Reflection and History

Something I've always found particularly interesting is the way the events and they way they are viewed become skewed overtime, often leading to extremes of glorification and vilification. In watching "the mad masters" and also reading some of the critics of the film I've come to appreciate how the film rose to its current prominence from the harsh criticisms it was initially receiving. I also took note that most of the criticism revolved around the director, Rouch, rather than of the content being filmed. His casual yet formal retelling of the events is inseparable from the act itself because of the nature of the film, something we seem less concerned with in the present perhaps because we see the value in the act beyond the obvious biases introduced by the director.