The Clock (2010)

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The Clock (2010) -- C. Marclay

Christian Marclay’s 24-hour film, synchronised on screen to the exact time in the location where it is playing, is a monumental feat of editing (both visual and sound) and just plain gobsmacking.  It only tours museums so I was lucky enough to catch it at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image here in Melbourne today from 12:52 PM to 2:01 PM. In 2014, I had the chance to see 1:25 PM to 2:31 PM in Minneapolis; oddly, I did not recall any overlap until just before 2 PM when people started talking about it being too early in the day to drink.  Perhaps this is because the sheer number of clips, some familiar but many not and ALL of them out of context, might mean that you can’t remember having seen it in The Clock in particular.  Of course, I should have remembered Hitchcock’s bomb going off at 1:45 PM in Sabotage but I certainly knew that the 3:10 to Yuma was coming when its first clip appeared.  In fact, I was surprised that the first Yuma clip came so early – and also realised this time that there was at least one clip showing the child on the bus in Sabotage well before the explosion – so there must be a special treat for viewers in for the long haul who can see Marclay’s slow wind-up to some of the punchlines.  And there are indeed many punchlines – not just those favourite scenes that mention time – but an incredible array of visual and sound jokes produced by the editing and juxtaposition of scenes.  When someone dials the telephone, you know that another clip will show someone else in another place (but not another time?) answering the phone and then there will be phone after phone after phone.  Then a montage of train scenes or people in bed and the endless interspersing of people looking at their watches (or Big Ben).  The sound design is only partly diegetic – instead, the music and effects from a previous clip often carry over into the next one and some music is retained over several clips to set a mood (Shaft anyone?).  On Thursday nights, the museum shows the entire film (all night long) and last week someone tweeted about it in intervals – it seemed an extraordinarily impactful experience.  I’m tempted  -- but even after only one hour in the dark thinking about time, I saw the world outside in a different way (although this proved to be only fleeting – I need to get back inside!).  Highly recommended.

CHRISTIAN MARCLAY's THE CLOCK from hlgfilms on Vimeo.