Mangolte, in this wonderful documentary about the Wild West, first of all approaches the American landscape in relation to the season-to-season colors of the sky and attempts to capture the moods of nature, like Turner in his painting. In addition, in her voice-over, accompanied by two other American voices, she explores, among other things, whether it is possible to see wildlife as seen by the first settlers in America, who were foreigners like her, the myths about the Wild West in shaping American identity, and how familiar or different the landscape is from its depictions in American westerns and as a tourist attraction. At the end, we ask our selves together with Mangolte, what did we really see and what escaped our gaze from a landscape, ever shifting like the sky.
Babette Mangolte (1941) is a French-American director, cinematographer, photographer and artist who has lived in New York since 1970. She has worked as a cinematographer with Chantal Akerman and Yvonne Rainer and has made important experimental films on the very act of looking about the American landscape, about contemporary dance and the art of performance. She is considered one of the most important artists of the American avant-garde and currently teaches at the University of San Diego in California.
Photos: The sky on location ©1982 Babette Mangolte, all rights of reproduction reserved
