In the film, Jonas uses video as a diaristic construct to chart the passing of personal time through quotidian ritual. Over three different periods in New York and Nova Scotia, she videotaped herself every day, briefly addressing the camera upon waking in the morning and before going to bed at night: "Good Morning." "Good Night." This journal evolves into a self-portrait that is at once distanced and intimate, public and private. Observing herself as the viewer observes her, Jonas addresses the mirror of video as a vehicle for monitoring identity and change in time. Though her minimalist adherence to a controlled system of documentation is a rigorous conceptual conceit, Jonas' repetitive salutations are performed with more than a touch of irony.
Directed by Joan Jonas
Your score–
Not scoredRelated
As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
Naqoyqatsi
The Godfather Family: A Look Inside
Ex Libris: The New York Public Library
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don't Know Me
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
Directed by John Ford
The U.S. vs. John Lennon
Drew: The Man Behind the Poster
To Kill a Tiger
28 Up
Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner
McQueen
The Curious Birth of Benjamin Button
The Class of ‘92
Maria by Callas