is it just me or there is a lot of dreyer influence in this film even the way the bed is set and the awakening of the mother is so close to ordet, also the tempo. i see not just dreyer but swedish cinema or i would say scandinavian cinema...needless to say the film is a piece of art. and absolute masterpiece. people that find the film tedious don't realize that that is the point of the film. the routine of everyday in the life of this family...
Reygadas said that his favorite film was ordet , so he did an homenage to dreyer putting the same ending of ordet.
he mentions dreyer frequently in interviews in mexico.
Yes, Dreyer influence is very strong in this one as is also Tarkovsky.
Because of Japon and Battle in Heaven I came to admire Reygadas and I was very disappointed of Silent Light, I just can’t understand why his film is receiving awards and praises when he should be marked for plagiarism. His previous film Japon was clearly influenced by Tarkovsky but still the film wasn’t a copy of him. Not the case in Silent light, where everything from the pace, images, zooms, sounds were an exact copy from the Russian director and then it ends whit a forced “homage” to Ordet. The movie was more a tribute to Tarkovsky and Dreyer than an original Reygadas film. An advice to Reygadas: please stop worshiping your favorite directors and continue developing your own ideas, you have it in you, trust yourself.
As I said I admire Reygadas for his work in his previous films (I might not like him personally because it seems to me that he is trying extremely hard to be great by following very closely theories from other great directors).
You really hates Reygadas, pollocz, don't you?
No, Reygadas is not a plagiarist. He is a true auteur with a unique vision, obviously influenced by other directors (you name it: Dreyer, Tarkovsky, Kieslowski, Bergman, Antonioni, Pasolini, etc) as a musician is influenced by another musicians or a painter by another painters.
Those who have said such idiocies (Reygadas being a plagiarist) should stop watching his films for their own sake, because obviously Reygadas and his movies infuriates them.
Reygadas is IMO one of the best directors from whole latin america (if not from whole the world), His movies aren't for everybody but one thing is for sure, they ain't copies at all. Just a foolish or stupid person could really believe that.
No I don’t hate him at all and I think you are being for some unknown reason overprotective of him.
Maybe the word I used “plagiarism” is too strong, I’m sorry.
As I said in the other board in Spanish (more elaborated) I just think he took a lot and I mean a lot more than the usual from Tarkovsky and Dreyer.
If anybody has seen all of Tarkovsky’s films and also Ordet I would like to hear your opinion.
I am not being "overprotective", that's a silly remark. I am just saying how wrong are your comments, that's all.
At least you have the decency to accept that calling Reygadas a "plagiarist" was simply too much. IMO if you don't hate him, you must hate at least his work, otherwise you never would dare to call him "plagiarist".
I have seen almost all of Tarkovsky's films (some of them recently) and several films by Dreyer (among many other filmmkers). Surely lots of people have seen their works as well.
Do you really think that you are the only one who have seen them? c'mon! don't be so vain! such snob you are!
There’s no right and wrong here, just different opinions.
I have never said that I think I’m the only one that has seen them, it was just a simple question.
I give up with you.
Have you or haven't you seen Ordet?
Yes there are wrong and right here. Do you have ever heard about the "law of excluded third"?
I will assume you haven't. This rule tells us that some affirmation can be either right or wrong but not "half-right" or "half-wrong".
i.e A woman is pregnant or she is NOT, but she cannot be "half-pregnant".
Or she cannot be pregnant for you but non-pregant for me. That's impossible, one of us would be right and the other one would be wrong.
Reygadas is a plagiarist or not, he cannot be a plagiarist for you but not for the rest of the world.
Either you are right on your stupid statement on him being a plagiarist, or you are WRONG!
Got it?
Yes I have seen it, so what? And I have seen tons of movies more, so what? No, "Luz Silenciosa" cannot be considered plagiarism.
Do you now what really means that word?
Did you know mr "I-know-Reygadas-is-a-plagiarist", that even your beloved Tarkovsky (who I admire) was accused of the same in the past? (and still some critics does think that).
I am talking about "The Sacrifice" (Offret) case. About that work some "critics" have said that Tarkovsky shamelessly copied, plagiarized or at least mirrored completely, Ingmar Bergman works and style.
Have you ever seen that movie (Offret)? Have you ever read those idiotical reviews and critics? Haven't you?
Well that's an example on how easy is to slander anyone.
I could give you tons ef examples more, I don't think it's necessary, though
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"Reference" "Influence" are weak words on how to describe his "homage" to Ordet.
Developed a habit in IMDB to check Connections before seeing new films.
It was lucky that Stellet Licht could not kill Ordet for me as I watched it first by this way. I adored Ordet! Far more beautiful film. Would have been very angry if I have first seen Stellet Licht. But Ordet killed the Stellet Licht for me for sure and, for a good reason.
