
User Score
2 votes
An experimental documentary that takes world-building to an entirely new level, Rites of Spring showcases fragments of Iran’s history before, during, and after the Revolution of 1979. It begins with scenes of daily life, working-class people, and extensive shots of farms and nature. When the Revolution hits the country, the new focus becomes demonstrations, leaders’ preachings, and scenes of strife, revealing the constant fear and chaos that hover over the country. The birds that break out of their eggs toward the end signal an undeniably effective promise of a new beginning for a country that oscillates between revolution and war.
Director
Status
Released
Original Language
FA

"The lush and mysterious realm evoked by SHELLS AND RUSHES recalls the uncanny eclecticism of the surrealists. Strange, flesh-like sea shells, restlessly turning and quivering; enigmatic allusions to classical mythology, such as the Birth of Venus and Leda and the Swan; and paradoxical uses of positive and negative space variously bring to mind Man Ray, Dali and Cornell. But Couzin's film creates its own rich, secretive world and provides its own astonishing pleasures. Accompanied by an otherworldly soundtrack of ancient throat-singing, this deftly edited film is by turns seductive, humorous and serene." – Rafael Wang

A duo of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations about a greedy wife's attempt to embezzle her dying husband's fortune, and a sleazy reporter's adoption of a strange black cat.