Venice Film Festival 2019: ABOUT ENDLESSNESS
Roy Anderson continues his trend of all-encompassing aesthetic and personifying all things Roy Anderson with his latest feature film Om det oändliga (About Endlessness).
Brilliantly Captured with a Glorious Aesthetic
Inspired by Eiichi Yamamoto’s One Thousand and One Nights, About Endlessness is a series of small, intimate portraits that in turn describe the obtuse, the painful, and often quirky circumstances of the inhabitants of the world. It is brilliantly captured with a glorious aesthetic that whips up a great deal of power within its daunting but enlightening images.
The first thing any viewer will have to have in their arsenal when going up against a Roy Anderson feature is patience. Going into this type of film is a war of concentration. You will be either intoxicated with its visual presence or tormented with its snail-like pacing.
About Endlessness looks stunning throughout with spectacular cinematography from Gergely Pálos and equally as engrossing set design by team Anders Hellström, Frida E. Elmström and Nicklas Nilsson. Even with such a mundane colour palette of muted greys, the images on-screen are weighted and inviting, crafted with eye for detail and meaning within every inch.
The pacing is the biggest hindrance to the proceedings. It is extremely slow to a profound level of embracing and incorporating every second of the atmosphere the image holds. In specific sequences, it works to craft a spectacle, to see how a person or circumstance is drained out, and the fallout of their actions takes shape. In others, it continues to excessive levels of drawn-out self indulgence. Only the terrific usage of either physical comedy or the verbal communication between characters is what saves these sequences.
Internally Explosive
The structure is quite profound. Not one story interlinks with the other, aside from two or three sequences a continuation of events that unfold. Pain, love and loss are just a minimal account of what writer/director Anderson explores with each story, a consequential examination of the human psyche. In particular, the theme of faith is such a strong and potent theme throughout Anderson’s film. Not just the faith in a higher form or a believer in religion but faith in oneself or a commitment upon others.
It is a fascinating expression of Anderson‘s film that explores the intimacy and internal destruction or enlightening of a person’s circumstance. The elders disbelieve imprisoning and limiting their livelihood and futures, while others are on the cusp of beginning their journey of expression.
About Endlessness: Conclusion
Some will find Roy Anderson’s latest feature a meandering bore, while fans of the auteur’s work and admirers of a slow internally conflicted artistic experiment will significantly appreciate what Anderson has crafted. It can be painfully slow at times, but it is superbly captured with a stunning eye from Gergely Pálos, crafted with a truly delightful aesthetic.
What are your thoughts on Roy Anderson’s Om det oändliga (About Endlessness)? Let us know in the comments below!
Om det oändliga (About Endlessness) will hold its North American premiere at Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2019, with international dates expected to be released later in the year for a 2020 release.
Does content like this matter to you?
Become a Member and support film journalism. Unlock access to all of Film Inquiry`s great articles. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about cinema - get access to our private members Network, give back to independent filmmakers, and more.
