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sophieinwonderland · 1 month

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The Plurality of... Avatar: The Last Airbender

Major Spoilers For Avatar: The Last Airbender ahead! And minor spoilers of related properties.

Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.

Welcome to the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. A world where some people are born with the gift of bending, an ancient art that allows them to control one of the four elements. But only one. Even if they came from parents who were different types of benders, each bender only gets a single element.

But there exists a single exception to this rule. The Avatar. The one person in the world who can master all four elements.

But we're not here to talk about the Avatar's cool bending powers. We're here today to talk about…

The Plurality of The Avatar

Plurality: A state of multiple self-conscious agents, or "headmates," sharing a single body.

The Avatar isn't merely a jack of all trades bender. Simply knowing how to use the four elements is only a small part of their toolbelt. And perhaps one of the least important. Despite the series placing a strong focus on the need to master all four elements, perhaps the actual most important thing about the Avatar is that they reincarnate and are connected with their past selves.

This allows each Avatar to speak to and learn from the experiences of past avatars. This is most prominent in what's called the Avatar State, a sort of super form where their eyes (and downvotes) glow as they channel the skills and abilities of all the past avatars through them.

(Art by @joeyscomics)

Aang's avatar state is a sort of blending of the avatars without a distinct identity of its own.

Additionally, there were also a couple instances through the show where Aang, the current avatar, switches into other avatars.

During the season 1 mid-season finale, The Winter Solstice, Aang first contacts Avatar Roku, his firebending predecessor. Trapped in a temple with no way out, a group stands outside the door prepared to strike as soon as the avatar steps through. They expect to see a small child walk through the doors. But what they see instead is Avatar Roku.

Once the enemies have been defeated and fled, Roku turns back into an exhausted Aang, who drops to his knees.

In season 2, this happens again with Aang switching into avatar Kyoshi. Again, sure to spirit magic, Aang physically transforms into Kyoshi.

(Obviously, real plurals don't physically transform, as cool as that would be. But spirits in the avatar universe do have shape-changing capabilities, being able to alter both their own forms and the forms of others. There are many examples in Legend of Korra and the comics, but one big one we see in A:TLA is Koh The Face Stealer, who as you can guess, steals people's faces, physically transforming their bodies. Simply put, we can accept the Avatar Spirit as having the ability to naturally shapeshift.)

So there's the basics of the Avatar's plurality. We have multiple people sharing a body. We have system-like internal communication. We have switching. And we even have a state that could be best described as blendy.

In the plural community, a system that's formed from past lives is sometimes called Fenigenic or Phoenigenic, drawing its name from the phoenix; The mythical bird that dies and is reborn from its ashes.

From Pluralpedia:

Fenigenic is a system origin that describes systems who formed from past lives in some way. They may believe they left their past life and were reborn again as a system, came into the system from a past life into the body (causing plurality), were a system in a past life and were reborn again with the same one, and/or various other scenarios. This is an intentionally broad label that can describe many different experiences.

With these established facts, without a doubt, the avatar would qualify as a Pheonigenic system.

But I want to delve even deeper. Because at its core, Avatar: The Last Airbender isn't just a story about a kid who happens to be plural. It's a story about plurality. It's a story about dissociation. About connecting with and building connections with parts of yourself. And about taking responsibility for those parts, even when you aren't actually them. And all of this is what make the series so fascinating from a plural perspective!

The Avatar State as a "Self-Defense Mechanism"

At the beginning of season 2, Aang enters the avatar state while scared of losing his friends, and talks to Roku again. Roku explains to Aang what the avatar state is.

The Avatar State is a defense mechanism, designed to empower you with the skill and knowledge of all the past Avatars. The glow is the combination of all your past lives focusing their energy through your body. In the Avatar State, you're at your most powerful... but you are also at your most vulnerable.

At this point, Aang learns that if he dies in the Avatar State, the cycle breaks and the avatar will never reincarnate again.

