Old Boy OR Prophet

Flanagan says that “slow cinema” is marked by “the employment of (often extremely) long takes, de-centered
and understated modes of storytelling, and a pronounced emphasis on quietude and the everyday. . . .an
aesthetic of slow.”
Thompson, in “In Praise of Speed” says that “slow, contemplative cinematic speed has been critically elevated
over pure sensation. Rushing excitement and adrenaline is seen as a negative experience which lacks
meaning and artistic merit . . . As the film-strip is broken up and fragmented by digital jump cuts, smash zooms
and fast edits that jerk and flash in time to popular music, critics argue that the images on screen have begun
to lose their aesthetic and cultural value.”
Please discuss how the “slowness” in parts of Old Boy OR Un prophète contrasts with the often frenetic speed-
-the chaos–of most mainstream disaster films. In what ways does the slowness make the disaster more
terrifying, profound, realistic, or upsetting? In what ways do you think it minimizes the disaster? Focus your
discussion on one or two specific scenes