Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

Discussions of specific films and franchises.
Message
Author
User avatar
dda1996a
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2015 6:14 am

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2018)

#26 Post by dda1996a » Thu Jan 10, 2019 3:18 pm

I'm down to watching at least 1 or 2 and if I like what I see I'll watch the rest

User avatar
furbicide
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:52 am

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2018)

#27 Post by furbicide » Thu Jan 10, 2019 6:10 pm

Part of me thinks this could be one of the most amazing audiovisual projects ever made. And then another part of me thinks that this is all just going to be a glorified Russian Big Brother Uncut in period dress.

User avatar
John Cope
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2005 5:40 pm
Location: where the simulacrum is true

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2018)

#28 Post by John Cope » Mon Jan 28, 2019 7:58 pm

Tons of coverage at last.

User avatar
domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

#29 Post by domino harvey » Mon Jan 28, 2019 9:32 pm


User avatar
Big Ben
Joined: Mon Feb 08, 2016 12:54 pm
Location: Great Falls, Montana

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

#30 Post by Big Ben » Mon Jan 28, 2019 9:48 pm

I'm reminded of a guy I met who tried to convince me he had watched all ten hours of Warhol's Empire. As I began to disassociate from reality as he spoke I began to wonder if he really felt some sense of intellectual pride (If he had done it.) or was simply trying to appear intelligent because he thought he'd pull one over on all us dweebs who were baffled at his statements. This feels like a more extreme version of that (Reading those critics supposed statements.) except that you can get the impression Warhol wanted by projecting his film all day in a museum. This, this I don't know. Why would I want to watch random strangers bang for hours on end?

User avatar
DarkImbecile
Ask me about my visible cat breasts
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

#31 Post by DarkImbecile » Thu Apr 16, 2020 8:57 am


User avatar
therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

#32 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:22 am

Perfect, I needed a valid excuse to cancel my treatment meetings today.

User avatar
MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
Location: Worthing
Contact:

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

#33 Post by MichaelB » Thu Apr 16, 2020 10:06 am

The revival of this thread reminds me that the much-ballyhooed London staging scheduled for April 2019 or thereabouts never actually happened. Or at least I can't believe it would have been totally blanked in the media.

vicko_77
Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2020 1:06 pm

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

#34 Post by vicko_77 » Tue Apr 21, 2020 1:12 pm

Next Dau films release dates
Dau.Nora's Mother: April 26
Dau.Three Days: April 26
Dau.Brave People: May 3
Dau.Katya Tanya: May 3

User avatar
sir_luke
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2013 9:55 pm

Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

#35 Post by sir_luke » Wed Apr 22, 2020 5:41 pm

So, I watched both of the available films, Natasha and Degeneration, and with the caveat that there are (as previously discussed) some heavy ethical implications to the project — and some degree to which the line between loosely scripted and spontaneous becomes troubling, specifically in scenes of violence — I would say that these are pretty stunning works overall.

Natasha plays out in what feels like real time, in an extremely immersive two-and-a-half hours. Obviously I wasn’t sure what to expect of these films, and I was surprised at how intimate this piece was — limited primarily to a single location, and everything hangs upon the naturalistic and volatile interplay between a few key players.
SpoilerShow
There is a sudden fourth-wall-shattering moment that does something to partially reveal the degree of psychological distress to which the participants in this “experiment” have been subjected, and it took the breath out of me like very little else I’ve seen in cinema.
I was also surprised at how “light” the film is, until a whiplash turn plunges things into a much darker space. The much-discussed interrogation scene is as harrowing as it has been portrayed in reviews, but to me it was perhaps most distressing in its silences and spaces in between the moments of violence — an electric uncertainty exists in these scenarios, and I really felt a moment-to-moment unease that gave the bursts of cruelty an even more indelible sting. The Institute is a place where words likely have an opposite meaning and where nothing should be trusted implicitly, and those are certainly the types burbling feelings these films generate.

Degeneration seemed somehow less substantial despite its much weightier runtime, but it’s still a pretty overwhelming achievement. It introduces many new elements — a new time period, new characters (including some played by actors featured in the previous installment), more political intrigue, more scattered and messy romance, and a more pointed commentary on creeping fascism — and is similarly oppressive in its overhanging menace. One of the new elements is also one of the most controversial: the casting of real-life Nazi mouthpiece Maksim Martsinkevich as, well, a member of an ultra-right-wing who insidiously overtakes the existing regime by increasingly aggressive means. It’s a pretty difficult “artistic decision” to defend, one that sounds interesting on a very theoretical level but should be unconscionable in practice, though it’s hard to deny that knowledge of his IRL ideology contributes to the terror as his and his group’s intentions become increasingly apparent. In the talked-about sequence featuring extreme animal cruelty, which is contextually significant but very, very hard to watch, the other participants are palpably shaken in a way that seems far removed from any conscious character choice.

