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Posted: Tue., Feb. 7, 2006, 1:59pm PT

a Darkness Swallowed

Directed, edited by Betzy Bromberg.
 
Voice: Betzy Bromberg.
 




Vet experimental film artist Betzy Bromberg creates a phantasmagoric visual landscape of gradually evolving organic objects returning to a water source in "a Darkness Swallowed" . Certainly the most adventurous and abstract offering in Sundance's Frontier section, pic is also Bromberg's longest and most introspective to date, an instant classic of contempo American non-narrative cinema that has recently begun a Western U.S. tour of cinematheques and should expand globally.

Early minutes, with Bromberg providing voice-over, considers two old B&W photos of a jalopy damaged in an accident. Shift is rather stark to dominant motif of hypnotically close views of alien-looking plant life and natural objects, abounding with resin-covered surfaces. Bromberg gets ecstatic views of sunlit water in latter sections that seem like a homage to early experimental filmmaker Ralph Steiner. Brilliant, percussive-heavy music passages from several composers are intensely nightmarish.

Camera (color, 16mm), Bromberg; music, Zack Settel, Jean-Pierre Bedoyan, Paul B. Cutler, Pam Aronoff, Jacob Ross, Dane A. Davis, Bromberg; resin effects, Stephen Small. Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival (Frontier), Jan. 24, 2006. Running time: 78 MIN.
 


 


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