LEVIATHAN

Posted by ruthmedia on November 9, 2013 in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

LEVIATHAN (12A)

Run time: 87mins

Director: Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Verena Paravel

Cast: Arthur Smith, Brian Jannelle, Clyde Lee, Declan Conneely, Adrian Guilette

Synopsis: Leviathan is a thrilling, immersive documentary that takes you deep inside the dangerous world of commercial fishing.

Set aboard an old Atlantic Ocean fishing trawler and filmed off the coast of New Bedford, Massachusetts – at one time the whaling capital of the world as well as Melville’s inspiration for ‘Moby Dick’- this demanding and fascinating documentary immerses the viewer in wind, water and loud, grinding machinery.

We follow a small crew of industrial fisherman during a night at sea where they battle nature and the elements.

Employing an arsenal of miniature cameras that are passed freely from film crew to ship’s crew, swooping from below sea level to astonishing bird’s-eye views, the film that emerges is unlike anything that has been seen before. Entirely dialogue-free, but fascinating and gripping throughout, it minutely deconstructs all elements and processes of commercial fishing in detail.

Leviathan plunges us into this visceral business – from the clank of mechanical winders to the thud of netted fish on the deck, from the slashing and ripping of blades on silver flesh to the piercing cries of greedy gulls overhead.

Tiny waterproof cameras that can be clipped or rested on people, fish or objects are used to capture the film’s raw images and natural sounds. Edited together into a non-linear and virtually wordless whole, it creates an immersive effect that has a strange, deep rooted beauty, with mages and colour palettes that are reminiscent of Goya or the Impressionists.

Images courtesy of Dogwoof