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Epsilon (1995)

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clip The worst insult in the universe

Original classification rating: PG. This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

The man (Syd Brisbane) and the woman (Ulli Birvé) arrive in the desert outside Las Vegas, because he has always wanted to go there. She does not, so she waits overnight while he tries his luck. They jump through space-time to the outskirts of Los Angeles, where she lectures him about the stupidity of the way humans live in smog-filled cities.

Curator’s notes

by Paul Byrnes

The woman from Epsilon does tend to be a bit of a know-all in the first half of the film, before a growing affection for the man tempers her superiority complex. The story is about how both characters are changed by the other, although at this stage she does most of the talking. The manipulation of time (in the beginning of the clip) is a reflection of the way she views the idea of time, and it gives an effective dramatic explanation for the film’s use of time lapse photography. ‘Manipulation of time’ is also one of the definitions of what filmmaking itself is all about, since none of the other arts is so temporal. There’s also a sense in the film that time becomes different when one is confronted with an ancient wilderness like the Australian desert.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

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  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
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