That mail slot is the most blatant vagina/canal metaphor I've ever seen. Like he had to wait for her to shut the door so he could violate it, because it wasn't about just catching her, it was about breaking her boundary after she put it up.
Similarly, I was surprised that Nathan didn't seem to make the metaphorical connection with the scene where the monster blows dandelion seeds in Harper's face. I thought it was obvious - "forcing his seed into her." I don't think further elaboration is needed.
@@DirkMcThermot I sorta took that a way deeper way, so maybe I'm the weirdo. There was the scene with the dandelion seed suspended in the air as Harper ran away. I took it to mean she is now the seed, she's the one trapped now. It was a sort of thematic transfer.
That's what I saw. He was deliberately violating her boundaries. It was a message to her that no matter how solid her boundaries are he will defy them.
Still feel as though my first reading of this film holds: it was like someone made a horror movie metaphor for when i tried to report sexual harassment to a university
yeah same for me when I tried to report it at my workplace. The gaslighting, the pressure to say the exact right thing at the exact right time while in very stressful conversations with my harasser and HR, knowing how high the stakes are, the anger and mistrust, how his allies (men I knew and liked, who were kind to me every day beforehand) closed ranks around him, let alone the microaggression misogyny of the words that are *actually* said. Stuff like that made it feel like reality was shifting around me so that I kind of knew what was going on, but wasn't really sure how I got there or how I could retrace my steps and get back. Very hard to explain while I was in it. I felt a lot of that when I watched Men, I thought it was a brilliant film.
I've seen a lot of people complain that "Men" really doesn't have anything new to say about sexism, but I really like it for portraying it such a unique and visceral way.
I know right! It really portrays how sexist society and women are towards men. It really shows how deeply they generalize men and treat them like shit cause of the actions of a few!
The entire first half of this video was wonderfully unsettling. The tension was off the roof and this video managed to make me put attention to every detail of every word while simultaneously making me continuously pause it in some sort of surprise adversed preparation. The tematic composition and pacing really come together great. Thank you for the video-and for introducing me to three great poems (though, I'll admit, the second one is my favorite)!
I am seeing a lot of comments about the lack of voiceover for this video, so I just wanted to say that I personally loved this format. It made the analysis feel so concise and deliberate, like everything that needed to be said was said and time was given for the proper breathing room to absorb it all. I don’t expect it to be anything more than a unique approach for this particular video, but I really liked it especially with the poetry readings :)
Exactly! It mirrors what he's saying about how the walking sequence of the movie prepares the audience for the poetics of the "resolution." The WAY that the video's creator analyzed that walking sequence prepared me for the work of attending to the meaning and feeling(!) of his "conclusion." The video essay would need me to read deeply (both the movie's imagery and the selected poems), and so it drew me into a place of receptiveness (to the images of the film, and the text of the essayist) by requiring my visual and linguistic attention. In the same way that the video mirrors the film, this video's frustrated commenters have found themselves mirroring the objections of the film's frustrated critics. So much of the displeasure at the video's lack of voiceover just goes to show how many of the "viewers" came to this experience expecting it to fully reward them for their half-engagement (audio only in an audio-visual work). It's the same mindset as those who sat down to watch an art-house film expecting to receive total narrative closure while only passively (dis-)engaged. This aversion to engaging fully with the present moment is literally the antithesis of this video essay and its true subject: poetry.
My sister, her husband and I watched this in October in the middle of the night. We all understood the meaning, but could barely speak about it. The film dug out all my primal fears about strange men. All the times when I had travelled alone as a teen and was targeted by some pervert in a train. All the times I saw a group of men on the street and started walking faster. Many don't even try to understand this film and dismiss it as "man-hating propaganda". They have no idea what it's like to live with a constant worry.
Totally get your feeling. Basically 50% of humankind live in fear of the other 50%, and this is a timeless phenomena. It is not "political," it is existential, and the film captures this very well. I love it.
Every man lives in constant fear of being humiliated, beated down walking in the night, in broad day light even. Not only woman but man feel this shit too, in a kinda different way - yes. But world is equally hostile to anyone by the nature
@@yurgensoomerik2868 *sigh* Man, this is not some sort of pissing contest. I am talking about a female-specific problem, not trying to invalidate men's problems.
Men kind of feels like jazz starting off with a well composed piece that's been practiced and well-honed to an excellently polished piece, and then it ends up going very freeform and improvised by the end. Very pure expression that's kind of hard to parse. But you can very much just appreciate it as a whole and not worry about understanding the individual parts.
I love how you always approach making these videos in different ways that perfectly compliment the film you're talking about. This was excellent, truly.
The lack of voiceover for much of the essay is my FAVORITE part. It mirrors what the video's creator says about how the walking sequence of the movie prepares the audience for the poetics of the "resolution." The WAY that the video's creator analyzed that walking sequence prepared me for the work of attending to the meaning and feeling(!) of his "conclusion." The video essay's structure coaxed me into providing the kind of active attention that the essay's content requires in order to be fully experienced. Reading the video's analysis animated on top of the film's visuals was an early cue to (and reward for) reading deeply (both into the movie's imagery and the selected poems). It drew me into a place of receptiveness to the images of the film and the text of the essayist by requiring my visual and linguistic attention. In the same way that the video mirrors the film, this video's frustrated commenters have found themselves mirroring the objections of the film's frustrated critics. So much of the displeasure at the video's lack of voiceover just goes to show how many of the "viewers" came to this experience expecting it to fully reward them for their half-engagement (audio only in an audio-visual work). It's the same mindset as those who sat down to watch an art-house film expecting to receive total narrative closure while only passively (dis-)engaged. This aversion to engaging fully with the present moment is literally the antithesis of this video essay and its true subject: poetry. Was this a sloppily crafted video essay... or a really good poem? EDITS: corrected some phrasing
oh i really enjoyed this! for some reason the additional attention of having to read made the whole thing more immersive and tense in a way? also as an artistic choice it really works - considering the subject matter!
Even just the walk scene is so relatable as a woman. I can't tell you how many times I've been enjoying a peaceful walk alone somewhere, either in my neighborhood or a park or somewhere more remote, and suddenly I see a man, and everything changes. It's jarring, to realize A., you're not alone, and B., you may be in danger. The walk is no longer peaceful or enjoyable. You're instantly on guard, even if the man looks or seems "normal" or "respectable". You just want to get to safety.
@@soccerandtrack10OBVIOUSLY we are hyper vigilant “against” men, we HAVE to be, so we don’t get raped or killed. It’s a survival skill. Before you try to act like women are unreasonable, paranoid, or crazy, remember that our hyper vigilance is backed up by statistics and real lived experience.
The imagery of the blowing dandelion and hand entering the mails slot immediately made me think of ejaculation and penetration, respectively. Dandelions proliferate by wind scattering their seeds, so the man blowing them AT her felt so targeted and violating, especially once she retreated and closed the door, setting a clear boundary. But then he violated that boundary anyway! It almost seemed deliberate on his part that he waited for the door to close before ignoring the physical barrier completely. When you read the mail slot as a vagina, especially with the whole room lit in diffused pink and red, the whole scene feels like rape. Nightmarish, really...
Especially because she's been finding third options in double-bind scenarios the whole movie before this. It's like that third path she was carefully hunting for the rest of the movie, RELYING on, has been sealed off.
