Complete OZU Yasujiro Retrospective (36 films!) in Paris, Maison du Japon, FEB 10 - MAR 23 2007. And 2 silent films voiced by a Benshi (Chorus of Tokyo and I Was Born, But...)! :)
Radio Broadcast: Roundtable with Stéphane Delorme (Cahiers critic) and Jean-François Rauger (Cinemathèque curator) on Inland Empire, and interview with Lynch. France Inter (02-07-2007).
Le Conseil des 1000 : Cahiers open their famous "Conseil des 10" (5 critics from the Cahiers board, and 5 critics from the French press outside Cahiers) to the online readers on the website. Vote like the real critics with the star system : **** masterpiece *** must see ** to see * may see . don't bother And add your own review.
I re-watched Antonioni's L'Eclisse with great delight! (Monica Vitti!) This is quite a contemplative film. We can notice many ways how Antonioni eschew speechy parts and narrative demonstration by replacing the action with wordless scenes or empty landscapes. The stock market scenes, however staged they are (and beautifully choreographied), look so perfectly documentaristic. The marvellous ending montage of empty shots (about 40 of them), lasts for a dozen of minutes without the leading couple onscreen! An homage to photography composition, and a touch of Vertov's experimental city-documentary. I can't help by notice the connection there is between this aesthetic manifesto (ending montage in L'Eclisse, in 1962), and the one made by Bergman soon after, in 1966, at the beguining of Persona.
I also found a possible inspiration for the walkway-pretend-life-together in Miranda July's Me And You And Everyone We Know, in a scene with Monica Vitti and Alain Delon crossing a road. Delon says "on the other side of the road I'll kiss you". Vitti pauses "here we are midway" to mark the time left before the kiss, just like christine and Richard in MAYAEWK mark the midway as the half of their "relationship" until they will part ways at corner of the road.
Check out Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us. It's a cool video showing the revolution of information at the digital age, and the opportunities of the blogosphere developped by Web 2.0. A digital ethographist reflexion on the spontaneous generation of this self-feeding community and its content organisation.
Reel World Domination, by Damien Cave at Salon (from 2002) "If young film buffs choose Tarantino over Antonioni, are they culturally illiterate? Some of their elders, self-appointed guardians of the cinematic canon, think so." "-- It's easier to see something that my friends have seen. Renting old movies, is too much of a shot in the dark." "To older film buffs and critics -- particularly baby boomers who came of age during the American film renaissance of the '60s and '70s -- such apparent lack of interest is appalling. It's nothing less than a brand of cultural illiteracy. How could anyone with a love of film remain indifferent to Godard? What kind of buffoon fails to acknowledge the genius of Ford? Clearly, pronounce the self-designated deans of film ed, the celebrity-obsessed media, MTV and college film departments -- awash in postmodern relativism that makes Spielberg as important as Bergman -- have lobotomized Generations X and Y."
"In the '60s and '70s, there was a spirit of 'challenge me, show me new limits.' People enjoyed the feeling of being lost, of not getting it," says Columbia professor Richard Peña, chairman of the New York Film Festival. "Now, 'I didn't get it' is what's said in frustrated desperation.""
"Should the value and accuracy of history films be judged with the same criteria used to evaluate written history? Why/Why not?" Thom asks the question at Film of the Year, which opened an interesting discussion in the comments!
Frank Coffey interviews Adrian Martin about Responsability and Criticism in the latest issue of Cinemascope.it, recommended by Girish and Matthew Clayfield.
Adrian Chan proposes a blogathon on Sociality in films from Feb 10 to 17, at Reviews and analysis of significant films and movies, on dvd and in theaters : "Films in which arbitrary or random relationships, events, become a metaphor for the state of society and social relationships, usually engaging characters individually in acts of redemption, healing, etc..." eg. Inarritu, PT Anderson, Kieslowski, Haneke, Wai, among others.
More on Media Anthropology (see above : Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us). CoryTheRaven's video response: "Web 2.0 will force us to rethink everything through publishing more of the written word? (...) Michael Wesch speculates that the accessibility of the internet to both add and receive content is leading to a massive paradigm shift in human thought and society.(...) We're trying to make the printed word imitate what we already experience everyday."
