One of the three filmmakers in focus this year is Peter Liechti, a Swiss filmmaker. His film; The Sound of Insects; Record of a Living Being is based on a Japanese novel. It is about a man who decides to die by starving himself to death. He digs himself a hole in the ground and writes in a diary every day, which is told through voice-over.
With the diary the man wants to leave something behind, which is a very Japanese phenemenon. Through the 80s there were all kind of stories like this one, and the novel was based on police reports about these men. Liechti wanted to dedicate his film to all these Japanese people, until recently something very similar happened in Germany, while they were editing the film already, Liechti tells after the film.
There are four layers, or kind of images in the film. One is the surroundings of the character. We do not actually see the character who speaks, only the place where he is. The second layer is images of memories of the protagonist, the third layer consists of dreams and desires, while the fourth layer is thoughts and delusions of what the afterlife could be like.
For Liechti the personal experience of a film is very important. He is an intuitive artist who wants everyone to feel and experience the film in his own way. One of the themes, his film is about, is the connection of the mind and the body. In the film, the man wants to die, and his body seems to be doing what he wants, but he can still think clearly. Another film of his is about him trying to quit smoking, again it's about the mind wanting something, but the body not cooperating. It's an important theme through Liechti's work.
Because Liechti's film remains on the surface, it remains a meditation on death, and a detailed discription. Liechti's interest, or fascination with death makes the film an interesting experimental portrait of a man who wants to die, but finds out it's not that easy.
**** out of 5
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