user-generated film shuffle

Somewhere in between conventional films and open source collaborations like A Swarm of Angels, Late Fragment lets viewers weave together their own storyline, using their DVD-remote. Inspiration for the film’s multiple narrative, non-linear format comes from the likes of Christopher Nolan’s Memento and Peter Greenaway’s Tulse Luper VJ performance. And, drawing directly from a 2003 Danish film Switching, it’s not the first interactive scene-shuffling concept.

Sadly, the trailer doesn’t entice me all that much. Nor does the formulaic plot: the three ‘characters, unknown to one another as well as to themselves, would never have met were it not for…’ has pretty much been milked off (Inarritu managed to pull it off three times with Amores Perros, 21 Grams, and Babel).

Still, delegating your editing skills like this makes for an interesting experiment in interactive viewing – not least because it finally turns the remote into more than a couchpotato facilitator. And if you do like the film, you’ll never need another – this one’s different everytime you watch it.

Photo Ana Serano by tyfn.