MATTHIAS MUELLER AND BAVO DEFURNE

(correction: After I made this post on Sunday, I found out later that the director of BROKEN GLASS is Marte Maren Holth, not Marte Holte, so I made the correction accordingly. I also corrected the year of the release of ALPSEE)


After reading Mubarak Ali’s post on Matthias Mueller and Juergen Reble in his blog, I felt very inspired and decided that I should write something, too.

Mubarak Ali’s post on Matthias Mueller:
http://supposedaura.blogspot.com/2007/05/sing-body-electric.html

Mubarak Ali’s post on Juergen Reble:
http://supposedaura.blogspot.com/2006/08/jrgen-reble-alchemist-of-cinema.html

Mike Hoolboom’s article on Matthias Mueller:
http://www.mfj-online.org/journalPages/MFJ30,31/MHoolboomScattering.html

Daniel Kotenschulte’s article on Matthias Mueller:
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/06/38/pensao_globo.html

Canyon Cinema on Matthias Mueller:
http://www.canyoncinema.com/M/Muller.html

I have seen only five films by Matthias Mueller. They are:

1.VACANCY (1999, A+)
This film ranks no.4 on my favorite film list for 2002.

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/03/24/favourites3.html#phokaew

“If you found Fata Morgana (Werner Herzog, 1971) bewitching in the way it magically transforms the Sahara desert into a sci-fi landscape, Vacancy does the same by magically transforming a city from the past into a futuristic town. For me, Mueller is not only one of the greatest experimental filmmakers, he is also one of the greatest filmmakers. There are a lot more emotions in his films than in most narrative cinema, and his films prove very well that there is more to experimental films than style, forms or concepts.”


2.ALPSEE (1994, A+)

I like the use of colours in this film and the milk spilling scene very much. This film should be screened together with BROKEN GLASS (Marte Maren Holth, animation, A+), and SEP.30TH, '99 (Atsushi Ito).


3.BEACON (2002, co-directed with Christoph Girardet, A+)


4.PHOENIX TAPES (1999, A+)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244136/


5.PHANTOM (2001, A+)
http://docentes.uacj.mx/museodigital/museodigital/Nueva/expo%20ICP/ICP%201.htm


--VACANCY affected me as strongly as INDIA SONG or TAKE THE 5:10 TO DREAMLAND (1976, Bruce Conner). These films made me afraid to move any part of myself, even any finger, or to breathe loudly while watching them. I felt as if I had witnessed one of the holiest event in the history. These films seem to come from twilight zone, bordering between our conscious and subconscious. They are sacred to me.

--Bavo Defurne was an assistant director in ALPSEE. He is a very interesting Belgian gay director. He directed SAILOR (1997, A+), CAMPFIRE (1999, A), SAINT (1996, A), and "PARTICULARLY NOW, IN SPRING" (1995, A-). These four short films are released as DVD. Though Defurne was an assistant to Mueller's, I don't think I find any obvious similarity between their films.
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51TWDAMNGSL._SS500_.jpg


--Matthias Mueller might be one of the best directors in the "found footage film group". Last year I made a list of interesting found footage films. I think I should post it again here.

INTERESTING FOUND FOOTAGE FILM LIST
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2006/09/coldcut.html

1.DIAL H-I-S-T-O-R-Y (1998, JOHAN GRIMONPREZ, A+)

One of my most favorite documentaries
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/07/42/2006-world-poll-3.html#Phokaew


2.ALONE: LIFE WASTES ANDY HARDY (1998, MARTIN ARNOLD, A+)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157304/


3.REPORT (1967, BRUCE CONNER, A+)http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130976/

4.LOVE (2003, TRACEY MOFFATT + GARY HILLBERG, A+)http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c633.shtml


5.RE:VOLUTION (2001, A+) – a music video of COLDCUT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6KnJ0k_u7w

6.HAPPINESS IS (2006, Thanes Mankasakul, A+)


7.ALL YOU CAN EAT (1993, MICHAEL BRYNNTRUP, A)


8.MY FIRST FILM (1991, SASITHORN ARIYAVICHA, A)


9.SPECTRES OF THE SPECTRUM (1997, CRAIG BALDWIN)http://www.canyoncinema.com/B/Baldwin.htmlhttp://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0007LBLZA.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1106165488_.jpg

Information from amazon.com:

"Agitprop genius Craig Baldwin, director of TRIBULATION 99 and SONIC OUTLAWS, returns with his grandest work to date! SPECTRES OF THE SPECTRUM plunders Baldwin's treasure trove of early television shows, industrial and educational films, Hollywood movies, advertisements and cartoons, combining these with live-action footage, no-budget special effects, and relentless narration to generate a wholly original paranoid science-fiction epic."


10.L’ARRIVEE (1997-1998, PETER TSCHERKASSKY)


Unfortunately, I haven't seen any films by Baldwin or Tscherkassky yet. I only hear about their reputation.


Tscherkassky also wrote about SLEEPY HAVEN (1993, Matthias Mueller) in THE METAMORPHOSIS OF EROS (Stadtkino Vienna, 1993). I think it is very interesting, so I quote Tscherkassky here:

"SLEEPY HAVEN is an erotic day dream's own tropical late afternoon fantasy turned film; a cocktail in which the new takes melt and flow into the found footage like the act of making love. Instead of the cocktail shaker however, Mueller's own film developing tank has left marks on the material. The sailors continually flare-up solarised, and their naked bodies are lent a glowing aura of physical lust via the emulsion's tattooing effect. Only slowly does Mueller turn his material, metaphor for metaphor, towards love. One sees ocean going steam ships lying at anchor in port at the beginning of the film; continual fade ins and fade outs which leaves the screen breathing heavily, open up once more and then close. Ringed apertures associate with the body's orifae..."
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This is a photo by Bavo Defurne from his website.
http://www.bavo.org/