Can someone tell if Post Tenebras Lux has some roots somewhere before I see it?
Sometimes Connections section misses that information.
I see most people think the movie is exclent...
Myself, I actually didn't like it at all. I saw it at a film festival in my city, and after the movie, Reygadas was there to answer people's questions. I still can't believe I didn't say anything to him.
I went there because I heard he was the "New Tarkovsky". Well, he is not. He lacks the beauty, both visually and in terms of dialog, that the russian always had. I left the cinema quiet angry because of what I saw. I just coudn't believe poeple liked it so much. His movie (I just saw Stellet Licht) just follows a few guidelines to make an "autor film". It's just stupid how people start admiring him (or other directors) just because he uses long shots, has a slow ritm and almost no dialog. There is a spanish website which made four golden rules about autor's cinema, he follows them as if his life depended on it. Maybe I'm wrong, I'm not saying I have all the answers or that I have the final vote or anything. I'm just saying that I think he isn't a "true auteur" as someone called him, he is just a guy who makes slow films, with long shot, that, in the end, don't say anything to you. His movie (the one I watched) didn't change me in any way, as normally do films by other directors listed by people in this message board. It was just boring. Did you actually re-think anything about you after watching Stellet Licht? Did you feel touched? Did its beauty make you cry? I actually don't think so, because the film is empty. The story is so simple and without content (even Reygadas admited this in the interview), that just leaves you with the visuals, which are quiet impressive, but not beautiful in any way.
If someone insults me telling me I have no idea what I'm talking about or whatever, I actually don't care what you have to say. If other people talk nicely, I would like to hear you.
I'm not against slow ritm. Actually, I enjoy it.
One more thing, My native tongue is Spanish, so there might be some issues in the text above. Don't use that to attack me, and if you do, I expect the response to be in perfect spanish.
bonovox1989-
He actually likes criticism. You should have spoken up. He’s a very articulate director in terms of expressing his choices as to why he does certain things, and why he follows the rules of cinema as he sees them; but at the same time doesn’t begrudge people personally for following a different set of standards in their movies; as cinema (and this is where I agree with him) is in that it is primarily a visual medium, the only “music” if any for him (as I recall him saying) is source music, such as when you hear the men’s footsteps in the snow. Dialog makes the story more specific, and less universal, so that was Reygadas' choice. Those people that call him the "New Tarkovsky" or "Dreyer" are simply trying to give a point of reference, so the audience can relate to the film, make it easier to digest. Especially for critics... Put it to you this way if someone says to you about a new cafe, it's a new Burger King, you get an idea of what the place is like as opposed to someone saying it's a new Club 21 in New York.
I wouldn't put too much stock in that, save as a point of reference, beyond that I look at the movie on its own merits, it makes the experience more vivid.
As for the movie: I didn’t rethink anything really, about the movie, after I will say I think the point of the movie was that it was more emotional, in that he made the story set in a remote part of Mexico, as any familiar signs of status, or money were removed, hence making it more of a universal story about love. As he just wanted to tell the simple story of a man with a torn heart.
To me it was beautiful, painful, but beautiful, as I empathized for the man’s situation, and his divided loyalties and the woman's pain. In such a movie that is primarily visual with no real musical cues it invites the viewer to project his or her own interpretation of the story, his or her own feelings into the narrative. There is no right or wrong way to interpret it. If you found it to be “nothing” that’s totally fine. There is no right or wrong answer.
Also for a native Spanish speaker you write English better than 80% of Americans. No need to apologize! Have a great weekend!
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People are quick to accuse Tarantino of plagiarism, but when it comes to someone like Reygadas it's just an homage. It's a blatant rip-off of Ordet. It's a good film, but it's a rip-off.
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I like Reygadas, but I have to agree with you there. The stopping of the clock early on in the film (and restarting it after the resurrection), the blindingly white room with the corpse in all white in the center, two large candles to either side of the open casket, the resurrection itself, etc. Call it homage, call it a rip-off, call it whatever you like, but it is impossible to dismiss the painfully obvious "borrowings" from Ordet...not that this is necessarily a bad thing, in my opinion. Ordet is the perfect film, so if Reygadas is bringing a new take on Ordet to a new generation of filmgoers, then more power to him. I only wish he would have given credit at the beginning or conclusion of Silent Light to Dreyer in the same way Dreyer did to Kaj Munk in the original masterpiece.
shareYes, it's just you. No one has drawn a connection between SL and Dreyer before, not even Reygadas.
~.~
I WANT THE TRUTH! http://www.imdb.com/list/ze4EduNaQ-s/