Karl Baake

A quiet little film that subtly takes one into the suspended space within of something lost - which must be recovered, pondered meaningfully, resolved or filled by some unknown pathway in time - in this case, a seemingly unlikely portal of discovery: of finding by loosing, oneself, literally, by acting out, unknowingly and at first unwillingly, a part in an amateur production of a thematically similar classic play while simultaneously stumbling through the severely traumatized walls and pitfalls of one's own reality, and actualities of life... Beautifully composed, cast, acted and delivering both emotionally and intellectually intertwined threads into a tapestry of joy from woe. I was brought to tears at the first viewing by way of disbelief turning into a kind of salvation by way of surrendering to go along for the ride. I wrote the following to a fiend after the second viewing: Just had a second viewing of a grand little understated movie, "Ghostlight". A reality/"playwrit" entwining of an amateur production of Romeo & Juliette becoming the inadvertent salvation of a trauma wrought dysfunctional family; wherein, the movie* is the artful nonfiction (the *subject of which) is the film's reality: being the fictional character's lives juxtaposed and parallel to the classic play's character developments. Cunningly & convoluted: a casework cunnundrum with a surprisingly susinct, and cathartically clear, resolution...(& much meticulously meandering visual metaphor - mesmerizing meaningfully with miraculous, versus marauding, subtlety...) depicting the theme: That which is lost, may well become the substance of what may be gained - in life, of love and lingering... Ghostlight, 💙, K 🤠

I've seen the film twice, and will see it a 3rd time with a captioning device, as I'm missing some of the background transmissions. I respect the 3 or 4 long comments posted by others who felt dissatisfied by length, ambiguity and obscured thematic pupose, but I'm intrigued nonetheless by the nonlinear, nor circular, accepted formatting of plot and cinematic device in purveying continuity to the viewer. Like Long Days Journey & Tree of Life, Koyanisquatsi, and many other thought provoking, intellectually daring masterpieces, this film deals with the mortar of cognition, not the structure of thought. There are 2 "lets pursue it!? (Hernan Bedoyas)=Henry's, 1 "WYF is it?!" recurring sound, and the sheer "beauty of the drift" meanderings that make me think of the cover of Robinson Crusoe and the footprint on the beach. For some reason I can't see the text I'm typing past the word mortar, above, so I must conclude by saying that: if one ever ponders the nurture, nature and rationals for dreams and realities, one might find that tracing and solidifying meaning is by no means illustrating the universe wide spectrum of where does a thought come from in our collective consciousness, or individual construct. BOOM! it's there, did anyone else hear it? Sure wish I wasn't on Charles Street typing blindly PS: Miss Sandra L.G's comments are particularly well written, sweeping many of the ponderous, if not problematic, aspects of resolution for the viewer, and I "liked" it twice, once last night when this comment box wouldn't let me review my words, and again this morning, when I reread her and my words again. (As God is my witness I just heard a similar unknown single Bump/Boing thud of a sound painstakingly similar to Memoria's- I stopped, startled, put my ears on scan and heard it again, got up called the dog & haven't heard it again. Nothing is amiss= inference chills!) Anyway I can't see what I'm writing again, but wanted to point out that there were several of the "spaceship" end scene's visual aspects that let me easily accept the admittedly "has been used in many movies" device. I simply look at it as a nod to higher intelligence power providing pseudo explanation for quantum intellectual leaps in the scope of human evolotion; and the white circle ⚪️ being the reference to her (Tilda's)s) attempt to describe the "sound" to the young Henry. I'm, again, intrigued by the focus on the tree shaped plant in the center of the last Garden of Eden, seemingly still, frame- suggesting God's creation untouched by human infrerencial interventions- the pure state of being. Though I now find I can eventually see my text if I stop typing and wait, I will continue to say that the movie is like many a good Bob Dylan song in that meaning doesn't jump out at the listener necessarily, but later- some aspect of a line or phrase becomes illuminating in some "further down the line" context. For me, this aspect, later inclusive referencing "is..." Memoria Karl