The scene of Modern Love (song by David Bowie) in Mauvais sang (1986: dir. Leos Carax) is so marvelous that I cannot stop watching it whenever I’m set in the mood. The happening is that the actor, Denis Lavant, is set to be ready for launching himself to run, and goes forward into it, and sets more in motions, and runs. The seven screenshots I made from the YouTube video clip of the film would give you an idea, even by still shots, to grasp how he became to be such an actor. The video on YouTube itself follows. I chose the 5min (approx) clip over the shorter one which captures only the running sequence. I prefer the longer one for the moody prelude with the actress, Juliette Binoche. The scene of Modern Love in action starts at 2:22.
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The sequence is a power ignition to make the viewer’s sensory motors go off, not only by the motions and music, but also with the visual effects of urban arts in the running background. Though no idea I have to know how much the wall with color accents and objects were the immaculately designed cinematography, I have a strong sense that, yes, everything was set by the cinéaste and his team, because this is a cinéma art. Incidentally, I’ve thought of Abstract Expressionism, artistic movement. Below is a painting of Hans Hofmann (1880-1966).
(courtesy: Google images of Hans Hofmann)
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Jean-Luc Godard (1930-2022) allusions must also be remarked in the color. As for more of the visual art references and associable paintings or urban wall arts, I will not go and go on for them for this post, to make it be into my run.
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Japanese film maker, Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998) was well known to have made his own paintings and illustrations for scenes of his films before the shooting. He was in fact aspired to be a painter. He was in battlefields in WWII. He experienced a lot. He made many great films during his life. Rhapsody in August (1991) was about Nagasaki, an old and gentle lady, children, family, and a visitor from America. The voice recording of mine above is the film’s Japanese title to be heard.
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The “eye” of the atomic bomb has been chasing her? Or she has been looking for it to look back?
(courtesy: Google images of Rhapsody in August)
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The reason for my introducing this film is, in fact, for its ending scene in which the children run. Rain, storm, gusts, and memory. Poetically deranged was her mind in Nagasaki for many years afterwards. This sequence of the run in the end is the cinéma moment no one can miss.
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The film, Godland (2022: dir. Hlynur Palmason) was unknown to me when I saw the truly short clip of it on X. I still don’t know about it except a truly brief synopsis which tells me the story was set in Iceland in the 19th century and the young Danish pastor was the protagonist. His mission was to build a church there and to photograph people. The image below is a screenshot from the clip on X. The link here should take you to the post on X.
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Below is the trailer.
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The trailer also includes the running scene as a passage sequence, but I found the clip on X was more visually intriguing for its enigmatic brevity in a sense of urgency. Also, the clip on X may be able to pull the viewer into an intensity of the unknown.
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For the feelings as compelled, an artist makes an actor run. Kids run after a deranged poetry into a storm. We inevitably sense an urgency when seeing a pastor run as if chased by an insanity. Did the disciples run away as if blown by fire when Jesus was arrested? Cowardly they came back with tears and regrets. So are we still on the running road.
Run by Juliette Masch (5/19/24)