A scene from "The End of Time"
One of Canada's great cinematic experimentalists returns with a documentary exploring the meaning of time, while playing with the whole experience of a film's actual running time. Peter Mettler takes us from the CERN particle accelerator near Geneva (where scientists fire protons in order to explore the very essence of the Big Bang, the beginning of time and beyond) to the post-industrial, modern ruins of Detroit. We also go from a resident of Hawaii watching lava flows slowly cover the land around his house to the tree in India where Buddha reached enlightenment. There is not a hint of the didactic here, but rather pure contemplation, much like Graham Coleman's 1979 masterpiece Tibet: A Buddhist Trilogy, which also sought to introduce a timeless, meditative state for viewers.
At VIFF: Oct. 6, 1 p.m. Granville 7; Oct. 11, 9:30 p.m. Granville 1
At TIFF: Sept. 8, 12:15 p.m., Cineplex Yonge & Dundas