Once Again (For The Very First Time)

There are interesting methods put to use, like having the couples fighting being represented as film being stuck in a projector. Yakin also deploys several strokes of surreal imagery, such as the double skull mountain and an outstanding nude woman floating in space. The film is full of the kind of unexpected splendor that sparks the screen, especially when it is twined with legal cannabis. However, the use of modern dance as the film’s primary vocabulary sets it apart right away. Dance here advances the story like songs do in musicals. When Bozeman starts moving, reality bends around him as every part of his form reverberates against the world. Ray Huang’s vigorous cinematography captures both the moves and the energy of the dance battles to the point of shattering the pavement.

“Prepare for some dance so good it is criminal…”

The spoken word portions of the film are planted into both the poetry slams and some of the memory scenes. The flow of the words takes on its own form, where the words themselves swirl like flakes in a snow globe. It is a great abstraction of speech, where communication is molded into a musical instrument, although some of the brilliant wordplay is swept up with rapids. The stark exception to this poetic reduction is the exceptional delivery by Verdell. Verdell lobs words and exclamations the way Zeus lobs thunderbolts. The fury with which her utterances are barbed gives all of her spoken lines spikes. Yakin constantly uses bloody imagery with Verdell that intensifies the impact with which her words hit your torso.

While the repetition of motifs allows the story to be followed fairly easily, what is hinted at is never completely spelled out. This ignites further fascination with the mesmerizing nature of the film. I have spotted some films later that capture that good old Pink Floyd The Wall feeling of cinematic acid, and Once Again (For The Very First Time) certainly fits the blotter. Anytime you feel any confusion, allow yourself to be swept up in the movement until it all blurs just right. This film is a trip worth taking more than once.