Coming to DVD today, Tuesday, April 15: THE END OF TIME
Peter Mettler’s exploration of the concept of time made its debut at Locarno in 2012. It went on to screen at Toronto, Atlantic, Busan, Jihlava, RIDM, CPH:DOX, IDFA, Palm Springs, and BAFICI, among many others.
Tackling a subject that is simultaneously omnipresent yet elusive, Mettler weaves together a disparate series of gorgeously shot tableaux that theoretically illustrate or intersect with various conceptions of our experience of time. A tour of CERN’s particle accelerator, for example, imagines the recreation of conditions not seen since immediately following the Big Bang, while a visit to Detroit’s dilapidated buildings demonstrate the more recent ravages of temporality. Ultimately, no clear answer emerges in this part-essay, part-experimental doc – it’s hard to even know what to do with the question, “what is time?” as illustrated in the final moments of the film by the filmmaker’s aged mother – but it’s certainly successful in provoking a sense of wonder about something we take for granted.
what (not) to doc 