The Invisible Mountain Film

A hallucinatory portrait of a man traveling from Finland to Greece in search of the utopian summit described in René Daumal’s 1952 novel Mount Analogue, a fictional mountain floating in the sea. Equal parts nonfiction cinema, concert film, road movie, and spiritual quest, The Invisible Mountain is accompanied by immersive musical performances from Finnish guitar trio Olimpia Splendid and American percussionist Greg Fox. 

“Ben Russell continues his path and his rise to the summit with his latest work inspired by René Daumal’s Mont Analogue, a remarkable text that seems to have been written especially for him. From this literary source, we understand what is read to us: a spiritual and collective quest involving the search for a mountain that’s out of sight. Russell transposes this to his own filmmaking – condensing all the meditative power into the image. La Montagne Invisible is a long Trypps (the name of the short, experimental forms produced by B.R.) reconnecting with the mysteries of transcendence and psychedelic pleasures. Russell creates a structure that weaves between a portrait gallery (of touring musicians) and the solitary roaming of a man who sets off to hunt down the fleeting apparitions of the invisible mountain. The lanky figure is filmed from behind in a dolly shot following in the wake of his strides. The opening chords of Nirvana's Come As You Are leads into a song by Finnish witch-trio Olimpia Splended, riddled with scratchy guitars and layers of sound that make the faces and landscapes elastic. Russell warps space and time, using sliding and circular movements around the faces he films. Although as he progresses, the character crosses varied landscapes, we experience an immobile journey. The “elsewhere” is primarily in the filmmaking, which the director inhabits by moving to the other side of the camera (with the complicity of Ben Rivers), forming an unexpected tandem with his character – a fusion of the imaginary territory of the spiritual quest and the making of the movie. The vastest wilderness and the highest peaks are those within. Finding them requires that we recognise the passages and doors. Music is one of those doors, and Russell’s hallucinatory visions offer us a dazzling cinematographic translation of its perceptible possibilities. Ben Russell’s “mont analogue” is music made into an image, the analogue film of music.”
(Claire Lasolle, FIDMarseille 2021)

Ben Russell

Ben Russell (1976) is an American artist, filmmaker and curator whose work lies at the intersection of ethnography and psychedelia. His films and installations are in direct conversation with the history of the documentary image, providing a time-based inquiry into trance phenomena. Russell was an exhibiting artist at documenta 14 (2017) and his work has been presented at the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate Modern, the Museum of Modern Art Chicago, the Venice Film Festival and the Berlinale, among others. He is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (2008), a FIPRESCI International Critics Prize (IFFR 2010, Gijón 2017), premiered his second and third feature films at the Locarno Film Festival (2013, 2017) and won the Encounters Grand Prize at the Berlinale Film Festival (2024). Curatorial projects include Magic Lantern (Providence, USA, 2005-2007), BEN RUSSELL (Chicago, USA, 2009-2011), Hallucinations (Athens, Greece, 2017) and Double Vision (Marseille, France 2024). He is currently based in Marseille, France.

Um retrato alucinatório de um homem a viajar da Finlândia à Grécia em busca do cume utópico descrito no romance "Mont Analogue" de René Daumal, de 1952, uma montanha fictícia a flutuar no mar. Em partes iguais cinema de não-ficção, filme-concerto, road movie e busca espiritual, "The Invisible Mountain" é acompanhado por performances musicais imersivas do trio de guitarra finlandês Olimpia Splendid e do percussionista americano Greg Fox. “Ben Russell continua o seu caminho e a sua ascensão ao cume com a sua mais recente obra inspirada no Mont Analogue de René Daumal, um texto notável que parece ter sido escrito especialmente para ele. A partir dessa fonte literária, entendemos o que nos é lido: uma busca espiritual e coletiva envolvendo a procura por uma montanha invisível. Russell transpõe isso para seu próprio cinema – condensando todo o poder meditativo na imagem. La Montagne Invisible é um longo Trypps (nome das formas experimentais curtas produzidas por B.R.) reconectando-se com os mistérios da transcendência e dos prazeres psicadélicos. Russell cria uma estrutura que oscila entre uma galeria de retratos (de músicos em digressão) e a deambulação solitária de um homem que parte em busca das fugazes aparições da montanha invisível. A figura esguia é filmada de costas num plano dolly que acompanha os seus passos. Os acordes de abertura de "Come As You Are" do Nirvana levam a uma música do trio de feiticeiras finlandesas Olimpia Splendid, repleta de guitarras arranhadas e camadas de som que tornam os semblantes e as paisagens elásticos. Russell deforma espaço e tempo, usando movimentos deslizantes e circulares ao redor dos rostos que filma. À medida que avança, a personagem atravessa paisagens diversas, no entanto acompanhamos uma jornada imóvel. O “além” está primordialmente na criação do filme, que o diretor habita movendo-se para o outro lado da câmara (com a cumplicidade de Ben Rivers), formando um inesperado tandem com a sua personagem – uma fusão do território imaginário da busca espiritual e a realização do filme. Os maiores desertos e os picos mais altos estão dentro de nós. Encontrá-los requer reconhecer as passagens e as portas. A música é uma dessas portas e as visões alucinatórias de Russell oferecem-nos uma deslumbrante tradução cinematográfica das suas possibilidades perceptíveis. O “mont analogue” de Ben Russell é a música transformada em imagem, o filme analógico da música.” (Claire Lasolle, FIDMarseille 2021)