Author Topic: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time  (Read 235171 times)

oneaprilday

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 13746
  • "What we see and what we seem are but a dream."
    • A Journal of Film
Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #50 on: September 02, 2010, 11:22:45 AM »
no
No worries. :) I was just curious if you'd compared them.

I'm still working through her Short Stories.
And those are wonderful.

tinyholidays

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 3715
  • It's a hard world for little things.
Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #51 on: September 02, 2010, 11:34:10 AM »
Quote
I'm still working through her Short Stories.
And those are wonderful.

So wonderful. So, so wonderful.
« Last Edit: September 02, 2010, 11:43:58 AM by tinyholidays »

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #52 on: September 02, 2010, 11:42:32 AM »
Watching Hiroshima Mon Amour.  Exactly the type of classic most of you would guess that I'd hate, but this movie is blowing my mind.

FroHam X

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17792
  • “By any seeds necessary.”
    • justAtad
Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #53 on: September 02, 2010, 11:58:18 AM »
Watching Hiroshima Mon Amour.  Exactly the type of classic most of you would guess that I'd hate, but this movie is blowing my mind.

I need to watch that. This bodes well for Last Year at Marienbad. Sometimes you are indeed awesome 1SO.
"We didn't clean the hamster's cage, the hamster's cage cleaned us!"

Can't get enough FroHam? Read more of my musings at justAtad

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time - Hiroshima Mon Amour
« Reply #54 on: September 03, 2010, 09:49:09 AM »
Marathon Update



Hiroshima Mon Amour
"What did Hiroshima mean to you in France?"

If you're looking for some truly original filmmaking and can go into a movie with an open mind, meet the filmmaker halfway, then take a look at Alain Resnais' groundbreaking Hiroshima Mon Amour.  This is my first time with Resnais and I had no idea what I was in for.  On one hand, this is at the highest levels of pretentious filmmaking.  The opening 15 minutes, where a woman narrates about things she saw in Hiroshima while a man keeps insisting it isn't true and she was never really there is a filmmaking tour-de-force.  A lyrical, almost dreamlike mixture of gorgeous compositions and stark real life footage of bomb victims intercut with the arms and back of a couple who appear to be making love, I can see a lot of people resisting the film right up front.  It's a bit like an 80'd ad for Calvin Klien's Obsession and you're ready for Dieter from Sprokets to appear with a haunting "Caribou".

However, it also reminded me of no less than Wim Wenders brilliant Wings of Desire, one of my very favorite films of all time.  I found the unique style to be transportive and the contrasting narrators to make for a challenging start.  It was kind of a shame when this sequence concluded and the film went a touch more mainstream, introducing the two characters who will carry on a conversation for most of the film.

Hiroshima Mon Amour has been called the "Birth of a Nation" of the French New Wave, opening the same year as The 400 Blows and one year before Breathless.  I've seen those and regarding Resnais was more aware of Last Year at Marienbad than this one.  The Wings of Desire angle brought me in, and throughout I noticed moments in the way the story unfolded that certainly planted the seeds for another current great director, and one who has mentioned Resnais as a personal favorite... Christopher Nolan.

The narrative here starts by delivering interesting information, but raises more questions through its ambiguity and insistent contradictions.  Ultimately the film views Hiroshima through the lens of a French woman's personal tragedy while simultaneously viewing the French woman's tragedy through the lens of Hiroshima.  The placement and the manner in which Resnais chooses to reveal his information is exactly like Nolan.  Much like fans of the Coen Brothers need to see Sullivan's Travels and The Sweet Smell of Success, fans of Nolan should watch this.  (The great directors steal from only the best.)

What I thought was going to be a difficult sit, quickly turned into a great lesson in world cinema.  The film ultimately didn't sustain my interest.  I was more intrigued in this couple than the one in Brief Encounter, but after a while the story felt too thin even to sustain it's brief 90 minute running time.  I am now very much looking forward to my upcoming watch of Last Year at Marienbad.

Compared to my Top 100 of the 00's...
Hiroshima Mon Amour would be #80 of the 00's.

Next Up:
The Double Life of Véronique
Laura
Stroszek
« Last Edit: September 10, 2010, 11:57:42 PM by 1SO »

Sam the Cinema Snob

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 26795
Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #55 on: September 03, 2010, 12:22:59 PM »
Excitement. Or maybe pending disappointed.

Thor

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 6535
    • KTQ
Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #56 on: September 03, 2010, 12:59:11 PM »
Cool. Your appreciation of Bresson makes up for the lack of docs.

And I salute the whole endeavor.

Unless you dislike Unfaithfully Yours, of course.
Wanting for Thor what Thor wants for Thor.

