String Quartet No. 3, Allegretto

black and white monochromatic color pallet couple walking overdramatized flower on sidewalk man gives to women women laughs tucks flower behind her ear they walk sit down at cafe they drink coffee he's a magician he makes things float in mid air makes things disappear etc he pulls a puppy out of a hat and gives it to her she's amazed he makes a bouquet of flowers appear out of his sleeve and gives them to her she kisses him on the cheek the bill comes for their coffee and pastry while she's not looking he makes the bill disappear dark look into the camera  they walk together they come to her door they kiss she goes inside he walks to another door and knocks another woman comes out and kisses him on the forehead they begin to walk hand in hand  woman #1 comes out of her house with the flower still tucked behind her ear and walks down the street spinning happy in love etc she turns a corner and sees them she smiles and starts towards him but then notices the other woman she notices them holding hands she mouths the words what the fuck he picks up a flower and puts it behind women #2s ear woman #1 grabs her flower and throws it on the ground stomps on it with her foot she retreats to behind the building she turned at she spies on them the man and women #3 part ways they kiss and he walks into a building woman #2 is now walking in the direction of woman #1 she lets her pass by her and then begins to follow her woman #1 taps woman #2 on the shoulder woman #2 turns woman #1 slaps her across the face woman #2 returns the slap woman #1 pulls out a picture from her pocket of her and the man woman #2 looks at it in shock and pulls out the same picture basically of herself and the man she shows it to woman #1 they look at each other then at the pictures and rip them in half they sit down on a bench elbows on knees and chin in hands woman #2 looks at the ripped picture in her hand and gets an idea she taps woman #1 on the shoulder shows her the picture and slowly rips the mans head of woman #2 gets her picture and does the same thing they look at each other and nod they grasp hands and stand up they walk hand in hand down the street they see the man coming out of the building with another woman they both mouth what the fuck one of them starts towards him but the other one stops her woman #1 pulls a camera out of her bag and snaps pictures of him with the other woman they follow him the whole day he has many girlfriends whom he woes by doing Magic tricks and putting flowers in their hair woman #1 takes pictures of him doing these things  cut to woman #1s apartment there is a wall covered in pictures of the man with red string connecting some of them and other things like in spy movies or detective shows they talk woman #2 circles a picture of the man sitting in a library reading she circles the time the photo was taken and the name of the library she looks at the clock it's almost the same time they leave and go to the library where they find him he turns and sees them he's shocked and speechless  both women pull out guns and aim them at his head he disappears in a puff of smoke the women cough and look around for him but they can't find him they grasp hands and walk out

Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

This is an incredibly slow moving film but the lack of events is the statement of the film; how dull life can be when put into bad circumstances. Jeanne Dielman is a woman taking care of her son, her husband having died years earlier. She spends most of her day at home, either prostituting herself or briefly taking care of a neighbor’s baby. Extended scenes find her either preparing food or simply staring off. There is nothing for her to really do in her life. It is a miserable journey to watch, but it’s easy to see that it is the director’s purpose to question mundane living. The slow crawl of the film is only a fraction of the boredom and misery that Jeanne must be in. It is unrelenting in everything it does. Some scenes simply consist of a single take for over ten minutes, only showing Jeanne preparing a meal. What the film lacks in action, it makes up for in cinematography. The shots are incredibly beautiful even with the dull coloring of all the walls and surroundings.

The Thin Blue Line

In this documentary by Errol Morris that argues that Randall Adams, a man accused of murdering a police officer, is innocent, and that the truly guilty party is David Harris, a young man with a long criminal history.  This documentary is very interesting due to its reflexive style, its focus on the difference between perception and truth, and its omission of information in service of its politics. There’s a huge difference between perception and truth.  The parts of this movie that make this point most powerfully are the crime scene reenactments.  Each reenactment shows the even happening as the subject being interviewed describes it, and each reenactment is different.  In one reenactment, as the other police officer at the scene of the crime recalls that the make and model of the car were different than she originally remembered, the audience actually sees the car morph in mid-shot to a different type of car. This movie shows us  how justice is denied in our system because people rely upon what they wanted to have happened, rather than what actually happened.  People had an easier time perceiving Adams as a killer than they did Harris, and so they wrongfully convicted Adams.