"The whole movie immerses you in a different way."
Reflecting on transcendental and immersive style in film
This is Mohnish Soundararajan, a filmmaker in Portland, Oregon, the director and screenwriter of the upcoming ‘Monochrome’, and a member of Desert Island Studios. ‘Reflections’ is a newsletter in which I reflect on film, books, human nature, life, the mystery of who we are, and everything beyond. These reflections are spoken orally into a microphone, interview-style. They’ve been edited and reworked for clarity, length, and fun. Enjoy.
Reflection: on transcendental and immersive style in film
“First Reformed has a very simple setup.
There is a Reverend who counsels a woman’s husband. There's an inciting incident. And from there, the film takes surprising and unexpected directions. But: one of the reasons I love the film, and one of the reasons it stuck with me, was because the film leans back from the viewer. Like Columbus does, like Past Lives does, the film leans back. This is called Transcendental Style: where the film isn't trying to grab your attention by the throat. It isn’t using music, and imagery, in an attempt to strangle you. Instead, it leans away from you—which forces you, on some level, for you to lean toward it.
In practice, it feels more contemplative. It is meditative. It inspires a particular kind of presence, of spaciousness. It nearly feels religious. It is the film that you watch 10 seconds go by, and it's a static, locked-down shot. Nothing happens. You’re just sitting there. You’re thinking: what the fuck is happening? And it’s a risk: you can bore people.
We can say there's two styles of film: There's transcendental style, and then (to give it a name) there's Immersive Style.
Immersive Style is the opposite. Immersive film grabs your attention. It grabs your throat. It doesn’t want to let go. It uses the full disposal of filmic possibility: music, dialogue—everything and the kitchen sink—so that you pay attention to the screen. Most film subscribes to the immersive approach.
But here’s the thing: I don't think immersive filmmaking is better than transcendental filmmaking. I don’t think transcendental style is better than immersive.
On some level, it’s like saying wood is better than air, fire better than water—each has it’s own unique place in the world, each it’s own foothold in artistic consciousness, in filmic possibility.
The danger is that when a film leans away too much, it can be boring.
And yet First Reformed is not boring at all. In fact, I am actively leaning in when the film leans back. I was actually enthralled. And when I'm leaning in—when I’m really leaning in—the whole movie immerses you in a different way than any immersive filmmaking can. That’s what was surprising about it:
That texture—that sense of being glued to the screen in a completely new way—was unlike anything I’d experienced before.
In fact, it’s hard to describe—because we’re familiar with being immersed in immersion style storytelling. It’s why we go to the movies. But being immersed in the transcendental style—it’s a different experience, texturally. It feels different; hits different.
I'm writing a screenplay now titled “Monochrome”—and it gave me a quiet confidence about the times I lean back, where the film leans back. To see this done so nicely in First Reformed—well, it’s exciting.”