Research 2.0 (Credibility/validity of online publications and the peer review quality-check social process) "Everybody can access the academic knowledge now, they just need to know how to read and analyze"
Digital Democratic Media Defeating the hegemony of homogeneity. On reality TV, blogs, podcasting... the counter hegemonic force against the self-declared legitimacy of big media corporations.
Just watched INLAND EMPIRE. Riveting. Mesmerezing. Disturbing. Groundbreaking. Masterful. Lynch just made everything new I wanted to see experimented in a film (meta-film construction, self-consciousness of filmmaking, discontinuous/irrational time continuum, symbolic narrativity, cynical line delivery, absurd countershots, duplication of actors/actors looking at themseves, messing up with characters' screen identity, playing around with narrative conventions, dreamwork, incongruities...) The DV quality is not always pleasant on the big screen, but it doesn't matter, for his artistic mise-en-scene shines even with a dirty photography. Lynch is going where nobody else dares to venture, he's the only one who discovers a new form of cinema that incorporates self-derision and reflexive aesthetic of cinema looking at itself.
My first impression is to think of it as a "remake" of Mulholland Drive, definitely, less glamorous/idealized, less polished, less verbalized, with a more experimental form, a more explicit content, something much more visceral and organic. But the exact same system of diegetic clues and structural organisation is in place there, and the same themes.
Exceptional upcoming documentary on the secretive David Lynch at work, filmed during the production of IE, since december 2004, in Lodz and in LA. Check out the blog.
Now I'm off to read reviews, interviews and investigate. :)
Hi Michael, I just love Kaurismaki's deadpan mise-en-scene, but it works best with more complex content. I couldn't say Tatjana is what I prefer in his style (although it still is a delicacy), maybe just because of the silly humor and the straightforward plot... I prefered Man Without a Past to Lights in the Dusk for this reason. I think my favorite so far is his wonderful B&W silent : Juha, or Crime and Punishment. What aspect is it you prefer in this film?
Latest Senses of Cinema issue (#42 JAN-MAR 2007) is online. With the 2006 World Poll, articles on the Moral of the Auteur Theory, a deconstruction of Haneke's Caché and an interview about the German New Wave. Speaking of German New Wave, I saw recently PingPong, which was in Cannes 2006, a great family tension, with beautiful frames and dialog economy, close to the great atmosphere of a recent austrian film Summer '04.
Glad to see your take on Inland Empire, Harry. I'm hoping I have a chance to see it for a third time soon. I'm not sure if I see it as a remake of Mulholland Drive, though; he's using a similar methodology, yes, but in the aid of telling a completely different story. Although, if you choose to see the film as the story of an actress in Hollywood (which is completely viable), the parallels are a bit stronger.
I watched L'Eclisse not too long ago, as well, and loved it. I can totally see where you're coming from with the Miranda July reference.
It's not so much about the characters or the story in IE and MD, but especially because of recurring motifs and the same interpretation of the fantasized Hollywood industry.
Radio broadcast : Michel Ciment live from the Berlinale with a panel of international critics discussing this year's festival average selection. (France Culture)
New online version of Cahiers du Cinéma in English : e-Cahiers! With soundbites and videos embedded. Don't miss the critique of INLAND EMPIRE by Stéphane Delorme. via GreenCine Daily
Harry -- I recently watched Antonioni's "L'Eclisse," too -- after seeing the VERY similar "Climates." Both films deal with emotionally dead/constipated characters -- and images, landscapes, sounds expressing (or suggesting) the feelings the cypher-like characters themselves cannot. I've found it interesting that some critics (particularly women) have concentrated on the obliviousness of Isa -- but Behar is just as solipsistic and inexpressive. The most overt expressions of emotion are his lover's joyless laugh and their rough (but also joyless, even somewhat perfunctory) sex on the floor (with the nut). Oh, and the motorcycle crash, caused by a woman who has no emotional temperature setting between "OFF" and "OUT OF CONTROL."
