Five and a Half Minutes in the City of Sylvia

Beginning tomorrow, 12 December, José Luis Guerín's magnificent study of the male gaze, En la Ciudad de Sylvia (In the City of Sylvia) is getting a week-long run at the Anthology Film Archives, which clearly means that something on my 2008 best-of list is going to get bumped. You can read my review from the 2007 New York Film Festival here.

Coincidentally, I recently received the film on DVD, and have watched it about six times in the past few days. Yes, it's that good.

As a gift, I thought I'd share 5:30 of the film with you. I struggled with my choice, as there are just so many wonderful scenes, but in the end opted for the sequence at Les Aviateurs. I love the goth girls at the end...

I wish the quality were better, but both YouTube and Vimeo apply heavy compression. If anyone knows of a site that allows streaming of high-quality Quicktime files, please let me know.

Enjoy! (Crossposted to my Tumblr page.)

In the City of Sylvia from Filmbrain on Vimeo.

Alternate YouTube link should the above not work.

Comments

[Karsten]

What is cool about Vimeo is that it allows me to download the original QT file from your clip's site over at their pages.

[Nick Ramsey]

Filmbrain, thanks for this alert. I've been eager to see this film since reading your NYFF 2007 review.

[Jaime]

Terrific film! I'm sad that I didn't get to see it in theaters (it wouldn't play anywhere near my neck of the woods), but I managed to find a DVD of it and have also seen it multiple times, but I'll definitely use this video to give friends of mine a little taste of it.

[Joe Bowman]

Hey, who is releasing the film stateside?

[Filmbrain]

Joe --

Nobody at the moment. Anthology arranged for this run on their own.

I tried very hard to acquire it for Benten earlier this year, but.....it didn't go so well. Perhaps next year?

[Phillip Johnston]

I've got that DVD as well and have showed it to countless people. Hypnotic, isn't it? I'm so glad it's getting a somewhat official release in the US. Like you said, it can now make some Top 10 lists.

[Joe Bowman]

Good luck with the acquisition. I was wild about The Free Will, which you released earlier this year.

[John Mattia]

I love the goth girls too. I also love the Manet reference at 0:49.

[Tom Russell]

That clip was absolutely hypnotic.

[Bob Turnbull]

I've been dying to see this since TIFF last year - it made my short list but the times didn't work out. Then when I started hearing more about it and saw the original trailer, I kicked myself.

Of course after seeing that clip, I'm going to cry myself to sleep. I absolutely can't wait to see this film.

I assume that this magical DVD you all speak of is non-R1?

[c mason wells]

Thanks for this clip, FB. SYLVIA is the film of the year.

[George Vermij]

Good to see that Guerin is finally getting the attention he deserves and I really hope that your label will release this beautiful film. I immediately fell for the movie after a screening at the Rotterdam film festival. I also had the chance to interview Guerin for a Dutch webzine. He is a wonderfully kind and modest man but his erudition is enormous as he spoke of his love for silent cinema, and his fascination for the city strolling and writing of Charles Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin. He also told me that he uses paintings as an inspiration for his films. You can see this so beautifully in the clip you have posted. The girl behind the bar, her reflection in the mirror, and the rose she plays with. You don't realize it at first but then it hits you: she's the bargirl in Manet’s famous painting.

[hola]

this movie sucks...i mean... don´t you get tired of that whole "french/metro/painter" thing??
i mean, now is the time when the whole "contemplative" style has been taken to a repelling form of kitsch...

the whole idea of watching girls is ok. that´s it.

i can only imagine what kind of a person guerin is. And it makes me sick. (not that it matters)
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