David Lowery's A Ghost Story
I had the good fortune to check out David Lowery's A Ghost Story at the Oak Cliff Film Festival this year. It was an emotional odyssey, and something to be seen on as large a screen as possible. The square aspect ratio made me consider the form of Polaroid photography. At the screening, I got to see many friends I haven't seen in a few months, and catch up. The Dallas film community is filled with some lively characters. Funny enough, even in a party atmosphere, I had some great conversations. Everyone feels more accessible in that setting than one might expect. It's very close knit here, and the same person that shoots a daytime TV commercial can also be seen shooting a film that plays Sundance. All barriers between those worlds are very low walls. It's always a pleasure to speak with people that understand the visual languages inherent in each medium, and speak them all fluently.
As for A Ghost Story, I continue to contemplate the metaphor of the ghost. I'm not so sure the ghost is the dead Casey Affleck character, so much as an unfulfilled psychic emotional trace. The feelings I was connecting with the ghost had less to do with death, and more like divorce and yet coexisting with the former spouse, or being at a party in which you know no one. Those times in life when one is haunting but not present. I kind of wish this song was in there, though it totally doesn't fit:
