Nicolas Provost's "Stardust" - Blurring reality and fiction

Having visited the Haunch of Venison gallery, I was taken aback by the tension and credibility of the thriller story told in Provost's "Stardust". I then watched the disappointing "My Blueberry Nights", which did not have half as much mystery or suspense as one would expect from Wong Kar Wai. Films ultimately must toe the fine line between reality and fantasy, where one relates to and is curious about the scene in front of us.

The 'cinematographic and narrative codes of Hollywood' which Provost uses to film footage from everyday life in Las Vegas and turn it into a story is impressive in questioning our pre-existing ideas about what we derive from cinema - escapism, voyeuristic insight into the lives of others, another meaning to one's life story, or merely a different perspective of the reality surrounding us. By including the likes of Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper, we question if it is the man himself or a film character we see in front of our eyes. Biopics are especially interesting because it is hard to imagine anything revolutionary being explored in them - take Mohammed Ali or Serge Gainsbourg, for example. Their narrative(s) have been told numerous times in various guises already.

A screenshot from Provost's "Abstract Action"

Provost's "Abstract Action" also warrants attention in its partially pixellated approach to show the distorted fragments of a gun battle. It reminded me of how realistic shoot-em-up video games have begun in becoming cinematic experiences themselves, while the pixels distorting the picture visually expressed the anger, power and chaotic destruction that guns are capable of. While epic gun battles between police and villains have long been experienced in cinema, it is the almost nonchalant way that these violent scenes are consumed by the younger generation - almost immune to the reality of the film/video game, it further scrutinises our perceptions of reality. Just like Facebook and 2nd Life has created the concept of an 'online' identity, digital technology in this way shows how easy it is to become detached from the tangible things which bore us due to their standardisation, mundaneness, and 'traditional' reality. Why go all the way to Vietnam to use shotguns and the like when one can safely do that in front of a HD screen in the comfort of your own home?

See relevant links:
Dazed Digital: Interview with Nicolas Provost