My first encounter with Owen Land was an unmitigated disaster. How anybody could find enjoyment or enlightenment in 'Film in Which There Appear Edge Lettering, Sprocket Holes, Dirt Particles, Etc. (1966)' is a mystery I'll ponder for years to come, but I'm a forgiving man. I decided to give Land (also known as George Landow) a second opportunity to prove himself, and the good news is that 'Remedial Reading Comprehension (1970)' is an improvement on his last effort. This five-minute experimental film (and few filmmakers fit the "experimental" label so snugly) has the upper-hand on the basis that something actually happens in it. However, I still didn't get it, and I didn't particularly like it, either. Owen Land appears to be operating on some outlandish wavelength that I'm incapable on receiving. But then again, this film is supposed to be about Me, not it's Maker, so I don't know
'Remedial Reading Comprehension' opens with a girl apparently dreaming about university lectures (given that I'll be returning to uni in a week, I can certainly sympathise). One student in the theatre is asleep, but the others chat enthusiastically as they take their seats. Then the film cuts to the silhouette of what appears to be a running women, though the image of a running man is superimposed over the silhouette (and he has long hair, so maybe he is the silhouette, as well). Following this train of thought, we then learn of the benefits of white rice over brown rice. Certainly the most interesting element of the film is a reading comprehension lesson, in which phrases from a page are ever-so-briefly illuminated, but, on the whole, much too fast for us to recognise the words that we are seeing. Perhaps a little bit intriguing, but I'm not going to rack my brain to try and make sense of it all.
'Remedial Reading Comprehension' opens with a girl apparently dreaming about university lectures (given that I'll be returning to uni in a week, I can certainly sympathise). One student in the theatre is asleep, but the others chat enthusiastically as they take their seats. Then the film cuts to the silhouette of what appears to be a running women, though the image of a running man is superimposed over the silhouette (and he has long hair, so maybe he is the silhouette, as well). Following this train of thought, we then learn of the benefits of white rice over brown rice. Certainly the most interesting element of the film is a reading comprehension lesson, in which phrases from a page are ever-so-briefly illuminated, but, on the whole, much too fast for us to recognise the words that we are seeing. Perhaps a little bit intriguing, but I'm not going to rack my brain to try and make sense of it all.