Let's take another look at that wording though. "The Avatar State is a defense mechanism." It's a word choice that you wouldn't expect to find in a fantasy cartoon. "Defense mechanisms" are more a psychological term, having their origins in psychoanalysis.

Why does this matter?

Because the avatar state, at its core, is a dissociative state. And dissociation has often been described as a defense mechanism itself. From Wikipedia:

In mild cases, dissociation can be regarded as a coping mechanism or defense mechanism in seeking to master, minimize or tolerate stress – including boredom or conflict.

And later when talking about traumamatic dissociation, it goes on to explain:

Symptoms of dissociation resulting from trauma may include depersonalization, psychological numbing, disengagement, or amnesia regarding the events of the abuse. It has been hypothesized that dissociation may provide a temporarily effective defense mechanism in cases of severe trauma; however, in the long term, dissociation is associated with decreased psychological functioning and adjustment.

What's interesting about the avatar state is that, while there are some times Aang goes into the Avatar State to protect himself, often he enters it as a response to stress in general.

The first couple times we see Aang go into the Avatar State, it's to physically protect himself. Once to freeze himself. Then again to fight Zuko. But the next time he enters the Avatar State, there's no danger. There's no need to use it.

This is when he's at the Southern Air Temple, and sees his old friend Monk Gyatsu. It's when he really learns and has to process that he's the last airbender and everyone he ever knew is dead.

Aang doesn't use the avatar state as a physical defense mechanism here. Rather, he enters the avatar state as a psychological defense mechanism.

It takes over because he's disengaging. He just learned something traumatic and he can't come to terms with it. He shuts down, and his friends have to reach him through the pain.

This becomes a pretty common theme throughout the series from then on. Sometimes, it's the physical danger that causes him to transform. But other times, he's triggered into this state by his friends being in danger, or from losing Appa.

Time and time again, we see the Avatar State as being triggered by extreme mental stress more often than by any sort of physical stress.

A big part of Aang's journey though the series then becomes learning to master the Avatar State and the dissociation that comes with it. To take control of it instead of letting it control him.

Avatar's Take on System Responsibility

"System responsibility" is the concept in the plural community that if one headmate does something, then the entire system of headmates is responsible for it. Some feel this is unfair, but for practicality, it makes sense. If someone steals something, then obviously you can't send only one headmate to prison. So a big part of being plural ends up having to accept that if someone else you share a body with does something wrong, even if you don't agree with it or don't even remember it, you're responsible for it.

And Avatar has its own form of this, where all Avatars have a single spirit that is reincarnated, and are therefore responsible for the actions of their past lives.

This is most exemplified in the episode Avatar Day.

In this episode, the Gaang wander into a town that's celebrating the titular Avatar Day. They see a parade with massive wooden floats of the past three Avatars. Aang, Roku and Kyoshi.

What appears to be a nice festival that the Gaang is enjoying is quickly turned on its head when a villager sets fires to the figures and the crowd begins chanting "down with the Avatar" while the figures burn.

It turns out, this town believed Avatar Kyoshi murdered their leader, Chin The Great.

In order to prove he wasn't a murderer, Aang volunteers to stand trial. Even though Aang and Kyoshi are separate people in a way... in another, they aren't. And Kyoshi being a murderer is something that would continue to follow Aang around.

So he agrees to go on trial, and refuses encouragement from his friends to escape. And he could escape if wanted to.

When viewed through the lens of a plural system, what we see here is a demonstration of system responsibility, where Aang is showing himself willing to take responsibility for the actions of past Avatars.

Later in the episode, Katara decides that they need to call Kyoshi herself to prove their innocence, and dresses Aang in Kyoshi's clothes to "see if it might trigger something."

And it actually does! This stunt causes Kyoshi to take front! (With a full body transformation because spirit stuff.)

In the end, Kyoshi confesses to killing Chin, who she calls Chin the Conqueror, and Aang is willing to accept the outcome of the trial.

It's not just this one episode though. It's a running theme of the series.

The franchise even.

