A Captive Picture
Richard Billingham 'Ray' (2016)
Keywords:
Richard Billingham, Ray (2016), Ray Billingham, Elizabeth Billingham, ; Ray & Liz (2018), Cradley Heath, withdrawal, tower block, documentary realism, solitude, mystical, devotional imageAbstract
Written and directed by Richard Billingham, Ray (2016) repurposes photographs taken of his father in the early 1990s. In a significant departure from the conventions of documentary realism, the film develops formal techniques to invoke the solitary presence of a man in his room drinking himself to death. This article suggests that Billingham’s début film enacts a post-documentary synthesis of forensic detachment and contextual sensitivity that avoids sentimentality or pathos. Acknowledging that his father’s condition exceeds documentation, Billingham’s Ray gradually delineates a devotional image that, in carrying an inscription of human presence, slowly approaches the mystical.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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FILMOGRAPHY
Fishtank (Richard Billingham, 1998) UK: Artangel / BBC2 / Adam Curtis and James Lingwood. 35m.
Ray & Liz (Richard Billingham, 2018) UK: Jacqui Davies in association with Severin Screen Productions.
Ray (Richard Billingham, 2016) 16mm. 33m. UK: Producer, Jacqui Davies.
Un condamné à mort s’est échappé ou vent souffle où il veut (Robert Bresson, 1956) France: Gaumont / Nouvelles Editions de Films.
