Author Topic: Top 100 Club: Dave the Necrobumper  (Read 37969 times)

Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: Top 100 Club: Dave the Necrobumper
« Reply #140 on: May 17, 2019, 08:30:10 PM »
Very different films and both in my top 10, excellent

Teproc

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Re: Top 100 Club: Dave the Necrobumper
« Reply #141 on: May 19, 2019, 12:01:03 PM »
Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom / Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (Kim Ki-duk, 2003)



Buddhism, from my (admittedly limited) understanding of it, is all about letting go of anything that attaches oneself to the material world. Power, lust, love, revenge: these are all hindrances to the elevation of the soul. This film essentially feels like an actualization of that philosophy. It is quite literal in some ways, with the sadistic game the young monk plays on the animals involving a literal tether restraining them and hindering them, while the floating temple, well, floats - a visual representation of the way in which Buddhism helps getting rid of earthly attachments. This film is ripe with symbolism, only a third of which I feel like I really understand: what are we to make of the doors that are constantly shown for example ? There's the one that leads people to the temple, which serves as a constant in a landscape that evolves significantly with the titular seasons (and the years in between) but also welcomes the viewer multiple times (three I think ?) within the film. But there are the doors within the temple as well, which seem pointless from a practical standpoint (since there are no walls) but the characters always use nonetheless except, quite relevantly, at one crucial moment. What about the fact that the main characters big transgressions are all commited in the same place (except for the one that's offscreen entirely) ? I get the feeling that there's a lot going on here that I would need to be much better versed into both Buddhism as a whole and Korean culture in particular to fully understand.

From a character standpoint, things are much simpler. We have a story of education, coming of age, transgression, punishment and eventually redemption... and it all starts again. Also a Buddhist idea, but one that Kim Ki-duk perhaps overplay a bit within the second Spring segment. I was interested to learn that he plays the older monk character himself, which is perhaps not very humble of him (as he is clearly the moral and spiritual center of the film, as much as a human being can be), but he's quite good, so who am I to argue. I can't say as much of the children acting in the film, but so it goes with child actors. The rest of the cast is fine, especially the two cops who come to have a grand Kitano-esque time in the Fall segment, which is perhaps a nod towards humanism I appreciated.

Aside from that, Kim's dedication towards the monachist view of life is probably the film's biggest limiting factor for me, but it is certainly an impressive accomplishment overall, and one that combines gorgeous visuals (I was both saddened and impressed to learn that the monastery was built for the film) with a simple but efficient script to express his view of life. It is didactic, but not in an overbearing way, and it's certainly a film I'd be interested in revisiting down the line and/or reading an erudite analysis of.

8/10
« Last Edit: May 19, 2019, 12:05:02 PM by Teproc »
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colonel_mexico

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Re: Top 100 Club: Dave the Necrobumper
« Reply #142 on: May 19, 2019, 07:00:33 PM »
Hi Dave,

I won't be home until the 28th this month, so am going to be slow getting to your movies. I just saw Unforgiven in March, so let that be my place holder. :)

I will also watch,

Life of Brian
The Castle


THE CASTLE is an all time favorite and a sorta lawyer movie--tell him he's dreamin :)
"What do you want me to do draw you a picture?! Spell it out?! Don't ever ask me, as long as you live don't ever ask me more!"

Sandy

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Re: Top 100 Club: Dave the Necrobumper
« Reply #143 on: May 20, 2019, 04:57:35 PM »
THE CASTLE is an all time favorite and a sorta lawyer movie--tell him he's dreamin :)

I know I'll know what this means soon enough! Looking forward to seeing the movie. :)

Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: Top 100 Club: Dave the Necrobumper
« Reply #144 on: May 21, 2019, 04:55:42 AM »
Hi all, work is a bit insane at the moment and tomorrow night I am getting on a plane to Germany for 2 weeks work. I will get some time once there to respond to your reviews and stuff. Sorry for the delay in responding.

