Do you see what I see?
Nostalgia, more properly written (nostalgia), is a 1971 experimental short film (38 minutes) by Hollis Frampton.
It consists in its entirety of a series of identical static shots of various photographs sitting on a hot plate. A photo appears and Frampton begins talking, sharing memories associated with the photos and his career. The photos soon catch fire and burn. After each photo in turn is reduced to ashes, the next photograph appears on the hot plate and the process is repeated. Thirteen photos are discussed and destroyed over 38 minutes.
While the narration is by Frampton and written in the first person, it is delivered by fellow filmmaker Michael Snow.
Tropes:
- Blowing Smoke Rings: One of Frampton's photos is of an acquaintance of his, blowing smoke rings. Frampton comments that blowing smoke rings is "a craft, not an art", and that only opera singers make art with their mouths.
- Leave the Camera Running: A series of completely static close-up shots. A photo appears on a hot plate. It catches fire. It is reduced to ash. Repeat with the next photo. The camera never moves.
- Let the Past Burn: Quite literally, as Frampton is setting fire to old photos, most of which he seems dissatisfied with.
- Narrator: Hollis Frampton talking about thirteen photographs, and how they came about, and how he's satisfied or not satisfied with them. Oddly, Frampton's narration is read not by Frampton, but by Michael Snow. Even more oddly, Frampton/Snow's narration is about the next photo in line, not the one onscreen. So when we're looking at a portrait of a bearded Hollis Frampton, the narrator is talking about his difficulty in photographing a window, and how he and his camera got reflected in the glass. After that narration is done, and there's a period of silence, the photo of the window pops up, and the narrator starts talking about the next photo that, again, we can't see yet.
- Noodle Incident: Frampton's explanation of how a friendship ended."We became estranged on account of an obscure mutual embarrassment that involved a third party and three dozen eggs."
- Nostalgia Filter: What this film is about.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: The out-of-synch narration in which what the narrator is talking about doesn't match what we're looking at.
