tell me it’s the perfect time

Caught by the Tides is Jia Zhangke’s first film in six years. It’s his follow up to 2018’s Ash Is Purest White, a film that literally (and visually) spans 17 years and intercuts footage recorded during his previous films. Caught by the Tides expands on that film’s formal experimentation; however, Jia’s new feature includes much more old footage than Ash Is Purest White; in fact, two thirds of the film are entirely composed of old footage remixed and set to…
There’s an order at some deep level. A pattern that wants to be seen.
When we first see Robert Pattinson onscreen as Eric Packer, his sunglasses are asymmetrical.
Not askew–there’s no mistake–just asymmetrical. The glasses just sit like that on his ears, on his face. That’s the level of detail Cronenberg’s working with here, in Cosmopolis, a film about a limo driving down Manhattan’s 47th street over the course of one full day. That’s it, that’s the plot: the famous…