Slow Cinema
Before I delve into Lisandro Alonso’s film and cinematic techniques, let me give you the definition of two important terms:
Slow cinema:
Slow cinema is a genre of art cinema characterized by a minimalist and observational style. It is composed of formal elements such as little narrative, a lack of spectacular effects, long takes, lingering shots and a mobile camera. Its slowness requires that we watch an image for longer than we typically do, which asks us to think consciously about what we see and its importance (McMenanim 94).
Slow violence:
In his text Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor, author Rob Nixon popularizes and defines the notion of slow violence. He describes it as happening “gradually and out of sight, a violence that is typically not viewed as violence at all.” (Nixon 2) The effects on victims accumulate gradually, and because slow violence is incremental, it is quite difficult to perceive, particularly in relation to environmental degradation and climate change. It disproportionally impacts marginalized populations who lack the political power and resources to escape these harmful environments. Slow violence therefore refers to the long-term consequences of systemic injustices and environmental neglect on vulnerable communities.
La Libertad
Argentinian filmmaker Lisandro Alonso made his film La Libertad in 2001. The film follows a single day in the life of Misael, a laborer working in the forests of Argentina. He works clearing the trees so that commercial agriculture and livestock can occupy the space. Through the movie’s formal elements of slow cinema, the slow violence of environmental deterioration is mimicked and exposed. Environmental change is experienced as a temporal condition; nature becomes concrete and present (McMenanim 94).
In a 9-minute scene of Misael bringing a tree down, clearing it of its branches and stripping it back, the long takes mimic the pace of slow violence. As spectators, we are constrained to contemplate the "action-deficient scene as a form of violence" (McMenanim 94) against the tree. By contrast, the cuts and rhythm of the scene are sped up when Misael uses a chainsaw: this shows that mechanized tools and modernity can produce rapid devastation, while the ecological effects can take centuries to be fully felt (McMenanim 95).
The use of a lingering shot of dry earth in an area that has already been cleared of its trees makes the audience meditate on the reasons for such landscape modification (McMenanim 95).
Travelling shots make for a bouncy camera because of the uneven ground on which it is filmed. The spectator then relates spatially and environmentally to the film and its environment. It can also convey a certain sense of urgency, a call to become an active agent, just like the camera.
La Libertad focuses equally on nature and humans: Misael and the forest are both the protagonists of the film. The camera also sometimes embodies nature. In a sequence where Misael takes a nap, the camera leaves him and begins to float as if it were the wind. It circles, pans up and down through the forest (McMenanim 96). The spectator feels and senses nature through the disorienting camera movements. By adopting a non-anthropomorphic point of view, the camera seems to celebrate nature. This visual choice turns the natural landscape into a living entity and distances the film from mythical images of nature.
I invite you to watch the trailer, which presents the film in its entirety, sped up to only thirty seconds. It shows how much time this movie would typically be granted in commercial cinema because of its uneventfulness. Feel free to tap here!
Limits:
While the use of slow cinema in La Libertad allows for the exposure of alternative narratives and of different visual ways to portray the Anthropocene, this genre can fail in terms of accessibility. The experimental form does not indeed necessarily resonate with the larger public. Moreover, slow cinema has often been associated with the “high” culture of cinema, removing it from public access and comprehension (McMenanim 92).
Though Alonso is a filmmaker embedded in art cinema instead of mainstream Hollywood blockbusters, he turned to international funding sources (like Hugo Bals Fund or the World Cinema fund) that are still imbricated in uneven dynamics of production, often favoring Western models that seek to forward particular narratives about poverty and marginality in the Global South. His films have also often premiered at the Cannes festival (McMenanim 92). Therefore, does this director actually propose alternative narratives and new ways to film the Anthropocene, or is it only an attempt at it that remains enclosed in mainstream, Western cinematic workings?
This page has paths:
- Repairing and Refilming Aurore Landman
- Watching and interpreting Aurore Landman