At the beginning of Perfumed Nightmare I can honestly say that I was discouraged. You could tell it was extremely low budget, and it was a little bit of a turn off. I can appreciate low budget films, but this just seemed a little bit too extreme for me. However, as the story developed and progressed, my opinion of the film changed.
While, for the most part, I had no idea where the story was going, I found myself becoming very interested in the characters and situations being portrayed. I was very interested in how much Kidlot admired the little he knew about America. How much he yearned to be there, and how he wanted to fall into the loving arms of capitalism and become rich. Now I know that more than anything he wanted to become an astronaut, but he also did mention that he wanted to become rich and famous. Kidlot religiously listened to his radio and was the leader of the Wernher von Braun fan club. It was very interesting to me that they chose for Kidlot to aspire to be an astronaut, because that is a very American aspiration. Every little boy growing up in America said that they wanted to be an astronaut at one point in their life. This part of his character really helped me understand where this movie was going.
The middle section of the movie dragged on a little in my opinion. We were exposed to some of the traditions of the village that he lived in, and that was pretty good insight, but it seemed a little but unnecessary. However, as soon as Kidlot went to Paris the movie really gained its traction with me.
I tried to place myself in Kidlots’ shoes. Seeing an industrialized civilization for the first time would be a crazy feeling. I could not imagine going from a village that lives a pretty simple life to a place like Paris. The huge buildings, the constant hustle that comes with big city life, and most importantly the completely foreign technologies. I would be in complete shock and awe, just like Kidlot. Kidlot embraces this new world, and even mentions his desire for progress from his village. But then Kidlot is exposed to what comes from industrialization and capitalism. He makes friends with one of the last street vendors in Paris. She is the only person left who sells real, farm fresh eggs. But she is quickly evicted from the story when the super market takes over her space. He begins to see the lifestyle of greed and excess that comes from capitalism, and he is very disappointed and ashamed.
I would like to think that if I were in Kidlots’ situation I would have the same feelings. Being raised on capitalism almost makes you numb to the effects it has. I admired Kidlots’ shame and it honestly made me feel a little bit guilty for the lifestyle that I am a part of. I think that is a true testament to the quality of this film. The fact that it can evoke such powerful emotions on such a low budget is a testament to the quality of the story, regardless of the talent of actors and staff.
I had the same initial reaction as you during the opening scene of Perfumed Nightmare. I will be transparent, I definitely judge a film by the first few minutes but being that this film was required it seems my opinion didn’t matter. However, I agree. My opinions turned and I began to enjoy this film much as you did.
I also think no matter how hard we try to understand and see eye to eye with Kidlot there will always be a barrier. We were raised differently, entirely. What we can do is acknowledge where he is coming from and take that into account when we began to look at the world. We are born in a capitalist society and there is no escaping that. I would argue that for many of us we wouldn’t leave it if we could. But I think they only way to properly view capitalism is from a whole approach. Considering Kidlot’s view and acknowledging how other parts of the world view our society will only help diversify our opinions and understanding.
I agree, this film was quite difficult to get into and slow at some points when he was filming the village, but I definitely think the pacing was a way to enhance the lack of technology in Kidlat’s village and how simple and slow the lifestyle is. I like how you mention putting yourself in Kidlat’s shoes, because I do not think I did that while watching the film but reflecting on it now I can only imagine the culture shock he felt moving from a tiny village to Paris. It was very interesting to see how he craves progress and is enamored with it when he first moves to Paris, but then learns the negative aspects about advancement and how it affects the simple life when it is unnecessary. I felt bad for Kidlat to have his dreams about progress crushed and to end up yearning for the place he wanted to leave behind.
I agree, when I saw the quality of the film I was deterred too. The whole film seemed very erratic and confusing at times. I found it hard to empathize with kidlot just on the sole basis of that he’s in a third world tiny village but at points I could sympathize with him. But I did feel a large disconnect trying to relate to him and ultimately I gave up trying halfway through the film.
I definitely agree with your initial reaction to the film and its low budget production. But then I, too, was hooked by the characterization and development of the narrative. It’s interesting to see representations of industry and the society we live in through someone’s eyes who have never seen such a thing. That was absolutely fascinating to me, and very telling of our consumerist culture.
Very interesting perspective. I struggled with this film and found it very difficult to watch or become invested in. But viewing it from this perspective it really does become a touching and deep story. The effects of capitalism was definitely a theme in this film and you said that it made you feel guilty, I wonder if that was actually part of Kidlot’s intention in making this film.
This film was a struggle to get through the first half as you pointed out, but the first film was a background that instilled Third Cinema themes as well as background for Kidlat’s admiration for the modern world even in such a small village. Even though the first half was confusing and very slow, I felt like it was setting up Kidlat’s background was important to certain extent for the audience to understand how the modern world made him rethink of the world.
I was asleep within the first five minutes of this film. You’re right, slow start/middle section. However, I do agree that the narrative aspect of this film is what makes it more interesting to watch towards the end. It’s hard for most of us to relate to Kidlat in terms of his fascination with capitalistic societies, but I think that most of us can relate to the idea of having a dream of some sort that we never thought we would achieve. Although I didn’t particularly like the film itself, I really enjoyed Kidlat’s personality and I respected his decision in the end.
I find myself agreeing with you almost whole-heartedly here. I was also pretty discouraged at the beginning of the film, not just with the clearly low budget but with the sounds and shot types and everything else that was going on. But it is true for me as well that the movie gained favor as it went on. Your description of Kidlat’s experience with capitalism is also, I think, spot on. It’s hard for us to relate to his surprise because we were all raised within capitalism, and we can’t see how bad it can be because it’s all that we know. It was refreshing to see this new take on something that we take for granted every single day. I think we would all do well to channel Kidlat a bit and really question capitalism for everything that it is.
I completely agree that the film is slow moving and rather uninteresting. Granted, that could because we are spoiled with Michael Bay explosions and CGI in every new film by Hollywood that is released. However, the first scene did leave an impact on how I feel about the director as a person. I can see his life struggles and his blind optimism through the camera.
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