Re: "The Blues": Mike Figgis episode annoying!

Peter,

While I didn't catch the screening of the Figgis episode of the Blues series the other night, I know exactly what you're talking about, and for the most part I agree with everything you say!

There are however occassions when this type of "interpretive" or "personal" type photography is appropriate. One film comes to mind that I rented and saw recently. It was called "Bloody Sunday" and recounted a historical incident in the recent past of Irish history regarding a particular protest and the over-reaction by the Britsh army. While at first I was put off and annoyed by the unstable camera and other "errors" in the photographic work, after a while I succumbed to the notion that what was happening on the screen was a depiction of what really happened, even though as we all know, it was a reconstruction staged with actors many years later.

In Figgis' case, it is likely a matter of economics, and further evolution of his "high concept" style of production, but if, as you say, it distracts from a person's ability to actually watch the piece, then something is wrong. At the very least, stylisticly, I would have advised him (if he were to have asked me) to styalize the piece by trying to match the quality of the archival material with the new material, which would have created the illusion that it was contemperanious with the old archival material and it's significance might have been increased rather than the obvious contrast which you observed. The episode might have resembled a "found" history of the era!

Such though is the beauty of the motion picture art, and as a filmmaker it is always the best policy to please yourself rather than conform to someone else's standards; ultimately the degree of success that the project enjoys will depend on this persuit and it must always remain the filmmakers intention to reach the broadest possible audience or else suffer the criticism of being an elitist!