Cinema exists and resists. Long duration, film analysis and spectatorship in Lav Diaz’s films

Abstract

Long duration – of takes and films –, together with a diffuse sensation of slowness, has been seen by critics and scholars as a tendency of contemporary independent cinema, related to the use of digital technology. This characteristic can be found throughout all Lav Diaz’s oeuvre. This article will examine that question by studying two of his films: Florentina Hubaldo, CTE (2012) and A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery (2016). Firstly, long duration will be seen as a difficulty to film analysis, echoing the paradox described by Raymond Bellour in “Le text introuvable” (1979). Secondly, it will be related to the present debate on the actuality or obsolescence of the movie theatre. Apart from the discussion about film reality and realism based on Bazin’s ontology (1993), the long take issue will be analyzed from the perspective of spectatorship. How do Lav Diaz’s films direct spectator’s attention? Do they require the collective experience of a movie theatre screening?