The Clock

Christian Marclay's 24-hour film/video/whatsit The Clock, now playing for 2 weeks at the Lincoln Center Atrium, is one of the most compulsively watchable films in recent memory. It can also be quite exhausting after a while, since there is little discernible narrative development other than the passage of time to keep one engaged over the long haul. But those clips are so skillfully edited, and there is such a wealth and variety of films and TV shows utilized, that a cinephile can get a constant adrenalin rush of recognition. The concept of showing a clock or watch with the exact time at least once every minute, matching the real time in which the shot is being screened, is a fascinating one. And the editing rhythm, which varies from fairly long clips to a rush of short shots, makes one continually aware of how time passes in "real" life and how important it is as a narrative element in so many films. After all, a film takes place over a certain length of time, so why not make a film that's about nothing but time?

The Clock uses straightforward editing of the visual elements of the clips, with no added dissolves or fadeouts, but it employs sound bridges and overlaps between different clips to suggest subtle or not-so-subtle connections. My favorite use of this device began with the familiar music from Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut which played for about 5 seconds before the clip actually started, and continued briefly after the clip until a character in the next clip lifted a phonograph needle from a record. The selections and juxtapositions are often quite funny. Marclay made the decision to show all the clips in the same aspect ratio, stretching Academy ratio films and squeezing Scope images. While some cinephiles might object to this distortion, it has the effect of presenting a more homogenous visual field even as it jumps between silent and sound films or black-and-white and color. While most of the clips are in English, there are a sizable number of foreign-language films, none of which contain subtitles.

In my first shift watching The Clock, from 12:23-2:45 pm last Saturday, I was pleased to see several Asian films in the mix, including Tokyo Story, What Time Is It There? and In the Mood for Love. During my second shift, last night from 7:19-8:43 pm, there was a particularly rich auteur period from about 8:30-8:40 that included clips from Resnais's Muriel, Kieslowski's A Short Film About Love and Lang's The Thousand Eyes of Doctor Mabuse. I hope to see more this weekend.