Yes it's true. I thought the motorcycle crash was a passionate act to keep her conpagnion who was leaving her, so they stay together in death. A kind of Romeo And Juliet jointed suicide, although forced on "Romeo". Though Bahar does show remarkable restraint later in the film, notably in the bar when he came back with a musicbox gift.
I'm currently planning a trip to Italy, Harry, and I'm going to try my damndest to catch a quick flight to Paris before I leave to see the Lynch exhibit!
Amazing Sergei Paradjanov Complete Retrospective in Paris (Bobigny), 9 - 25 March 2007. 7 feature films, 7 short films. With his pictural/sculptural artwork, letters and short stories.
Ashik Kerib (1988) Arabesques on the Pirosmani Theme (1985) The Legend of the Suram Fortress (1984) Sayat Nova / Color of Pomegranates (1968) Hakob Hovnatanyan (1967) Short Kiev Fresco (1966) Short Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors (1964) Flower on the Stone (1962) Ukrainian Rhapsody (1961) The First Lad (1959) Golden Hands (1957) Natalya Ushviy (1957) Short Dumka (1957) Short Andriesh (1954) Short
Other film projected = >13 documentaries around Paradjanov and Armenia
>Paradjanov's inspiration : Earth (1930/Dovjenko) Poem of the Sea (1959/Dovjenko)
>Paradjanov's favorites : Ivan's Childhood (1962/Tarkovsky) Zerkalo (1974/Tarkovsky) Oedipus Rex (1967/Pasolini) The Gospel according to St Matthew (1964/Pasolini) Juliet and the Spirits (1965/Fellini) Amarcord (1974/Fellini)
>Armenian friends : Hello, That's Me! (1966/Dovlatian/Armenia) Winepress/Sour Grape (1974/Oganesyan/Armenia) The Tango of Our Childhood (1985/Mekertitchian/URSS) A Lonely Nut-Tree (1987/Dovlatian/Armenia) We (1969/Peleshian/URSS) Short The Seasons (1972/Peleshian/URSS) Short End (1992/Peleshian/Russia) Short Life (1993/Peleshian/Russia) Short
>Russian & Georgian disciples : The Entreaty (1967/Abuladze/URSS) The Kiss (1983/Balayan/URSS) The White Bird Marked with Black (1971/Ilyenko/URSS) Falling Leaves (1967/Iosseliani/Georgia) The Beginning (1970/Panfilov/URSS)
>Influences in Iran : The Spring (1972/Ovanessian/Iran) Gabbeh (1995/Makhmalbaf/Iran) The Silence (1998/Makhmalbaf/Iran) Through the Olive Trees (1995/Kiarostami/Iran)
*** Also a complete retrospective on Armand Gatti.
Complete OZU Yasujiro Retrospective (36 films!) in Paris, Maison du Japon, FEB 10 - MAR 23 2007.
RépondreSupprimerAnd 2 silent films voiced by a Benshi (Chorus of Tokyo and I Was Born, But...)! :)
Banzai!
Radio Broadcast: Roundtable with Stéphane Delorme (Cahiers critic) and Jean-François Rauger (Cinemathèque curator) on Inland Empire, and interview with Lynch. France Inter (02-07-2007).
RépondreSupprimerLe Conseil des 1000 : Cahiers open their famous "Conseil des 10" (5 critics from the Cahiers board, and 5 critics from the French press outside Cahiers) to the online readers on the website. Vote like the real critics with the star system :
RépondreSupprimer**** masterpiece
*** must see
** to see
* may see
. don't bother
And add your own review.
Andy Horbal opens a debate around the perceptive meanings of the term "cinephile" at No More Marriages!
RépondreSupprimerI re-watched Antonioni's L'Eclisse with great delight! (Monica Vitti!) This is quite a contemplative film. We can notice many ways how Antonioni eschew speechy parts and narrative demonstration by replacing the action with wordless scenes or empty landscapes. The stock market scenes, however staged they are (and beautifully choreographied), look so perfectly documentaristic.
