After watching Millenium Mambo I was both in love and annoyed with the main character. I identified with her extreme sense of claustrophobia, as i too felt the physical confinement of her tiny apartment and the tension and conflict that took up residence with her and Hau Hau (im sure thats not spelled right). Furthermore, the passage of time was so realistically portrayed via the long take that time often felt excruciating and repetitive. 

In thinking about the "long take" I cant help but refer back to Bazin. He discusses the "democracy" of the long take, as it privileges the viewers eye to wander freely throughout the take and thus the viewer can create their own perception and emotions of the information presented to them. 

The Long Take for me in Millenium Mambo had me using the same democratic process but at the same time, arriving at a completely contrived emotional response. I felt like i was perpetually searching, and looking for something but i had no idea what.  

Here, my eye was wandering so much throughout the non-linear storyline AND the back to back long takes, that i could not help but IDENTIFY with the protagonist's pervasive feelings of loneliness, purposelessness, and vagrancy.  Therefore the way this director uses the long t seems to demonstrate that the device isnt necessarily democratic and can be used in the same way as Eisenstienian montage (im sure i spelled  this wrong too) - to dictate and create a specific sentiment in the viewers. 

THOUGHTS? FEELINGS? UTTER DISAGREEMENTS? 

Cheers, 

michela