By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Ben Rivers | Ben Russell
Country: estonia, france, germany
Year: 2014
Running time: 98
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1828124/combined
Kyle says: “A SPELL TO WARD OFF THE DARKNESS is an experimental documentary that centers on musician Robert A.A. Lowe of ‘Lichens’ and ‘Om’ but investigates in a three-part structure the idea of humanity’s search for utopia. The first section is communal living on an Estonian island (including a totally unexpected, extended anecdote about a sauna daisy chain of male and female fingers in assholes); the second is solitary life in a cabin in northern Finland; and the third section focuses on artistic exploration in a Black Metal concert at a club in Norway. I kept thinking there was less here than meets the eye, but I stayed with it. To my left, a man fell asleep and snored, until he and his wife got up and left. Behind me on the right, another patron snored away until departure. Others shuffled and headed for the exit, generating more movement in the audience than onscreen. A few viewers found the experience transformative, but I was not one of them. 2 cats
“Seen Tuesday, March 25, 2014, New Directors/New Films at the Walter Reade Theater, Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York.”