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Speaking For Trees: A Film By Mark Borthwick
 
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Speaking For Trees: A Film By Mark Borthwick (2004)

Starring: Cat Power Rating: NR (Not Rated) Format: DVD
2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

List Price: $14.98
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Speaking For Trees: A Film By Mark Borthwick + What Would the Community Think + Moon Pix
Price For All Three: $37.45

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  • This item: Speaking For Trees: A Film By Mark Borthwick DVD ~ Cat Power

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
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  • What Would the Community Think ~ Cat Power

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  • Moon Pix ~ Cat Power

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Product Details

  • Actors: Cat Power
  • Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
  • Language: English
  • Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 2
  • Rating: NR (Not Rated)
  • Studio: Matador Records
  • DVD Release Date: October 26, 2004
  • Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B0003JAJ9U
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #82,426 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
2.7 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Not All Experiments Work...., November 7, 2004
...and this is one of them. I'm a Cat Power fan & an experimental filmmaker, so I like to think I have a pretty high tolerance for avant-garde antics. This film was an interesting concept, but certainly not an original one by any means--the sticker on the disk itself mentions correlations to Warhol (Michael Snow also comes to mind).

I can appreciate the "anti-music video/anti-rock doc" approach (bad video, long enough angle that you can't see Chan's face, crickets chirping, etc), but the novelty wears off after ten minutes. Michael Snow could pull off the long take because there was eventually a climactic pay-off; Warhol pulled it off because he was the first (and, well, he was Warhol).

Bortwick is an excellent still photographer; it's a shame he can't translate that to motion pictures.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Private concert, bad film-making, December 11, 2004
The sheer joy of basically having Chan play a 2 hour concert to an audience of you is profound to any fan of hers (the other 99% of the world will think it is boring and go watch TV). So stated, the film making is bad. It could at the very least be more "dynamic" - following her around instead of remaining static. I realize this may be hard to accomplish, but it would breath some life into it. As is, I watch a half hour of it while trying to fall asleep. A few closer shots of Chan would also be nice.

Some of the "experimental" cinematic effects are just plain bad, like the playing with the brightness and contrast. It just adds nothing, and it isn't in synch with the music/singing.

The sound mixing is also bad. Guitar needs to come down some, vocals up some. While it is usually hard to understand what Chan is singing under perfect studio conditions, all I could pick out was something vaguely resembling her songs.

Her voice is her power, let it speak.

Still, the 2 hour content and the CD make it a very worthwhile investment for a serious Cat Power fan, and reasonably priced.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Not so good, November 26, 2004
By dredfish "dredfish" (My basement in Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
I love Cat Power, but this CD/DVD is a real disappointment. The music is okay, but the video is awful. The whole "Chan in nature" thing falls flat. It looks like they filmed it in the parking lot of a city park. Probably the worst are the three "music videos." If Mark Borthwick is an artist I'm sure he'll be a starving one. His filmmaking style is sadly lacking. Anybody, and I mean anybody, with a video camera could come up with something more compelling than this drivel.

Two stars because the music is marginally enjoyable. 0 stars for the video. Blech.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars What could have been...
In principle, the idea behind this video actually intrigued me; it's in the execution where it falls short. Read more
Published on April 12, 2006 by Wally

1.0 out of 5 stars speaking for trees or speaking for the most boring film ever!!!!!!!!
I am a huge Cat Power fan but I have to say that I was extremely disappointed with this film!! First of all, the camera never moves!!! Read more
Published on August 16, 2005 by Lizardo

4.0 out of 5 stars Speaking for "Speaking for Trees"
"Speaking for Trees: A Film by Mark Borthwick" consists of a 2-disk set (DVD and audio CD) along with an artist's book of perfunctory "poems" and seemingly casual grainy... Read more
Published on June 11, 2005 by artlivre

3.0 out of 5 stars everyone's a critic...
People need to get over themselves and this idea that everything an artist does is supposed to meet every consumers expectation. Read more
Published on May 29, 2005 by shoo

2.0 out of 5 stars Angry Nap Time
This DVD was extremely frustrating. It totally sucks. I got it thinking it would be really beautiful, but it looks like a home video, and Chan is standing a mile away from the... Read more
Published on April 10, 2005 by Layli Samimi-Moore

2.0 out of 5 stars ho hum
I'm a big fan of Chan Marshall, have all her records and seen her play live. Was really looking forward to this and popped it in the the dvd player... Read more
Published on December 13, 2004 by Fig Newton

5.0 out of 5 stars freaking brilliant.
the things that people seem to hate about this DVD are the things that make it absolutely wonderful. Chan Marshall AKA Cat Power is not like other people. Read more
Published on November 23, 2004 by Milton G. Compton III

3.0 out of 5 stars apparently Chan likes shrooms
This collection can be a case study in manic depressive disorder...first, the depressive side of Chan...The film, it's exactally what it says it is... Read more
Published on November 15, 2004 by J. Winnick

1.0 out of 5 stars Good review by Lawrence!
One star because I'll probably only watch it once. And, I only made it through that time because it was playing on my computer, and I was doing other stuff while it was on... Read more
Published on November 6, 2004 by anaiselise

4.0 out of 5 stars Channy in a field forever.
The only other rocker I can think of who has more nerve and audacity than Chan Marshall is William Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain (see "Lazycame" if you don't know what I'm... Read more
Published on October 28, 2004 by Lawrence

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