http://www.hydramag.com/2010/05/26/the-colossal-cinema-of-pedro-costa-part-three/ Literary arts magazine dedicated to the wayward, ordinary, bizarre, everyday, and the impossible. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:35:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 http://www.hydramag.com/2010/05/26/the-colossal-cinema-of-pedro-costa-part-three/#comment-2896 Jose-Luis Moctezuma Sat, 11 Sep 2010 20:24:26 +0000 http://www.thehydramag.com/?p=4744#comment-2896 Hey GB: I noticed your reply rather late, more than a month later! But I appreciate your comments. I think I was either seduced by the spectacular sheen of Costa's images in <em>Colossal Youth</em> or confused by the numerous readings I made before composing the essay to falsely attribute HD to the strictly DV standard he used -- the more probable explanation is that I meant to qualify the DV quality (aesthetically speaking) as 'highly definitive' in its capture, when ignorantly the technical distinction of <em>HD</em> didn't actually hit me in what I was saying. I do believe I came across an essay which delved into the contextual historicity at work in <em>C.Y.</em>, that even attempted to affix a kind of timeline to the setpieces -- but alas, I also lost track of it. Hey GB: I noticed your reply rather late, more than a month later! But I appreciate your comments. I think I was either seduced by the spectacular sheen of Costa’s images in Colossal Youth or confused by the numerous readings I made before composing the essay to falsely attribute HD to the strictly DV standard he used — the more probable explanation is that I meant to qualify the DV quality (aesthetically speaking) as ‘highly definitive’ in its capture, when ignorantly the technical distinction of HD didn’t actually hit me in what I was saying. I do believe I came across an essay which delved into the contextual historicity at work in C.Y., that even attempted to affix a kind of timeline to the setpieces — but alas, I also lost track of it.

]]> http://www.hydramag.com/2010/05/26/the-colossal-cinema-of-pedro-costa-part-three/#comment-2895 gb Mon, 09 Aug 2010 04:03:52 +0000 http://www.thehydramag.com/?p=4744#comment-2895 solid summation of Costa's work in relation to Straub and Huillet. Two things to point out: 1. Colossal Youth was shot on DV, not High Definition (it was shot on a DVX-100a) 2. There's an essay somewhere online (I forget where) that explains Colossal Youth in relation to Portugal's/Cape Verde's histories. It makes light of the fact that the scenes between Lento and Ventura are actually, surprisingly enough, "flashbacks" or I guess you can call them living memories, where the past and present intersect (like you discussed in your myths paragraph). If you look at those scenes again, you'll notice that Lento and Ventura are actually wearing vintage clothes from the 70s and while I'm sure Costa scorns the use of make-up, Ventura is playing his younger self, still working and then partway through the movie, he has his accident and falls off the scaffolding at the park (which he mentions). Lento and Ventura also barricade themselves from the Revolution of 1974, which did more harm than good to the Cape Verde immigrants. solid summation of Costa’s work in relation to Straub and Huillet.
Two things to point out:
1. Colossal Youth was shot on DV, not High Definition (it was shot on a DVX-100a)
2. There’s an essay somewhere online (I forget where) that explains Colossal Youth in relation to Portugal’s/Cape Verde’s histories. It makes light of the fact that the scenes between Lento and Ventura are actually, surprisingly enough, “flashbacks” or I guess you can call them living memories, where the past and present intersect (like you discussed in your myths paragraph). If you look at those scenes again, you’ll notice that Lento and Ventura are actually wearing vintage clothes from the 70s and while I’m sure Costa scorns the use of make-up, Ventura is playing his younger self, still working and then partway through the movie, he has his accident and falls off the scaffolding at the park (which he mentions). Lento and Ventura also barricade themselves from the Revolution of 1974, which did more harm than good to the Cape Verde immigrants.

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