D'Est

1) This film addresses the viewer as nearly one and the same as the camera, putting you in places where a person would normally feel uncomfortable. Like Micheal Snow's film, it doesn't reveal itself in short bursts of frames, but develops its themes and action over long takes taking many minutes.

2) Filming and editing D'Est in the way Akerman did allowed for both long takes and inclusive takes. The pans seem to be in slow motion, not staying on one person as long as it does for the man on the bench, but it appreciates each subject pretty equally, with a large depth of focus. It's really in the space, without manipulation or fast editing. It reminded me a lot of a movie which i forget the title of, but set the record for the longest single take in a film, for there were no edits in the film, just a single camera touring the Kremlin and watching characters from different time periods walking in and out.

4) I would say that Akerman's film isn't fiction, but it is stylized reality, especially because a lot of the subjects aren't their to spread knowledge, but to be visually studied. The subjects also interact with the camera, looking at it, even pointing out their fruit for sale. In a documentary, the camera has a much more journalistic and less visual purpose.

5) David writes that "the suspension of a gesture or the nearly intolerable stretching out of sequences" really replicates "the strange banality of life in the former USSR." I would agree that such a bleak, oppressive society would burden people, reducing their motivation to do everyday things, to the point where they almost need to force themselves to complete every activity. The fast exposure speed, or slow motion, creates an illusion of weight and resistance, externalizing the peoples' struggles.

7) I believe the ideal position for viewing the film may be the three-projection installation. The only reason is that time would be even more stretched out. Instead of getting lost or controlled by one pan or image, you can shift your focus, and then return your attention later to possibly the same tracking shot, giving an enhanced feeling of the lengthening of time and coldness in the Russian streets.

8) I thought sound was used very effectively in this film, with certain intrusive noises fading in and out, and music dominating the soundtrack. I thought the music always seemed to sync up with the image really well, especially when there were instruments playing. The blending of recording a performance and a performer performing for the camera reminded me of Altman's "The Company," which doesn't have a guerilla type documentary feel, but a more prepared and stylized version of reality.

9) I noticed that the interior shots looked warm, and the people were balanced within the frame. Unlike the outside shots, which had harsher noises and a more random assortment of individuals. When the camera was inside, an inner peace was felt, like when the country house with the open door was featured. Almost to say that when one goes out into the public, they're going to be confronted by some zombie like characters and the droning of vehicles and a very un-personalized space, where one doesn't own anything except the appearance of their own face.