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Author Topic: Top 100 Club: PeacefulAnarchy  (Read 14009 times)

valmz

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Re: Top 100 Club: PeacefulAnarchy
« Reply #30 on: June 30, 2018, 02:18:13 PM »
I don't know that I'll ever watch enough spaghetti westerns (or Italian cinema of this period in general) to accept the practice of asynchronous sound. I find the use of dubbing so alienating. When I read reviews praising Kinski's performance, I'm just like, but, like, it was only half Kinski! I get the appeal of being able to pair up these various international stars, but I'm not convinced it's worth it.
According to my friend living in Italy, they still dub international films in Italy and so the people are very, very used to it, and the people that do the dubbing are known for their good work never-on-screen. In this way, it makes complete sense for Italians to have no qualms about throwing whatever-actor-they-like-best on screen, because they will get the best of both worlds: Their favorite actors and their favorite voice-actors! It's a strange concept from the outside, but it makes more sense if you've seen contemporary Italian cinema, apparently - anything is better!

Sandy

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Re: Top 100 Club: PeacefulAnarchy
« Reply #31 on: July 03, 2018, 04:59:20 PM »
Mr. Nobody



I am a little divided
Do I stay or run away
And leave it all behind?
  -- Foo Fighters

It's times like these you are grateful for linear motion. And yet. All the roads not taken; all the moments you wish you could have a re-do; all live in the "what if" portion of our brains. Maybe linear time is not so absolute after all. We relive memories and daydream alternate stories. So what if the concrete here and now shows us one thing, reality is of our own making and if we dream big enough and beautifully enough, perhaps it will spill out onto the conveyor belt which is our lives, and then we become new creations... "Learn to live again." 




PeacefulAnarchy

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Re: Top 100 Club: PeacefulAnarchy
« Reply #32 on: July 04, 2018, 08:12:47 PM »
I've been reading but too busy to reply. I will reply though, including the ones I was sure I had replied to. Somewhere my half written reply to Teproc's review of Petra von Kant lies forgotten.

PeacefulAnarchy

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Re: Top 100 Club: PeacefulAnarchy
« Reply #33 on: July 05, 2018, 07:35:28 PM »
Letter Never Sent



If fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know… all these things shall give thee experience. -- Joe Smith


I’d change the last bit to, “all these things shall give the audience an experience.” And what an experience it is! Fire and water, smoke and rain, wind and fog… The combinations of nature’s upheavals are nearly endless and endlessly fascinating to watch.

Is this the first showcasing of a hand-held camera, or an early rendition? Color me impressed! There are a few moments though, where I unintentionally drop the suspension of disbelieve. With all the thrashing through the trees, it makes me wonder if there mightn’t be an easier, alternate route a little bit to the right or left and sometimes the circuitous paths through said trees make me smile a little as I reminisce on old movies and TV shows where small sets of Styrofoam cave walls become long journeys, with the use of “creative” camera work.

If this comes across as completely unwarranted, then take it as my way of self-preservation, by keeping the film a little at arm’s length. The images are too sharp, the close-ups are too personal and Tatyana is too lovely for words. This has got to be the same director as The Cranes are Flying… Yep, sure enough! I’d know his style anywhere.
At face value the film is harrowing, but I don't think your distancing is unintended. The setup certainly allows for it in the way it confuses time and space, and there's a sense that these characters are in some form of purgatory where their goal is always shifting around them. There's also a certain resoluteness to the characters that helps calm things down and gives a distance to the desperation rather than an immediacy. The conception of Soviet sacrifice and stoicness and devotion to duty permeates the film.

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This is where I need a course on cinematography, because I don’t know where the director, Mikhail Kalatozov, stops and Sergey Urusevskiy, the cinematographer, starts. I may never know, because both men are credited for being directors and cinematographers. Whatever the combination, this team is a force of nature.
Watch Soy Cuba next :) The content probably isn't going to resonate as much, but it's stunningly shot too. I haven't seen any Kalatazov with another cinematographer, but The Forty-First (1956) shot by Urusevskiy but directed Chukhrai carries a lot of similar imagery and it too is well worth watching

PeacefulAnarchy

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Re: Top 100 Club: PeacefulAnarchy
« Reply #34 on: July 05, 2018, 07:50:59 PM »
The Brand New Testament
In the early 90s, Siskel and Ebert brought Toto le héro to my attention and were so positive about it I saw it as soon as I could. I saw what the film was aiming to do and their review was like a fantasy of what it would be like if Jaco Van Dormael succeeded at everything he was attempting. (This type of magic wish fulfillment is typical of his work.) 3 years ago I watched Mr. Nobody, which I described as "Young Adult Cloud Atlas". JVD's endless visual imagination reminded me of Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton now that both directors care so little about the substance.

