Beyond Zero 1914-1918 (2014) directed by Bill Morrison
Viewed on January 15, 2022
Commentary:
Surely, no subject is a more obvious and fitting one for Bill Morrison than WWI. I always find his repurposing of decaying film to be oddly moving. The decaying nitrate reminds us of not just the ephemeral nature of the medium, but of life itself. Adding another layer to this metaphor is the destruction of war itself. We are aware that many of the soldiers we are watching will not outlast the war, much less reach old age. And yet, through these disintegrating images, they do live on. at least as ghosts.
I will be curious to compare Morrison's treatment of these images to the opposite approach taken by Peter Jackson in They Shall Not Grow Old.
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