Letters from Baghdad. Sabine Krayenbühl. 2016.
This is not my favourite genre: It’s a docudrama with the footage “aged” to simulate oldee tymee stock; everything played back slightly too fast to make it look like an old silent movie. But with fake sounds inserted… incessantly… it’s never silent; always a bed of foley or music.
OK, I was inaccutate: It’s my least favourite genre of movie ever.
I’m just… why!?! It makes every single shot into a lie. Even the real ones. “Is this photo real? This shot can’t be real. Is this actual footage? Is this letter they’re reading from real? Did they have photos back then? Did these people ever exist? Do I exist? Why am I watching this? I could be in bed!”
My own comfortable bed!
It’s 4AM and I think I’m going to find my bed instead of watching the rest of this… thing…
But if you’re the kind of person that likes this style of documentary, you may indeed like this; it seems well-made and quite interesting. I find it unwatchable, but that’s just me.
This post is part of The Tilda Swinton Project.
Hey Lars,
I love reading your blogs — even if the subject is to me of no interest whatsoever, which is rare. Every reading produces new knowledge (in this case, foley) and usually a big laugh, in this case, I COULD BE IN BED!
Keep on truckin’, you crazy diamond.