Import/Export

Ulrich Seidl, 2007, cultures, capitalism
This seems to be about the state of realism today
Noticeable for remarkably perpendicular framings; largely in long shot, but throughout
Gives sense of actors as in, rather than controlling environment. Few uses of off-screen space
Often all focussed pretty sharply
Danger of this becoming stylised is deliberately offset by some handheld work, but not character motivated
Both camera styles strive for objectivity; could barely be less involved with the characters (apart from the plot)
Usually light backgrounds, exposed fully, creates a washed out look
Dirty exteriors, air of a kind of hygenised grubbiness about the thing
Very downbeat, bleak picture of the desperate searches for jobs, money, anything
Clear thematic moments; the prostituition, the birth to death axis
And character comparisons demonstrate how this situation crosses boundaries
Exploitation, how the new poor live; no grandeur. Cross-boundaries take away any kind of direct responsibility, specifi country problem.
Air of constant violence, in a low key way
Certain framings accentuate feeling someone is always going to come in and look, dismiss
Not much analysis/ idea of how this has come about, apart from plain mean other characters (not the most successful part)
This kind of failure to find causes leads to a kind of absurdism, the closest we get to stylised moments
The parts at the end, where no so much hope as change occur, are glimmers of supposed life that we realise are put in their place
The pretty long takes and framings, along with the millieu filmed, clearly intended to at once expose and indite, but generally just give a hard-worn picture
The kinds of framings and atmosphere shared by various European releases in the realist tradition; this is a decent work, but doesn’t have the knife-sharp, piercing gaze of a ‘4 Months...’
This is a good picture; it perhaps overloads the bleakness, which is nearly a wallow, and the lack of context is a (political worry); but there has to be a place for this kind of cinema to be seen