The concept of reflexivity is well worn territory in film. On one hand, you have very explicit reflexivity like F for Fake and nostalgia like Cinema ParadisoĀ or The Fabelmans. On the other hand is a more subtle reflexivity, like the monolith and interstellar trip of 2001Ā and the hidden, behind-the-scenes reflexivity of the probably hundreds of obsessive, possibly self-destructive actors/directors/screenwriters who have slaved away creating films about obsessive, definitely self-destructive characters āĀ Fitzcarraldo, The Phantom Thread, probably every Wes Anderson film, and definitely anything Charlie Kaufman makes.
Any work of art reflects the human beings involved in its creation. This transcends film - writing, painting, interactive media and music all carry this same fingerprint. But (at the moment) film is the only way to captureĀ that behind the scenes hidden truth.
Orā¦ is it? By turning the camera away from the actors and towards the director, do they just become another actor? What about the sound recordist or the camera operator? This isĀ Symbiopsychotaxiplasm, an incredibly silly film at its core about the act of observing anything, or being watched by anything, and how that changes everything or maybe nothing at all.
