Shot in black and white, using a Bolex ‘wind-up’ camera, The Republics follows Stephen Watts as he moves from North Uist in Scotland’s Western Isles to London’s Isle of Dogs to the mountains of Northern Italy. There is more about the film here, which explains it better than I can.
What really struck me is Watts' ability to observe, captured over and over again by Wahl. There are scenes where Watts sits watching a dance, or is seemingly lost observing a goat and its kids gambol around an Italian village. Perhaps a key to poetry is to be able to truly look at the world around you.
The rest of the time, Watts seems to be in constant motion, usually forward, sometimes, very deliberately, backward. He's hardly ever seen sitting, and when inside, seems to be happiest standing in a doorway. And then he's off again, up and down the banks of the Thames, bog jumping on Uist, or walking backwards up a mountain trail in Italy.
Watts is described as an activist, but the film never preaches. In one striking scene, however, he jarringly contrasts a material and spiritual worldview:
"And for all ... that people think the world will be determined and continue and be safeguarded by material, it's far more likely that material, or gross misuse of material, will destroy our world completely. Whereas good use of that deep spirit is what will allow the world to remain."
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| Cormorants tie North Uist to the Isle of Dogs in the film |