In girum imus nocte et consumimur igni Series: Film Comment Selects [2009] Director: Guy Debord, Country: France, Release: 1978, Runtime: 100
“‘I will make no concessions to the public,’ says Guy Debord at the beginning of his 1978 film, and he stays true to his word. The palindromically titled In girum (roughly translated as “we spin around the night consumed by fire”) is not so much difficult as a pure act of negation from the founder of the Situationist International. Like all of Debord’s films, In girum stands apart from cinema, not to mention the modern world as it has evolved into its present state.
Images from magazines, comics, and popular films are turned inside out (a process defined by Debord as détournement) to illustrate what he sees as the complete vacuity of mediatized society, of which we the viewers are passive participants…But [the film] is also an affirmation—of our ability to build on the best rather than the worst in mankind, to create a true Utopia rather than a paltry counterfeit. Without exaggeration, this is one of the most provocative experiences you’ll ever have at the movies.”—Kent Jones, 46th New York Film Festival
