Abstract
One of the most critically-acclaimed documentaries in recent years, Leviathan is a groundbreaking, immersive portrait of the contemporary commercial fishing industry.
Filmed off the coast of New Bedford, Massachusetts – at one time the whaling capital of the world as well as Melville’s inspiration for Moby Dick; it is today the country’s largest fishing port with over 500 ships sailing from its harbor every month.
Leviathan follows one such vessel, a hulking groundfish trawler, into the surrounding murky black waters on a weeks-long fishing expedition. But instead of romanticizing the labor or partaking in the longstanding tradition of turning fisherfolk into images, filmmakers Lucien Castaing-Taylor ( Sweetgrass ) and Véréna Paravel ( Foreign Parts ) present a vivid, almost-kaleidoscopic representation of the work, the sea, the machinery and the players, both human and marine.
Employing an arsenal of cameras that passed freely from film crew to ship crew; that swoop from below sea level to astonishing bird’s-eye views in the sky, the film that emerges is unlike anything that has been seen before. Entirely dialogue-free, but mesmerizing and gripping throughout, it breaks new ground in both cinema and anthropology, while presenting a cosmic portrait of one of mankind’s oldest endeavors.
Filmed off the coast of New Bedford, Massachusetts – at one time the whaling capital of the world as well as Melville’s inspiration for Moby Dick; it is today the country’s largest fishing port with over 500 ships sailing from its harbor every month.
Leviathan follows one such vessel, a hulking groundfish trawler, into the surrounding murky black waters on a weeks-long fishing expedition. But instead of romanticizing the labor or partaking in the longstanding tradition of turning fisherfolk into images, filmmakers Lucien Castaing-Taylor ( Sweetgrass ) and Véréna Paravel ( Foreign Parts ) present a vivid, almost-kaleidoscopic representation of the work, the sea, the machinery and the players, both human and marine.
Employing an arsenal of cameras that passed freely from film crew to ship crew; that swoop from below sea level to astonishing bird’s-eye views in the sky, the film that emerges is unlike anything that has been seen before. Entirely dialogue-free, but mesmerizing and gripping throughout, it breaks new ground in both cinema and anthropology, while presenting a cosmic portrait of one of mankind’s oldest endeavors.
Collection
Contributors
Castaing-Taylor, Lucien (director), Castaing-Taylor, Lucien (writer), Castaing-Taylor, Lucien (producer), Paravel, VeÌreÌna (writer), Castaing-Taylor, Lucien (editor), Paravel, VeÌreÌna (creator), Castaing-Taylor, Lucien (videographer), Paravel, VeÌreÌna (producer), Paravel, VeÌreÌna (editor), Arrête ton Cinéma (producer), Cinema Guild (distributor)
Duration
01:27:56 (HH:MM:SS)
Language:
English
Target or Intended Audience
adult/continuing education, higher education, high school (grades 10-12), college
Copyright Holder
| Name | The Cinema Guild, Inc. |
| Role | distributor |
| Telephone | (800) 723-5522 |
| Address | 115 West 30th Street, Suite 800 · New York, NY 10001 |
| [email protected] |
Copyright Date
2012-01-01
Rights Declaration:
This video is protected by copyright. You are free to view it but not download or remix it. Please contact the licensing institution for further information about how you may use this video.
Persistent/Share URL
https://54098.surd9.group/show.php?pid=njcore:40689
Basic LTI parameter
pid=njcore:40689
PID
njcore:40689
Metadata