My interpretation of the film was along the lines of "Patriarchy as Cosmic Horror" inescapable and undeniable danger. Things morphing together and coming from each other at the same time, the endless cycle of abuse and inherited trauma. There's no escape and realizing that safety is only something that only exists in her ignorance until she takes in her surroundings. No new start will make the social and structural dangers go away. Tainting every facet of both her world and how we see that world through cinematography. I thought it was amazing as an art piece, I love your comparison to a poem. A special note about the hallway scene, it could be another nod to the repeating cycle of trauma and abuse, it's not the first time she or another traumatized person has run through that hall from a grasping hand.
im guilty of multitasking and only listening to videos, not watching them. im really glad you made the first half only visual and made me pay attention
I find the text approach to this video supremely engaging and very appropriate for discussing the film’s poetry and you succeeded in getting me to observe the film and the video itself more intently and you lulled me into the very state that you discuss in the final part of the video. My new favorite video of yours, absolutely well done!
I never got poetry, and just didn’t like it. But you explaining it as a way to destroy our brain’s abstract labeling into experience, feeling, and meaning makes complete sense to me. Maybe I need to give poetry another try.
That translation of the 李白 poem is particularly fitting for this video, I think! Firstly because the translator was a self-admittedly 'vibes only' translator, focusing more on conveying the feeling each of 李白‘s poems gave the reader rather than trying to preserve the a lot of the particulars. Secondly because the common reading of the original Chinese poem doesn't have a woman in it. Adding a woman to the poem and then asking her a potentially intrusive question (where do you live?) aligns with the themes explored in the movie.
its interesting you lol after 'i like how pissed she is about this' re going into the door in the woods. it may be an unusual choice to show it on film but in reality, women are pissed in situations like this. you have to assume you're at risk, that others will judge your choices to be wrong should the situation go south, that schroedingers man both means you harm and is blissfully unaware you could even be thinking that, and know that men deal with none of this just.. walking. living. harper is pissed, why wouldn't she be?
For a video where I spent the majority of it reading, this was so unsettling. I don't know how you did it, but you did! Bravo! I really like when you experiment with different ways to make your videos. But all your videos have something very important in common, they all come together so beautifully by the end that they leave me feeling breathless. Thank you, I am amazed by you like always.
This is one of the best video essays I've watched. I love how you explored this movie. The beginning sequence and then the reframing at the end was great. Editing was on point.
My own interpretation but the tunnel seeming like a birth canal. Harper sings in the canal. And, because I'm really into pagan, old god, and female mythology: the earth (mud) represents a life giving thing, the vaginal canal/uterus a life giving thing, at the time in the Wheel of the Year/Spring representing life and especially women's voices (thinking almost incantations) her voice brings this creature into being. She was singing and trying to rid herself of the trauma, pain, and abuse given to her by her husband. All of that she carried within her to this place trying to rid herself of it. She probably did quite a bit of reflection of those events, even subconsciously while walking in nature that day. And when she sang, she gave life to this thing inadvertantly, because using your voice, will, and intention is POWER. So to focus on something specifically is important when doing voice work and creation. Creative people from other, older cultures speak of having to be very careful of their intentions, thoughts, things they say, or even sing while making their work, lest it bring about bad intentions. Lest it spoil the creation. And before anyone tries to call me out for blaming the victim, that is NOT at all what I am saying. Harper didn't realize the power she had within herself, except for a few random times within the movie. She needed to find her power, and sometimes it even starts with the intentions or the powerful words of NO, ENOUGH, LEAVE ME ALONE, STOP, etc, while matching the words with the action like standing up, being defiant, speaking her truth which she struggled mightily with. In society women are not taught that we ARE POWERFUL and have ALWAYS been. Then when we start to believe it ourselves, it scares men and they use a lot of different tactics, shown by all the toxic male archetypes to tamp it down and keep it in control. The Catholic Church has done the same when it took over the more pagan older religions of many peoples throughout Europe. Before that, while not perfect, many old religions had a male deity and female deity that worked together and were both equally powerful. The Green Man is the MALE personification of nature. His partner The Mother Goddess/Mother Earth, the FEMALE personification is missing. It was easier to push the new male centered religion on the people after being conquered by taking their old symbols and placing them in the churches with the new symbols. That is why the Green Man altar remained in the church and noticeably the Sheela na gig (as a stand-in for the lost feminine energy) remained the other side of that altar because she was his partner. Notice the church only shows depictions of men and NO depiction of Mary...and if they ever did she would be a VIRGIN/fully covered, not a powerful female sexually active naked deity with her body totally exposed. Many old religion female deities represented birth/life/death/sex/war/fertility/with supernatural power (command of animals/shapeshifting/control of the elements/raising the dead/healing/etc.). What I am getting at is the Green Man in this movie had been bastardized by the new gods/religions too and his mate/consorts almost totally wiped clean of he former power/symbolism/or is totally missing. Basically patriarchy destroyed both male and female roles that once had been held and revered for millennia before the Catholic Church took over. Honestly I felt so bad for Harper, but I also felt so bad for the Green Man, too. He was a shell of his former self. And, he lost his powerfully willing female consort/partner and therefore could only use his fertile energy to give birth by himself with horrible results. He had no partner to copulate with (and the point that all the men had disparaging things to say about sex and women's sexuality wasn't lost on me. Heck some old religious deities have the female BRINGING THE MALE back to life via sex shows how powerful female sexuality is) and share the cycle of life coming from a true womb (via his traditional partner Mother Goddess/Mother Earth). He went through so much pain, to produce a stunted, incomplete version of new life and a horrible copy of trauma...not just from Harper, but having the stigmata wounds of Christ on his body (Christ being a deity that was never FULLY allowed a female consort with the full power of her sex. And Christ being denied his own sexual sovereignty). Being a nature deity he should have been able to heal himself, but he kept producing the trauma of HIMSELF over and over again and suffering for it. So nobody wins in patriarchy. Both men and women suffer...but because the men had better representation in the social order of power, women suffer MORE. At the end when you see Harper's friend appear and she is pregnant, it felt like such a relief. Here is this strong woman who is carrying a child she will be having with a man who loves her and accepts her powerful and vibrant nature. She's a very capable, empathetic, strong symbol of a MOTHER and feminine energy showing up to help her friend. Thanks for hanging in there for my Ted Talk. LOL
This movie reminded me of Lucky (2020). They both use an bizarre premise to explore the how being a woman can feel like being under constant threat. Both have a sort of dreamlike absurdity to them, but there's some thing very different about their tone that I had a bit of trouble putting my finger on. I think the poetry analogy nails it. Lucky is the premise as a SF short story; Men is the premise as a poem.
You are so good at putting your thoughts to video. The rhythm, the editing, the way your arguments build on themselves. I'm glad I waited to watch this until I had the time to pay full attention to it.
The scene right after she comes up off the path and stands in front of the two houses.She pauses thinks about going in between them but decides to instead go on the outside hit so hard. She’s out of immediate danger but not quite safe yet so she’s still on edge. The feeling of unease doesn’t fully dissipate till she is completely out in the open.
