(aka "11 minutes 9 secondes 1 image" or "11'09''01: Onze minutes, neuf secondes, un cadre" or "Onze minutes, neuf secondes, un cadre" or "September 11")
directed by Youssef Chahine, Amos Gitai, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Shohei Imamura, Claude Lelouch, Ken Loach, Samira Makhmalbaf, Mira Nair, Idrissa Ouedraogo, Sean Penn and Danis Tanovic
UK / France / Bosnia-Herzegovina / Egypt / Israel / Japan / Mexico / USA
2002
Essentially quite fascinating to see how 11 international directors where able to impart their own visions of the tragedy that happened in New York City in 2001. Fairly, without censorship, each director is given 11 minutes, 9 seconds and 1 frame to express themselves. It is pretty hard not to impart political perceptions, even in this review. Watching is a very valuable exercise for many Western audiences who often seem to be at a distance to other tragedies that happen around the globe... ignoring them in favor of their latest national, media reinforced, journalism that tends to focus on salability and human interest rather than equal justice or socially responsibility to their neighbors in the global village. The twin towers collapse on September 11th is impacting on all of us as it has the frequency of repeated viewings - almost ad-nausea. Are the 2000 American (and others) who died so horribly that day any more tragic... more important than the slaughtering of 800,000 Rwandans in 100 days of 1994? or even the 5000 people who die of AIDS every single day (with that total relentlessly rising) around the world?
There are some exceptional shorts in here as well as some of amateurish quality. I particularly enjoyed the films of Claude Lelouch, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Ken Loach and Sean Penn. Ken Loach focusing on what I have been pontificating on to friends for years - the CIA's admitted assassination in 1973 of a democratically elected President in Chile, a socialist and physician named Salvador Allende. Loach's award winning short points out some subtly expressed hypocrisy in reverence to the singularity of the 9'11" horror. I found the films of Samira Makhmalbaf and Idrissa Ouedraogo impacting, but not as forthright. Personally I was not impressed with Amos Gitai and Youssef Chahine's contributions very much. Of those left, I don't recall much but found Shohei Imamura's a little silly.
A
collection of films that will burden any politically strong-minded individual
with, at its core, hoping it expand rather than contract the understanding and
appreciation of those who view it.
Regardless,
it speaks a very powerful political message, one with voices that should be
heard whether you embrace their perceptions as possibilities or rigidly cling to
your own. There truly is no 'right' or 'wrong'. 
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Theatrical Release: September 5th, 2002 - Venice Film Festival - Italy
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DVD Review: Artificial Eye - Region 2 - PAL
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| Distribution | Artificial Eye Film Co. - Region 2- PAL | |
| Runtime | 2:08:20 | |
| Video | 1.85:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.99 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s |
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| NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. | ||
| Bitrate:
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| Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby) | |
| Subtitles | English, None | |
| Features |
Release Information:
Edition Details: • Artistic
Producer's Statement |
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| Comments: |
This DVD
is well done - anamorphic - solid clean subs, great animated menus. Some
obvious attention to detail was put into it. Nice black levels and very
good contrast. Its failing is the limited Extras. I suppose it may have warranted
a 2 disc and actually have spoken director interviews, but I guess it
wouldn't be fair unless each had equal time for their say (probably a
hard task to organize). I think for any serious film fans this is kind
of a 'must-have' with a diverse group of contemporary shorts from some
of the world's most foremost directors of international status. I quite strongly
recommend this.
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Gary Tooze
Mississauga, Ontario, CANADA |
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