When working as a
movie critic, you will often be treated to screeners of all types and qualities.
Some are solid, some are bad, and some might even be good.The Daydreamer’s Notebook is that project. It is a diamond in the
rough, a piece that poignantly explores and reflects on a filmmaker’s life and
sexuality through four decades. It is an intimate and beautiful gem of a movie.
The Daydreamer's Notebook is an anthology of seven shorts by director Michael
J. Saul. The seven experimental vignettes reflect his creative daydreams
over a 40-year period intercut with comments by the filmmaker on his work and
challenges of growing up as a gay teen in the 1970s. As mentioned
earlier, this is not a full narrative movie but rather a collection that is the highlight of the filmmaker’s obsession with daydreaming. Some of the
pieces are fragments of lost films, horror films, or even nature films set to
the music of a deceased collaborator.
After
watching this, I did some research and found that he has two other anthology
pieces entitled True Love (2004) and Crush (2009) that are both about gay
relationships. While sexuality is discussed in the film, this collection is
more about naturalism and the world around us.
The shorts themselves are mostly experimental and fragmented. They are not focused on
narrative but rather what we can pick up from the image and sound put on
screen. There is no dialogue in any of the short films in this collection,
which is a deliberate choice that forces the viewer to interpret the actions of
the actors. The scenes involving nature that are a recurring element in this collection are reminiscent of the work of directors like Terrence
Malick in their intimacy and shooting style. Other sequences in this
collection, in particular, “The Cipher
and the Boar”, are inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s work in The Shining. I imagine
that some will not enjoy the work Saul has made; it is dialogue free and very
visually focused in a way that can alienate certain viewers who do not enjoy
experimental cinema. However, I found him to be an interesting visual
storyteller and would love to see more of his work.
My biggest
complaint about this collection is that while I found Saul’s filmmaking interesting; I
was more intrigued in his background. What makes him tick? This is
reminiscent of another film I saw recently, David Lynch: The Art Life. Both explore a fascinating artist and an obsession of theirs. Both,
while compelling and interesting, left me chomping at the bit to know more
about whom these people really are.
Score
-Liam S. O'Connor