El Valley Centro

1999
1h 30min

NOTE IMDb

MA NOTE

Ajouter une intrigue dans votre langueEmploying natural sound and contemplative proscenium shots, Benning skillfully composes a series of pure and majestic images that at once evoke a sense of nostalgic splendor as well as deliv... Tout lireEmploying natural sound and contemplative proscenium shots, Benning skillfully composes a series of pure and majestic images that at once evoke a sense of nostalgic splendor as well as deliver a subtle, yet penetrating, political commentary. Benning tells the story of how water i... Tout lireEmploying natural sound and contemplative proscenium shots, Benning skillfully composes a series of pure and majestic images that at once evoke a sense of nostalgic splendor as well as deliver a subtle, yet penetrating, political commentary. Benning tells the story of how water irrigates this valley and how the produce is carted away in boxcars for the nation's consum... Tout lire

Réalisation
- James Benning

Voir les informations de production sur IMDbPro

NOTE IMDb

7,4/10

222

MA NOTE

Réalisation
- James Benning

Voir les informations de production sur IMDbPro

Avis des utilisateurs2

Commentaire à la une

8/10

Fascinating and effective visual portrait

Part of Benning's "California Trilogy", this is the film of his I've enjoyed the most of the 6 I've seen to date (Although I also really liked "American Dreams: Lost and Found).

Benning examines California's Central Valley in a series of long, static and mostly beautifully composed images, often using a symmetrical frame that echos the way people have shaped the land. He brings out the oddness of the area I've always felt – there's barely an inch of the region that hasn't been re-shaped by man, and yet it is largely devoid of people, being mostly vast agricultural tracts.

There's a clear, ominous note of how man is destroying the environment around him, whether in the crop duster flying straight at the camera, or the local fishermen, whose lines go into filthy looking water going through a concrete channel.

For an hour and a half film composed of nothing but long, wordless images, I was shocked at how quickly the time passed, and how, by the end, I felt I had experienced something emotional as well as intellectual.