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"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass."- Anton Chekhov, 1926, Art, Christopher Marlowe, film, Found in translation, Light is calling, On a cloudy day In fields where the yellow grass grows knee-high, Rachmaninoff's 18th variation rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, Rippling through mind Roller-coasting landscapes of being', short film
Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove,
And we will sit upon the Rocks,
And I will make thee beds of Roses,
And if these pleasures may thee move,
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then come live with me, and be my love. – Christopher Marlowe
Only 8 minutes 12 seconds be this shortness. You’ll like it.
Light Is Calling
(8 min., 35mm, 720ft./216m, 2004)
A film by Bill Morrison
Music by Michael Gordon
World premiere: 23rd Sundance Film Festival, January 2004
International premiere: 33rd International Film Festival Rotterdam, January 2004
Imagery taken from “The Bells” (1926), directed by James Young
Starring Lola Todd and Edward Phillips
Original photography by L. William O’Connell (1926)
Optical re-photography by Cinema Arts (2003)
Recording courtesy of Nonesuch Records
Produced by Luke DuBois
Backing track: Mary Rowell, Ralph Farris, Joyce Hammann, Cenovia Cummins – violins.
Created using a decomposing 35mm print of the crime drama The Bells (1926), the experimental short Light Is Calling (2004) depicts a dreamy encounter between a soldier and a mysterious woman. With images that reveal themselves only to distort and disappear into the decaying amber-tinted nitrate, the New York-based filmmaker Bill Morrison – known for his use of found materials – invites viewers to meditate on the fleeting nature of all things physical and emotional, while a minimalistic violin score suffuses the century-old images with a wistful, haunting beauty.
Esme's Cloud 
Is this in a Liverpool accent? If so I reject it!
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Not every English accent is Liverpudlian! You’ve been brainwashed, or possibly scarred for life – falls about
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This film is beyond fabulous. We don’t have a TV. We have a screen. Am dashing off now to tell other half to discover there this minute. You are a star, Esme. A star on a cloud. All hail to you, and to the wraith of Christopher Marlowe too. You do keep the most marvellous company up there. Txx
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Ooooh! I am so pleased Tish! Christopher is pretty chuffed too, hahahaha – beams. It’s very beautiful, isn’t it? There’s something about old film, the kind you could hold strips of in your hands, enjoy my dears, enjoy ❤
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T’was fantastic on a ‘big’ screen, though now feeling faint in response to codpiece waving.
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Oh what a hoot!
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Cool video and music!
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I said you’d like it didn’t I? Hahahahaha.
Fab, glad you likey, sir.
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Haha yes. Funny you. Keep posting fabsies 👌🏻
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This works wonderfully well, and I really do like it. I’m keen on some of Bill Viola’s shorts — things like Tristan’s Ascension — in which one gets entirely immersed in a mood and feeling, yet at the same time one can’t really define what those moods and feelings are, or at least, I’m unable to. It’s abstract, and pure abstraction can be like visiting a resting place for the pattern-seeking mind. Viola. Violin. Cello. The music. For me, that piece works better in the lower register of the cello. In any case, I hope you don’t mind me posting a video of it being played on that instrument. Many thanks for this, Esme, it’s a special find, and a most welcome discovery for me. All best wishes, Hariod.
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Not at all! Lovely version, I played viola myself when I was an imp. The whole piece here is a feeling as you say, no straight story, I think for some pattern-seeking is vital mind and they don’t like a lack of it, I’m with you entirely of course, it is a balm of sorts and feels right at home upon the Cloud. Very nice to see you again round these parts Hariod – beams.
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Well, hellooo stranger! Thanks for this, and to esme for her suggestions. Love you both! ❤
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❤ Xxx
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Hi Bela! I shouldn’t be too much of a stranger to you as I’ve left a couple (2, 3, 4?) of comments on your site in recent months and yet had no replies. I may be in your spam. How is the drought, ended yet? Lotsa love, H.
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Oh, no! We are about to leave for the farmers market this morning, but I will get to this later and check the spam folder on my laptop. You know I could never ignore you! 😳😉💕
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Despite the restraining orders we have against him! – esme pegging it laughing.
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As much as I wanted to enjoy it, I couldn’t. I struggled through nearly 30 seconds before it became overwhelming. The individual images jump from one to the next instead of transitioning by blending/merging/fading. As an autistic person, I found it too jarring on the senses. I tried slowing to half speed and quarter speed but the lack of transitions became more obvious even more jarring. Speeding it up didn’t help either as the flicker become very uncomfortable. I wonder if this piece would trigger an epileptic seizure in susceptible individuals?
I appreciate the the creativeness of Bill Morrison but in this particular case I can’t give it a pass, although it does get a A for effort.
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A for effort is very good indeed. I know it isn’t for everyone, and can see what you mean, why you found it hard work, and yes, I suppose it might trigger an attack, though I tend to notice that trigger myself due to my own medical slants. Thank you for trying it on for size Barry, most appreciated!
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Cool video.
Naw, I am coming to be your lover and live with you 😀
Greetings Esme
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Hahahahahahahaha. Go fill out the forms in the office, if you have all your own teeth you’re in with a chance.
I’m very pleased you enjoyed it Mak.
Esme Cloud sending a bouquet of sunshine his way winking
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I have a half tooth missing but the rest are OK. Maybe I should have it crowned first, then fill the forms.
Happy 🕺.
This is well received as it is cold in the city in the sun
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A bit of chewing gum artfully placed would suffice.
Conrad Poohs and his dancing teeth to brighten your day.
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Let me work on the chewing gum. After a few attempts, I am sure we will have perfect teeth
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By the second minute I was getting bored.
By the third, I was trying to think of it as an experimental temporal viewport.
By the fourth… I’d determined the experiment a failure.
I gave up. Not enough information to even guess at the story…
… then I got to the synopsis you’d provided at the foot of the post. I might have been tempted to continue till the fifth minute, or beyond, by those words, had I read them first, but I suspect I’d still not have made it to the end.
Sorry to disappoint.
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Ah, well it isn’t really for everyone – it’s less a story than a mood, a feeling, like an abstract painting, one can look for meaning, and some will find it straight away, as I did, but doing so may lead to frustration or madness perhaps for others. Much like Hariod and Trish, by the looks of it, I find the whole piece an entity, a piece of art that is very powerful. You have the kind of mind that needs answers, and that’s no bad thing at all, the one thing I love about art is there’s no right or wrong when it comes to how we feel about it, a wonder to one is flat as a pancake to others. I’m not disappointed at all though, it’s interesting why you don’t like it, Barry isn’t keen either. I left the words until later so as to take all elements of leading the viewer in away, see what happened then. This did! – points at the comments Thank you for your time and words sir.
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*grabs home-made strawberry ice lolly and runs off licking it before The Thought Police can catch him and take it away
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And before the cats get it!
https://forums.au.reachout.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/8465i18D558ABD0BF3F95?v=v2
Esme seeing nothing but a cloud of dust and a hint of strawberry where he stood.
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