RépondreSupprimerThe marvellous ending montage of empty shots (about 40 of them), lasts for a dozen of minutes without the leading couple onscreen! An homage to photography composition, and a touch of Vertov's experimental city-documentary. I can't help by notice the connection there is between this aesthetic manifesto (ending montage in L'Eclisse, in 1962), and the one made by Bergman soon after, in 1966, at the beguining of Persona.
I also found a possible inspiration for the walkway-pretend-life-together in Miranda July's Me And You And Everyone We Know, in a scene with Monica Vitti and Alain Delon crossing a road. Delon says "on the other side of the road I'll kiss you". Vitti pauses "here we are midway" to mark the time left before the kiss, just like christine and Richard in MAYAEWK mark the midway as the half of their "relationship" until they will part ways at corner of the road.
Check out Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us. It's a cool video showing the revolution of information at the digital age, and the opportunities of the blogosphere developped by Web 2.0. A digital ethographist reflexion on the spontaneous generation of this self-feeding community and its content organisation.
RépondreSupprimerRadio webcast: Laure Adler interviews Raymond Depardon on France Culture
RépondreSupprimerParody of the standard French drama trailer by Groland comedy show (on Canal +)
RépondreSupprimerReel World Domination, by Damien Cave at Salon (from 2002)
RépondreSupprimer"If young film buffs choose Tarantino over Antonioni, are they culturally illiterate? Some of their elders, self-appointed guardians of the cinematic canon, think so."
"-- It's easier to see something that my friends have seen. Renting old movies, is too much of a shot in the dark."
"To older film buffs and critics -- particularly baby boomers who came of age during the American film renaissance of the '60s and '70s -- such apparent lack of interest is appalling. It's nothing less than a brand of cultural illiteracy. How could anyone with a love of film remain indifferent to Godard? What kind of buffoon fails to acknowledge the genius of Ford? Clearly, pronounce the self-designated deans of film ed, the celebrity-obsessed media, MTV and college film departments -- awash in postmodern relativism that makes Spielberg as important as Bergman -- have lobotomized Generations X and Y."
"In the '60s and '70s, there was a spirit of 'challenge me, show me new limits.' People enjoyed the feeling of being lost, of not getting it," says Columbia professor Richard Peña, chairman of the New York Film Festival. "Now, 'I didn't get it' is what's said in frustrated desperation.""
"Should the value and accuracy of history films be judged with the same criteria used to evaluate written history? Why/Why not?"
RépondreSupprimerThom asks the question at Film of the Year, which opened an interesting discussion in the comments!
Frank Coffey interviews Adrian Martin about Responsability and Criticism in the latest issue of Cinemascope.it, recommended by Girish and Matthew Clayfield.
RépondreSupprimerAdrian Chan proposes a blogathon on Sociality in films from Feb 10 to 17, at Reviews and analysis of significant films and movies, on dvd and in theaters :
RépondreSupprimer"Films in which arbitrary or random relationships, events, become a metaphor for the state of society and social relationships, usually engaging characters individually in acts of redemption, healing, etc..."
eg. Inarritu, PT Anderson, Kieslowski, Haneke, Wai, among others.
More on Media Anthropology (see above : Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us).
RépondreSupprimerCoryTheRaven's video response:
"Web 2.0 will force us to rethink everything through publishing more of the written word? (...)
Michael Wesch speculates that the accessibility of the internet to both add and receive content is leading to a massive paradigm shift in human thought and society.(...)
We're trying to make the printed word imitate what we already experience everyday."
Research 2.0
(Credibility/validity of online publications and the peer review quality-check social process)
"Everybody can access the academic knowledge now, they just need to know how to read and analyze"
Digital Democratic Media Defeating the hegemony of homogeneity. On reality TV, blogs, podcasting... the counter hegemonic force against the self-declared legitimacy of big media corporations.
via The Chutry Experiment
Just watched INLAND EMPIRE. Riveting. Mesmerezing. Disturbing. Groundbreaking. Masterful.
RépondreSupprimerLynch just made everything new I wanted to see experimented in a film (meta-film construction, self-consciousness of filmmaking, discontinuous/irrational time continuum, symbolic narrativity, cynical line delivery, absurd countershots, duplication of actors/actors looking at themseves, messing up with characters' screen identity, playing around with narrative conventions, dreamwork, incongruities...)
The DV quality is not always pleasant on the big screen, but it doesn't matter, for his artistic mise-en-scene shines even with a dirty photography. Lynch is going where nobody else dares to venture, he's the only one who discovers a new form of cinema that incorporates self-derision and reflexive aesthetic of cinema looking at itself.
My first impression is to think of it as a "remake" of Mulholland Drive, definitely, less glamorous/idealized, less polished, less verbalized, with a more experimental form, a more explicit content, something much more visceral and organic. But the exact same system of diegetic clues and structural organisation is in place there, and the same themes.
Official website message board.
Exceptional upcoming documentary on the secretive David Lynch at work, filmed during the production of IE, since december 2004, in Lodz and in LA. Check out the blog.
Now I'm off to read reviews, interviews and investigate. :)
So -- what did you think of Kaurismaki's "Tatjana"? (possibly my favorite -- but it's a hard choice among relative equals).
RépondreSupprimerHi Michael,
RépondreSupprimerI just love Kaurismaki's deadpan mise-en-scene, but it works best with more complex content. I couldn't say Tatjana is what I prefer in his style (although it still is a delicacy), maybe just because of the silly humor and the straightforward plot... I prefered Man Without a Past to Lights in the Dusk for this reason. I think my favorite so far is his wonderful B&W silent : Juha, or Crime and Punishment.
What aspect is it you prefer in this film?
Latest Senses of Cinema issue (#42 JAN-MAR 2007) is online. With the 2006 World Poll, articles on the Moral of the Auteur Theory, a deconstruction of Haneke's Caché and an interview about the German New Wave.
RépondreSupprimerSpeaking of German New Wave, I saw recently PingPong, which was in Cannes 2006, a great family tension, with beautiful frames and dialog economy, close to the great atmosphere of a recent austrian film Summer '04.
Radio broadcast : Laure Adler at the 2007 Berlinale, on France Culture.
RépondreSupprimerPlus interview with Guediguian (Voyage en Arménie)
Glad to see your take on Inland Empire, Harry. I'm hoping I have a chance to see it for a third time soon. I'm not sure if I see it as a remake of Mulholland Drive, though; he's using a similar methodology, yes, but in the aid of telling a completely different story. Although, if you choose to see the film as the story of an actress in Hollywood (which is completely viable), the parallels are a bit stronger.
RépondreSupprimerI watched L'Eclisse not too long ago, as well, and loved it. I can totally see where you're coming from with the Miranda July reference.
Great post on Hotel Room, David! ;)
RépondreSupprimerIt's not so much about the characters or the story in IE and MD, but especially because of recurring motifs and the same interpretation of the fantasized Hollywood industry.
Cahiers chat with Jean-Michel Frodon about the question "Do we produce TOO MANY films in France?" is finally online.
RépondreSupprimerGirish posts on Emilie Bickerton's article "Adieu to Cahiers" which looks back on the history of the magazine.
RépondreSupprimerContrarianism blogathon at Scanners hosted by Jim Emerson.
RépondreSupprimerRadio broadcast : Michel Ciment live from the Berlinale with a panel of international critics discussing this year's festival average selection. (France Culture)
RépondreSupprimerRadio broadcast : Le Masque et le Plume, panel of French critics on Inland Empire, The Goog German, La Môme, Hannibal Lecter. (France Inter)
RépondreSupprimerNew online version of Cahiers du Cinéma in English : e-Cahiers!
RépondreSupprimerWith soundbites and videos embedded.
Don't miss the critique of INLAND EMPIRE by Stéphane Delorme.
via GreenCine Daily
March 3rd - June 3rd, Fondation Cartier exhibit "The Air Is On Fire" the largest collection of David Lynch's art work (800 pieces) in Paris.
RépondreSupprimerHarry -- I recently watched Antonioni's "L'Eclisse," too -- after seeing the VERY similar "Climates." Both films deal with emotionally dead/constipated characters -- and images, landscapes, sounds expressing (or suggesting) the feelings the cypher-like characters themselves cannot. I've found it interesting that some critics (particularly women) have concentrated on the obliviousness of Isa -- but Behar is just as solipsistic and inexpressive. The most overt expressions of emotion are his lover's joyless laugh and their rough (but also joyless, even somewhat perfunctory) sex on the floor (with the nut). Oh, and the motorcycle crash, caused by a woman who has no emotional temperature setting between "OFF" and "OUT OF CONTROL."
RépondreSupprimerYes it's true. I thought the motorcycle crash was a passionate act to keep her conpagnion who was leaving her, so they stay together in death. A kind of Romeo And Juliet jointed suicide, although forced on "Romeo".
RépondreSupprimerThough Bahar does show remarkable restraint later in the film, notably in the bar when he came back with a musicbox gift.
I'm currently planning a trip to Italy, Harry, and I'm going to try my damndest to catch a quick flight to Paris before I leave to see the Lynch exhibit!
RépondreSupprimerLet me know when you're here David. So you can show me the final cut of The Outlaw Son.
RépondreSupprimer2 posts by Jim Emerson at Scanners with a critical perspetive on Pauline Kael legacy :
RépondreSupprimer- Trash and Art: Critics on/of Pauline Kael
- Pauline and Renata Go Showboating
The Cassavetes Letters will be the new series of blog volley responses between Zach Campbell and Matthew Clayfield.
RépondreSupprimerCoincidentally, at KinoSlang Charles Leary writes an illustrated post on Cassavetes : "Normal conversation! Family atmosphere!" (part one)
Amazing Sergei Paradjanov Complete Retrospective in Paris (Bobigny), 9 - 25 March 2007.
RépondreSupprimer7 feature films, 7 short films.
With his pictural/sculptural artwork, letters and short stories.
Ashik Kerib (1988)
Arabesques on the Pirosmani Theme (1985)
The Legend of the Suram Fortress (1984)
Sayat Nova / Color of Pomegranates (1968)
Hakob Hovnatanyan (1967) Short
Kiev Fresco (1966) Short
Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors (1964)
Flower on the Stone (1962)
Ukrainian Rhapsody (1961)
The First Lad (1959)
Golden Hands (1957)
Natalya Ushviy (1957) Short
Dumka (1957) Short
Andriesh (1954) Short
Other film projected =
>13 documentaries around Paradjanov and Armenia
>Paradjanov's inspiration :
Earth (1930/Dovjenko)
Poem of the Sea (1959/Dovjenko)
>Paradjanov's favorites :
Ivan's Childhood (1962/Tarkovsky)
Zerkalo (1974/Tarkovsky)
Oedipus Rex (1967/Pasolini)
The Gospel according to St Matthew (1964/Pasolini)
Juliet and the Spirits (1965/Fellini)
Amarcord (1974/Fellini)
>Armenian friends :
Hello, That's Me! (1966/Dovlatian/Armenia)
Winepress/Sour Grape (1974/Oganesyan/Armenia)
The Tango of Our Childhood (1985/Mekertitchian/URSS)
A Lonely Nut-Tree (1987/Dovlatian/Armenia)
We (1969/Peleshian/URSS) Short
The Seasons (1972/Peleshian/URSS) Short
End (1992/Peleshian/Russia) Short
Life (1993/Peleshian/Russia) Short
>Russian & Georgian disciples :
The Entreaty (1967/Abuladze/URSS)
The Kiss (1983/Balayan/URSS)
The White Bird Marked with Black (1971/Ilyenko/URSS)
Falling Leaves (1967/Iosseliani/Georgia)
The Beginning (1970/Panfilov/URSS)
>Influences in Iran :
The Spring (1972/Ovanessian/Iran)
Gabbeh (1995/Makhmalbaf/Iran)
The Silence (1998/Makhmalbaf/Iran)
Through the Olive Trees (1995/Kiarostami/Iran)
***
Also a complete retrospective on Armand Gatti.
New issue of Offscreen (Vol.11, #1)
RépondreSupprimerwith Manufactured Landscape, Esat Asian contemporean cinema, films on the internet...