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All the Cities of the North

All the Cities of the North

2016

Director

Dane Komljen

Runtime

100 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

Synopsis

It’s like almost all is lost. Yet still they are here – abandoned bungalows, an artificial lake, dirty plastic bottles, lost donkeys and stray dogs, draining pipes running over fields of salt, deserted factories, statues of revolutionaries, concrete playgrounds covered with weeds, rotten fruit, folded T-shirts, pop songs, decades of forgetting, a single room with a blue tent inside. And it felt like a kiss.

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Diversity & Representation

Overall Score

5.7/10

Fair


Category Breakdown

LGBTQ+ Representation

Fair

The film's experimental, non-narrative structure avoids traditional romantic tropes. Its focus on fragmented, sensory experiences aligns with queer cinematic aesthetics that prioritize non-linear subjectivity over heteronormative plot progression.

Gender Representation

Fair

The narrative centers on landscapes and decaying industrial sites rather than traditional gendered hierarchies. By focusing on abandoned bungalows and factories, the film disrupts conventional expectations of gendered agency.

Racial & Ethnic Diversity

Fair

The film focuses on a desolate, post-industrial landscape. While specific racial representation is unverified, the preoccupation with historical memory and the 'left behind' suggests a metaphor for marginalized populations.

Religious & Cultural Diversity

Excellent

The imagery functions as a potent critique of industrial capitalism and environmental decay. The focus on revolutionary statues and forgotten decades challenges the perceived progress of Western modernity.

Disability Representation

Fair

The film explores vulnerability through its focus on lost and abandoned entities. The emphasis on sensory decay suggests a potential focus on heightened or neurodivergent sensory perception.

Strengths

  • Challenges mainstream, heteronormative, and capitalist storytelling conventions through an experimental lens.
  • Provides a potent critique of industrial capitalism and the environmental decay of Western modernity.
  • Subverts standard gendered power dynamics by centering landscapes over patriarchal structures.

Areas for Improvement

  • Lacks explicit, documented depictions of queer identity or specific character-driven intimacy.
  • Provides no verifiable evidence of diverse racial or ethnic casting within the landscape.
  • Relies on interpretive, aesthetic readings rather than documented representation of disability.

AI Analysis

Dane Komljen’s work disrupts conventional cinematic expectations by prioritizing systemic decay and historical fragmentation over individualistic storytelling. The film avoids traditional character arcs, opting instead for a contemplative, essayistic approach to the landscape. While the film lacks explicit, character-driven representation, its narrative architecture is deeply invested in deconstructing Western industrial and capitalist ideals. It finds meaning in the remnants of society rather than in traditional social hierarchies. The strength of the work lies in its ability to challenge the narrative of modern progress. It offers a skeptical, postmodern view of established institutions through the lens of abandonment and loss.

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