Synopsis
Variations is a 1998 American short silent avant-garde film directed by Nathaniel Dorsky. It is the second film in a set of "Four Cinematic Songs," which also includes Triste, Arbor Vitae, Love's Refrain.
Variations
1998 Directed by Nathaniel Dorsky
Director
Genre
Popular reviews
More-
Transitory temporality. A metrical, liminal gaze into the rhythmic vibrations of our terrestrial existence, reminding us that there is so much radiance surrounding us—all we have to do is open our eyes.
-
I've waited almost four years -- ever since
Feb. 10th, 2016 -- to watch another Dorsky
film and, while I'm a bit melancholy I may
not have another to view for a long while,
I can safety say that it was worth the wait. -
there is so much joy in showing experimental cinema to those who haven't learned its language yet. "it's how someone would look at the world if they suddenly gained sight after years of only blindness" she says. of course. :)
-
-
A magia de assistir Dorsky às 6h da manhã: o céu clareando aos poucos, iluminando o apartamento; e os sons de bichos, de carros, do vento batendo nas árvores, servindo de trilha para um filme que não tem som. Sem poder sair de casa (por motivos óbvios), agradeço ao acaso por permitir esse alinhamento de sentidos que parece querer lembrar que esse mundo fotogênico do cinema do Dorsky existe sim lá fora, e que essas texturas e sensações não irão a lugar algum; pelo contrário: estarão esperando pacientemente pelo retorno de olhares generosos e aventureiros às ruas.
-
No sabía que era silente. No creo haber pestañado durante veinte minutos. Estaba expectante al primer sonido, a la primer señal de comienzo que nunca llegó. Me mantuve en ese estado de suspensión, inmóvil, prolongando la sensación de inminencia, reviviendo esos minutos previos al comienzo de la película en donde se devora la mayor cantidad de pochoclos. No sé en qué momento me di cuenta de que todo sería así; hasta el final mantuve la esperanza. Probablemente haya sido cuando los sonidos vinieron a mí, surgieron de mí, en mi cabeza. Sin quererlo, sonoricé las moléculas de vida que filmó Dorsky con el bagaje sonoro del mundo que llevo en mí. ¿Por qué se manifestaron los sonidos? Hoy charlaba con…
-
Ever since I was shown its source passage by one of my very dearest friends, I have thought almost constantly about C.S. Lewis' notion of the secret thread. I've probably referenced this several times in several of my reviews, and conversations that I've had with all of the people that follow me and that are in my life, because it resonated so deeply to me when I recognized that the core principle behind my investigation of the universe, which appears to suffer from incessant starvation, is shared by one of history's most regarded and famous authors. Someone well-respected and widely read had some grasp of the intangible, seemingly unexplainable thing that dominated the way I interact with the world, and…
-
clearly this is intended to be viewed in silence, but I watched it tonight listening to Hank Mobley’s Workout, and it added an entirely new light to these images. I am never one to say that images require accompaniment, and these certainly don’t, but the first time I saw this was in silence and I felt the forlorn, sorrowful emotions that come with capturing memory in the way that Dorsky does. watching with the music, it just felt purely observant, like it was just a day at the park, seeing beautiful things with good company and good, meaningful thoughts.
we’re only ever how we associate. things are only ever what we make them to be. I find that really reassuring, and I didn’t used to. i’m proud of myself in that sense
-
“In film, there are two ways of including human beings. One is depicting them. Another is to create a film form which, in itself, has all the qualities of being human: tenderness, observation, fear, curiosity, the sense of stepping into the world, sudden murky disruptions and undercurrents, expansion, pulling back, contraction, relaxation, sublime revelation. In my work, the screen is transformed into a “speaking character”, and the images function as pure energy rather than acting as secondary symbol or as a source for information or storytelling. I put shots together to create a revelation of wisdom through delicate surprise. The montage does not lead to verbal understanding, but is actual and present. The narrative is that which takes place between…
-
Dorsky likes to shoot through things, whether it be glass and it’s reflection, trees and their leaves, glasses and their liquids, figures and their silhouettes, light and it’s shadows. Creates a physicality to the shots, another layer, a touch of density that makes me feel like I’m there at that very moment, spectating. I feel like I could reach out and interact with what’s on screen. There’s something deeply honest and intimate about these images. A familiarity, maybe. The softness. Nature and life interacting. It creates a nostalgia for times I never had. Splicing all sorts of different subjects and spaces together into one, it almost feels like I’m watching someone’s memories play out at an accelerated rate, just catching…
-
Golden fingernails pointing out golden jewelry. A shimmering golden sea. Baseball & Tai chi. The text's shadow from the transparent door floats over the patrons as they enter. An abandoned cigarette. A plastic bag blowing in the wind. A high heel on golden asphalt. Golden leaves. Beautiful.
-
if God were always speaking there'd be no need to sit and wait in the stillness for a sign. Dorsky sat (and slept) for what seems like a lifetime with a director's cut of 24 minutes to bring us a few dozen of those signs.
Spinoza said human minds could only perceive two of God's infinite attributes in the Substance of our world: Thought and Extension. This is as honest a portrait of Extension as you could hope to get.