Comments for Ryerson New Media Documentary

Comment on A man named Pearl by ruth

ruth — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:50:21 +0000

great story, would love to see the film

Comment on The Suicide Tourist by Suzanne

Suzanne — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 17:19:37 +0000

i love it…that’s always the question:
“as a filmmaker do you ever have a moment when you think…i probably shouldn’t film this”
the million dollar question!

Comment on Beauty is a Liar by Serena

Serena — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:03:37 +0000

Thanks Marc! Sometimes when a topic is personal it’s really hard to tell if it’s remotely interesting to anyone else…

Comment on Beauty is a Liar by Marc Losier

Marc Losier — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 09:32:32 +0000

I dug your installation by the way! The notion of performance at such a young age is an intriguing topic for sure. : )

Comment on The Bridge – What’s a Doc? by Renee

Renee — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:16:16 +0000

I thought this film was a really good example in terms of ethics for Ed’s class. It generated some really good discussion, especially in terms of how far do you go to prove a point… However, I think you could also bring up the question of whether it was ethical to show this film in class… the fact that it deals with a sensitive issue is fine and I think positive, however it is the fact that they actually show people killing themselves… while the filmmaker watches on passively. I think a discussion of this film and a link to it would have been good, but I do not necessarily agree with showing this sort of film in class.
I guess this also brings up the issue of where do you draw the line in showing things in class… hmm… I am grappling with this… This film really upset me, however it has made me think a lot… which I guess was the point.

Comment on a measure of descent; Microdocumentary 2 – Marc Losier by SFB

SFB — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:01:53 +0000

This short film reminded me of an other one.
Using the body of the person we love to express any idea is always beautiful.

Comment on re-creation by Benjamin

Benjamin — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 11:33:16 +0000

Thanks for flagging up the BBC slideshow about our work. You can find more stuff on our blog http://www.duckrabbit.info/blog

Benjamin

Comment on Just some link by Manu Buechting

Manu Buechting — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 01:25:57 +0000

Exactly!!!

Comment on How was the movie? by Serena

Serena — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 06:03:31 +0000

I found the film pretty fascinating. As far as them being upper middle class, it’s easy to forget that owning a house in the late sixties was pretty normal, not only for the wealthy like it is now (unless you move to rural Saskatchewan). I was personally compelled by the film since my older sister was born in 1967 (love child!) and would therefore be around the same age as Bogart. My parents were bohemian artists with my mother at home and my father (whose name is Billy, incidentally) supporting the household (and yes they drove a Volvo, I have photos). Their marriage was dysfunctional and ended in divorce. I think the film was an accurate reflection of a time period where people still felt like marriage was the proper thing to do but concurrently were questioning their roles within it and whether they were actually happy, unlike the generation before them who often stayed married until the day they died (I know my grandparents did).

Ack! Billy and Antoinette are my parents! Sigh…

Moving on… the humour kept me engaged. It was clear (to me at least) that it was the couple’s primary coping mechanism in dealing with their frustration. Sometimes it’s easier to argue about a harpsichord than it is to argue about what’s actually problematic. Sometimes feeling alone and trapped in a relationship can make you a little crazy. It seemed to me as though they were both in the midst of some sort of existentialist crisis (it was the prime era for that sort of thing!) and had decidedly crossed the line into complete absurdism (i.e. Billy’s entire wardrobe in the film). What was hard to watch was when their frustration/anger came to the surface.

Comment on How was the movie? by alliecaldwell

alliecaldwell — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 22:38:21 +0000

I think it is a really interesting film, also. It’s very sad, uncomfortably intimate, funny, poignant at times. I don’t know if the subjects could be considered ‘upper-middle class’ — they seemed fairly bohemian to me… they live off of a single income and Billy doesn’t seem to have much job security (he’s always late…).
It was a really hard film to watch a lot of the time. They argue, and they argue over silly things, but it seems easier for them to be angry and explosive than to be introspective about their relationship and the real problems with their marriage.
I did feel that there was a disjuncture between the way I read the film and the way Allan King described it afterwards… The thing that struck me most was how immobile Antoinette was… how few options she had outside of her marriage. King, in his talk afterwards basically said he was interested in looking at a marriage in conflict, a cathartic film about relationships, because he was recently divorced and heartbroken at the time… I don’t think the feminist argument was really intended on his part, and he is equally sympathetic (but forthright) to both Billy and Antoinette in the edit.
So, in conclusion, I think there is a lot more to be said about the film.