Experimental and visionary director E. Elias Merhige has been away from the film world for a very long time now. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding his absence, the creative mind behind the unique and at times astounding films Begotten, Shadow of the Vampire and the existential Din of Celestial Birds has returned to bring us his new work titled Polia and Blastema: A Metaphysical Fable.
I’ve always been fascinated by E. Elias Merhige’s work, and I honestly think that Suspect Zero is underrated and deserves attention. Having the director return with a bold piece that shows a truly unique vision is refreshing. We need creators to push the boundaries of art while our media landscape is over-saturated with copy and paste commercialism. It’s a breath of fresh air for anyone looking outside the box.
The idea behind Polia and Blastema is weird and very intriguing. Themes involving the metaphysical, existentialism and God are nothing new to Merhige, but from what we see briefly in the teaser, our story of two alien beings attempting to become one will feature tons of mind-blowing imagery and effects. The techniques used to create these visuals are not known yet; but nevertheless, this looks amazing.
The Kickstarter for the film is now fully funded, and the project will officially be moving forward to completion. This will be great for fans of the director and film nuts who enjoy abstract narratives in the vein of Godfrey Reggio’s Qatsi trilogy and the works of the Brothers Quay. The combination of dark gothic horror plus science fiction and ancient aesthetics will no doubt be incredibly niche, but for those hardcore few, this new film has the potential to be an instant favorite.
