[-empyre-] From a distance

[Johannes Birringer]

Hallo Pier
thank you for your response, and I can imagine the quiet place you are speaking of. But I was not writing of film in that sentence, i was suggesting that I reject the idea of war against war, war against terror,
and prefer truce, negotiation. and I only use the german word because of the "stillstand" as i was still thinking  of Yoko's performance.    I like what you say about Rachmanut. 
About distance: it's probably not the same as the concept/technique of the Brechtian Verfremdungseffekt, at least not the way in which Yoko, I believe, was implying her reflections on the local elderly people, and
the dogs barking, in the mountains far removed from ISIS, and yet not far enough perhaps from Fukushima.

regards, Johannes


[Pier schreibt]

Johannes, I only just got to watch a German trailer of Waffenstillstand and I assume when you say “prefer” that film, I assume you are not comparing them. I don’t see how they can be compared.
I come from a place where Robert Bresson is one of the best filmmakers, so it is a very quiet place - hence that Gueules Cassées old film - without its new overpowering track - fills me up through its vacuum.
This is an important concept for me that I saw described in the Hebrew word for Compassion Rachmanut which contains the word for Matrix, having to make room for another inside one’s womb.
Fullness does not invite anything else, the space is already taken. This applies to sound, pictures, words, etc…

About distance, since it is one of the topics here, while I was always interested in many films that brought up the distance that Brecht wished for, we have now a new distance, the remoteness of great distances.
Of course, there was also distance with Claude Eatherly - Gunther Anders exchanged letters with the US bomber (Hiroshima).
Good luck in Dresden.