Art Theater Guild Month at Spectacle Theater

Sometimes, when I'm feeling a little nauseated about the human condition, I find it therapeutic to immerse myself in 2 hours of Japanese filmmaking that gives all my notions of reality and truth a good mindfuck.  Luckily there's Spectacle Theater in Williamsburg to provide cinematic cures for all my existential ailments.

This month at Spectacle is Art Theater Guild Month, featuring Japanese filmmakers from the '60s who were revolting against every aspect of conventionalism they could scrutinize, putting particular emphasis on detonating the notion of the narrative.  Last night was the 1967 film by Imamura Shohei, "A Man Vanishes", which was a pseudo documentary investigating the mysterious disappearance of a salesman in Japan.  While the film is certainly not for the short of attention span (over 2 hours of slow moving, sub-titled, fact gathering), the subtleties of character and story development bring to life a profoundness that could only be achieved through the tediousness the film embraces.  I love a piece that isn't afraid to challenge the steadfastness of its audience.  Biggest highlight for me (spoiler alert) was toward the end of the film when the director tells his crew, mid-story, to take down all the set pieces and the camera pans back to reveal everything taking place in a film studio, but the storyline continues as if nothing happened.  Which one is the real reality? It just. doesn't. matter.

Spectacle's website is http://spectacletheater.com  (also over there -------->)
Check them out, they are one of the best kept secrets in W'burg.