Reassemblage (1982), Trinh T. Minh-ha
My subjective viewing experience throughout this documentary drastically contrasts with my objective analysis of the film’s effectiveness. From one angle, an angle admittedly full of bias, I can firmly say I did not enjoy watching “Reassemblage”. This had nothing to do with the subject matter as I appreciate the focus on the people of Senegal. However, the experimental nature of the documentary made it relatively easy for my mind to stray and for me to lose focus. From my experience with any form of entertainment, sound is a vital aspect of my enjoyment. Therefore, while the cutting of sound at random points does make an important statement about documentaries, it often took away from my immersion.
On the other hand, I can applaud and appreciate what Filmmaker Trinh Minh-Ha is attempting to communicate about documentaries. As she highlights in her writing “When the moon waxes red”, Trinh T. Minh-ha is able to shed a light on the flaws present in traditional documentary making. The calling into question of how easily documentaries can concoct a narrative and control how the audience views a topic is impressive. Instead of telling the audience what to feel, we are made to determine this for ourselves. However, once again, I can only really appreciate it from an objective point of view because subjectively I was rather bored.
In class, there was an interesting discussion surrounding documentaries and what aspects of them make people want to watch. For me personally, I only watch documentaries when I have a prior interest in the subject matter or the person involved. For instance, Demi Lovato’s recent documentary “Dancing With the Devil” chronicles her near fatal overdose in 2018. As someone who has been a fan of her and her music for a long time, I had an immediate desire to watch the documentary to learn more. Similarly, as someone who loves video games, watching short documentaries about the creation process is an enlightening experience for me. In the case of “Reassemblage” while I do find the lives of people in Senegal interesting, the experimental format prevented my deep investment in the material. Who knows? Perhaps my love for a good narrative has skewed the way I view and enjoy media.
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