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time - The Double Life of Véronique
« Reply #57 on: September 04, 2010, 06:32:09 PM »
Marathon Update



The Double Life of Véronique

Random thoughts I had time to reflect on while watching The Double Life of Véronique:

I usually favour films with clear, strong narratives (among other things), so TDLOV may not have been the best movie for me in that regard.
This.  In no time at all I had completely lost my footing, unable to tell what it was I was supposed to get from the film besides the amazing cinematography.  I should confess the unpopular opinion that I have not liked the films of Krzysztof Kieślowski that I've seen, except for White, his least popular.  I got very little from Blue and Red and I really didn't like Decalogue, which is why I put off Véronique for so long.

Getting back to the cinematography, I looked up Slawomir Idziak while the movie unfolded and discovered A) I Love this guy from Black Hawk Down and HP and the Order of the Phoenix.  His work reminds me a lot of Bruno Delbonnel, who did Amélie and Half-Blood Prince.  It's pretty groundbreaking stuff. B) Sam the Cinema Snob loves him even more.

Sam wrote an excellent review which I think really nails this film. Well worth a read if you want a better idea of what the film is.
This is a great writeup from someone who is obviously very pasisonate about the movie.  (It's currently his #8 film of all time.)  This passion also helped me to appreciate the film a bit more beyond the pretty visuals.  I'm anxious to see how it grows in my mind, and when I'll be hungry to watch it again.  Speaking of pretty visuals...

Iréne Jacob, pretty.  I know there are better and more intellectual reasons for enjoying a film.  And she is a really good actress giving a strong performance.  I'm not taking anything away from her talent.  However, in this movie it must be said that she is jaw-droppingly stunning.  If there was a Top 5 Best Looking in a single movie I'm thinking Kidman in Moulin Rouge, Portman in Closer and Jacob here.  I actually didn't care for the nudity.  She's too good to lower herself to such a tawdry display.  And I've seen Jacob in photos and in Red, but in this film at this time with this haircut... perfect.

Certainly the biggest surprise of the film.  What Sam refers to as Weronika's grand finale.  And it happens remarkably early.  I thought it was going to be a film about parallel lives, you know with a lot of cutting back and forth.  But this ballsy move turns the whole premise on it's ear.

Final Thought: While I realized early this wasn't my kind of film, I actually kind of liked it.

Compared to my Top 100 of the 00's
Véronique would not make my Top 100... on just a first watch.

Next Up:
Laura
The Son
Stroszek
« Last Edit: September 04, 2010, 09:34:46 PM by 1SO »

jbissell

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10915
  • What's up, hot dog?
Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #58 on: September 04, 2010, 09:24:20 PM »
Not terribly surprised by your reaction, especially when paired with your feelings re: K's other films. I do think it's a film that improves with repeat viewings. Spot on about Irene. Perfect!

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time - Laura
« Reply #59 on: September 04, 2010, 10:30:19 PM »
Marathon Update



Laura
Love is stronger than life. It reaches beyond the dark shadow of death.

I actually got into film noir through my wife.  Her ability to keep the characters straight and stay ahead of a mystery is spectacular.  She had no trouble with The Big Sleep, and when I asked her about the murder that the film never solves, she offhandedly replied the chauffeur at the pier.  I'm not kidding when I say that halfway through Chinatown, she figured out the twist.

She loves Laura and wants to own it.  I think it's one of the most by-the-book murder mysteries I've ever seen.  There's as much character arc as an episode of Law & Order and the bulk of the film consists of a very stock detective continually questioning suspects.  And there aren't very many suspects.  In the entire film there's only half a dozen major speaking roles, including the detective and flashbacks to the murdered Laura.  This thing's so hermetically sealed that they have to throw suspicion onto the detective just to make it a little less obvious.

My review is not being fair either.  For not wanting to ruin the surprises, some of what I've written is questionable.  Ultimately, there is a lot of character stuff, mostly under the surface where I very much liked it.  Also, there are some big surprises starting about halfway through that really pull the rug out.  Even when a suspect is arrested, I wasn't sure if we were nearing the end or if it was just the next bluff in this poker game.

I worried that the ending was heading towards some lame character beat involving the detective who would double cross all the suspects for personal reasons.  Instead I got the best scene of the film, a really suspenseful climax with some great use of sound.  (For the record, my wife guessed early and guessed correct who the killer is, but also didn't see the main twist coming.)  Overall I liked it a lot, but Dana Andrews got nothing on Bogie.

Compared to my Top 100 of the 00's
Laura would make my Top 100 at #86.

Next Up:
The Son
Stalker
Stroszek
Unfaithfully Yours
« Last Edit: September 06, 2010, 04:38:42 PM by 1SO »

 

love