WHERE DOES YOUR HIDDEN SMILE LIE?
A film by Pedro Costa
2001, 104 minutes
2001, 104 minutes
No. 313
Documentary
Documentary
Description
Undaunted by a commission to make a film about his mentors and aesthetic exemplars, the filmmaking team of Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet, Costa records with great sensitivity and insight the exacting process by which the two re-edit their film Sicilia!, discussing and arguing over each cut and its effect.
Incorporating comments about the influence of figures as diverse as Chaplin and Eisenstein, about the ethical and aesthetic implications of film technique and such matters as rhythm, sound mixing, and acting. The film becomes a tour de force, immersing us in the mysteries of cinema as practiced by some of its greatest creators. Costa calls the film both his first comedy and his first love story.
New digital restoration!
Festivals
Official Selection, Venice Film Festival
Official Selection, New York Film Festival
Official Selection, Cinéma du Réel
Official Selection, New York Film Festival
Official Selection, Cinéma du Réel
Reviews
"The best film ever made about editing and cinema." – Jean-Luc Godard
"There is a bottomless, intricate quality to the film that grounds us in the day-to-day gestures and comments of two people, locked into either an artistic or domestic commitment. Even the debate between the small seconds of trimming a clip somehow feels magnificent and epic, even though they are simply determining where to make a cut in their film." - Cine-File
