By Ivonne Sheen
Juruna Mallon’s Les Îles Résonnantes (Resonant Islands) approaches Eliane Radigue and her aesthetics with a subtle audiovisual composition that mixes her sound sculptures with visual explorations of herself, her work, and evocations from her music. The film stands far away from any precise biographical portrayal to immerse us in her intimate and spiritual approach to sound, music and life.
Radigue’s sound compositions are this film’s main character, which introduces us to the meditative atmosphere her work sets in the listener and, in this occasion, also the spectator. Nevertheless, is necessary to remark that Radigue’s inspiration for Les Îles Résonnantes was the experience she had when she saw an island reflection alongside hers in the waters of a lake. In a certain way, Mallon recreates this superposition of nature and people (humanity) along the film, which gives us a sense of transmutation as an effect of her soundscapes.
Buddhism meditation is directly related to Radigue’s work, since she became a Buddhist. But also, her method of composition had the virtue of the flux of a minimalistic collage of sounds with a lengthy treatment, even before she discovered Tibetan Buddhism. We have the chance to learn some ideas about this, and the feel of most of the film helps us understand this topic better: This soundscape provokes a meditative state that dilutes our ego, and approaches us to a hypnotic state that involves our body, mind and spirit. Mallon has the virtue to let us know about Radigue through her voice, her sound compositions, and through her eyes, her way of seeing things, a pair of eyes that also have the virtue of listening. Even though the sensorial potential of her work, Radigue seems to be less known than other minimalist musicians. This situation sets this film as a valuable occasion to learn about a visionary artist that focused her aesthetics in the spiritual power of sounds.
CINEMA DU REEL : FRENCH COMPETITION
Directed by: Juruna Mallón
Film editors: Juruna Mallón
Producer: Daniel Correia, Juruna Mallón
Direction of Photography: Daniel Correia
Sound: Juruna Mallón, Julie Tribout
Production Company: Cabro, Calypso
French
Brazil
2017