“uniquely rich and mysterious”

Finding a proper entry point to talk about Robert Persons‘ “General Orders No. 9” is difficult: the film is so uniquely rich and mysterious that listing its merits almost feels, in a way, belittling. There’s often this anxiety in the back of the head when trying to dissect any sort of metaphors or symbols in a movie (in this case, a movie that’s basically a string of metaphors/symbols) — on the one hand we are so moved by the art of it, that we feel obligated to investigate its deeper meanings and various interpretations, but on the other, translating into brief sentences how a densely complicated, all-encompassing piece of cinematic art moved us seems too reductive and simple; it almost feels like a guaranteed injustice. The very best examples in the medium strike us in a way that is inexplicable and unexplainable — but us avid cinemagoers try our damnedest to explain that feeling, critic or not, sticking the movie under a microscope and jotting down our findings. All that in mind, ‘General Orders’ is a tiny, magnificent piece so unlike any other movie, so genuinely affecting that it needs to be talked about. Read article