Join the Search for Sylvia!

Last updated on: September 30, 2012 at 7:25 pm by Jeffrey Overstreet

Join the Search for Sylvia! 2012-09-30T19:25:36-06:00 Jeffrey Overstreet

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Well, Anne and I just had one of the most glorious movie dates of our 16 years together.

I am exhausted with happiness. What a knockout of a film! Excuse me while I unleash my unedited, disorganized first impressions…

If In the City of Sylvia had come out this year, it would have given Certified Copy serious competition for the top spot. I was smitten within a few minutes.

In short, it’s a film about a young man who goes searching for a young woman he’s met before. And he has little or nothing to go on. So he goes to familiar places and watches people. What he sees becomes a rapturous experience in observation, searching, disappointments, discoveries, and epiphanies.

The movie makes me lean forward. It gives me the strange sensation of waking up, and waking up further, shot by shot, scene by scene. Watching it for the first time, I got to a point where I was suspicious of everything – every detail, every reflection, every shadow, every person standing 3/4 out of the frame. It’s a search for a woman, for a mystery, for the heart of a city, for the secret of cinema…

And the sound in this film. It’s a master class in diegetic sound, and in sketching the world beyond the frame through sound. Eventually, you know the geography of the story so well that you can recognize places by the sound of them before you recognize the scenery.

And the motion… the people and bicycles and cars and rolling suitcases and trains and busses come from all directions. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie that immersed me in a particular place the way this one does. I swear I could smell those cafes, those alleys.

Oh, and the two shots about 2/3rds of the way through when we see him and her through the flickering windows of the passing train (train? bus?) What a fantastic way of reminding us that this movie is all about our obsession with movies and what we’re all searching for when sit down in a darkened theatre.

And the wonderful humor waiting to be noticed in the advertisements, the signs, the graffiti.

The opening 20 minutes are just packed with visual cleverness. It plays with our expectations just wickedly, and shows us just how our first impression of a scene can be entirely changed if the frame shifts to the right or left slightly. (I loved the guessing game of figuring out the relationships between people at the cafe, figuring out the meanings of their quizzical expressions.)

I could go on and on and on. But I just want to let my head spin for a while.

If there was anything that bothered me – the only thing I can think of is this: It’s the lead actor. He just seemed… I don’t know, a little too prepared, like he’d spent an hour in front of the mirror before going out to sit and very, very noticeably watch people… very, very noticeably perform “keeping a low profile.” If that makes any sense. He looked like he wanted to look like a quiet observant artist on the edge of the cafe crowd, which of course makes him a poser. But as the movie rolled on, I realized that no, he’s not a poser, he really is that guy. He just looked too much like a model who stepped out of an ad in Vogue. But this is a tiny quibble.

This is one I want to show discussion groups and workshops so we can talk about editing rhythms, visual storytelling, sound, subtlety….

I only have this kind of fun at the movies once a year, if I’m lucky.

Hmmmmm. Looking back at my Top 10 of 2007… that was already a great year for movies. I may have to revise things to look like this:

In the City of Sylvia
There Will Be Blood
Shotgun Stories
Munyurangabo
Flight of the Red Balloon
My Kid Could Paint That
Ratatouille
Lars and the Real Girl
Times and Winds
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days

Blog

In the City of Sylvia

Previous Post

January 3, 2012

Linford Detweiler of Over the Rhine interviews Joe Henry in Image

Next Post

January 9, 2012 The Artist (2011)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Blog Bloggers on "Through a Screen Darkly" Browser Coming Soon Endorsements Fiction Books Film Forum Film Reviews Inspirations Interviews Journal Kindlings Muse Movie buzz Music Reviews Non-Fiction Books radio Reviewers on "Through a Screen Darkly" The Auralia Thread Through a Screen Darkly Through a Screen Darkly - Bonus Materials Top 10 (or 20 or 100) lists Uncategorized

Select a Month June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 July 2003 May 2003 March 2003 September 1999

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who built the ark?

Select your answer to see how you score.

David Moses Noah Solomon