Last Friday, went with my wife and another couple to Christian Marclay`s The Clock, an unusual film playing at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Each minute of footage in its 24 hour length is a movie clip focused on some aspect of time -- an actor announcing the time, a glance at a watch, close up of Big Ben... The film's time corresponds to real time, so you never need to glance at your own watch. From the time you walk in to the time you leave, you are reminded each and every minute what time it is. At one point, Tom Cruise even marks the passage from one minute to the next -- "it's 9:15..16", he announces. And so it was.
As I watched, I found myself reeling with questions. Is there really a movie time reference for every minute in a 24 hour day? Yes, and often multiple. Will I recognize many films and actors? Yes and no. There are flashes of films from every genre and period since the beginning of cinematic history -- and The Clock reminds you how vast that space is. How can we have been sitting here for 10, 20, 30, 60, 90 minutes already? Oddly, even with constant reminders, time seemed warped, accelerated. Likely because the continual scene changes stretch you to keep up. What film is this? Where and when is it set? Do I recognize any of the actors? Is there a theme that connects this clip to its neighbors?
At the two hour mark, we began exchanging glances, asking each other with our eyes, "is it time to go?" At 10pm a silent alarm squelched our romantic notions of marathon viewing and pulled us towards after-theatre eats and bedtime.
What was the point, you ask? For me, it was suspending disbelief and allowing myself to experience The Clock as a time machine moving rapidly, anywhere in the world through both human time and cinematic time.
As I watched, I found myself reeling with questions. Is there really a movie time reference for every minute in a 24 hour day? Yes, and often multiple. Will I recognize many films and actors? Yes and no. There are flashes of films from every genre and period since the beginning of cinematic history -- and The Clock reminds you how vast that space is. How can we have been sitting here for 10, 20, 30, 60, 90 minutes already? Oddly, even with constant reminders, time seemed warped, accelerated. Likely because the continual scene changes stretch you to keep up. What film is this? Where and when is it set? Do I recognize any of the actors? Is there a theme that connects this clip to its neighbors?
At the two hour mark, we began exchanging glances, asking each other with our eyes, "is it time to go?" At 10pm a silent alarm squelched our romantic notions of marathon viewing and pulled us towards after-theatre eats and bedtime.
What was the point, you ask? For me, it was suspending disbelief and allowing myself to experience The Clock as a time machine moving rapidly, anywhere in the world through both human time and cinematic time.
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