I tend to shy away from text heavy videos. The reason I enjoy videos so much is that I'm a shitty reader, willing but easily frustrated by my own limitations. Every now and then there's a piece that you just drop all else for and let it take the lead for a while. This was one of those. Here the silence felt easy - viewing wise that is, paced and flowing; the unease was well conveyed in the contents too. So beautiful.
love your thoughts on this but i also loveeee the format of your other vids, your narration can be really cinematic and really adds to the experience. i hope u go back to that but if not i’ll still watch !
I watched this movie a few months ago & came away from it feeling it was a heavy handed sloppy mess, but your carefully & thoughtfully crafted analysis has made me realise I didn't give it a fair shake. Gonna give it a rewatch soon through the lense of the points you raised in this video. Thanks for the shift in perspective.
I didnt like skinamarink until i saw a video essay about it. I didnt understand it with my lens, but through a different persepctive its more enjoyable. Understandable. It became a better watch afterwards. In the same vein here, his lens was helpful in enjoying this movie.
When I saw this in theatres I cried for the first hour due to it reflecting a very deep trauma I had in a relationship when I was freshly 18. There was something so familiar about the film that was almost cloying, but I think I’m due for a rewatch as there is a frustrating nagging about its plotting. A mirror that amplified the terrors of my lived experience.
I used to write poetry a lot but I haven't been able to access it for a while, since the pandemic started at least. But this made my brain alive with it in a way it hadn't been for a while, which was refreshing. It's funny, I didn't pick up the surreal symbology of the movies later parts as poetic, but the movie made me look up poetry anyway. After the vicar's fucking horrible lecture to Harper with all the references--I couldn't make out all his words, but I got that the first one was something about Agamemnon and then she asks him what he is and he says "a swan"--which immediately made me think of Leda and the Swan, both the myth and the Yeats poem. Also interesting that the poem suggests that the Swan's rape of Leda is what leads to Agamemnon's death. Destructive birth birthing future destruction. I just keep thinking about that line right before things go off the fucking walls, where Geoffrey tells Harper that he's going to check for her intruder outside (despite Harper repeating telling him not to) and Geoffrey says something like "A failed soldier" "What?" (Harper) "My father said I was like a failed soldier. I was only seven. I guess I'll show him." The descendant line of toxic masculinity, from father to son (which always makes me think of This Be The Verse by Phillip Larkin). But what the video kind of helps clarify for me as well is--the movie's not just showing us that cycle, it's showing us Harper watching that cycle, and still not being impressed. All that inner pain and turmoil of toxic masculinity doesn't mean you don't get fucking stabbed if you cross the one boundary remaining.It's sad and gross and disturbing, but it's a reason, not a goddamn excuse.
This was a really interesting analysis... I really love the tie in with poetry. Actually, maybe even more than anything to do with the film itself; I found myself reaching to revisit a copy of Rimbaud's Illuminations and found myself sitting with a new sort of appreciation for the observations and imagery in his poetry perhaps in a sort of similar way. Some, maybe even almost more fitting than your examples (which is not meant as a criticism; I'm just a Rimbaud fanboy of sorts and thank you for inciting the inclination to re-read some of his works with a similar framework, if that makes sense...) On another note, I thought that captioning the first half was a brilliant move leading into where you actually start talking; on an artistic level but also on a practical one, where it forces one to actually pay attention to the imagery.
Have you ever considered writing a short story or screenplay yourself? Your analyses are always so enthralling, I would love to experience something that you'd expose and guide me through, just like your videos - or you know, throw me to the wolves and make me figure it out, I'd be there for it either way. Even that brief pencil example blew my hair right the fuck back about conceptualizaiton of poetry and how it tries to unravel my concrete brain. So grateful to have found you as I wouldn't have the patience to understand these concepts anywhere else, especially because you explain them so effortlessly and tactfully.
This might just be one of the best videos on this platform. Just pure art appreciation and thoughtfulness. We absolutely need more of this kind of thing! Thank you
I've finally watched the movie and... phew, what a (very gory) trip! Thanks for the essay (and kudos on the awesome editing style you went with!). I'll add (for the people who, like me, might spend too much time deconstructing a poem such as this one) that there's a lot to dig into regarding nature and the way it is portrayed in the movie. It appears as if Garland suggest that women are 'more natural' than men: Harper wanders in a forest, a safe space of healing and confort, a shot of a tree looks suspiciously like a pair of voluptuous... "clefted legs". Meanwhile, the Green Man, while a representation of nature, feels at odds with it, always wandering about it non quite natural spaces (the tunnel, the abandoned house, the cemetary). While nature seems organic with Harper, he has to cut his face to insert leaves underneath his skin. Anyhoo, I'm kind of curious about this theme of the movie so I just wanted to jut those thoughts down here. Keep up the good (great) work! Your channel is one of my absolute favorites! :)
Just found you today through this video and have been binging you videos. They're so good. Really insightful thoughts, and so well produced as to communicate those thoughts. Here's hoping to this channel taking off and making enough so you can do this full time, good luck!
I have been enjoying your videos for a while now, but this one is really special to me. I have recently gotten into poetry myself and this was a really great explanation of your perspective on poetry and the way that you presented the video played with form in it of itself, which I think is very fittingly poetic.
Just got to the spoiler warning. I had maybe heard of this movie in passing once, but the first 10 minutes of this video have completely convinced me to watch it. I hope to come back to this video very soon.
Interesting format for a video. I like it. I think some people dislike it because they don't like the content to change. I understand, they like certain content for a reason and if that reason goes away, so does their interest. I think it's worth taking the risk to express your art in the way you want and I got a lot out of the format of this video. So thank you for this.
After seeing the movie I was in the desperate search of a good analysis video and this channel never disappoints. The video prolonged my experience with the movie and helped me so much with understanding some things I overlooked, and some other things I felt but couldn't quite express. I really liked the movie itself, but, and that is the first time it happens to me with a film, I like the video even more. It is also very comforting to listen to a man talking about the experience of being a woman, the fear that comes with it, the internal helplessness and everything, and it being understood so well by someone who do not deal with those issues. That was a very beautiful video about some nightmarish concepts, and I will come back to it sometimes to think of those issues, feel understood, and remembering the atmosphere of the movie. And also, to dig deeper into the cultural nuggets you left here and there for us to enjoy.
The end of this movie is so strange and I still don’t know how I feel about it. I got a lot of the same feelings and reads on it as you did, but there’s also a part of me that wonders how much of it was driven by “look at how upsetting and unsettling this body horror is.” Which is kind of in conflict with the rest of the movie because it’s like… hey you know what’s scary?? This thing that women do!! Whoa!! Disturbing!!
Maybe I'm just insane but I noticed that Harper's dress resembles a REGENCY era gown... Specially in the frame of her playing the piano viewed from the cottage window; placed in a world of patriarchy, but specifically a world of manipulation and self doubt to feel vulnerable like late 1700's or early 1800's, a woman's value is determined by men's choices... Harper's submerged on guilt because of someone else's choice, yet not anyone but her husband... She feels guilt but also she's been punished... Just like a centuries' ago narrative. A man chooses and the woman assimilates.
Started this movie but couldn't finish it. Too intense for me as a woman. I was so tense about halfway through I knew I was headed for a panic attack or smth
I spend so much time "watching" RUclips, having videos play the background while I do something else. I was initially a little annoyed that the first part of this video was text, but by the end I'm so grateful for the encouragement to give this video my full attention as it absolutely deserved it.