In season 3, Roku reveals that the whole reason the world was in danger was because of his connection to and weakness in stopping Fire Lord Sozin, who went on to wipe out the Air Nomads. Aang is left with the responsibility of making up for Roku's mistakes.

In the books, it's revealed that Avatar Kyoshi's earliest trials were a direct result of the failings of Kuruk, the avatar before her. And his were a result of Yangchen's mistakes. And in the sequel series, avatar Korra is left to make up for the mistakes of not just Aang, but also Avatar Wan who started the cycle.

The Avatars are people who share a single soul. Each new avatar can be viewed as a new host in the same system. And each one therefore is responsible for making up for the mistakes of those that came before.

This is what the avatar franchise, at its core, is about. A single system making mistakes through life after life, and having to fix those mistakes in the next, hopefully making the world a better place and keeping balance along the way.

A Story of Connection and Balance

With all of this in mind, Aang begins his journey is a system cut off from his headmates.

A central theme of the story is restoring that connection. This story really begins with Aang entering the avatar state in the Southern Air Temple. This is the first time he loses control and nearly hurts the people he cares about.

The avatar state here is something powerful, yes, but also something to be feared, making him a danger to his friends. He doesn't understand at the time what that state is exactly. It's something that leaves him confused and scared.

Through the series, he gradually learns more about the avatar state and his past lives. He begins to learn from avatar Roku. Then from Kyoshi. He learns about their lives, and has to reconcile their past mistakes. He also has to learn to accept himself as the avatar. Something which he struggled with throughout the series, and led to him fleeing his people.

At the end of season 2, Aang nearly dies in the avatar state. In a canon webgame called Escape from the Sprit World, while unconscious, Aang enters the spirit world and goes on a journey where he has to reconnect with the past avatars in order to prevent the avatar cycle from being broken, going back all the way to meet Avatar Yangchen, the airbender before him.

After meeting and learning from all these avatars, he's able to awaken with a new connection to them. (Albeit with no memory of this side quest.) Although he's told he won't be able to enter the Avatar State for the time being.

After this, on the Summer Solstice, he was able to meet with Roku once again to learn about Roku's own past, and his history with Fire Lord Sozin.

All of these events laid the groundwork for a final realization in the series finale. That the past avatars were always with him. He's able to meditate and reach out, and commune with each of them.

Finally, Aang has become a fully-realized avatar, tearing down barriers that kept him separate from the rest of his system!

And in the final battle, Aang is able to access the avatar state with full control over it for the first time.

Some would say that this was because of a conveniently-placed rock. Which, yes, that might have been the literal trigger that unblocked his chi. But narratively, I would argue that it was the connection with the past avatars that truly allowed him to access the avatar state again. That finally connecting with them all was how he truly earned this ability!

Conclusion

So there we have it! The story of Avatar: The Last Airbender is not just an incredible story, but an incredible story of plurality and connection between headmate.

This was really fun to write about, and I enjoyed talking about the plurality of the Avatar.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read!

I think with that, I've covered everythi...

Oh... right...

I guess I didn't cover everything about the plurality of the Avatar, did I?

Guess I need to plan for a Plurality of The Legend of Korra in the future! 😁

(And if you're interested in more of my ramblings about plural representations, you can check out my post about the Plurality of Batman. Or you can read about The Plurality of The Hybrid Chronicles: What's Left of Me, where I analyze a novel about a world where everyone is born with two souls.)

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ghostcultmagazine · 2 years

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syra1616 · 3 years

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meet Veil Sy’s daughter shes is what i think if phanta her had a child would look like no she is not a splurb

#SY #syra1616 #kitsune #mythical creatures #my art #slime monster

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syrakitsune · 5 years

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Pics of sy old fox form

#sy #mythical creatures #my artwork #sy my oc #my art

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teacupfullofstars · 5 years

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This is my about me:

My Name: Sarah

Nicknames: Kitty, Hextira (Hex), Sammy.

Birthday: November, 17. Age: 24

Signs: Scorpio, Rabbit (Earth Rabbit),

Sexuality (Gender/Relationship preference): Pansexual, Poly, Demisexual, Cis Girl She/Her.

