"Shot in Laos, Kimi Takesue's idiosyncratic documentary gazes upon sights and vistas that would not be out of place on travel postcards. Minimal in its camera movements, the film looks at glimmering golden temples, waterfalls cascading down silver rocks, and processions of monks moving through lush landscapes. It also shows what is absent from glossy brochures, namely the intrusion of tourists."
"The disruption to the local rhythm of life is at once visual and aural: we see throngs of wandering visitors, their casual clothes of shorts and T-shirts a stark contrast to the ancient architecture. Their occasionally rowdy leisure activities are intercut with more mundane moments from the locals' everyday lives, like schoolchildren heading to class or laywomen offering alms to monks by the roadside."
Shot in Laos, the film uses minimal camera movement to record golden temples, waterfalls, and processions of monks moving through lush landscapes. It presents the intrusion of tourists into those scenes, a disruption to local rhythms that is both visual and aural. Throngs of visitors in shorts and T-shirts contrast with ancient architecture; rowdy leisure activities are intercut with mundane local moments like schoolchildren heading to class and laywomen offering alms. The static camera heightens tension with movement within the frame. Some visual juxtapositions reiterate East–West and regional–global binaries, and certain representations obscure demographic and linguistic complexities. The work provokes questions about tourism and cinema while adding little new insight.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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