The above statement is the entire basis that Michael Snow places this forty-eight minute film upon. Essentially, "So is This" is really just a cinematic joke of sorts: no action, no story (not even in what the words say) no sound, nothing except a series of title cards. That's all for forty-eight minutes, and while it is a good idea, for the average viewer it is also hard to really stay engaged for the entire run-time, even in reading all the self-references that the artist directs upon his own works.

For the modern viewer, "So is This" is basically an abomination. When one goes to a theater, they don't expect to have a cinematic experience that is the equal of reading a book. Yet, as a joke it is an interesting concept in theory. In showing just one word per title card to construct sentences, Michael Snow is blurring the lines between reading a book and watching a movie. This is a movie yes, but...is it? Originally made on what I assume would have been 16mm film stock, one could say the entire work is physically just a roll of words - just a bunch of words you could read if you unrolled the entire filmstrip. It only becomes a film when you project it on a screen (or watch it on a computer). A clever idea that, and a very interesting one; thought-provoking and certainly original.

Unfortunately, while it is a great idea in theory, actually watching the film isn't the greatest experience entertainment-wise. Snow makes use of clever self-referential humor, self-referential puns, and sexual adult references (thrown in there just to scandalize people). While that's all amusing to read and certainly not dull, it didn't exactly engage me. I found a camera swinging back and forth in a room for fifty-two minutes to be engaging, and even a camera swinging around a Canadian countryside to be interesting at least. But this film is much more conceptually interesting than it is to watch the finished product. I still give Snow credit for the idea and execution: he did as best he could making black-and-white title cards entertaining.

Experimental short in which sentences are formed by displaying one word at a time and at alternating speeds.

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I haven't seen anything like this, but I'm split about my opinion.

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I haven't seen anything like this, but I'm split about my opinion.

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