Jean Malek’s Les Poissons (English: “The Fishes”) is an interesting mix of a modern medium and an ancient literary art. Malek brings the two together to create the live-action film poem that is Les Poissons.
The main problem with this model seems to be combining and melding the harsh reality of live-action film with the whimsical nature of poetry to create something that is still relevant and beautiful. Scenes of average life - such as the group of friends bowling or walking down the street or eating together – may appear to be wrongly juxtaposed with the grandiose and symbolic writing style of the poem that is narrated over it. However, this is true only if these scenes of average life are presented averagely.
Malek expertly uses his camera to disassociate his visuals from reality. First of all, the only audio we hear aside from the narration is the score which plays throughout. Losing one sense immediately cuts down on the realism. In addition, jump cuts are constantly taking place to remove the viewer from the realistic timeframe. Finally, heavy color modification was used on the film to create a more epic feeling of poetry – the rich, somewhat faded colors evoke a sense of a dream more than the stark tones of reality.
Using these techniques, Malek was able to craft a live-action poem that makes an impacting statement. The subject that I saw was suicide, and Malek was able to comment on that subject with scenes of normality because of the aforementioned techniques. No matter what interpretation of the poem you make, the medium of film does not hold that interpretation back.
Watch here: Les Poissons
No comments:
Post a Comment