“From a distant gaze …” (1964) directed by Jean Ravel, picture Pierre Lhomme & Chris Marker, words by Louis Aragon, narrated by Jean Negroni, music by Michel Legrand.

Describe a few things that intrigue you – it might be shot construction, camera work, editing, overall structure, thematic concerns etc. Describe the camera work and why you think it has been shot that way.

The camera acts like an observer. There is always a person or an object to be focused in each frame. We are likely to watch aimlessly; then look attentively at certain people’s behaviour or things in the surroundings. The camera follows people in a natural way like an observers’ eyes. There is a moment in the film when a car drives past and as the camera is set on opposite side of the road, it cannot see the subject at that moment so it looks at something else it feels interested. The camera zooms in the subjects as if it is “from a distant gaze”. The close-ups create a sense of intimacy; I can observe them in a short distance away yet they are unaware of being filmed, in which the subjects look so truthful in front of the camera.