Genre:
Documentary
Directed:
Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Stars:
Nikolaus Geyrhalter
Production:
Nikolaus Geyrhalter Filmproduktion
Homo Sapiens
follows in the footsteps of Koyaanisqatsi (1982) and more recently Samsara
(2011) in the way of wordless, structure-less documentaries that evoke feeling
through montage. Yet the mode in which Homo Sapiens assembles itself is about
where the similarities end. Samsara went through great pains to capture some of
the most beautiful images ever while Homo Sapiens is very much concerned with
tableaus of decay and putridity.
The images
are eerily, hauntingly, strikingly beautiful. Not a single human is in frame;
remnants of civilization are ever present but always in the process of being
reclaimed by the earth. There are fast food restaurants fallen in disrepair,
abandoned office buildings, leaky subways stations and cracked concrete as far
as the eye can see. The images recall the staid, defiant sculpture works of
Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson in the way they are presented.
Homo Sapiens
however detracts from its themes and crosses a line of good taste when it
captures static frames of Fukushima amid a jumble of other images. The
finiteness and fragility of human life does feel more visceral when these
images come about but they feel a lot less real as well. To put it in certain
terms, it feels like watching a superhero movie whereby the villain wins. The
world changes thanks to a sudden and irreparable change masterminded by a
singular entity. Whether purposeful or not, Homo Sapiens seems to want to put
its post-apocalyptic chips on nuclear fallout.
We as a species
now know better. Human civilization is likely not going to be wiped out swiftly
by our own hand but in a worst case scenario, peter out in a cloud of good
intentions. Not one big mistake but a thousand tiny mistakes made by a
collective unconscious that lives for today; tomorrow be damned.
Homo Sapiens
not a pleasant film to watch. The sound design doesn’t even offer a modernist
score a la Phillip Glass but rather bombards us with birds chirping, flies
buzzing and wind bellowing against ceiling tiles and paper. And this is despite
barely seeing anything but broken glass to justify such loud noise.
Ultimately
Homo Sapiens is an art installation masquerading as a full-feature film. A
moving photo album that, granted captures some interesting images but in its
silence all but announces its themes. It then uses a terrible recent tragedy to
mix the proverbial pot. A gambit that most may find fitting but to me, it feels
like they’re crossing a line.
Final Grade:
D.
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