Strokkur Geyser
The beautiful Strokkur geyser is located near the Hvítá River in the southwestern part of Iceland. It is one of the country’s most famous geysers. It erupts every 4 to 8 minutes and releases water that reaches an average of 20 meters high, but can reach over 40 meters.
Strokkur was first reported in 1789, after an earthquake unblocked the flow of water. Eruptions were regular until 1896 when another earthquake inactivated it. In 1963, local people succeeded in unblocking the water flow and the geyser has been active ever since.
Prior to eruptions, the pool is full and gently pulsates. The eruption commences when a pulse of rising steam pushes the water upwards forming a large dome of water. The steam bursts through and expels the water at great speed.
In all my films, it seemed important to me to remind the audience to the fact that they are not alone, lost in an empty universe, but that they are connected by innumerable threads with their past and present, that through certain mystical ways, every human being realizes the rapport with the world and the life of humanity.
(stills from Nostalghia)
#112: Nashville
People usually point Nashville out as a satire of country music culture, but I think it’s actually better served as a satire of America in the 1970s. Like many of Altman’s films, there are as many storylines as there are characters and they bob & weave with each other until they finally join together at the end. Here, everyone’s connected through country music and politics, which culminates with a concert/political fundraiser. Many of the characters are based on actual country singers which, because of the unfavorable light most of the characters bask in, led to actual Nashville being a little miffed about the whole thing. There are some other key Altman trademarks at play here: the cast improvises many lines and wrote their own songs for the film, overlapping dialog, and you see many familiar faces from his other movies. You can also see the influences on modern mockumentaries, mainly those of Christopher Guest. If you are a casual student of film like I am, it’s a must-see.
