Decasia: The State of Decay. Dir. B. Morrison. 2004.
Just like Baraka, this film has striking visuals shown at something other than normal speed in a non-linear arrangement. Certainly there are juxtapositions to the images but there is only an implied story not an explicit one. Further, the visual elements of the film are accompanied by distinctive music that has no lyrical element.
On the other hand, this film is nothing like Baraka. First, the film is in black and white, and consists of damaged archival film spliced together. So, the visuals themselves were selected from existing stock, not shot with forethought and design. Further, this film is just bad.
Maybe there was a bit of satire on Baraka in the use of archival images of a whirling dervish. What is it about the whirling dervish that appeals to the avant? Is it the self-imposed dizziness the artist admires? And, I find it interesting that Qatsi productions appears in the credits, since there’s an oblique connection here to Baraka.
This film could easily have been rejected 2nd or 3rd unit daily rushes from David Lynch’s Eraserhead, or something similar.
Worse, this film gave me the same kind of headache I got watching Tesuo, but wasn’t freakin’ strange enough to make the headache bearable or redeeming.
About half way through the movie, I discovered that the entire collection of archival shots were being displayed at 1/4 speed. I found this out because I gave up and started to zoom through the film in the weak hope that it would somehow improve or manage to do something other than shamble on like a zombie trying to eat my brain.
Maybe if I was on acid and I wanted to have a bad trip, or if I needed some ambient visuals to project on the walls at some goth club, this film would come to mind again. Otherwise, I’ll be happy to forget as much as I can.
I doubt seeing this on the big screen would have helped and might have led to permanent brain damage.