We don't always need to explain surreal emotional art with words. Those who get it get it, and I think that's the most important thing. If you get something out of experiencing the art, if it resonates with your own emotions, that's what matters. At least, that's been my experience with certain grotesque art born from trauma. I 'get it,' and trying to explain to others how or why only causes confusion.
I think what I'm trying to say is, some art is a lot less about rationality and more about emotion. And you kinda have to sit back and just experience the emotionas. It's like cocomelon for traumatized adults lol.
I finally watched it, having been an Alex Garland fan from the beginning and carefully avoiding as many spoilers as possible after such a long wait. Thank you for this calm, contemplative look at the film. You are appreciated.
I can't get over how good this video is. I've been thinking about how language ascribes meaning to things, so the way you broke it down was so fascinating to watch.
Really happy that someone is talking about this movie, it’s extremely underrated and I’m surprised to see so many end of the year lists leave this out even though in my opinion it’s best if the year
I'd also say you describing this film as a poem has allowed me to enjoy it in it's entirety, which I did struggle with before 😅 I knew the feelings it was bringing up for me, but sometimes it's hard to break the expectation that a movie feel like a movie first, even when it's getting everything right thematically
An alternative to the Robert Frost poem: A rose, by any other name Would never, ever smell the same. And clever is the nose that knows An onion that's been called a rose.
This is great- I don't think it helped me understand the movie any better, but it did make me think of things not even remotely related in a different way. Thank you.
this movie really brought to mind feelings I had as a girl in childhood especially. Going from big to small so fast depending on the company you were in
Always excited when you upload! Your videos are so curious about the subject you're talking about and you ask questions that make me think about filmmaking and storytelling beyond the movie. Keep up the great work!
Harper just needed a decent backpack of supplies & a good dog. Go deeper into Nature: it's not exclusively a man's world. In fact Nature is rather insistent on balance. So go find your own place in it.
There's something deeply resonant about the mixture of violence and violation with the display of extreme vulnerability and demands for love. Brings to mind every angry guy in some woman's DMs who starts with "hey beautiful," moves on to making demands for sex and tons of attention and ends by calling her misogynistic names and threatening to unalive himself if she won't love him. So, so many of them genuinely do not seem to understand why bombarding women with a combination of neediness and intimidation is not a winning move.
Came to this video thanks to a friend. I LOVED your analysis and how you presented It. I've been thinking about this movie since I saw it, definitively It marked me
after a year on my watchlist, i 've finally watched... this video, after finally watching the film i loved it your video (and the movie) (perfect movie) perfect video, congrats
I hope there's going to be a second movie in which the monster gets her, and makes the unimaginable things becoming of such a monster happen to Harper, with just everything.
absolutely love this film and how it keeps clinging to my mind on some days i think it was too much like "lucky" 2020, but shows not a system - a personal fear born out of traumatic experience with one man on some days i think it's just a very personal perspective, intimate in it's language, and by virtue of that there is nothing like it except life and on some days i just think how cool in is which is why i didn't want to watch the video, not trusting other person to see the film as it has to be seen but yeah.... you.... yeah....
I appreciate the theme in this video of having the male voice be absent, but at the same time it's tough to watch without a voice at all. Maybe instead it would have been worthwhile to hire a voice actor of your choice to read your script for you? Sorry if it sounds selfish, but it's hard to concentrate on just the words and have no dialogue there at all for a whole essay.
@@teletran8 so, do you think that every other Acolyte of Shadows' video is just like every other annoying RUclipsr's? That's hardly fair. Or maybe you want him to REALLY stand out from other RUclipsrs and have his entire script relayed in Morse code while the video is played in reverse and upside down? That would certainly be unique.
I sort of agree with you but I also think having it be in text mirrors what he’s saying about poetry. I think a hired voice actor would’ve been interesting too but considering the poems later in the video ARE voiced it feels very deliberate to have it be silent, not just because it’s a male voice but because it’s an *outside* voice. Having it be quiet contributes to the engagement with the imagery and soundscape of the film itself, you’re forced to pay attention to the visuals because you’re reading, you can’t tab out and get the same experience.
It’s OBVIOUSLY part of the art……WHAT he’s trying to impart. Christ do you people bate reading THAT much!? Don’t you watch foreign films with subtitles!? I just cannot grasp this hatred of reading like it’s some chore that most modern people seem to possess. Sad & lazy. Shows a definite lack of intelligence & curiosity.
I definitely agree when you say you found yourself more interested in the aesthetics - I don't think Alex Garland's projects are boring, etc. story-wise, but it seems like he prioritizes style over substance
![Stromae, Pomme - “Ma Meilleure Ennemie” (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Visualizer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1F3OGIFnW1k/mqdefault.jpg)
That mail slot is the most blatant vagina/canal metaphor I've ever seen. Like he had to wait for her to shut the door so he could violate it, because it wasn't about just catching her, it was about breaking her boundary after she put it up.
also it's so validating when a creator you like "gets" your art form. Cheers man.
Similarly, I was surprised that Nathan didn't seem to make the metaphorical connection with the scene where the monster blows dandelion seeds in Harper's face. I thought it was obvious - "forcing his seed into her." I don't think further elaboration is needed.
@@DirkMcThermot I sorta took that a way deeper way, so maybe I'm the weirdo. There was the scene with the dandelion seed suspended in the air as Harper ran away. I took it to mean she is now the seed, she's the one trapped now. It was a sort of thematic transfer.
Don't forget the tunnel!
That's what I saw. He was deliberately violating her boundaries. It was a message to her that no matter how solid her boundaries are he will defy them.
Still feel as though my first reading of this film holds: it was like someone made a horror movie metaphor for when i tried to report sexual harassment to a university
yeah same for me when I tried to report it at my workplace. The gaslighting, the pressure to say the exact right thing at the exact right time while in very stressful conversations with my harasser and HR, knowing how high the stakes are, the anger and mistrust, how his allies (men I knew and liked, who were kind to me every day beforehand) closed ranks around him, let alone the microaggression misogyny of the words that are *actually* said.
Stuff like that made it feel like reality was shifting around me so that I kind of knew what was going on, but wasn't really sure how I got there or how I could retrace my steps and get back. Very hard to explain while I was in it. I felt a lot of that when I watched Men, I thought it was a brilliant film.
@Enoch Bullslayer I love how you're unironically proving their point, and the point of the movie, in this deeply un-self-aware comment.
Same!
@Enoch Bullslayer choke
@Enoch Bullslayer People who throw their weight around at work by sexually intimidating their coworkers are weak.
I've seen a lot of people complain that "Men" really doesn't have anything new to say about sexism, but I really like it for portraying it such a unique and visceral way.
I know right! It really portrays how sexist society and women are towards men. It really shows how deeply they generalize men and treat them like shit cause of the actions of a few!
The entire first half of this video was wonderfully unsettling. The tension was off the roof and this video managed to make me put attention to every detail of every word while simultaneously making me continuously pause it in some sort of surprise adversed preparation. The tematic composition and pacing really come together great. Thank you for the video-and for introducing me to three great poems (though, I'll admit, the second one is my favorite)!
I am seeing a lot of comments about the lack of voiceover for this video, so I just wanted to say that I personally loved this format. It made the analysis feel so concise and deliberate, like everything that needed to be said was said and time was given for the proper breathing room to absorb it all. I don’t expect it to be anything more than a unique approach for this particular video, but I really liked it especially with the poetry readings :)
The only reason it makes me sad is i treat RUclips videos like podcasts. I listen, i don't watch often.
I very much enjoyed the change up in format. It fit with the movie, and the pacing was spot on.
I mean sure I'm not gonna watch it though and really would have liked to know their thoughts was on it I just don't have time to sit and read rn
Exactly! It mirrors what he's saying about how the walking sequence of the movie prepares the audience for the poetics of the "resolution."
The WAY that the video's creator analyzed that walking sequence prepared me for the work of attending to the meaning and feeling(!) of his "conclusion." The video essay would need me to read deeply (both the movie's imagery and the selected poems), and so it drew me into a place of receptiveness (to the images of the film, and the text of the essayist) by requiring my visual and linguistic attention.
In the same way that the video mirrors the film, this video's frustrated commenters have found themselves mirroring the objections of the film's frustrated critics.
So much of the displeasure at the video's lack of voiceover just goes to show how many of the "viewers" came to this experience expecting it to fully reward them for their half-engagement (audio only in an audio-visual work). It's the same mindset as those who sat down to watch an art-house film expecting to receive total narrative closure while only passively (dis-)engaged.
This aversion to engaging fully with the present moment is literally the antithesis of this video essay and its true subject: poetry.
10000% agree, totally appropriate and perfect for this particular video/movie
As a woman who experiences paranoia from trauma, i really appreciated the first part of the vid
My sister, her husband and I watched this in October in the middle of the night. We all understood the meaning, but could barely speak about it.
The film dug out all my primal fears about strange men. All the times when I had travelled alone as a teen and was targeted by some pervert in a train. All the times I saw a group of men on the street and started walking faster.
Many don't even try to understand this film and dismiss it as "man-hating propaganda". They have no idea what it's like to live with a constant worry.
Totally get your feeling. Basically 50% of humankind live in fear of the other 50%, and this is a timeless phenomena. It is not "political," it is existential, and the film captures this very well. I love it.
Every man lives in constant fear of being humiliated, beated down walking in the night, in broad day light even. Not only woman but man feel this shit too, in a kinda different way - yes. But world is equally hostile to anyone by the nature
@@yurgensoomerik2868 But they often don't need to fear sexual assault.
@@Logitah okay, but what about being disabled after? Isnt it equally bad? Life ruined in both cases
@@yurgensoomerik2868 *sigh* Man, this is not some sort of pissing contest. I am talking about a female-specific problem, not trying to invalidate men's problems.
Men kind of feels like jazz starting off with a well composed piece that's been practiced and well-honed to an excellently polished piece, and then it ends up going very freeform and improvised by the end. Very pure expression that's kind of hard to parse. But you can very much just appreciate it as a whole and not worry about understanding the individual parts.
This man is one of the most talented essayists on this platform, it’s crazy how underrated this channel is. Hoping your channel blows up man
I love how you always approach making these videos in different ways that perfectly compliment the film you're talking about. This was excellent, truly.
The lack of voiceover for much of the essay is my FAVORITE part.
It mirrors what the video's creator says about how the walking sequence of the movie prepares the audience for the poetics of the "resolution."
The WAY that the video's creator analyzed that walking sequence prepared me for the work of attending to the meaning and feeling(!) of his "conclusion." The video essay's structure coaxed me into providing the kind of active attention that the essay's content requires in order to be fully experienced.
Reading the video's analysis animated on top of the film's visuals was an early cue to (and reward for) reading deeply (both into the movie's imagery and the selected poems). It drew me into a place of receptiveness to the images of the film and the text of the essayist by requiring my visual and linguistic attention.
In the same way that the video mirrors the film, this video's frustrated commenters have found themselves mirroring the objections of the film's frustrated critics.
So much of the displeasure at the video's lack of voiceover just goes to show how many of the "viewers" came to this experience expecting it to fully reward them for their half-engagement (audio only in an audio-visual work). It's the same mindset as those who sat down to watch an art-house film expecting to receive total narrative closure while only passively (dis-)engaged.
This aversion to engaging fully with the present moment is literally the antithesis of this video essay and its true subject: poetry.
Was this a sloppily crafted video essay... or a really good poem?
EDITS: corrected some phrasing
oh i really enjoyed this! for some reason the additional attention of having to read made the whole thing more immersive and tense in a way?
also as an artistic choice it really works - considering the subject matter!
Even just the walk scene is so relatable as a woman. I can't tell you how many times I've been enjoying a peaceful walk alone somewhere, either in my neighborhood or a park or somewhere more remote, and suddenly I see a man, and everything changes. It's jarring, to realize A., you're not alone, and B., you may be in danger. The walk is no longer peaceful or enjoyable. You're instantly on guard, even if the man looks or seems "normal" or "respectable". You just want to get to safety.
Girls are hyper vigilent ageinst guys then.
@@soccerandtrack10OBVIOUSLY we are hyper vigilant “against” men, we HAVE to be, so we don’t get raped or killed. It’s a survival skill. Before you try to act like women are unreasonable, paranoid, or crazy, remember that our hyper vigilance is backed up by statistics and real lived experience.
I love how so many women think this experience is exclusive only to them.
@@soccerandtrack10i wonder why
@@ZombiiChixthis experience is made substantially different and more fearful when being a woman and acting like it wouldn’t is fucking stupid
The imagery of the blowing dandelion and hand entering the mails slot immediately made me think of ejaculation and penetration, respectively. Dandelions proliferate by wind scattering their seeds, so the man blowing them AT her felt so targeted and violating, especially once she retreated and closed the door, setting a clear boundary. But then he violated that boundary anyway! It almost seemed deliberate on his part that he waited for the door to close before ignoring the physical barrier completely. When you read the mail slot as a vagina, especially with the whole room lit in diffused pink and red, the whole scene feels like rape. Nightmarish, really...
Especially because she's been finding third options in double-bind scenarios the whole movie before this. It's like that third path she was carefully hunting for the rest of the movie, RELYING on, has been sealed off.
My interpretation of the film was along the lines of "Patriarchy as Cosmic Horror" inescapable and undeniable danger. Things morphing together and coming from each other at the same time, the endless cycle of abuse and inherited trauma. There's no escape and realizing that safety is only something that only exists in her ignorance until she takes in her surroundings. No new start will make the social and structural dangers go away. Tainting every facet of both her world and how we see that world through cinematography. I thought it was amazing as an art piece, I love your comparison to a poem.
A special note about the hallway scene, it could be another nod to the repeating cycle of trauma and abuse, it's not the first time she or another traumatized person has run through that hall from a grasping hand.
"Patriarchy as Cosmic Horror" is such a great phrase :D
I love patriarchy
Patriarchy is the only think you got.
@@alexmason8557 lmao beta
@@orcd0rk you wanna live in a matriarchal pussified society? Take a wild guess who's the beta.
im guilty of multitasking and only listening to videos, not watching them. im really glad you made the first half only visual and made me pay attention
I literally started reading comments when he started talking and I keep having to catch myself and back up lol.
I find the text approach to this video supremely engaging and very appropriate for discussing the film’s poetry and you succeeded in getting me to observe the film and the video itself more intently and you lulled me into the very state that you discuss in the final part of the video. My new favorite video of yours, absolutely well done!
I never got poetry, and just didn’t like it. But you explaining it as a way to destroy our brain’s abstract labeling into experience, feeling, and meaning makes complete sense to me. Maybe I need to give poetry another try.
That translation of the 李白 poem is particularly fitting for this video, I think! Firstly because the translator was a self-admittedly 'vibes only' translator, focusing more on conveying the feeling each of 李白‘s poems gave the reader rather than trying to preserve the a lot of the particulars. Secondly because the common reading of the original Chinese poem doesn't have a woman in it. Adding a woman to the poem and then asking her a potentially intrusive question (where do you live?) aligns with the themes explored in the movie.
its interesting you lol after 'i like how pissed she is about this' re going into the door in the woods. it may be an unusual choice to show it on film but in reality, women are pissed in situations like this. you have to assume you're at risk, that others will judge your choices to be wrong should the situation go south, that schroedingers man both means you harm and is blissfully unaware you could even be thinking that, and know that men deal with none of this just.. walking. living. harper is pissed, why wouldn't she be?
For a video where I spent the majority of it reading, this was so unsettling. I don't know how you did it, but you did! Bravo! I really like when you experiment with different ways to make your videos. But all your videos have something very important in common, they all come together so beautifully by the end that they leave me feeling breathless. Thank you, I am amazed by you like always.
This is one of the best video essays I've watched. I love how you explored this movie. The beginning sequence and then the reframing at the end was great. Editing was on point.
Since I saw "Men" I've been wondering why I liked that movie so much. Now I know. You put into words what I only felt intuitively. Thank you.
My own interpretation but the tunnel seeming like a birth canal. Harper sings in the canal. And, because I'm really into pagan, old god, and female mythology: the earth (mud) represents a life giving thing, the vaginal canal/uterus a life giving thing, at the time in the Wheel of the Year/Spring representing life and especially women's voices (thinking almost incantations) her voice brings this creature into being. She was singing and trying to rid herself of the trauma, pain, and abuse given to her by her husband. All of that she carried within her to this place trying to rid herself of it. She probably did quite a bit of reflection of those events, even subconsciously while walking in nature that day. And when she sang, she gave life to this thing inadvertantly, because using your voice, will, and intention is POWER. So to focus on something specifically is important when doing voice work and creation. Creative people from other, older cultures speak of having to be very careful of their intentions, thoughts, things they say, or even sing while making their work, lest it bring about bad intentions. Lest it spoil the creation. And before anyone tries to call me out for blaming the victim, that is NOT at all what I am saying. Harper didn't realize the power she had within herself, except for a few random times within the movie. She needed to find her power, and sometimes it even starts with the intentions or the powerful words of NO, ENOUGH, LEAVE ME ALONE, STOP, etc, while matching the words with the action like standing up, being defiant, speaking her truth which she struggled mightily with. In society women are not taught that we ARE POWERFUL and have ALWAYS been. Then when we start to believe it ourselves, it scares men and they use a lot of different tactics, shown by all the toxic male archetypes to tamp it down and keep it in control.
The Catholic Church has done the same when it took over the more pagan older religions of many peoples throughout Europe. Before that, while not perfect, many old religions had a male deity and female deity that worked together and were both equally powerful. The Green Man is the MALE personification of nature. His partner The Mother Goddess/Mother Earth, the FEMALE personification is missing. It was easier to push the new male centered religion on the people after being conquered by taking their old symbols and placing them in the churches with the new symbols. That is why the Green Man altar remained in the church and noticeably the Sheela na gig (as a stand-in for the lost feminine energy) remained the other side of that altar because she was his partner. Notice the church only shows depictions of men and NO depiction of Mary...and if they ever did she would be a VIRGIN/fully covered, not a powerful female sexually active naked deity with her body totally exposed. Many old religion female deities represented birth/life/death/sex/war/fertility/with supernatural power (command of animals/shapeshifting/control of the elements/raising the dead/healing/etc.). What I am getting at is the Green Man in this movie had been bastardized by the new gods/religions too and his mate/consorts almost totally wiped clean of he former power/symbolism/or is totally missing. Basically patriarchy destroyed both male and female roles that once had been held and revered for millennia before the Catholic Church took over.
Honestly I felt so bad for Harper, but I also felt so bad for the Green Man, too. He was a shell of his former self. And, he lost his powerfully willing female consort/partner and therefore could only use his fertile energy to give birth by himself with horrible results. He had no partner to copulate with (and the point that all the men had disparaging things to say about sex and women's sexuality wasn't lost on me. Heck some old religious deities have the female BRINGING THE MALE back to life via sex shows how powerful female sexuality is) and share the cycle of life coming from a true womb (via his traditional partner Mother Goddess/Mother Earth). He went through so much pain, to produce a stunted, incomplete version of new life and a horrible copy of trauma...not just from Harper, but having the stigmata wounds of Christ on his body (Christ being a deity that was never FULLY allowed a female consort with the full power of her sex. And Christ being denied his own sexual sovereignty). Being a nature deity he should have been able to heal himself, but he kept producing the trauma of HIMSELF over and over again and suffering for it. So nobody wins in patriarchy. Both men and women suffer...but because the men had better representation in the social order of power, women suffer MORE.
At the end when you see Harper's friend appear and she is pregnant, it felt like such a relief. Here is this strong woman who is carrying a child she will be having with a man who loves her and accepts her powerful and vibrant nature. She's a very capable, empathetic, strong symbol of a MOTHER and feminine energy showing up to help her friend.
Thanks for hanging in there for my Ted Talk. LOL
This movie reminded me of Lucky (2020). They both use an bizarre premise to explore the how being a woman can feel like being under constant threat. Both have a sort of dreamlike absurdity to them, but there's some thing very different about their tone that I had a bit of trouble putting my finger on. I think the poetry analogy nails it. Lucky is the premise as a SF short story; Men is the premise as a poem.
You are so good at putting your thoughts to video. The rhythm, the editing, the way your arguments build on themselves.
I'm glad I waited to watch this until I had the time to pay full attention to it.
The scene right after she comes up off the path and stands in front of the two houses.She pauses thinks about going in between them but decides to instead go on the outside hit so hard. She’s out of immediate danger but not quite safe yet so she’s still on edge. The feeling of unease doesn’t fully dissipate till she is completely out in the open.
I tend to shy away from text heavy videos. The reason I enjoy videos so much is that I'm a shitty reader, willing but easily frustrated by my own limitations. Every now and then there's a piece that you just drop all else for and let it take the lead for a while. This was one of those. Here the silence felt easy - viewing wise that is, paced and flowing; the unease was well conveyed in the contents too. So beautiful.
love your thoughts on this but i also loveeee the format of your other vids, your narration can be really cinematic and really adds to the experience. i hope u go back to that but if not i’ll still watch !
I watched this movie a few months ago & came away from it feeling it was a heavy handed sloppy mess, but your carefully & thoughtfully crafted analysis has made me realise I didn't give it a fair shake. Gonna give it a rewatch soon through the lense of the points you raised in this video. Thanks for the shift in perspective.
I think you were right the first time. It is a heavy-handed mess.
I didnt like skinamarink until i saw a video essay about it. I didnt understand it with my lens, but through a different persepctive its more enjoyable. Understandable. It became a better watch afterwards. In the same vein here, his lens was helpful in enjoying this movie.
