/Film compared the trailer for Robert Persons’ upcoming film General Orders No. 9 to Terrence Malick, and I think it’s a pretty apt comparison. Ostensibly, it’s a documentary “told entirely with images, poetry, and music” about “the signs of loss and change in the American South,” and you can sort of see how that might reveal itself in the longer film, but just looking at it on its own, all I know is, it’s hypnotically beautiful.
Some people — not here, necessarily — will say it looks pretentious, but there are ideas bigger than plain language can contain, sometimes.
The film is only slated to play in one theater for a week later this month, as of this writing, but hopefully we can all check it out sooner rather than later.
You can watch the trailer in HD over at Apple, or read more about the film at the official website. The full synopsis follows after the jump:
Awarded for its visionary cinematography, General Orders No. 9 breaks from the constraints of the documentary form as it contemplates the signs of loss and change in the American South. The stunning culmination of over eleven years’ work from first time writer-director Bob Persons, General Orders No. 9 marries experimental filmmaking with an accessible, naturalist sensibility to tell the epic story of the clash between nature and man’s progress, and reaches a bittersweet reconciliation all its own. Told entirely with images, poetry, and music, General Orders No. 9 is unlike any film you have ever seen. A story told in maps, dreams, and prayers, it is one last trip down the rabbit hole before it’s paved over.