Spirituality: Mixed Pagan/Wiccan

Disorders/Illnesses/Disabilities (What ever you want to call them):

Fibromyalgia

IBS

ADHD

PTSD

Bipolarism

Anxiety

Depression

Autism

Dyslexia/Dyscalculia/Dysgraphia

HoH (Mostly deaf in left ear)

Favorite Shows:

Steven Universe

Expedition Unknown

Ghost Adventures

The Walking Dead

Bob's Burgers

The Great North

Supernatural

Dr. Who

Disney+ MCU shows

Stranger Things

The Mandalorian

The Witcher

Futurama

Favorite Movies: (This is going to be a long one lol)

Game of Thrones & House of the Dragon

Hazbin Hotel

HelluvaBoss

Any MCU films

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Studio Ghibli films

FNAF 2023

Sucker Punch

Repo! The Genetic Opera

Venom

Shape of Water

Fright Night (2011)

The Star Wars Films

Anastasia

Most Disney movies

Guardians of Ga'Hoole

Grave Encounters 1&2

VHS 1&2

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Godzilla (and Kong) films

Xanadu

Phantom of the Opera

LOTR and Hobbit Movies

Favorite Video Games:

Minecraft

Sims 4

FNAF

Cloud Meadow

Outlast 1, 2, and Whistle Blower

Objects Games

Slime Rancher

Portal 1&2 (And Mods)

Sun Haven

RE8 Village

Undertale

Stardew Valley

Plants vs Zombies

Lego Star Wars, Indian Johns, Marvel, and Pirates of the Caribbean

Call of Duty Zombies

Pokemon

Crush Crush and Blush Blush

Among Us

Favorite Books:

Hunger Games

LOTR and The Hobbit Books

A Song of Ice and Fire Books

Most anything by Stephen King

Books on Ghosts, Cryptids, Vampires, Occult, Magic, ect.

Goosebumps Books

Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark series

Cirque Du Freak Books

Guardians of Ga'Hoole Books

Favorite Music:

Owl City/Adam Young

Marianas Trench

Twenty One Pilots

Fall Out Boy

Carly Rae Jepsen

Lady Gaga

Florence + the Machine

Taylor Swift

Special Interests and Hobbies:

Japanese Culture

Beauty and The Beast

Ancient Egypt

Toy Collecting

Oceanography

Space

Everything Disney

Occult/Magic

Vampires/Werewolves/Monsters/Mythical Creatures/Cryptozoology/Aliens

Greek and other “Mythology”

Halloween

Video Games

Movies (Horror/Sy-Fy/Fantasy)

Music

Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals

Art/Painting/Drawing/Sculpting/Jewelry Making/Interior Design/Photography/Digital Art/Crafting

Writing

Travel and Camping

Cooking and Baking

Rock and other collecting hobbies

Gardening

Cosplay/Dress Up

Currently working on an early draft fanfic. Hands of God. An AU FNAF Fic about William Afton and A self-insert!OC. Base plot after William makes the odd decision to say a woman's life the two of them find each other strangely drawn to each other. They find themselves living a strange double life together. Living a sweet domestic lifestyle but buried beneath two messed up individuals share many horrible secrets.

Various Aesthetics and "cores"

This fics development is tagged as Hands of God.

AO3 Profile

Dirty stuff will be tagged as Smut.

Original stuff will be tagged as OG.

Open to tagging things for mutuals.

I tag episodes of shows (TV and Podcasts) as spoilers for 1 week after airing. I tag movies as spoilers for 1 month after releasing.

Not welcome if you are racist, sexist, LBGTQ+ including ace/aro phobic, MAP/Pedo, Trump supporter or “far-right”, pro-eating disorder/pro-ana, anti MOGAI, Transmed, TERF/SWERF, Anti-self diagnosis, albeist (towards mentally and physically disabled people including invisible illness) antisemitic, pro zionist, pro war. Or if you are a generally hateful, toxic, judgy person.

NO MINORS I post adult content here.

