Hamiltion vs. Doest

After watching Matthew Porterfield's Hamilton I could not help but think about the film Doest that we watched in class. There are many differences but there are also many similarities. In the experimental world I think that neither film adamantly crosses over the narrative barrier to that category. Doest to me is more of a time period piece, a historical piece one might say. It has long shots of real people that are not acting, so it is almost a documentary type of view. Hamilton is actors trying to portray emotion on screen.

There are many similarities between the two though. Doest and Hamilton share a lot of lengthy shots. They have very long shots, a lot of them being fixed camera where it will sit on a person for a substantial amount of time. In both films it allows us to get a good idea of the people they are portraying. Both films also have lack of dialog. In Hamilton there are almost no lines and all of the emotion and conversations don't even need to take place. Almost all the emotions can be derived from the body language or lack there of. In doest there is no dialog, all the emotion is conveyed through blank stares. Being around the Cold War, thats exactly how I would of pictured them to act, it was a great way to capture the emotion of the people.

Both films to me were very interesting but very long. I think that the directors were able to get their message across in a lot shorter of a time then they actually used. Ackerman's was more bearable to watch because I had some interest in the actual historical reference of the post Cold War. Porterfield's Hamilton was a story to me of modern day America, and a modern day love story.

I also think both films tell the story of a time period. Hamilton is a love story that could really happen no other time then right now. It is capturing the generational love of now. Not all love stories today are like that of course, but the story of Joe and Lena happens only within the past 10 years. Doest of course telling the story of the post cold war that shows how people felt at that point in time. Even the glimpses of kids sledding told a story of a future generation to come. Both These pieces were very time period oriented.

Thesis:
Ackerman and Porterfield use the tools of length and lack of dialog to convey true human emotion in their films Doest and Hamilton.