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Critic's Choice - Chicago Reader

"Home, a new 11-minute film by Ulrike Reichhold, opens with a shot of Reichhold's hand--the camera is in her other hand--turning on a water faucet. The flowing water has the effect of setting the film in motion, and the dense collage of images and sounds that follows intercuts more shots, mostly black and whites of her hand (washing vegetables, holding a toothbrush), with color images of Chicago--


9/2/94 - 9/2/94


Home, a new 11-minute film by Ulrike Reichhold, opens with a shot of Reichhold's hand--the camera is in her other hand--turning on a water faucet. Fred Camper, Chicago Reader September 2, 1994

The flowing water has the effect of setting the film in motion, and the dense collage of images and sounds that follows intercuts more shots, mostly black and whites of her hand (washing vegetables, holding a toothbrush), with color images of Chicago--buildings, the lake, a dog on the beach. Sounds were recorded at the same locations the images were taken but at different times, so what we hear doesn't match what we see. In these asynchronous combinations Reichhold, a German now living in Chicago, is influenced by the films of her Austrian teacher Peter Kubelka. But Reichhold brings a personal dimension to this form: the interior images have an intimate quality, suggesting the protected feelings a person has alone in her room, and the intercut images of the city intrude on this private space. The faucet is often intercut with outdoor water imagery, but other cuts seem disjunct. The filmmaker appears to be defining "home" first as her apartment and then as the city it is in, but what's moving is the sense of dislocation she creates--inside and outside never quite merge. Also on this program, called "Image/Imagination," are two other films of Reichhold's, films by Louise Bourque, and videos by Mark Bain.

Director
Ulrike Reichhold

Production
Chicago Filmmakers

Tags: Film, Old Europe, 1994