Cold Bull
2022 · 10m · USA
Directed by Ben Gordon
Genres: documentary, experimental
Tones: contemplative, humorous, surreal
A group of Alaskan fishermen do everything it takes to stay awake and not crash their boat. Equal parts deranged Red Bull commercial and dreamy experimental doc about "living the sweet life."
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A documentary that hides inside a parody commercial that hides inside a tone poem — pick a lane, except don't, ever. The form is the prank.
Ben Gordon whispers Sensory Ethnography Lab cadence over salmon-seine drudgery and lands somewhere between Leviathan and an energy-drink ad. The contradiction is the piece.
Whispered narration and a hypnotic score turning salmon-seine drudgery into deranged Red Bull commercial / tone poem — Ben Gordon's choice to score the boat as energy-drink ad is a real angle.
Reviews
A deranged commercial for Red Bull (not really), or a loopy experimental documentary about 'living the sweet life' (also not really).