague outline of a plot and the forest setting.
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