Treeless Mountain in NYC on Earth Day!
In the middle of this week, j. lizzles brought to our attention that So Yong Kim’s film Treeless Mountain will be screening at Film Forum in New York City on April 22 (but it doesn’t have anything directly to do with Earth Day) and get broader distribution thereafter. I saw a screening of this enchanting film at the Harvard Film Archive but didn’t mention it here since that was right before ECAASU 2009.
There’s a lot I could say about this film, but I think it’s best the film speak for itself through the immersive images of its characters and the environments they come to inhabit. Let me just say a few general things… Treeless Mountain follows two young sisters after they leave their home to be left in the care of their aunt as their mother goes to find their father. The films is slow and may take a while for viewers not familiar with films of similar pacing (like Nobody Knows, Grain in Ear and I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone) to acclimate to the feel, but once you settle into the world So Yong Kim brings you so immediately and intimately into, you almost can’t help but discover the wonder that dwells within it. Watching these two children catch then roast grasshoppers to sell, wait earnestly for their mother’s return and erect a broken branch upon a mound of rubble, it’s hard not to develop a fascinating observational and even empathic relationship with them. After seeing the film, Brian Chan said that the consistency of the film’s child’s-eye perspective “is cool.”
Incidentally, So Yong Kim mentioned that she studied Nobody Knows pretty extensively before working on this film. Also, Asobi Seksu did the end credits song and also (surprisingly and delightingly) have songs in the soundtrack of So Yong Kim’s previous film In Between Days, a film which is also slowly draws you into the world of the main character, in that case a high school student who is a recent immigrant from South Korea.
If you must, you can watch the trailer on IMDB.
[ Image of the Treeless Mountain poster from soandbrad.com. ]
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