NON-NARRATIVE MOMENTS IN NARRATIVE FILMS

This is my comment in Pilgrim Akimbo’s blog:
http://pilgrimakimbo.blogspot.com/

Your writing about the walking scene in WRONG MOVE inspires me to think about something. Though what I think may not be directly related to the topic of your writing, it is still directly inspired by your writing. So I would like to share it with you.

Here is what I think:

--There are some outstanding non-narrative moments in narrative films, such as the walking scene in WRONG MOVE. Such moments may include:

1.The riding-on-a-train scene in SECRET DEFENSE (1998, Jacques Rivette), in which we only see the protagonist riding on a train for a long time. Nothing is really happening in the scene, except what the heroine may be thinking during that journey. Jared Rapfogel wrote about this important scene in Senses of Cinema.

2.Some moments in ALL THE VERMEERS IN NEW YORK (1990, Jon Jost). For the most parts, this film is like a Rohmer’s film, because it is full of characters talking naturally to each other. But some moments stand out from the film because they seem unconnected to the main story, such as the scene in which something is slowly moving across the sky, the one in which the camera just focuses on the patterns on the building floor, or the one in which the camera moves slowly between columns.

3.A blackout scene in THE BANGKOK BOURGEOIS PARTY (2007, Prap Boonpan, Thailand). This film is full of characters talking passionately and angrily to each other about the political problems of Thailand. But in the middle of the film, there is a blackout scene lasting 3-5 minutes. The viewers are forced to watch a black screen, in which nothing is to be seen, nothing is to be heard, for the whole of this scene. This scene really urges the viewers to spend the time to contemplate many things they just heard from the characters, before the debates between characters continue in the next scene.

In conclusion, I think these non-narrative moments are one of the best things in these narrative films. Some films can choose to tell stories. Some films can choose to discard stories. Some films can choose to tell story in one scene, and discard story in the next scene.


--I like walking-and-talking scenes in films very much. While the walking scene in WRONG MOVE is a part of the whole film, there are also some films which are dominated by the walking-and-talking scenes in them. These films are:

1.NIGHT TIME PICNIC (2006, Masahiko Nagasawa, Japan). In this film, a class of high-school students walk and talk for the most parts of the film. But I think this film is not a contemplative film, because there are many flashbacks and plot points in it.

2.MUSASHINO HIGH VOLTAGE TOWER (1997, Naoki Nagao, Japan, 118 minutes). In this film, two young boys keep on walking along the power lines in rural Japan. This film might be a mainstream contemplative film, because there is so very little happening in the film, except the characters’ uneventful journey. Highly impressive.