Movielogr
A Spell to Ward Off the Darkness (2013)
Directed by Ben Rivers, Ben Russell
Twitter Facebook Google+Overview
A man at three disparate moments in his life: as a member of a fifteen-person collective on a small Estonian island, alone in the wilderness of Northern Finland and as the singer of a neo-pagan black metal band in Norway. Three moments for a radical proposition for the creation of utopia in the present.
Length 99 minutes
Actors
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/20/2020 | TV | DVD | Library | 6 stars |
| (Average) 6 stars |
Viewing Notes
After viewing those two Ben Rivers short films on MUBI I checked my library for more of his work. The InterLoan only had this title available. Very much in the same vein tho entirely different narrative and structure this being a triptych of loosely connected vignettes. The Estonian hippie commune is fine to offer a glimpse of that life but it’s the middle segment in Finland that really shines. The stillness is welcomed after the craziness of the commune. The beautiful photography and composition is wonderful. Really emphasizes the contemplative nature of this journey. Both of the segments could work as ASMR mediation tracks. The third piece is the black metal component and, similar to the commune, allows a brief taste of this world.
I’d like to view more of Rivers’ films even if they don’t entirely work but they’re very fascinating of the three I’ve seen.
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