The obvious comparison point with BNT is Amélie, which may be intentional with the casting of Yolande Moreau. I would tell anyone who loves Amélie they have to make time for this, though at first this was like the negative version of that type of film, dwelling on the hardships of living. In the one simple, bold stroke of the moment when God's daughter sends everyone their date of death the film sets itself on a similar path of seeing life's glass as half full and Jean-Pierre Jeunet is denied what could've been his greatest story idea.
The comparison to Amelie is definitely something I kept coming back to when I was watching it. Different tones but a common underlying feel. There's certainly a reason both are on my list.


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While there are still streaks of Van Dormael the show-off, he scales it back often enough to where the style is never mare fanciful than the substance. I enjoyed this film in a lot of different ways, the puzzle-box plotting involving the 6 new apostles, the slow liberation of God's wife, God being foiled by his own sadistic laws of nature, discovering a person's inner music. The serious stuff doesn't stick as hard as it should because the silly stuff involves things like beastiality. There's more here than is being explored involving loneliness, how our lives are shaped by sex and gender identity. This would've been an even stronger film with some genuine discovery and closure with characters like the person writing the book and the guy who keeps jumping from great heights, but this is easily my favorite JVD film and likely to appear as a Discovery.
I do agree the ending is where the film falters. Not badly, but a definite missed opportunity for insight and closure, though I wonder if, given your less than thrilled reception of his previous films, such a resolution would have worked for you. I'm glad you enjoyed it, especially given your previous experience with JVD. Maybe if his next film is good you'll go back and give those another shot :)

PeacefulAnarchy

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Re: Top 100 Club: PeacefulAnarchy
« Reply #35 on: July 05, 2018, 07:58:36 PM »
Psycho (1960 - Alfred Hitchcock)

Well I have finally seen it. A film I knew so much about, but only a tiny part of the actual film. I had not known about the lead in to the motel, nor the psychological report at the end. The trouble is I knew too much about the key parts of the film. The original audiences to this film must have been in for quite a ride.

The Good. The film moves along a very good pace, even though there is a lot of long scenes, by today's standards. The shower scene, still works even knowing so much about it. The camera and focus on the detective on the stairs in the Bates house, loved it. It put you on edge, well hanging over the edge, but not with straight suspense, but showing that things are way off, but still anchored in the real. Janet Leigh's performance. I would almost add Anthony Perkins, however there were some weak line deliveries.

The Bad. The bit just before the end with the psychologist explaining about what we have just seen. Ham-fisted. I would much rather it be dropped and it finishes with Norman talking to himself.

A excellent film, but not quite a great film.

Rating: 80 / 100
Yeah, pop culture experience certainly diminishes some of the intended effect. Though I will say that previous viewings do not. My original reaction to the film was much like yours, an acknowledgement of it's strengths but also an awareness of its flaws, but my two subsequent viewings each raised my esteem of the film. I still think that psychologist coda is dumb, but it's easier to dismiss when you know it's coming, maybe even just shut off the film before it. Meanwhile the rest of it doesn't lose its lustre and I gained an appreciation for how well done it is. It's always nice to watch a new classic, I kind of miss that experience. It's nice to know what everyone is talking about, but the realization of "oh that's where that's from" is fun too.

But I wonder if now I might be ready to watch it again.  There is a lot in this film and the details are worthy to coax out.  I might try it again, leaving behind the disappointment of not having more to see, and look deeper, thus finding the extra I wanted.  Perhaps.
Definitely. As I said above, for me that second viewing definitely helped wash away the disappointments.
« Last Edit: July 05, 2018, 08:00:57 PM by PeacefulAnarchy »

Sandy

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Re: Top 100 Club: PeacefulAnarchy
« Reply #36 on: July 14, 2018, 02:53:50 PM »
At face value the film is harrowing, but I don't think your distancing is unintended. The setup certainly allows for it in the way it confuses time and space, and there's a sense that these characters are in some form of purgatory where their goal is always shifting around them. There's also a certain resoluteness to the characters that helps calm things down and gives a distance to the desperation rather than an immediacy. The conception of Soviet sacrifice and stoicness and devotion to duty permeates the film.

Thank you for writing this. I don't always have another country's nationalistic "personality" clear in my mind when watching international films, which makes for very good reason for me to watch them. I wish to cultivate better understanding and you help me with your take. 

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This is where I need a course on cinematography, because I don’t know where the director, Mikhail Kalatozov, stops and Sergey Urusevskiy, the cinematographer, starts. I may never know, because both men are credited for being directors and cinematographers. Whatever the combination, this team is a force of nature.

Watch Soy Cuba next :) The content probably isn't going to resonate as much, but it's stunningly shot too. I haven't seen any Kalatazov with another cinematographer, but The Forty-First (1956) shot by Urusevskiy but directed Chukhrai carries a lot of similar imagery and it too is well worth watching

Excellent! I'll add these to my watchlist.  :)

Sandy

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Re: Top 100 Club: PeacefulAnarchy
« Reply #37 on: September 06, 2018, 02:37:34 PM »
Our very belated review. :)

Walkabout



*Spoilery*

Knocked Out Loaded: A director only can have one movie in my Top 100. Nicholas Roeg is the one director who is closest to have multiple movies on the list; not two but three! I have The Man Who Fell To Earth on the list. Maybe Don’t Look Now is a better film, but the list needed some science fiction. Apart from these two, Walkabout easily could have made the list.

