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4 Trailer The guests are floating in the lobby, walking but also gliding to the front desk then away, checking in, checking out, muscular souls adorned in cotton, wool, and rayon, chewing the future inside their heads, slicing the air with ironed pleats, avoiding the camera at every turn so as, so as to get it right this time, which is the first time. “First cut, best cut!” the director shouts since this is also a silent film for the deaf and therefore everyone. His aim is to get the cast to see what they’ve been missing, to disregard the very sounds that they don’t hear to begin with, but would notice immediately if they were gone. See how they glide on the ether above the floor. The insouciance, Lord. The insouciance! They are all here in the magic of the set, every soul in the guise of a guest going about her business, a rendezvous here, an assignation there, the solitary sipping at the bar. Someone striking appears at the door. The rain outside beats down on the streets with terrible force until all you can hear is the roar of the sky as it passes above, and then below, on its narrow tracks. deNiord text-2.indd 4 11/10/10 10:40 AM ...

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