Four Corners (1998)

Four Corners: Directed by James Benning. With James Benning, Hartmut Bitomsky, Billy Woodberry, Sup Song Yae. James Benning’s “Four Corners” uses a specific geographical location to pose larger questions about the United States. Here, the geographic and wholly imaginary place Four Corners, that favorite tourist destination where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah meet, becomes a kind of theoretical ground zero, the site from which Benning can give voice to other, pointedly unofficial American stories …. This is a film in which sound and image are not joined together in some sort of spurious conspiracy (the history of the United States), but one in which each sound and each image hints at a story not yet fully told (the histories of the United States).

“This didnu0026#39;t have quite the same level of impact on me as its sister film u0026quot;Deseretu0026quot;. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn u0026quot;Four Cornersu0026quot; Benning uses the famous spot where four southwestern states meet, a starting place and from there uses a combination of landscapes and other images and written words to study four paintings by four very different artists to study how art relates to the natural world, ethnic and class history, American political history, the despoiling of the land, etc, etc. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd itu0026#39;s the etc. etc that made this tough for me on first viewing. Unlike u0026quot;Deseretu0026quot;, this seemed to be trying to cover so many ideas and themes, that I ended up a bit lost, not quite sure how all the pieces joined together. In other spots, perhaps because Benning didnu0026#39;t have as much time to go into each element heu0026#39;s exploring, the themes occasionally felt more simplistic and heavy handed than Iu0026#39;m used to with Benningu0026#39;s work. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAll THAT said, this is one of those cases where I could see a second viewing revealing more connections and deeper layers now that I have a sense of the film as a whole, so I will keep an open mind.”