topleft defined, 2007

For this piece I filmed the top left corner only of the movie “Last Tango in Paris” by Bernardo Bertolucci.

The resulting visuals narrate an autonomous secondary story line, sometimes with recognizable hints to the full screen potential, sometimes creating a totally blurry or abstracted non-space.

In my editing process I removed all full face views of the main actors as well as 99% of the dialogue. What remains are mere suggestions of players, either in shadow, blurred out, or as a slight hint of their hair and foreheads. Glimpses of hands start playing an important part.

All recognizable music scores have been removed as well in favor of ordinary background noises or some ambient sweltering, resembling musical tones.

This video ties in with my reflections on what to believe or not, what to accept as truth or not, and what determines that choice. The secondary narrative of the visuals intrigue me because of my general interest in ambiguity, gray zones, reading between the lines or behind the scenes. But there is also, yet again, that always-lingering question in my work of “do you know what you see - do you know what you believe?” This time however I do not attempt to create a second life or (abstract) alter-ego for a manipulated object. Instead, I’m exploring the potentially other story complementing the other story while leaving the final edition subject to the viewer’s personal or social sensitivities.

excerpt 1

excerpt 2