DThere are many forms of documentaries. They can adopt epic depth in the representation and construction of reality, or they can be shortened in drama, and they can be advanced in chronological, true or more prose. A possible authenticity is given to arrange and cut material in a more lyrical way or use techniques that rely on the ambiguity of omission. “The First Kingdom” is a personal documentary that transcends subjectivity. It tells about death, death, and the possible changes in the body and mind after death. It combines prose, lyrical and associational film expressions in more than 90 minutes. As a viewer, you must participate in the images provided by Ioanis Nuguet (as mentioned in the film, his brother Adrien’s “harmony” participation) and the “First Kingdom” provided by the montage in order to see and recognize. This movie is not for short-term attention.
In addition, you have to live with this movie, which will air on Arte later. It’s about the death of the filmmaker’s mother, showing her last rattling breath and subsequent silence in the circle of her closest relatives. For example, no clear theatrical structure can lead to this particular death, or it can be understood as the end of a complete life through a deliberate short-circuit. Dramatically, Nuguet constructs more wave motions, image transformations, cross-fade themes, and processes of generation and disappearance. After the mother’s death, people can see pictures of her life in quick succession. Old woman. Older, younger, child, infant. There is nothing underwater in the red light, perhaps the night moon below the sea level in Bali, similar to the image of amniotic fluid in a woman’s body.
Can be explained, but not arbitrary
Ioanis Nuguet’s father was killed in a sea diving accident. His photos revolve around the themes of family bonds, their dissolution, passing away and returning: Bali rituals and worship of the dead. The Balinese puppet shadow puppet show is performed in the background of the mysterious underworld entrance. Traditionally, the sea is the main theme. Divers swim in the coral reefs and encounter flower baskets on the waves on the shore, where the ashes of the deceased travel long distances. You can see Mother Lawrence in the machine tube, illuminating her brain layer by layer. The brain structure becomes visible during the imaging process, and the neural pathways are transformed into a forest of tentacles by the underwater sea anemone.
The Nuguet family has appeared for several generations. The weak grandmother cried for her daughter’s death. Ioani’s wife at birth, youngest daughter, later son, and now bald mother, prepare for her death or reincarnation in Bali during the ceremony. Old-style private Super 8 recording from Provence. The home becomes visible, the comfort and tenderness of the neighbors.
The picture style of “The First Kingdom” is speculative and can be explained, but it is not arbitrary. Two maxims kicked off the film: “Everything we see in the cinema is wrong, but this is the only reality we know”, and an excerpt from a poem by Kathleen Raine: “Where did the dead go? Where can we meet them?” Various musical works also appeared as the main theme, including Henryk Gorecki, César Franck, Sergej Rachmaninow and Nikolaus Bruhns (1665-1697). Themes and changes, transitions, different keys, and the arc of the picture-“The First Kingdom” avoids impatient people, and his attitude towards death has been firm until the end.
First kingdom, This Monday night at 11:55 in Arte.
