Matter Out of Place

Consisting largely of long takes sans music or commentary, the film uncovers the paradox that trash, so apparently devoid of meaning or use-value, needs little commentary.

Nobody likes garbage, yet “Matter” (with minor exceptions) only addresses a single facet of the issue, namely moving it from one place to another, often at a snail’s pace.

Hope comes from the many efforts to clean up our mess: Volunteers for a Clean Homeland work on beaches, a line of volunteers scours the desert, scuba divers gather tires and debris from the ocean, a recycling plant and an incinerator process refuse.

Geyrhalter’s now familiar fixed-camera, tableaux-style compositions attempt to take in the full enormity of our waste. It is eye-opening, to say the least.