@@kendromThen you need to actually watch this video
I love how Harper’s job is so nondescript. “Reviewing document and giving feedback”. So relatable lol
This is your best work yet, the editing is immaculate and extremely poetic!
When I saw this in theatres I cried for the first hour due to it reflecting a very deep trauma I had in a relationship when I was freshly 18. There was something so familiar about the film that was almost cloying, but I think I’m due for a rewatch as there is a frustrating nagging about its plotting. A mirror that amplified the terrors of my lived experience.
I loved this! Sometimes movies are beautiful poems and that's wonderful to me.
You are constantly upgrading. Every work (better term than "video" in your case, I think) evolves from the pevious. Well done!
I used to write poetry a lot but I haven't been able to access it for a while, since the pandemic started at least. But this made my brain alive with it in a way it hadn't been for a while, which was refreshing.
It's funny, I didn't pick up the surreal symbology of the movies later parts as poetic, but the movie made me look up poetry anyway. After the vicar's fucking horrible lecture to Harper with all the references--I couldn't make out all his words, but I got that the first one was something about Agamemnon and then she asks him what he is and he says "a swan"--which immediately made me think of Leda and the Swan, both the myth and the Yeats poem.
Also interesting that the poem suggests that the Swan's rape of Leda is what leads to Agamemnon's death. Destructive birth birthing future destruction.
I just keep thinking about that line right before things go off the fucking walls, where Geoffrey tells Harper that he's going to check for her intruder outside (despite Harper repeating telling him not to) and Geoffrey says something like "A failed soldier" "What?" (Harper) "My father said I was like a failed soldier. I was only seven. I guess I'll show him." The descendant line of toxic masculinity, from father to son (which always makes me think of This Be The Verse by Phillip Larkin). But what the video kind of helps clarify for me as well is--the movie's not just showing us that cycle, it's showing us Harper watching that cycle, and still not being impressed. All that inner pain and turmoil of toxic masculinity doesn't mean you don't get fucking stabbed if you cross the one boundary remaining.It's sad and gross and disturbing, but it's a reason, not a goddamn excuse.
This was a really interesting analysis... I really love the tie in with poetry. Actually, maybe even more than anything to do with the film itself; I found myself reaching to revisit a copy of Rimbaud's Illuminations and found myself sitting with a new sort of appreciation for the observations and imagery in his poetry perhaps in a sort of similar way. Some, maybe even almost more fitting than your examples (which is not meant as a criticism; I'm just a Rimbaud fanboy of sorts and thank you for inciting the inclination to re-read some of his works with a similar framework, if that makes sense...)
On another note, I thought that captioning the first half was a brilliant move leading into where you actually start talking; on an artistic level but also on a practical one, where it forces one to actually pay attention to the imagery.
Aftersun and Men werenmt favorite film poems of las year!!! Another Garland masterpiece. Thanx!!!
I loved the analysis and presentation of this video.
Have you ever considered writing a short story or screenplay yourself? Your analyses are always so enthralling, I would love to experience something that you'd expose and guide me through, just like your videos - or you know, throw me to the wolves and make me figure it out, I'd be there for it either way. Even that brief pencil example blew my hair right the fuck back about conceptualizaiton of poetry and how it tries to unravel my concrete brain. So grateful to have found you as I wouldn't have the patience to understand these concepts anywhere else, especially because you explain them so effortlessly and tactfully.
He's a playwright too. Nate Dogg does it all
I saw Dune 2 today and two of the trailers were for the new Alex Garland and the new M. Night. We truly live in one of the ages of cinema of all time
This might just be one of the best videos on this platform. Just pure art appreciation and thoughtfulness. We absolutely need more of this kind of thing! Thank you
I've finally watched the movie and... phew, what a (very gory) trip! Thanks for the essay (and kudos on the awesome editing style you went with!).
I'll add (for the people who, like me, might spend too much time deconstructing a poem such as this one) that there's a lot to dig into regarding nature and the way it is portrayed in the movie. It appears as if Garland suggest that women are 'more natural' than men: Harper wanders in a forest, a safe space of healing and confort, a shot of a tree looks suspiciously like a pair of voluptuous... "clefted legs".
Meanwhile, the Green Man, while a representation of nature, feels at odds with it, always wandering about it non quite natural spaces (the tunnel, the abandoned house, the cemetary). While nature seems organic with Harper, he has to cut his face to insert leaves underneath his skin.
Anyhoo, I'm kind of curious about this theme of the movie so I just wanted to jut those thoughts down here.
Keep up the good (great) work! Your channel is one of my absolute favorites! :)
this is a great observation!
Oh wow it's been awhile since I last saw one of your videos! Glad to see you back! Loved this insightful video on this scene's film lmaguage!
Just found you today through this video and have been binging you videos. They're so good. Really insightful thoughts, and so well produced as to communicate those thoughts. Here's hoping to this channel taking off and making enough so you can do this full time, good luck!
I have been enjoying your videos for a while now, but this one is really special to me.
I have recently gotten into poetry myself and this was a really great explanation of your perspective on poetry and the way that you presented the video played with form in it of itself, which I think is very fittingly poetic.
Just got to the spoiler warning.
I had maybe heard of this movie in passing once, but the first 10 minutes of this video have completely convinced me to watch it. I hope to come back to this video very soon.
Interesting format for a video. I like it. I think some people dislike it because they don't like the content to change. I understand, they like certain content for a reason and if that reason goes away, so does their interest. I think it's worth taking the risk to express your art in the way you want and I got a lot out of the format of this video. So thank you for this.
After seeing the movie I was in the desperate search of a good analysis video and this channel never disappoints.
The video prolonged my experience with the movie and helped me so much with understanding some things I overlooked, and some other things I felt but couldn't quite express.
I really liked the movie itself, but, and that is the first time it happens to me with a film, I like the video even more. It is also very comforting to listen to a man talking about the experience of being a woman, the fear that comes with it, the internal helplessness and everything, and it being understood so well by someone who do not deal with those issues.
That was a very beautiful video about some nightmarish concepts, and I will come back to it sometimes to think of those issues, feel understood, and remembering the atmosphere of the movie. And also, to dig deeper into the cultural nuggets you left here and there for us to enjoy.
The end of this movie is so strange and I still don’t know how I feel about it. I got a lot of the same feelings and reads on it as you did, but there’s also a part of me that wonders how much of it was driven by “look at how upsetting and unsettling this body horror is.” Which is kind of in conflict with the rest of the movie because it’s like… hey you know what’s scary?? This thing that women do!! Whoa!! Disturbing!!
To be fair it is disturbing
Maybe I'm just insane but I noticed that Harper's dress resembles a REGENCY era gown... Specially in the frame of her playing the piano viewed from the cottage window; placed in a world of patriarchy, but specifically a world of manipulation and self doubt to feel vulnerable like late 1700's or early 1800's, a woman's value is determined by men's choices... Harper's submerged on guilt because of someone else's choice, yet not anyone but her husband... She feels guilt but also she's been punished... Just like a centuries' ago narrative. A man chooses and the woman assimilates.
I kind of thought it as somewhat similar to Neon Genesis Evangelion on how the overall poetry and symbolism outweigh the litteral theme.
