A&E

“It puts you in a place where the planet’s poles reverse.” This line from Jim Carroll’s poem, “8 Fragments for Kurt Cobain,” and other poems by both Carroll and Edgar Allen Poe, complement the mood projected by director Amos Poe in his new film “Empire II.”

“Empire II” is based on Andy Warhol’s 1964 film, “Empire,” an eight-hour film centered on a single image of the Empire State Building, with the only variety provided by an occasional flicker of light. “Empire II,” despite slightly greater variety in its images, still retains the experimental artistry seen in Warhol’s original, as well as equally enchanting footage of the Empire State Building (shot in the distance). “Empire II,” like the original, lacks any plot whatsoever.

Though the silent film’s three-hour span makes watching it somewhat grueling, the film’s length is also necessary for the film’s mysterious and fleeting atmosphere to fully develop—two hours might have been a nice compromise, though.

Amos Poe referred to “Empire II” as an experiment about “the perception of time in film,” Amos Poe said. “The main thing was to get the energy of the art, taking time out of time.”
The theme of time is seen throughout the film. The film, shot from Amos Poe’s apartment windows in a “home video” fashion, returns numerous times to the image of a large tower with a clock. Footage of the clock is fast-forwarded and slowed down at different points in the film—hinting at Poe’s subjective view of time.

Since “Empire II” was shot entirely from a few windows in a Greenwich Village apartment on Sixth and Greenwich avenues, the film draws on a repertoire of similar images (such as the Empire State Building, a luncheonette across the street and the rhythmic traffic movements below). Despite many images’ similarity to each other, innovative and dramatic editing techniques carry the film. Poe often manipulates images of buildings blocking the sun into shots with an apocalyptic feeling.

Certain shots strayed from the bulk of abstract images seen throughout most of the film. Images of a homeless man sitting on the street gave a more concrete meaning to the lonely vibes given off by the more abstract portions of the film.

The film’s soundtrack is diverse, with music ranging from spirituals to the rock and country sounds of Steve Earle’s “Down Here Below.” Though most of the songs featured were either related to New York or echoed the film’s lonely atmosphere, Poe feels that the film’s rhythm allows for any music to accompany it. “You could actually watch it with your own music,” Poe said.

The poetry that accompanies the film hints at the ideas underlying “Empire II.” Lines such as “Let us bathe in this crystalline light!” from Edgar Allen Poe’s “Ulalume” were recited throughout the first half of the film. These poetic fragments made the images of the Empire State Building all the more haunting.

Though “Empire II” seems to portray New York City as bleak and cruel (the sounds of sirens are amplified in much of the film), Poe described his intentions to base the film more on energy and time than on the city’s harshness. “We started putting kinds of street sounds that would elicit the temporality of speed,” Poe said.

Though the audience has seen about as much as it wants to see of both the Empire State Building and the corner of Greenwich and Sixth avenues by the end of the second hour, “Empire II” becomes more of an experience than a film. The repetitive shots of the Empire State Building cause the building to gain an omnipresence that seems to transcend all time.re State Building, the only variety provided by an occasional flicker of light. “Empire II,” despite slightly greater variety in its images, still retains the experimental artistry seen in Warhol’s original, as well as equally enchanting footage of the Empire State Building. “Empire II,” like the original, lacks any plot whatsoever.

Though the silent film’s three-hour span makes watching “Empire II” somewhat grueling, the film’s lengthy span is also necessary for the film’s mysterious and fleeting atmosphere to fully develop—two hours might have been a nice compromise, though.

Poe referred to “Empire II” as an experiment about “the perception of time in film,” Poe said. “The main thing was to get the energy of the art, taking time out of time.”

The theme of time was seen throughout the film. The film, which was shot in a single location in a “home video” fashion, returns numerous times to the image of a large tower with a clock. Footage of the clock is fast-forwarded and slowed down at different points in the film, causing time in the film to gain a subjective quality.

Since “Empire II” was shot entirely from a few windows in a Greenwich Village apartment, the film draws on a repertoire of images (such as the Empire State Building, a luncheonette across the street and the rhythmical traffic movements below). Yet slight variations in the images, such as the addition of a curtain to a window and even the changes in the weather, cause the film to drag the audience through never-ending emotional highs and lows.

Certain shots in the film’s repertoire were frequented less than others, thus highlighting them. Images of a homeless man and of a drooping sunflower in the windowsill embodied the more abstract loneliness created by the returning images of the Empire State Building and the sky.

The film’s soundtrack is rather eclectic with music ranging from spirituals to the rock and country sounds of Steve Earle’s “Down Here Below.” Though most of the songs featured were either related to New York or echoed the film’s lonely atmosphere, Poe feels that the film’s rhythm allows for any music to accompany it. “You could actually watch it with your own music,” Poe said.

The poetry that accompanies the film hints at the ideas underlying “Empire II.” Lines such as “Let us bathe in this crystalline light!” from Edgar Allen Poe’s “Ulalume” harmonizes the mysterious gloom created by images of lighted windows amidst a black and unforgiving night sky. I am confused as to in what way the poetry accompanies the film. Is the poetry spoken? Do you read it like a subtitle?

Though “Empire II” seems to portray New York City as bleak and cruel (the sounds of sirens are amplified in much of the film), Poe described his intentions to base the film more on energy and time than on the city’s harshness. “We started putting kinds of street sounds that would elicit the temporality of speed,” Poe said.

Though the audience has seen about as much as it wants to see of the corner of Greenwich and Sixth avenues by the end of the second hour, “Empire II” becomes more of an experience than a film. The repetitive shots of the Empire State Building cause the building to gain an omnipresence seeming to transcend all time.