Lincoln Center Presents "Norte, The End of History"

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Parent Category: Film Festivals

Category: Previews

Published on Monday, 16 June 2014 00:04

Written by Jack Angstreich

The 1980s inaugurated a series of cinematic New Waves that continues into the present — Taiwan, Iran, Korea, Thailand, and Romania, for example, have all arisen as major sources of outstanding films and now several younger directors from the Philippines have brought that country to the attention of festivals and enthusiasts. To judge by his latest feature, the momentous Norte, the End of History, one might reasonably conclude that Lav Diaz —who is being honored by the Film Society of Lincoln Center with the most complete retrospective of his work to date — will endure as the leading figure amongst these filmmakers.

Norte, the End of History is something of an adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s classic novel, Crime and Punishment, set in the contemporary Philippines. The book has been the basis for several distinguished films — one might cite, for example: Joseph von Sternberg’s 1935 version, mainly notable for the extraordinary performance of Peter Lorre; Aki Kaurismäki’s Bressonian first feature, the 1983 Crime and Punishment; and Francisco Lombardi’s 1994 Sin Compasión, set in Peru. Robert Bresson’s 1959 Pickpocket is surely the greatest of these adaptations, and it in turn inspired Paul Schrader in several screenplays, such as those for Taxi Driver, American Gigolo, and Light Sleeper. If one sometimes detects the influence of Bresson in Diaz’s film, it seems to be more for his final, nihilistic feature, L’Argent, than the redemptive Pickpocket.

In Norte, Diaz eschews melodrama for a slow-moving, meditative style. The director shoots in long-takes, forgoing cutting within scenes, and favors the long-shot to the point of exclusivity. His treatment of extreme brutality is unflinching but not without a measure of detachment, recalling the work of Michael Haneke. The offhand mention of the Anglophone, analytic meta-ethicist, Derek Parfit, is indicative of the peculiar intellectual texture that animates this film. Over the course of more than four hours, Norte accumulates an incredible emotional force and is never less than engaging. The work is handsomely shot in widescreen in the HD format, although the bright sunlight of the Philippines proves to be something of liability in many outdoor scenes — one can imagine how much more remarkable the film might have been if it had been shot in 35-millimeter.

Norte will have an exclusive, one-week engagement at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center (144 W 65th St, New York, NY 10023), running from June 20th to the 26th. The retrospective will launch on June 22nd with a screening of the seven-and-a-half-hour Melancholia from 2008 and will continue with one screening per month between August 2014 and February 2015. 

For more information, go to: www.filmlinc.com and follow @filmlinc on Twitter.

Norte, The End of History
June 20 - 26, 2014

Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center
144 W 65th St, New York, NY 10023

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