A short-story fable (the power of music, blindness as metaphor) that successfully incorporates great visuals on nearly every nature element (at least from what I remember from the cartoon “Captain Planet”): fire, water (waterfall), wind and earth (desert mainly in this case)
Starts with an introduction of the banjo/musical elements—and this is a unique (and seemingly uninfluenced) blending of genres: fantasy, realism, musical (there is some really strong music), melodrama and romance
from the opening here- setting the visual tone- strong work throughout by Kaige Chen throughout
utilization of natural set pieces- impressive desert landscapes for much of the film
Desert landscapes for much of the film- a great shot of a lone tree on the plane at 40 minutes, another sequence with hundreds of extras in a long shot, and yet another later with from behind the banjo player looking at the long winding dirt road on the desert
Great sequence with flames in front of the musician—quite striking
It does seem to just arrive without a cinematic foundation (which is both disorienting and refreshing) but, and in perhaps in that way, it makes me think of Sergei Parajanov’s Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (though the film is not on that level artistically).
[…] Life on a String – Kaige Chen […]