Pedro Costa - No Quarto da Vanda AKA In Vanda's Room (2000)

From «Camera Lucida» by Nobuhiro Suwa
Pedro Costa Film Retrospective in Sendai
translated by Kumiko Yamamoto
Sendai Mediatheque, 2005

I have previously mentioned the word "free". But the images of In Vanda's Room appear to be strictly controlled. The camera is always mounted on a tripod and never moves. Were this done according to the author's aesthetic judgment, the images could be controlled by the author and the character would then be inscribed in a controlled space. If that were the case, why wouldn't he just approach the subject with a handycam and say, "Now, you can move freely. I will follow you with my camera"? Wouldn't such a relationship be freer? In documentaries, in fact, the frame is always ready for the occurrence of unexpected events. The camera must always be ready to move as required. If a remarkable accident happens outside the frame, the camera will move without hesitation. The images captured in this way are somehow open to reality. As framing is transient and open in documentary films, we are conscious spatially that reality extends offscreen. By always reminding ourselves that documentary films can only capture a part of reality, we seek to suggest that reality extends out of the frame, i.e., outside the cinema. Documentary images depend on the reality that there is an object worth filming before the camera. In Vanda's Room was also made in a manner of a documentary film. There is a town that is being demolished, where the residents lead their humble lives. The existence of this town is a story that will be erased from history. There are objects at which the camera must be pointed. But the images of In Vanda's Room do not rely on these realities. They reject the thoughtless realism that something meaningful can be captured only once a camera is pointed at them. There is no sign that an accident or chance event barges into view, and the rigidly-constructed framing forms autonomous spaces. The sounds heard from behind the wall bring the expanse of the outside world into view, but the images do not readily indicate the world behind the wall. As extremely short exposures are used, the dimmer regions of the image sink into darkness, even depriving our gaze the freedom of movement, The images are never decentered in such a way as to allow the spectator to reconstruct them as freely as he can, as if saying, "Look just as you please!" Rather, they are so centered that they almost function, I might say, as if commanding our gaze. Moreover, they are frightfully beautiful. But then, if such filmmaking were only to create beauty, we would merely need to praise Pedro Costa for his creative talent. Costa would not have needed to break with the traditional crew system and go off by himself This beauty isn't simply for satisfying the filmmaker's aesthetics alone.









http://rapidshare.com/files/374628615/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.r00
http://rapidshare.com/files/374628750/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.r01
http://rapidshare.com/files/374628621/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.r02
http://rapidshare.com/files/374629179/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.r03
http://rapidshare.com/files/374629102/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.r04
http://rapidshare.com/files/374629505/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.r05
http://rapidshare.com/files/374629146/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.r06
http://rapidshare.com/files/374629747/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.rar

http://hotfile.com/dl/37412912/3a48e74/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.r00.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/37413295/5b8df56/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.r01.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/37413470/4fe6394/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.r02.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/37413693/cfbdcb5/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.r03.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/37413809/5c09085/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.r04.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/37414015/9a4b0df/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.r05.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/37414445/44efb1d/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.r06.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/37414457/39dd0b7/PROD-VH-XviD-DVRip-2000-Room-Vandas-In_Sparhawk.rar.html

Subtitles:english

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