Displaying items by tag: Jordan Graham

SATOR

US, 2019, 85 minutes, Black-and-white and Colour,

Michael Daniel, Rachel Johnson, Aurore Lowe, Gabriel Nicholson, June Peterson, Wendy Taylor.

Directed by Jordan Graham.

An atmospheric film, filmed over a long time by the writer-director, Jordan Graham, his grandmother appearing in the role of the grandma, some of her dialogue based on her own feelings and perspectives on the supernatural. He built the hut which is used for the film. It is definitely his film.

The setting is the backwoods of the US, some wonderful scenery in daylight, a lot of the atmosphere in the forest at night in the dark. There is a mysterious character, Adam, who does not speak a great deal, wanders in the forest, searching.

But, this is all introduced in black and white, the words of the grandmother, her writing them down, indicating her awareness of Sator and the influence in her family. The film was shot in black-and-white, ordinary framing and traditional box framing, interchange throughout the film, but the flashbacks of introducing the characters, the members of the family, the past, interactions, grandmother reminiscing even though becoming forgetful, all in black and white.

There are three principal responses to this film.

The first, the reaction of many who come across it, and many of the bloggers on the IMDb, finding it boring, incomprehensible, and give up.

The second, especially for movie lovers who appreciate cinematography and editing, the response is simply to stay with it, observing, not necessarily understanding, but relishing the cumulative effect of the cinematography, the mystery, the behaviour of the characters…

The third is to stay with the film, acknowledging how slow burn it is, puzzling as to the characters, motivations, behaviour, the interactions of the family, the mystery of the past, the grandmother and her experiences and communication, perhaps finding a lot of it tedious or boring, but waiting to make some kind of comprehensive response to it at the end.

And, for those wanting some assistance, the Wikipedia plot summary offers a great deal of detail to help with understanding and appreciation.