Review of Until the Light Takes Us (2008) by Arvin M — 02 Sep 2009

I saw this yesterday at international house with matt. there was a q&a afterwards with the filmmakers which was very interesting. going in, I did not know much about black metal but I went to learn. I liked that this documentary had a clear focus, a certain place and limited time period bc they had a lot to cover.

they said they had 350 hours of footage! this doc left me with a lot to think about and I like that. also, their portrayal of the people interviewed/etc left out a lot but I think that worked to their advantage bc I felt myself being very empathetic with varg who is kind of a crazy motherfucker.

given all the details straight out, this connection with the audience probably wouldn't have happened but being to hear his side gave a very different whatever the word is. also, I liked how gory everything was, but that's the point of black metal, yeah? only issue was with the sound quality (maybe they were going for shitty quality since that was black metal was going for too) and the lack of subtitles when actually needed (like in the beginning before you get used to the sound).