The film consists of eight sequences, each of them presents in 10 minutes one bridge. One can question the categorization of James Benning as a minimalist filmmaker. Both is present in this film, the bridges, the landscape around them and all the things happening without the influence of the filmmaker. But on the other hand there is this explicit defined framework. It is this strange coexistence between an artistic decision and this piece of world which does nothing but being present in front of a seemingly passive camera. For my side I think often in André Bazins definition of the complex relationship between film and realism. The camera position might be static, but the perception of these 10 minutes long sequences is not. There is a lot to see. Just at the first bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, a lot of things happen. The image seems to change, the human eye of the spectator discovers piece by piece always new details, the environment, the seagulls, the traffic on the bridge and the boats for example. One steam boat is moving from right to left in a seemingly surrealistic slowness. Another fascinating aspect is the different between how we experience this image and how this artificial eye of the camera does it. The camera does not know the blink, neither has it a perception of time. The frame is static and each sequence is filmed without a single cut. But the human eye is blinking and moving to different details of these image. While the camera captures always the whole frame, the human eye has to work to find its own orientation. In this sense, ten minutes for each bridge-sequence is by far not too long.
Another bridge is built over a rocky vale. To pass this landscape seems impossible without the bridge. Like in Benning´s previous films like about trains, RR, there is this relationship between wild landscapes and devices which make them accessible like close relatives to the image making devices. Eight Bridges deals with the difference of the human and the artificial eye of the camera. This second bridge-chapter presents a contrast between a landscape which is probably unchanged since time immemorial, probably older than any civilization. Sometimes the bridges are crowded my traffic jams, sometimes almost deserted and one is almost alone with these images and the meanings (contemporary history, architectural history etc.), bridges can evoke.
I am pretty sure that the sound is not designed, unless in our own perception. In one of these bridge-sequences, again with a river landscape, there are things we hear before we see them and the other way around. There is tis typical sound of a American train signal. As the eyes try to locate where this sound is coming from, it takes some time and nearly at the end of this sequence, we see a train passing by from a far distance. Bridges are always sign of human civilization (in a good or bad sense), if in metropolitan areas or in much less populated regions.
It is amazing how much facets of moods feeling or ideas a film can evoke which is considered as minimalistic cinema. Sometimes one can´t get enough of these often untamed landscapes and the bridges but sometimes there is as well a strong perception of its vastness which is rather concerning. One could get lost in this seemingly eternal landscapes. Sometimes one can drift off and the piece of world presented in the frame has a dreamlike quality. In most cases, James Benning´s films can only be seen at film festivals or in non-commercial cinemas. I can´t imagine to watch film like Eight Bridges anywhere else than on the big screen. I begin to understand why James Benning is for decades a regular guest at the Berlinale-Forum and why almost all screenings of his films are sold out. As soon one has to engaged with the images, for example in Eight Bridges, one will rewarded for it. If the purpose of a film festival is to discover other (cinematic) worlds, than James Benning´s film is the right choice to watch.
Rüdiger Tomczak
Further screenings:
20.Feb, 10.00 Akademie der Künste
21.Feb, 21.30 Silent Green
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