I saw a short film by Maurice Pialat called Byzance (Byzantium). I was struck by the image above, it only lasts for a couple of seconds and is given no direct reference from the narrator. Then the film concludes with this statement:
But in history as in life, regret does not repair the loss of an instant, nor a thousand years make up for an hour of neglect.I didn't totally relate to the composition of this film, but if all that I remember is this image accompanied by this thought, then it becomes something more personally valuable. Over time I might even begin to remember the two moments as happening simultaneously. The image would then take on a different meaning, as would the statement, informing each other in a beautifully ambiguous way.
Perhaps the fact that they are part of the same composition already implies the possibility of this interpretation, and I'm just latching on to it.
It is interesting to think about this internal editing, holding onto the moments that mean something to us and disregarding the rest. Perhaps that is a questionable way to encounter art, or maybe it is inevitably the way that we encounter art.