I'm a self ship/self insert, OC x Canon blog and near all my fanfics are that.

If you've come to fight about my ships piss off. I'm dying on my ship hill. I picked out my plot already.

I'm going to lay this out here and say I'm basically pro ship. That doesn't mean I support all ships there are tons out there that disgust me and I'll block on site but with that said I don't believe anyone has the right to censor people's work because you hate a ship. So if you aren't okay with that take, I guess it's see yah!

Honestly I'm not going to fight with trolls over the things I like and reblog. I've been here since 2014 I've had death threats and stalkers over stupid Fandom shit and I don't care if you don't like me or my content.

#about me #og

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artistslashperfectionist · 5 years

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Gerry’s Jeepney: Not just jeepneys,it includes Pinoy culture too

Have you ever tried eating in Pedro ‘N Coi ? It is a restaurant located in malls like Fishermall, Sta. Lucia and Resorts World filled with vintage items from thrift shops or antique stores. Complete with old records and an old school jeepney, or sometimes the heart-clad Hino bus called the Love bus, which is an icon of the classic Filipino commute. There are also Pinoy things or vintage Filipino movie posters. Sometimes the things are tacky, but the best kind of art are the tacky ones. I do hope that the next time I eat in Pedro ‘N Coi is that they play Madonna’s Lucky Star, since many old songs play there, not only Filipino songs either ! But my text here is not about Pedro ‘N Coi, the restaurant owned by Miss Universe,Shamcey Supsup. It is about a jeepney-themed restaurant called Gerry’s Jeepney. Despite it having jeepneys inside, it also display some Pinoy themed things on the jeeps. From local actors to mythical creatures.

Gerry’s Jeepney started as a small restaurant in Maginhawa in Quezon City in 2013, by Mr. Gerry Javier when he turned 50. It only has one wooden replica jeepney where other diners can eat. I always pass it going home riding my favorite school service.

Now, Gerry’s Jeepney has two branches: One in Maginhawa, and one in Kapitolyo, Pasig.

I finally visited this restaurant last Saturday, July 13,2019 with my sister where we ate lunch in the Kapitolyo branch,which we have to take a cab. The Kapitolyo branch has more jeepneys, but less tacky and more fiesta-themed, like Caravan or Pahiyas. The aircon is also very cold inside the building, so ready your jackets, or you’d rather eat in the jeeps.

My sister and I ate in the “Mabuhay” jeepney, which has the theme of our national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal and some quotes from Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. We both ordered from the “Driver’s budget meal” menu, which comes with a free iced tea already. I ordered sisig with egg and among all of the home made sisig I tasted, Gerry’s has the BEST sisig ever !

Sasakay ba kayo kung ako ang driver ? O pipiliin niyo ang may mas magandang jeep kaysa sa akin ? Sige, patalbugan kami ng mga jeep,kami ng ibang mga drivers sa Gerry’s !

The building itself is so cold, but it looks like a jeepney terminal. A classy one, though, because it’s organized and the waiters and waitresses are not the palengkero or palengkera type, because they are trained and they serve customers who are going to eat in this unique restaurant. They are very decent and they always smile for you. That’s why I have all smiles in the restaurant too. The music in Gerry’s played that day is full of Aegis music, probably to give that a jeepney driver feeling or taste.

It’s not only about jeepneys that can catch your eye in Gerry’s in Kapitolyo. There is also sungka boards on display, but without shells housed in a jeepney’s stainless radiator.

Ready for a classic game,anyone ?

Yesterday, July 16,2019, after going on an exhibit in the new UP fine arts building, I decided to have lunch in it’s main branch in Maginhawa. After one UP Ikot jeep ride until C.P. Garcia, I walked 10 minutes just to eat at Gerry’s Jeepney.

The jeepneys at Gerry’s Maginhawa are more tacky, but they have good relevance to art lovers and foodies

The jeepney I chose to dine in is called the “Manananggal”,a Filipino mythical bat-human hybrid. I ordered another driver’s budget meal, lechong kawali,and of course it comes with free iced tea.