I’m very interested in seeing more pieces of the project, as I really think it has a deep and genuine value both as film and as performance art, but I won’t deny that I’m conflicted about continuing to support it.

User avatar
Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

#36 Post by Mr Sausage » Wed Apr 22, 2020 6:48 pm

sir_luke wrote:In the talked-about sequence featuring extreme animal cruelty
There goes my interest in seeing this one. What happens?

User avatar
sir_luke
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2013 9:55 pm

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

#37 Post by sir_luke » Wed Apr 22, 2020 6:51 pm

Mr Sausage wrote:
sir_luke wrote:In the talked-about sequence featuring extreme animal cruelty
There goes my interest in seeing this one. What happens?
SpoilerShow
At the end of a night of drinking and tense discussion, the right-wing group brings a pig into the house with the students and others and slaughters it in front of them. I could be wrong, but I’m fairly certain it was real.

User avatar
Dr Amicus
Joined: Thu Feb 15, 2007 10:20 am
Location: Guernsey

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

#38 Post by Dr Amicus » Mon May 04, 2020 10:16 am

The BBFC certainly believed it to be real - that sequence (or about 55 secs) has been cut in the UK.

User avatar
sir_luke
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2013 9:55 pm

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

#39 Post by sir_luke » Mon May 04, 2020 9:48 pm

For some reason, it appears Natasha is no longer available, at least in the US.

User avatar
MichaelB
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
Location: Worthing
Contact:

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

#40 Post by MichaelB » Tue May 05, 2020 4:55 am

Or the UK.

User avatar
ando
Bringing Out El Duende
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 6:53 pm
Location: New York City

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

#41 Post by ando » Sun Jan 10, 2021 3:46 am

Watched this recent virtual critical intro/discussion to the project just now. Fairly essential, imo.

User avatar
TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2018)

#42 Post by TMDaines » Thu Jan 14, 2021 8:53 am

DeprongMori wrote:
Thu Jan 10, 2019 2:53 pm
Cde. wrote:
Thu Jul 19, 2018 2:24 pm
and let's be real, no one wants to watch 13 films and multiple series of this.
Not so fast! Isn’t that exactly what they’ve successfully done with the Marvel Comics Universe?

(Tongue only half in cheek here.)
I had read about DAU. Natasha a few times, but had failed to appreciate the wider body of work surrounding it and the circumstances of its development. I'm now utterly fascinated by it and will almost certainly watch everything released over an extended period. Plan is to watch DAU. Natasha this weekend with the missus and either to carry on watching films together or go alone if she has no interest.

It's weird how with American TV, the general public embraces the bloat and glosses over the fact that 80% of most series is just sheer filler, but when it comes to doing the same with cinema or other forms of media, people baulk at the runtime.

Soothsayer
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:54 pm

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2018)

#43 Post by Soothsayer » Thu Jan 14, 2021 10:41 am

TMDaines wrote:
Thu Jan 14, 2021 8:53 am
It's weird how with American TV, the general public embraces the bloat and glosses over the fact that 80% of most series is just sheer filler, but when it comes to doing the same with cinema or other forms of media, people baulk at the runtime.
I agree with this. I'd also note it's more than tv. Things like comic book/graphic novel-based film franchises also get this kind of embrace.

User avatar
knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

#44 Post by knives » Thu Jan 14, 2021 10:44 am

Chapter breaks seems like a reason. In binging tv you have little breaks built in. A four hour movie has a cultural expectation for one sitting.

lastrade
Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 2:42 pm

Re: Dau (Ilya Khrzhanovsky, 2019)

#45 Post by lastrade » Tue Apr 20, 2021 10:18 am

Having now watched all of the available films on the UK version of the website, I have to say that there is a lot more to this project than the sensationalist elements mentioned above. The closest comparison that I can come up with would be Fassbinder, although there are some aspects that make me think of Bergman (and even Ibsen) too. Jürgen Jürges (previously a cameraman for Fassbinder) may be responsible for some of that, but there is also the pessimistic worldview and the communicative breakdowns that lead me in that direction.
If you want to give this film a try on that basis, I strongly recommend Nikita Tanya, Three Days and Nora Mother. I really hope that they continue to put films online or put these onto DVD at some point.

Post Reply