BRUNO SCHULZ

Then the colours deepened by an octave; the sitting room filled up with darkness as if plunged into the luminosity of the deep sea, still dimly reflected in mirrors of green, while all the day’s torrid heat breathed on the blinds, swaying gently to the reveries of the midday hour.

Bruno Schulz, The Cinnamon Shops

I have been very excited by a few new finds. New to me anyways. First, I should mention the absolutely awesome blogs of Aeron Alfry. The great woodcut below of the Mouth of Hell comes from one of his blogs called Monster Brains. I could probably steal pictures from him forever. And on that note, I should mention that the next subject of this particular entry is also stolen from one of Mr. Alfry's blogs.

For years and years I have been hoping to land on a copy of some of the short films of The Brothers Quay. The Criterion Collection has been stalling forever and I am not particularly resourceful. I am a huge fan of stop-action animation, particularly the work of Jan Svankmajer and Yuri Norstein. I remember hearing about the Brothers Quay back when Tool videos were still played on MTV. And, lucky me, Alfry's site just happened to have a video of Street of the Crocodiles.



Street of the Crocodiles (High Quality)

This is one of the most amazing films I have ever seen. I am given to healthy doses of hyperbole, so you will just have to believe me. You have seen this film before, in derivative forms. The "Closer" video is an almost shot for shot remake. The use of shallow depth of field, raw meat, and tracking shots of 4 inch tall mechanical genius actors is, frankly, unparalleled. Technically, lyrically, stylistically perfect. And that's not all.

The film is based on a short story by Bruno Schulz called The Cinnamon Shops. I found a link to an English translation online. In the first story of Street of the Crocodiles, August, every sentence is lucid and beautiful, soaked in synesthesia. We have become fast friends. As you get older it becomes harder to find things that can really shake you down. I really hope you hate it. Because it makes me feel really really cool that I found it first.

And isn't that what matters most... in the end?