Every one of your videos is kind of all everything i needed after watching the movie, the poetry bit at the end was amazing
I liked your poem :) Always very exciting to see a new video from you, and this was brilliant and insightful as ever. Thanks for doing what you do ^_^
Started this movie but couldn't finish it. Too intense for me as a woman. I was so tense about halfway through I knew I was headed for a panic attack or smth
Masterful critique, one where the critic has the courage to raise his hands at the elusiveness of the source material
Absolutely loved everything about this video. Thank you for making it.
I spend so much time "watching" RUclips, having videos play the background while I do something else. I was initially a little annoyed that the first part of this video was text, but by the end I'm so grateful for the encouragement to give this video my full attention as it absolutely deserved it.
Holy shit
An actual interest take on this movie!
I'm so glad poetry is getting let's plays now as well as just video gaems
maybe the future isn't so bright but at least I can see the way
We don't always need to explain surreal emotional art with words. Those who get it get it, and I think that's the most important thing. If you get something out of experiencing the art, if it resonates with your own emotions, that's what matters. At least, that's been my experience with certain grotesque art born from trauma. I 'get it,' and trying to explain to others how or why only causes confusion.
I think what I'm trying to say is, some art is a lot less about rationality and more about emotion. And you kinda have to sit back and just experience the emotionas. It's like cocomelon for traumatized adults lol.
even within this movie, "MEN" is unable to deliver a satisfying climax.
I finally watched it, having been an Alex Garland fan from the beginning and carefully avoiding as many spoilers as possible after such a long wait. Thank you for this calm, contemplative look at the film. You are appreciated.
I can't get over how good this video is. I've been thinking about how language ascribes meaning to things, so the way you broke it down was so fascinating to watch.
Really happy that someone is talking about this movie, it’s extremely underrated and I’m surprised to see so many end of the year lists leave this out even though in my opinion it’s best if the year
Awesome video, the parts with just movie audio were so cool, really immersive. Makes me want to read more poetry 🤣
Glad you’re back !!!! ❤❤❤
❤ never left, it just takes me forever lol
@@AcolytesOfHorror well worth the wait 🤘🏽
okay I was gonna complain about the lack of voiceover but this worked SO well
first 11 minutes have FULLY sold me on a film that I had completely written off and been entirely uninterested in. great work.
this is an incredibly, astonishingly beautiful video. a film in itself.
i loved the lack of voiceover and the editing in this one. it made me really anxious in the best way lol
I'd also say you describing this film as a poem has allowed me to enjoy it in it's entirety, which I did struggle with before 😅 I knew the feelings it was bringing up for me, but sometimes it's hard to break the expectation that a movie feel like a movie first, even when it's getting everything right thematically
This is such a fascinating format for a video essay - you keep pushing the medium in new directions!
I fully intended to half watch this video while I read on my Kindle, but the format had me hypnotized. Phenomenal.
An alternative to the Robert Frost poem:
A rose, by any other name
Would never, ever smell the same.
And clever is the nose that knows
An onion that's been called a rose.
(while I have the poem memorized, unfortunately I forgot who wrote it)
(Stupid lack of an edit button on RUclips mobile)
Ok I just got to minute 8 and decided to watch the movie first, great recommendation, happy new year to everybody and good luck
Your video inspired me to watch this movie and make a video of my own. I’ve certainly got… thoughts.
This is great- I don't think it helped me understand the movie any better, but it did make me think of things not even remotely related in a different way. Thank you.
I liked where you put the 'p' in 'sharpening'.
this movie really brought to mind feelings I had as a girl in childhood especially. Going from big to small so fast depending on the company you were in
Always excited when you upload! Your videos are so curious about the subject you're talking about and you ask questions that make me think about filmmaking and storytelling beyond the movie. Keep up the great work!
this was a beautifully done video
And, am I alone feeling like Harper gets bored with men giving birth to each other?
Harper just needed a decent backpack of supplies & a good dog. Go deeper into Nature: it's not exclusively a man's world. In fact Nature is rather insistent on balance. So go find your own place in it.
Thanks, as a human being I never knew what Nature was about, bc Ive never experienced it.
Pls do a video essay on Titane
I saw that too..I interpreted it as exhaustion with men's bullcrap.
There's something deeply resonant about the mixture of violence and violation with the display of extreme vulnerability and demands for love. Brings to mind every angry guy in some woman's DMs who starts with "hey beautiful," moves on to making demands for sex and tons of attention and ends by calling her misogynistic names and threatening to unalive himself if she won't love him.
So, so many of them genuinely do not seem to understand why bombarding women with a combination of neediness and intimidation is not a winning move.
Will you do NOPE? I would love to hear an analysis from you about this one.
Ocean Vuong made me believe in poetry again. This was a great video.
Your videos have a poetry to them, perhaps no more than this one. Loved the unique format to this one!
Came to this video thanks to a friend. I LOVED your analysis and how you presented It. I've been thinking about this movie since I saw it, definitively It marked me
after a year on my watchlist, i 've finally watched... this video, after finally watching the film
i loved it
your video
(and the movie)
(perfect movie)
perfect video, congrats
i often listen to your videos while doing chores or playing computer games so i was very confused for a while on this one
lol
I hope there's going to be a second movie in which the monster gets her, and makes the unimaginable things becoming of such a monster happen to Harper, with just everything.
I'm liking this before watching
Incredible video. Thank you
Nice job with the placement of the "p" of "sharpening" :P
I really liked your pencil poem
absolutely love this film and how it keeps clinging to my mind
on some days i think it was too much like "lucky" 2020, but shows not a system - a personal fear born out of traumatic experience with one man
on some days i think it's just a very personal perspective, intimate in it's language, and by virtue of that there is nothing like it except life
and on some days i just think how cool in is
which is why i didn't want to watch the video, not trusting other person to see the film as it has to be seen
but yeah.... you.... yeah....
really interesting and thoughtful, i loved this video
This is a fascinating format for film criticism! I loved it!!!
The plot twist feel for the pencial/after.
I appreciate the theme in this video of having the male voice be absent, but at the same time it's tough to watch without a voice at all. Maybe instead it would have been worthwhile to hire a voice actor of your choice to read your script for you? Sorry if it sounds selfish, but it's hard to concentrate on just the words and have no dialogue there at all for a whole essay.
@@teletran8 so, do you think that every other Acolyte of Shadows' video is just like every other annoying RUclipsr's? That's hardly fair. Or maybe you want him to REALLY stand out from other RUclipsrs and have his entire script relayed in Morse code while the video is played in reverse and upside down? That would certainly be unique.
I sort of agree with you but I also think having it be in text mirrors what he’s saying about poetry. I think a hired voice actor would’ve been interesting too but considering the poems later in the video ARE voiced it feels very deliberate to have it be silent, not just because it’s a male voice but because it’s an *outside* voice. Having it be quiet contributes to the engagement with the imagery and soundscape of the film itself, you’re forced to pay attention to the visuals because you’re reading, you can’t tab out and get the same experience.
It’s OBVIOUSLY part of the art……WHAT he’s trying to impart. Christ do you people bate reading THAT much!? Don’t you watch foreign films with subtitles!? I just cannot grasp this hatred of reading like it’s some chore that most modern people seem to possess.
Sad & lazy. Shows a definite lack of intelligence & curiosity.
@@6Haunted-Days c’mon, there’s no need to be cruel about it
I definitely agree when you say you found yourself more interested in the aesthetics - I don't think Alex Garland's projects are boring, etc. story-wise, but it seems like he prioritizes style over substance