Passage Upon The Plume

It is some monumental building, framed by scaffolding; the lines between construction and archeology are blurred. Something small, wrapped in ropes, is lifted, and our attention is drawn upwards. It's a recurring theme, in fact, as Fern Silva's film will go on to show us hot air balloons, bare stones.

Silent, slow, what we observe is interesting but it's not certain if these are interesting observations. In sepia tinged black and white, there are some striking shots - a man framed in an alleyway, colums with obvious sedimentary layers weathered to tall spikes, field and powerlines - meditating on landscapes mediated by man. Filmed in Cairo and Cappodocia, it features some visually splendid scenes but the focus on film-stock seems to the detriment of the film itself.

A high profile, high definition, high contrast picture like Earth might serve some of these sights better, but there's something in the slightness here, in the ephemerality. There's a suggestion that this is out of time, a zephyr inconstant, a mystery of the air and the shifting sands. It's just that as with so many experimental films intent is at best a found thing. We cannot know the conditions that created this Passage, but we can see the effects - a sense of wonder, even briefly, and then wondering about that wonder.