1987 Directed by James Benning
In Landscape Suicide Benning continues his examination of Americana through the stories of two murderers. Ed Gein was a Wisconsin farmer and multiple murderer who taxidermied his victims in the 1950s. Bernadette Protti was a California teenager who stabbed a friend to death over an insult in 1984.
This is one of the best films I have ever seen.
On one side we are in June 23, 1984, along Bernadette Prott, a teenager from California who stabbed a friend to death over an insult.
On the other side we "remember" December 16, 1957 from the perspective of a present time and are along Ed Gein, a farmer from Wisconsin and multiple murderer who taxidermied his victims.
In the middle and above it all we have James Benning applying his philosophy called "landscape as a function of time". Benning utilizes the space-time continuum not as a theoretical background to play with scientific hypotheses, but as an element of our perception of time and existence. One of the courses taught…
All filmmakers play within the never-ending realms of space and time, whether they are aware of it or not. Doesn't matter who you are, what you are shooting on, or anything else. Space and time make up everything around us. But when a director is aware of this while making a film and make space and time more than just concepts or ideas, magic happens and this is what James Benning does with Landscape Suicide.
Does the world revolve around us and our actions or does our actions revolve around the world? Landscape Suicide brings up this question in many different abstract and interesting ways, almost from the very first scene. Benning's unbiased and undismayed look at two different murders…
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You know what James Benning does with Landscape Suicide? He makes Errol Morris look like Gore fucking Verbinski. And I *like* Errol Morris.
Benning understands that through the manipulation of image, sound and time, cinema can work to uncover truth within the mundane.
What creates violence? Is it born from our environment, or ourselves? If we live in a world in which everything that surrounds us is now man-made, is the violence which results from these surroundings man-made also? In the end, does that really matter?
Disturbing, tragic and illuminating. A revelation.
Also contained a scene which for me, seemed to completely capture the essence of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
Fascinating. I'm not sure I've ever seen a film like this. Utterly cold, practically fact-based with a complete non-biased look at two murders. This is my first Benning film and based on what I've read about his work in a way I expected something like this but nowhere near as chilling yet thought-provoking as Landscape Suicide ultimately is.
The film focuses on the murder of a teenage girl by her classmate Bernadette Protti, and a murder by the notorious, infamous Ed Gein. Split up into two parts, both examinations follow a very similar structure. Benning seems to want to focus on the question of nature vs nurture. The titular landscape that encompasses the two killers is a constant as his…
There's no way I'm going to top this review by one of my top three favorite reviewers on here, especially since I only have a few minutes to log this. However, one aspect of the film I'd like to highlight in addition to his observations is the experimental nature of Benning's shot structure. The opening five minutes - the only use of shot/reverse-shot in the entire film - reveals the conceit of this piece in two ways: by focusing solely on the tennis player for the first several volleys, Benning draws our attention to his isolation from the viewer (we look at him, not with him), further accentuated by the use of the reverse-shot, which becomes a critical political instrument;…
This is truly one of the most engrossing cinematic experiences ever. While most of the film focuses on various landscapes in the United States, it is separated into two parts: 1984 and 1959(?). It follows two murders, and interviews the two killers involved. This is a slow introspective burn that will really test if you have an appreciation for both beauty and patience.
I love everything from in between the actual interviews more.. very cozy, very pretty
I've been seeing lots and lots of ridiculous praise for this film, but I really could not get into it. sorry I guess? bored the shit out of me, so I suppose I just don't have the patience.
Am I wrong to believe I could have had the same experience reading very thorough articles about both murder cases? If I read an article that established setting in the same way with pictures and extensive description I feel that nothing would be lost in comparison to Landscape Suicide. I get the whole "landscape as a function of time" thing Benning has going for him. I just don't quite see the importance. I would have preferred if Benning focused solely on the landscapes to tell the story rather than trying to marry the mock interviews with the landscape establishment as well.
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