BlueVoid

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Re: Top 100 Club: Dave the Necrobumper
« Reply #145 on: May 23, 2019, 02:27:18 PM »
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
Wow! The first third of this movie my jaw was hung in amazement. What a visually stunning, crude and enthralling film! I could not stop ogling the rich and gaudy backdrops that looked like something out of a baroque painting. I wish the movie evolved past this and didn't just settle into this one stylistic choice.

There is so much that I love about this movie, even beyond the style. The performances, particularly by Michael Gambon and Helen Mirren are brilliant. Gambon, with his opulent and disgusting 'thief' character is one of the all time great bad guys. The revenge plot is dastardly and well executed. This should be one of my favorite movies of all time. It's all right there.

But its not. I can't quite place why this movie didn't fully work for me. I think the style eventually wore thin and the plot started to dry out from repetition. Greenaway pushes the degradation to the limit and then holds it pinned there to the point of being excessive. This is the point no doubt, but also is to the detriment of my enjoyment of the movie. It's truly disgusting at points and it all was a bit too much. Truly though I think the movie just came down too heavy. It has a point and then beats you over the head with it mercilessly and it doesn't sustain itself as well as I hoped it would have.

7.5/10
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valmz

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Re: Top 100 Club: Dave the Necrobumper
« Reply #146 on: May 28, 2019, 04:21:17 PM »
As a big Greenaway fan, I agree with you about the repetitiveness in this film. Yet, The Baby of Macon goes much, much, much further and to the degree that one can appreciate a film similar to but far more extreme than this one, I appreciate it to that limit. In many ways, I feel, and perhaps he feels, that he didn’t go far enough in this one, and perhaps the repetition is a sign of too much restraint and some hesitation. He employs a lot more artifice in that film to add dimensionality, though, which helps ease the repetitiveness. I admire that when he aims to be a provocative filmmaker, there is no question that every aspect at his disposal is used to provoke. I like him better when he’s funny and insightful as opposed to provocational and insightful, sure, but I’m glad he has both sides.

PeacefulAnarchy

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Re: Top 100 Club: Dave the Necrobumper
« Reply #147 on: May 30, 2019, 05:01:07 PM »
Dead Man Walking
I thought this was going to be a more direct anti-death penalty film, but the slightly more nuanced take works out well. Sarandon does a good job of showing us the moral conflict of the situation her character is in, fighting for a criminal's survival while being horrified by what he's done. It's very tempting to take a side and the way the film approaches that conflict and transfers it onto the viewer is its strongest facet. I also really appreciated a lot of the background things the film does in setting a sense of place and attitude as we catch glimpses or hear comments that remind us of the casual attitude towards the death penalty. They're not subtle moments, but the film doesn't dwell on them so they feel less blunt than they otherwise would be. Making Penn's character a straight up nazi, as opposed to just racist, felt a bit over the top and in general I'm not sure his characterization quite works. The film is trying to show that he has two sides but they feel almost like two different characters. On the whole, though, I'm pretty glad I watched this.

oldkid

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Re: Top 100 Club: Dave the Necrobumper
« Reply #148 on: May 31, 2019, 11:20:43 PM »
I’ll post a review of El Topo sometime this weekend
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PeacefulAnarchy

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Re: Top 100 Club: Dave the Necrobumper
« Reply #149 on: June 01, 2019, 02:00:43 AM »
Boxing Day
What an intense film, I just finished it and I'm not quite sure what to make of it. The single take is great for the pacing, but the cinematography is really rough at times, overall it works but I wonder if the film would be better with a few cuts. In general it feels like a film that has something to show more than something to say, it's messy and sometimes confusing and not always engaging, but it feels raw and urgent and even the parts that don't make sense are that way because real life doesn't always make sense and people make weird decisions. As a glimpse into the life of a convict under probation dealing with family it's really effective, an incomplete picture for sure, but one that gives a lot of insight all the same. Still digesting the climax and resolution.