Gunda (USA/Russia, 2020, Viktor Kosakovskiy)
Ben
Livant:
[1] Farm noir. Definitely on the
level, though, ground level Bub, no Dutch angle about it The cows were
too cowed to corroborate the crime, but the trip to the prison paid off anyway
because one of the rosters crowed. That's what happens, sister!
Hobble a cock and he'll squawk. That's the price for leaving him only one
leg to walk. Guy's just lucky that murder most foul wasn't murder
most fowl. Anyway, the bird was a rat and that was that. So, not in
this barnyard, babe! How now killer sow? You don't get to stomp out
one of your own and get away with it. Poor piglet. Them's the
breaks baby cakes. But at least the strong arm of the law made sure none
of your siblings had to go head to foot, take mom's trotter to the snout.
Crime does not pay, ya dastardly dame! Those squealers are safe now, in
the protective custody of the state. You can just pace the place all by
yourself and await your fate to be meat on a plate.
[2] Artsy-fartsy vegan agit-prop. Well, vegetarian at
least. An elementary school kid could get the message. While I
reckon most professional pedagogues of the primary grades would regard the
maternal execution of the runt of the litter too brutal for tender tots, they
could condone the rest of the film for the curriculum. Should the shocking
scene be censored, however, the wrenching heartbreak at the end would be
emotionally available as so much Disney anthropomorphism, not the moment of
ecological empathy it is meant to be and which is so crucial to generate
against anthropocentricism today. As for the stark simplicity and
paint-drying pace - the Bela Tarr aesthetic from the perspective of the animals
instead of any identified humans - I believe young children need to be exposed
to this formally just as much as to the content of the message. Get off
your cell phone and regain an attention span, boys and girls.
[3] The type of animals whose perspective the film is at
pains to subjuctivize without personifying is approached by Gunda
conceptually
to strong ideological effect. The agricultural situation is
re-conceptualized into a wild game preserve and the observational tracking
takes on the tone of a safari conducted in a sanctuary. In this way, the
viewer is compelled to stop looking at critters captive in the clutches of
husbandry for the carnivorous consumption of people. In this way, the
viewer is compelled to start seeing the antithesis of pre-pork, not-yet-beef,
McNuggets-in-the-making. In this way, the statement is made as a
synthesis of the environmental conservationism of any Planet Earth episode
and a documentary such as Food Inc., which directedly confronts the
global industrial food system.
[4] The sow is not a boar. Nor is she a bore. I
was engaged by Gunda from start to finish; although I must
admit, I am still not sure what I was supposed to bring to the bovines.
The chickens, no confusion. They could not have been more obviously
rescued from abuse. And of course, the pigs are adorable and it is truly
disturbing to witness her anguish in the end. Perhaps a tad precocious,
nevertheless, the film is undoubtedly moving and maybe just the sort of show to
raise the consciousness of certain folks. As someone who is still a meat
eater, I believe it would be hypocritically inappropriate for me to comment
further.
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