Painting with Light
Milwaukee filmmaker’s trilogy
The short film Perceval is dedicated to Ingmar Bergman and no one familiar with The Seventh Seal will miss what it holds
in common with the gloomy Swedish classic. Aside from the medieval setting and
knightly allusions, Perceval reflects
on social breakdown in a stark landscape of desolation. Directed by
Perceval is
one third of “Trilogy of Light,” which will be screened along with several of
Bunker’s other shorts at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, at the Oriental Theatre. On
the surface the three short films are considerably different, but, according to
Bunker, each focuses on a “central character on a journey or quest to obtain
the unobtainable. The metaphor for the unobtainable is light.”
The award-winning Starlight is a whimsical yet strangely
affecting story of a space explorer who builds a rocket powered by music. It’s
Bunker’s one film that bears comparison to Guy Maddin for playfully integrating
archival footage and gestures from bygone media into the narrative. A still
photographer as well as a filmmaker, Bunker understands how to compose the
found elements of reality into engaging pictures.
The trilogy’s newest third, The Albatross, receives its premiere on
Thursday. The enigmatic retelling of the old seafaring story features a human
actor as a disturbingly monstrous bird, discovered on the icy shores of the sea
(
An interest in fairy tales and
mythic stories, whether drawn from folklore or pop culture, permeates the
trilogy. “The films all take place in make-believe places,” Bunker says. “The
creation of unknown worlds and laws excites and inspires me. Once in such
locations I can explore and do whatever.” As short films they bear less of a
burden to tell their stories straightforwardly. Bunker cites Stanley Kubrick
along with Bergman and Martin Scorsese as signposts for what he is trying to
reach in “maximizing the language of film” through visual storytelling.
Also in Film:
- Wed
7 - Thu
8 - Fri
9 - Sat
10 - Sun
11 - Mon
12 - Tue
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