Boredom might be the key phrase for yesterday (sorry this has nothing to do with the election). First I blanked my brain through a particularly unstimulating Bronte sister lecture involving literary and non-literary research methods–sounds like fun, eh?–and, in particular, a lengthy discussion on the conception-to-publication-of “The Prisoner–A Fragment“. (This makes me curious as to the reception of poetry from our generation, say 150-200 years from now. What will be remembered, written about it, who will be included/excluded, what kind of poetry will endure?)

From there I was happy go to film class and I moved on to the wildly stimulating(tongue in cheek) movie L’Avventura. Not that it was a bad film, it is part of the modernist film movement arising in the 50-60’s, and even though some of it was engaging, much of it was slow and pointless (or seemingly so). The film plays with the audience through the narrative, incorporates a more artistic cinematography, and uses the camera differently to include the audience as a part of the film. In particular, the camera initally appeared to be excluding the audience from seeing the characters faces; however, this gave me the impression I was in the film, standing right behind the characters, even to the point where a few times I wanted to physically move the character out of the way so I could see what was happening. Mainly it was full of noise and movement: cars, trains, boats, helicopters, people moving in and out of vehicles, restless people moving mechanically about their lives. The constant movement was a reflection of culture, the desire for something more, the desire to keep ourselves amused. Paradox in a boring film about boredom.