strangewood-deactivated20190307:“Raging Sun, Raging Sky begins with a woman—Tatei, identified as ‘
strangewood-deactivated20190307: “Raging Sun, Raging Sky begins with a woman—Tatei, identified as ‘El Corazón del cielo’, who Hernández reveals as the spirit of human passion. She is introduced walking through Mexico City’s urban wilderness, alive to the elements, telepathically listening-in on the personal lives of the citizens going about their daily routines. The camera (guided by cinematographer Alejandro Cantú) moves with Tatei, noticing desire everywhere in different genders, classes, occupations and anxieties. This mesmerizing introduction is key to Hernández’s approach; the emphasis on gay life is expansive and pansexual. His art depicts the universal essence of yearning.” “Beyond the barrier-busting conceits of mainstream hits like Milk, Brokeback Mountain, Philadelphia, Kiss of the Spider Woman and Sunday, Bloody Sunday—films that spend too much effort on arguing the legitimacy of same-sex affection—Hernández presumes his characters’ validity and film culture’s sympathy. Inspired by Cocteau and Fassbinder, he asserts passion as unselfconsciously as cinema’s greatest ambulatory romantics—the likes of von Sternberg, Borzage and Mizoguchi as well as Ophuls.” "Hernández trains his camera-eye on the byways of carnal behavior—alleys, train tracks, porn cinemas, discos, bath houses and sex clubs. He brings awestruck Antonioni with him, Sternberg for the glamour of sexual attraction, Resnais for the mind-bending sense of passing time, and Ophuls for the vertiginous yet sobering thrall. Cinema has rarely, if ever, given gay experience this high level of witness and contemplation. Hernández evokes his great forebears as part of the modern, intelligent love experience.” Armond White on Julián Hernández’s Raging Sun, Raging Sky. -- source link