Observing the restaurant in Maginhawa, Gerry’s made me decide to get fish eye captures from my newly-replaced fish eye lens from Miniso,Waltermart,Makati. I also used the effects from my phone. The jeepneys are all so vivid in the captures. The music is also the ones you hear in jeepneys like OPM, but the type of OPM is more updated, and one day it can play the dreamlike ‘Buwan’ by Juan Karlos Labajo.

It turns out that we are the passengers or drivers and the waiters are the barkers in this restaurant.

Anyone remember Richard Gutierrez as Captain Barbell ?

This is the jeep where I dined, Manananggal, with the route Cubao-Quiapo, but I wonder if it goes up to Remedios or Vito Cruz. Harrison plaza,anyone ? This jeepney reminds me of those hot rod jeepneys with loud ghetto or rap music called “patok”, usually in Cubao or in Stop ‘N Shop,Sta. Mesa, but when I played my own music here, it’s Madonna’s Lucky Star or Papi by Jennifer Lopez.

I even made my own Abbey Sy inspired signage by index card and calligraphy pens. It says “CUBAO Yale GATEWAY”.

I have two “passengers”,because they were eating at the restaurant.

Remember, the addresses of the two Gerry Jeepney is 7-B Maginhawa st. UP Village,Quezon City, and the Kapitolyo branch is 73 East Capitol Drive,Kapitolyo,Pasig City. It is a lot easier in the Maginhawa branch since you can either walk or take a cab or tricycle going there, unlike the Kapitolyo branch, where me and my older sister have to take a cab, before we would get lost more.

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nofomoartworld · 7 years

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Hyperallergic: A French Director Who Turned the Experience of May ‘68 into Intimate Cinema

The Woman (Nico) and Man/Devil (Philippe Garrel) in La Cicatrice Intèrieure (courtesy of the Film Desk)

In April 1968, Philippe Garrel won the top prize at the Festival du Jeune Cinéma at Hyères for a film called Marie Pour Mémoire. When he accepted his award, Garrel, a boyish-looking, floppy-haired 20-year old, announced that he was finished with cinema — what he was more interested in now was “prophecy.” If film was to have any meaning, he noted, it should resemble a brick thrown into a movie theater.

Garrel’s statements were very much of the moment. This was a month after students at Nanterre University occupied administrative buildings in protest of the Vietnam war, and two months after the ouster of Cinémathèque Française founder Henri Langlois, a decision that was reversed following vocal criticisms from many in the film community. A few weeks later, student demonstrations would stream through the Latin Quarter, where barricades would be erected by the police. In other words, the rumblings of May ‘68 were already reverberating through the streets of Paris.

François (Louis Garrel) in Frontier of Dawn (courtesy of IFC Films)

The events surrounding May ‘68 are often mentioned as a pivotal moment in Garrel’s filmmaking, the phantom lurking behind every frame. But how it has been manifested is more complex than a simple transference of influence. As can be seen through the work included in Metrograph’s current retrospective of the director’s work — part one of the series ends today; the second part begins in November — the revolutionary hope quickly turned to disenchantment, and the political foundation of his work was buried under hallucinatory metaphor and, later, a turn toward poetic autobiography that continues in slightly altered form today.

Garrel shot in the streets of Paris during the student protests — the resulting film, Actua 1 (1968), once thought to be lost, has recently been restored and will be included in the second part of the retrospective — but, according to film historian Sally Shafto, he was also quick “to grasp that the revolution would not be sustained and that general disillusion would follow in its wake.” Along with a small group of likeminded amateurs, he began to make political films of a different nature, retroactively catalogued under the designation Zanzibar, named after a trip made to the then-Maoist country by some of the group’s members. Their work was funded by the young French heiress Sylvina Boissonnas, who, it is claimed, would sit at a table at La Coupole on Boulevard du Montparnasse and write checks to whomever had a good idea. (Boissonnas’s mother would later be a major donor to the Centre Georges Pompidou, her aunt Dominique de Menil became one of the most famous art patrons in the United States, and her cousin Philippa de Menil established the Dia Art Foundation in 1974.) From 1968 to 1970, when the loose group began to disintegrate, Boissonnas helped produced roughly a dozen films, many of which are hard to see today but that would prove to be a critical junction in post-New Wave political cinema.

