Photo by Ken Hollings
Review by Festival Daily on 27 Sep 2009
‘I’m sorry if that hurt, that was not my intention,’ says Mark Boswell, opening his Q&A following the screening of a number of his short films, running chronologically through the years from 2001 to 2008. Obviously the audience thought the contrary, but this sets the tone of the whole event - both the films and the discussion afterwards – full of energy and humour, and never less than engrossing.
Dealing with issues ranging from global warming to the obsession with the hamburger in US society, the joy of viewing a collection in this manner is that it is possible to see running themes and idiosyncrasies in Boswell’s work, such as his interest in the Bush administration and post-Cold War issues. Comprised mainly of existing footage (due to his ‘criminal inclination to steal’, he jokes when asked about this), such as documentary and educational footage and importantly, films. In this, it is possible to see Boswell’s love of film and that he has studied the medium. Some of the highlights are laugh-out-loud moments where classic film scenes are used, but with subtitles contradicting what the characters are saying. His juxtaposition of the written word overlaying the image is remarkable, used in various ways throughout.
Abstract and certainly not narrative in the traditional sense, the variety of images thrown at the audience is obviously selected and constructed with intelligence and personality – which at times could lose the audience, is also a pleasure, being able to take away a list of titles, names and images that you want to research and explore further.
Indeed, the event as a whole revealed that Boswell is just as interesting as his films. An exciting filmmaker, who aptly sums up his work, ‘pessimism interacting with too many movies and too much realism’. How could that not be intriguing?
MIKE BOYD
http://www.cambridgefilmfestival.org.uk/films/2009/mark-boswell-the-art-of-nova-kino
