Sunday, November 13, 2011

DIAMONDS OF THE NIGHT (Czech) (1964)


Jan Nemec’s this film is one of the most original and exceptionally experimental cinema I’ve seen in a long run. The film has almost negligible plot about two young boys who managed to escape from a moving train of Nazi concentration. They keep on moving in woods saving their existence from threat of bullets until they meet their nemesis in form of old and almost retired motley crowd of gunmen. The confused open ending is rare exception with two alternatives offered by the filmmaker.

The escape journey of the protagonist boys is constantly punctured by frequent and repeatedly interrupted by baffling images of their memory or mental vibrations and both of these intercuts runs parallel and this is the most intriguing and unusual part of the film. The struggling stream of consciousness of the boy in front of strange lady is the mind-blowing moment of the entire film.


The film bears absolutely unconventional treatment in the form with baffling narration focusing the mind rather than action, intercuts and repetitive editing, camera work shot with shaky handheld, random and overexposed shots in natural light and ambiguous ending. The film is heavily abstained from verbal dialogues or explanations; even the two protagonists did utter just a few negligible lines to each other. The uncompromised pure minimalist approach bears much resemblance to Bresson films and it has satire and striking images that reminds me of Bunuel films especially the surreal frames showing the ants on human body and the old man enjoying booze and company in front of boys facing wall with hands up!

Recommended to all those who love to explore truly the experimental or avant-garde European cinema.

Ratings-8.5/10 

No comments: