In the 24th edition of his series “The Unloved,” video essayist Scout Tafoya ventures back to what he considers to be the best year of film, 2011. A set of 12 months that brought cinema the likes of “The Tree of Life,” “Hugo” and “Drive,” it also contains a derided blockbuster that Tafoya holds close to heart and memory, Guy Ritchie’s “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.” In this celebration of the visually intricate, friendship-fueled action film, Tafoya contextualizes the film as both influenced by the likes of “Battleship Potemkin”/Soviet montage and Futurism, while also standing as an example of CG filmmaking’s potential when mixed with cinema’s basic instruments. At the end, Tafoya reveals a personal significance within “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” recalling the cosmic adoration we all have for particular films, as directly connected to the times in our lives in which we see them.
Sequence 1-Game of Shadows-Carax from Scout Tafoya on Vimeo.
To watch more of Scout Tafoya’s video essays from his series The Unloved, click here.