Sandy: It's a stringent rule! I can see why you have it, but at times like these, it comes back to bite you. :) I've been curious about both of those other films and feel like now I might be prepared better when I view them. The style in Walkabout is unique, yet has a certain jarring rhythm to it, which I fell into. I got used to being jolted with the unexpected. When I do see those films, I'll do as Dan in Real Life admonishes. "Plan to be surprised."

Knocked Out Loaded: It has a great 70s look or feel. There is an innocence to it.

Sandy: I just read someone's take on this... Greg Freeman wrote, "The late sixties and seventies were the best times for cinema. It seemed more exciting and adventurous and took chances where modern movies are merely concerned with money and tapping into fixed demographics."

Knocked Out Loaded: I like how the movie works with contrasts. Australia still feels very commonwealth-ish. The people feel uncomfortable in the culture. Alienation is a big theme I think. The culture is contrasted against nature and a simpler way of living, represented by the aboriginal boy on his walkabout. Without his knowledge they would not survive.

Sandy: This reminds me of Martha growing roses in the harsh Australian terrain, in The Proposition. Yes, an alien in a strange, unyielding world.

The trailer says, "No place for civilized man." But, I too didn't feel like "civilized men" were comfortable even in their cities, or in their mining towns. No concrete could completely buffer them from nature. Wonder if this alienation is the catalyst for the father's breakdown. Seems like it must be.


Knocked Out Loaded: Throughout the movie a radio is used as a sound device. The contrast is absurd.

Sandy: It was sure jarring!

Knocked Out Loaded: They arrived at a waterhole, a kind of garden of Eden. I dries up the next day as they meet the boy. Is there a fall from grace? A snake is shown. A little later, is it suggested that they have sex? It's when they climbed the trees, where the stems were shot in an erotic way, looking like human limbs.

Sandy: I hadn't thought of that! I thought it was sexual awakening and the rest of their journey was foreplay, a really long Walkabout foreplay. :)

Knocked Out Loaded: :D

The reason I hesitate to think they had sex is because of her being so resistant to his mating dance. She is still very innocent in the scene and timid and he is beside himself with desperation. :( Your Garden of Eden metaphor is very compelling though. It also could be a theme with the rest of their journey! The Aborigine made the outback like a Garden of Eden for the kids. It did feel like they were the first one's on earth. One of the taglines of the movie says, "The Aborigine and the girl 30,000 years apart ...together." That precedes the Bible by a long shot! :D

Knocked Out Loaded: When they left the water hole the movie sets off on several vignettes, some surrealistic. I got some Antonioni vibes.

They walked and the kid told a story, totally out of context.
There was a scene with a research team, pretty sexist.
As the girl is filmed swimming naked, a sort of representation of beauty, we are served cuts of the aborigine hunting violently.
Later some whites are doing meaningless hunting from a jeep, just for fun. It makes the boy sad.
He dances a ritualistic dance as farewell.
The find a road and arrive at an ugly mining town. Time cut and we find the girl as a housewife.


Sandy: I've only seen L'Avventura, but I see what you're saying. The disjointedness in that film, really threw me, as well as the story points which were discarded, one after another. Good comparison! Wonder if Roeg studied Antonioni.

Knocked Out Loaded: I like very much how Roeg works with contrasts in this movie. Some may be on the nose but it never gets preachy. It is up to us to decide where the children arrive at after their walkabout.

Sandy: I was talking to my son about this very thing yesterday, how a skilled movie or narrative leaves enough empty spaces, so we can fill up our own experiences in them and make the story more personal. Roeg provides ample material and ample space for us to fill in.

Knocked Out Loaded: One other thing that constantly was fascinating was all the inserted shots of insects, lizards and other things during the movie. Great to see budgies living in trees!

Sandy: They were enchanting! The nature on the other hand was brutal! I am so buffered from nature of this sort, which is precisely the point of Roeg pointing it out. :)

PeacefulAnarchy

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Re: Top 100 Club: PeacefulAnarchy
« Reply #38 on: March 31, 2019, 11:32:16 AM »
Updated my list for April, it's a top 300 now: https://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/peaceful+anarchys+top+250/peacefulanarchy/
I'll try to update it on Letterboxd and imdb later today.

oldkid

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Re: Top 100 Club: PeacefulAnarchy
« Reply #39 on: March 31, 2019, 09:33:52 PM »
Well, that's a large list.

I'd like to watch A Raisin in the Sun, Judgment at Nuremburg, and Marty.  I should watch Jeanne Dielman, but I dread that film.  We'll see what happens.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky