With meditative compositions and 16mm photography (developed by hand to create a spectral surrealism), it’s more trance than movie.
Quietly enigmatic, valuable work.
Shot on 16mm black and white, the film looks grainily beautiful, and the long, long takes can become hypnotic (there's a 10-minute shot of our hermit fishing). But the non-communication between subject and film-maker is just too coy.
In a world where ‘sharing’ our lives has become the norm there is something wonderfully honest and uplifting about seeing a life which unfolds, for the most part, whilst no one is watching.
This black-and-white documentary, following the doings and dreamings of a recluse in the Cairngorms, is almost wordless – and is quietly extraordinary.
It's a contemplative film, and most members of the audience are likely to be contemplating how they can get out of the cinema without appearing to be philistines.
A remarkably lyrical and ideologically cohesive doc-fiction hybrid.
Depending on your mood and tolerance for art house fare this is either screamingly tedious or strangely beguiling.
While Two Years at Sea is perfectly pleasant to drift through for a short period, over the course of 80-odd minutes, the cumulative effect is – whisper it – a little boring.
Demonstrates that one person’s contemplative art project is another’s underwhelming snooze.
Ben Rivers
Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee from Sunday May 13, 2012, until Thursday May 17, 2012. More info: www.dca.org.uk
Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow from Tuesday May 22, 2012, until Thursday May 24, 2012. More info: http://www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre/
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Friday June 1, 2012, until Tuesday June 5, 2012. More info: www.filmhousecinema.com
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