The piece is lovely, perhaps too lovely.
The skill of composition threatens the subject
matter: this is such deep, serious & even scary stuff, that I ached for the ache of subject to
match style.
The constant music lulled me: I don't want to be
lulled by these stories, I want to be lurched!
I'll confess that I feel like I should be
screaming the praises of this piece rather than
picking at what seems to me much more than nits,
but I can't. I hear the dangers of the interwoven
vox-pop with music sweetening too strongly here.
This is as much a style--an over-heard style as
any more acts & tracks approach and needs shaking
up, too!
A refreshing approach to a story that needs telling.
The host/narrator slips from outside to inside
with ease: sometimes telling us, sometimes
commenting on what someone else said, occasionally
giving his take. The break in that fourth wall
works well. Good mix of voices, music used
sparsely for sweetening (though the choices of music
sometimes perplexed me). The doc starts out
just a bit preachy, but at least lets me know
that this is not an "outside about" but an "inside
about": that I shouldn't expect multiple facets.
Makes me want to hear more from the producer/s.
Good tech, too.
Comments by Karen Michel
Comment for "Here There is No Moon (European version 31:54)"
Karen Michel
Posted on June 03, 2005 at 07:38 AM | Permalink
Review of Here There is No Moon (European version 32:28)
The piece is lovely, perhaps too lovely.
The skill of composition threatens the subject
matter: this is such deep, serious & even scary stuff, that I ached for the ache of subject to
match style.
The constant music lulled me: I don't want to be
lulled by these stories, I want to be lurched!
I'll confess that I feel like I should be
screaming the praises of this piece rather than
picking at what seems to me much more than nits,
but I can't. I hear the dangers of the interwoven
vox-pop with music sweetening too strongly here.
This is as much a style--an over-heard style as
any more acts & tracks approach and needs shaking
up, too!
Comment for "Dying for Water: Indians, Politics and Dead Fish in the Klamath River Basin"
Karen Michel
Posted on June 03, 2005 at 07:18 AM | Permalink
Review of Dying for Water: Indians, Politics and Dead Fish in the Kla
A refreshing approach to a story that needs telling.
The host/narrator slips from outside to inside
with ease: sometimes telling us, sometimes
commenting on what someone else said, occasionally
giving his take. The break in that fourth wall
works well. Good mix of voices, music used
sparsely for sweetening (though the choices of music
sometimes perplexed me). The doc starts out
just a bit preachy, but at least lets me know
that this is not an "outside about" but an "inside
about": that I shouldn't expect multiple facets.
Makes me want to hear more from the producer/s.
Good tech, too.