Mother (Bernadette Lafont) and Father (Laurent Terzieff) in Le Revelateur (courtesy of the Film Desk)

It’s sometimes difficult to discern the politics in the Zanzibar films, especially the ones made by Garrel under that banner. They bear little resemblance to the collective Cine-Tracts produced by Jean-Luc Godard, Chris Marker, and others during this period, for example, and often contained little to no politics on their surface. But they were political in their mode of production: by removing themselves from any kind of commercial filmmaking, the Zanzibar directors were attempting to construct a truly alternative way of making work.

This required some distance. Le Révélateur, which began production at the end of May 1968, was filmed in Germany and features a trio of a mother (Bernadette Lafont), a father (Laurent Terzieff), and a young son (Stanislas Robiolle) traipsing their way through the Black Forest. The entire film is silent and largely non-narrative, but its dream-like construction suggests an anxiety around an unknown danger lurking on the horizon and a break in understanding between children and parents. Le lit de la vierge (1970) would push this even further, placing the figures of Christ and Mary Magdalene against a barren Moroccan landscape in a parable that obliquely reflects thwarted post-revolutionary desires.

Marie (Zouzou) and Jesus (Pierre Clementi) in Le Lit de la Vierge (courtesy of the Film Desk)

What further separates the Zanzibar films from other experimental work of the period, made both in France and the United States, is a visual excess that provides them with much of their power. Much of the Zanzibar work was shot on 35mm and conveys an ambition that was often in tension with the unabashed amateurism in which they were made.

Le lit de la vierge, reportedly made under the influence of LSD, would be Garrel’s last Boissonnas-funded film. During the editing of the film, Garrel was introduced to Nico, and the meeting marked a turning point in his life and work. The Inner Scar (1972), starring Nico and Pierre Clementi and featuring music that would eventually be compiled on Nico’s album Desertshore, heightens the mythic lyricism of what came before, but also signals a new phase for Garrel. The films that would follow are marked by a slide toward an intense, severe interiority and harsh minimalism, in part mirroring his turbulent, years-long relationship with Nico.

Chas (Michel Subor) and Lucie (Julia Faure) in Sauvage Innocence (courtesy of Why Not Productions)

Les hautes solitudes (1974) is the most stunning film of this transitional period, a completely silent work that unfolds in a series of captured moments, or what Garrel has described as the outtakes of a film that never existed. It contains traces of what came before, both in the form of the faces on screen as well as its loose, non-narrative structure, and begins what would be a descent into autobiographical morass. Garrel began to more boldly turn his relationships into films — L’Enfant Secret (1979), Les Baisers des secours (1989), J’entends plus la guitare (1991), Sauvage innocence (2001), to name just a few — and mine his family history — Liberté, la nuit (1983) — for material. Current and former lovers, his children, and his parents, not to mention himself, would begin to play roles in his films. Garrel’s work became a shield from which to protect himself from the world, a way to process an unstable emotional landscape. “In my life, when I don’t know what to do — and I’ve been through hard times — I’ve done a movie,” Garrel said in an interview. “That has helped me to survive.”

In 2005, Garrel turned again to May ‘68 in a more direct way than ever before. Regular Lovers, one of his foremost achievements, appears as a grand summation of his work. The ghosts of failed revolution, like the traumas of love, continue to haunt him. The only way to exist, the only way he has ever existed, is to continue making films.

Jeanne (Brigitte Sy) in Les Baisers de Secours (courtesy of the Film Desk)

The series Philippe Garrel: Part 1 concludes October 26 at Metrograph (7 Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan). Part 2 of the series begins on November 10.

The post A French Director Who Turned the Experience of May ‘68 into Intimate Cinema appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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