Word: sensualism
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...deal with issues of communication and miscommunication in a modern world, through manipulation of audibility, visual diffusion of images, juxtaposition of sound and vision and soundless gesture. Though the "message" of each work seems at times overstressed and obvious, ironically this frees the mind to focus on the pure, sensual beauty of the work as a whole...
...assumptions. A video of a man bathing and one of unidentifiable, feral activities are played in alternating, ever shorter segments. Rather than presenting a narrative puzzle for the audience to work on, the piece becomes more incomprehensible the longer it lasts, forcing the audience to accept their experience in sensual rather than intellectual terms. In this sense it succeeds where the ultimately boring "Presence" could...
Viola's Buried Secrets is a transforming experience on the cutting edge of video art, a rare and moving opportunity that should not be missed-- for its sensual if not intellectual, power. It is ironic that this newest of artistic genres, video art, should have the effect of reviving an "old fashioned" artistic philosophy-- that the experience and beauty of art itself can be more significant than its message...
Pushing absurdity further, "Sticky and Greasy" ends its bittersweet (emphasis on sweet) love story with the lines "Lollipops don't belong here/shouldn't sugar reside elsewhere/What a mess!". Compensating for its lack of profundity, the band exudes energy as the sensual Fitzpatrick screams "sticky and greasy" along to a driving melody. Deep meaning is hardly the main concern of listeners at this point. Continuing this innocent approach, the band breaks into "Serious Stuff," a wonderful song with a great guitar line, catchy chorus and unexpected tempo twists...
...Dead Man" is a strangely compelling creation--unconventionally paced, vaguely plotted, preoccupied with elements of sound and image which would be background in other films. That all this material can be plumbed from the rather sterile idiom of the Western is a major achievement for Jarmusch, and an intense, sensual experience for the audience. While the William Blake theme is somewhat inconclusively handled, it does create a literary feel to the work which increases its intellectual potency. This is also true of the epigram from Henri Michaux which opens the film and gives it its title: "It is preferable...