Damien wrote:Tee. I'm delighted you responded so favorably to Balthazar. I hope this will lead you to watch ,ore Bressons. I especially love L'Argent and Pickpocket. He's a truly remarkable, unique filmmaker.
Yeah, I plan to get more under my belt in the coming months -- though I try to space out my exposure to any filmmaker, to avoid the films running together. I'll certainy go for the ones both of you mention. I've also heard Mouchette referenced a number of times.
Am I misremembering, or didn't L'Argent win him a directing prize from the National Society?
Damien wrote:Okri, what are your reservations about the films?
Friday Night is sorta like My Blueberry Nights for me. I can watch bits and pieces of it, and enjoy the moody langour of it all, but eventually I get bored.
You pretty much nailed my issues with Trouble Every Day. Gallo just bugs me in virtually everything he does, and the pervasive feeling of detachment just removes me from the equation. I did mean to rewatch both these films after getting more Denis under my belt (the aforementioned three and Chocolat are the only ones I've seen).
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As for Bresson, A Man Escaped remains my favourite, but I really liked L'Argent and Pickpocket. Balthazar, though, bored me out of my skull.
Tee. I'm delighted you responded so favorably to Balthazar. I hope this will lead you to watch ,ore Bressons. I especially love L'Argent and Pickpocket. He's a truly remarkable, unique filmmaker.
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
At the risk of re-igniting a flame war...I watched Au Hasard Balthazar over the weekend.
Put me clearly in the "Wow -- what a film" camp. I confess I'd steered clear of Bresson all these years because I kept hearing his stye described as "austere" -- which to me suggested arty and boring, not my favorite style. And certainly there's no mistaking this for anything but an art film. But, boring? Not a bit. An incredibly tough-minded, structurally impressive film.
I know Penelope meant to be snarky referencing Black Beauty, but, in fact, the film does share a subject/framework with the Sewell classic. Which only goes to show there is no limitation on what an artist can do with any subject matter. What Bresson does is weave his Story of a Donkey through multiple human lives and obliquely observe/comment on the ways in which they undo their own hopes. At first it seemed like a La Ronde sort of story -- Balthazar the link as we passed from segment to segment -- but later it became clear we were never going to drop characters; we'd return to them at intervals, sometimes after key moments in their stories had passed, and gradually grasp the fullness of their shattered lives. Is it a reach to say that some of Altman's films made use of this same structural pattern?
And, at the center of it all, Balthazar. In more than one shot I got the idea he was the eye of god, observing all this human folly. But I also thought, seeing how poorly/cruelly the donkey was treated by most of the characters, that he might be Christ on the road to Calvary -- suffering his painful fate so that mankind might be redeemed, while undeserving mankind (committing most of the deadly sins during the film's running time) proceeeds obliviously on its self-destructive path.
Sabin wrote:The Beat My Heart Skipped (Audiard) - 8.5/10
This is an incredibly physical study of anxiety. It's not a simple study of hands, but also of coiled energy in the head, in the eyes. I'm going to go rent Read My Lips. Was 2005 the greatest year for lead male actors ever or what?
Totally agree. What a wonderful film. Romain Duris was indeed excellent in it.
Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) Michael Moore 3/10
We Were One Man (1979) Philippe Vallois 4/10
Millhouse: A White Comedy (1967) Emile de Antonio 6/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Superb film about a woman (Sylvia Sidney) falling in love and getting married to an alcoholic (Fredric March). Simply told story with Oscar caliber performances by both leads. Sidney is heartbreaking and looks sexy dressed in slinky Travis Banton gowns. Cary Grant makes an immediate impact in his two very brief scenes.
Troy Donahue's last film before he was dropped by Warner Bros. He plays a man alleging to be the reincarnation of his own great-grandfather with a straight face while all the other actors including Barry Sullivan, Jeanette Nolan, Nicolas Coster and the usually insipid Joey Heatherton seem to have their tongues firmly in cheek.
This was one of only three films Conrad directed, all of them in the same year. Brainstorm, a nifty film noir with Jeffrey Hunter, Anne Francis and Dana Andrews is the best of the lot.
Part of the Pre-Code dvd set. Pity Tallullah Bankhead did not make more films as she had a very distinctive voice and great screen presence.
A Night to Remember (George Wallace, 1943) 4/10
A comedy-mystery with Loretta Young and Brian Aherne. Bob Hope did it better.
Palm Springs Weekend (Norman Taurog, 1963) 4/10
Amusing to see Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Stefanie Powers, Robert Conrad and Ty Hardin play teenagers. Jerry Van Dyke is annoying but in an amusing way. He comes off best.
Carry on Cleo (Gerald Thomas, 1965) 5/10
Typical smutty humour from the ''gang''.....Sidney James, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims and Charles Hawtrey. Here they spoof Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra. Silly fun.
