Music will change the way you see the world
Griselda Soriano of the Talent Press Buenos Aires writes about Karin Idelson's experimental documentary LOVE SONG.
LOVE SONG
Some films are difficult to classify, as they float between the boundaries of documentaries and experimental movies. LOVE SONG, by Karin Idelson
The focal point of the film are those songs that we are very familiar with, even though we may never actively listen to them; the songs that fill up our days almost imperceptibly and come back to us when least expected. The movie is a flow of chance and free association, but it wittily stops to observe and explore surprising angles. Its structure, describable as non-narrative despite some minimally outlined pieces, consists of small segments, each framed by one of the songs from the title, presented as situations that are more or less common and more or less predictable, but always redefined by the intervention of music. Bryan Adams, Gilda, Queen, reggaetons, classic boleros, and even a national equivalent of Elvis Presley impregnate situations and places as diverse as a motel, a nursing home, the Line B subway in Buenos Aires, a choir rehearsal, a strip show or a taxi.
Unlike high-speed video clips, the camera works like a watchful eye revealing details that are sometimes unpredictable and sometimes beyond predictable (for instance, the scene of a striptease is paradigmatically un-erotic). The songs are not intended to "overshadow" the world, but rather be in the midst of it: the sound is not "clean", and we are aware of its intensity, proximity or distance. Contrary to MTV’s flawless sounds, we are reminded that music is just one more ambient "noise".
Analysing films that move away from structured storytelling is always a challenge. But if a conclusion is to be drawn, we could say that, somehow, LOVE SONG shows what music does for us and the world: it transforms our views and the colours of the most banal realities.