As I was moving ahead occasionally I saw brief glimpses of Jonas Mekas | 1922-2019

"We need less perfect but more free films." - Jonas Mekas, 1922-2019

I wouldn’t exactly call myself particularly knowledgeable on the work of Jonas Mekas. My interactions with his work have been few and far between, a few short clips here and there. Yet what I have seen has always stuck with me, and I couldn’t help but feel a little sad at the news of his death this morning.

I think a lot about one of his more famous works, “As I was moving ahead occasionally I saw brief glimpses of beauty.” At nearly five hours long, I’ve never seen the full film, but I hope to get around to it soon. It would be a sorry thing for me to let the next couple decades pass by without experiencing the raw beauty of his magnum opus in full. I truly think we need more filmmakers like him. He captured life not as he wished it to be but how it is. In a world flooded with “home movies” (if you can call them that anymore) his work remains unique and in a league of its own.

Whenever I stumble across his work (usually randomly on an Instagram account or on YouTube or Filmstruck when it was still around) I can’t help but stop what I am doing and stare at the film. Some bring tears to my eyes. They are so simple and so full of joy. Each frame is a loving reminder that life is meant to be lived. It is visual poetry.