Tributes—Pulse

Filmmaker Bill Morrison fashions montages of old celluloid clips, distressed by the passage of time, to create a feeling of poignancy for the deterioration that inevitably accompanies the aging process in terms of both film and life, a technique employed brilliantly in his Decasia: The State of Decay (see VL-3/04). Tributes—Pulse is divided into four parts, which are meant to reflect the elements of water, earth, fire, and air—although precisely how isn't very clear. Instead, the progression here seems to be from complete cinematic deterioration up through newly shot footage of crystalline clarity. But the motif of disintegration nonetheless pervades the whole, moving from glimpses of long-gone individuals, couples, and crowds (and even herds of buffalo) to clearer images of machines (steamships, industrial plants) and closing with a long aerial view of a ship “graveyard” off Staten Island. Unfortunately, Tributes—Pulse fails to achieve the mesmerizing rhythm of Decasia, and the score by Simon Christensen (performed by his trio Kundi Bombo) doesn't measure up to Michael Gordon's music in the earlier production—serving up twangs, beeps, and thuds that are more irritating than evocative. Technically, this Blu-ray release is superlative, but the work itself is a disappointment. Not recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)