Haunting. I am exceedingly proud to know this man who is a filmmaker and all that it implies, and the chance to see his film was something I had been secretly anticipating for as long as I’ve known of it. The peak of friendship, sometimes, is the joy at what someone else has accomplished. Name-dropping with all the pride you can muster, because yes, you want people to know you know this person who has done something that must be recognized, must be reckoned and wrestled with.
People always debate what is art, and for this moment I will say this: Art lingers. It’s been a few days now since I saw Apart and still it’s with me, churning in the back of my mind, thinking about it much longer than I need to.
And it is haunting. It is at once both familiar and alien. The film is grounded enough that we feel connected with this boy and this girl and high school, all that it is and was and could have been. And yet surreal enough that we know this is not our experience, our high school, our memories. Something new to be experienced. Watching Apart, and turning it over in your head, feels like arriving in a place you’ve never been but certain you already know it. Like a dream that stays with you all day.
As disparaging Aaron may be of compliments and congratulations, he has made something of quality. The feeling of the film brings to mind both Memento and Donnie Darko, and you swear you’ve seen these unfamiliar actors somewhere before. Shots and frames are stuck in my mind, like the curves of a renaissance sculpture. The kind of screen-captures that end up with Death Cab lyrics over them, popping up on blog after teenage blog, which is a pretty damn good measure of something that resonates. Of art that lingers.
(Photo via enjoywontyou)
