Reassemblage - Trinh Minh ha (1982)

     This film was really tough for me to watch. Something about it was so unsettling to me. I'm not sure why but the way the audio was edited, leaving moments in complete silence made me uncomfortable. After I had watched this movie a few times the more I could understand the stylistic choices Trinh Minh ha made. Along with reading her article about how the camera hides so much from the viewer. The question on my mind, why? Why are we as people who watch films so accustomed to how Hollywood edits and produces films? If there are no "rules" to cinematography, why does this film seem so wrong? 

    Anyone can make films, and they can edit and manipulate the film however they like. There is no real right or wrong. Yet for some reason the first time I watched Reassemblage I couldn't make it all the way through the movie. There was nothing really wrong with it, I just didn't like it. Although I have the right to not like a movie, I wondered why. Have I just been so used to the way big Hollywood producers make movies that anything unlike what they make seems wrong? Maybe it's a good thing I was introduced to this film. 

    The point that Trinh Minh ha makes when she says that she states that what the camera doesn't show, it hides. Particularly in documentaries. I do agree with this statement, but I also don't 100% agree. It is physically impossible to capture everything in a moment. Even if it was intentional or not, you are hiding what isn't shown. But there is no way to combat that. In the art of film, you want to focus on important aspects to show the viewer. By showing that, another part is being blocked. In Reassemblage, her own film this is true. Whatever she decided to show, she blocked another part out. In photographs, paintings, songs, there is always something not being shown to the viewer and or listener.