The cinema thread

[nadir]

Melancholia sucked.

That's a shame - where did you see it/what was wrong with it? Lars is usually so good.

[Avantster]

Watched this at the Sydney film festival.



Béla Tarr - The Turin Horse (A torinói ló)

"In Turin on 3rd January, 1889, Friedrich Nietzsche steps out of the doorway of number six, Via Carlo Albert. Not far from him, the driver of a hansom cab is having trouble with a stubborn horse. Despite all his urging, the horse refuses to move, whereupon the driver loses his patience and takes his whip to it. Nietzsche comes up to the throng and puts an end to the brutal scene, throwing his arms around the horse’s neck, sobbing. His landlord takes him home, he lies motionless and silent for two days on a divan until he mutters the obligatory last words, and lives for another ten years, silent and demented, cared for by his mother and sisters. We do not know what happened to the horse.”

[Faust]

How was it?

[Avantster]

I found it hauntingly beautiful. Slow and repetitious, but that's Tarr for you. Perhaps his most austere and meticulous film; only two main characters, hardly any dialogue, a single song soundtrack and the howling wind. Technically brilliant and thought provoking, the more I think about this film the more I like it.

[Diego]

Recently:

Orozco el embalsamador, Tsurisaki Kiyotaka
Evilspeak, Eric Weston
A serbian film, Srđan Spasojević

Looking forward to Brothers Quay Maska


trailer

[MoFiya]

^ glad to see you posting again

[Shucks]

saw häxan by benjamin christensen on tv last nite. swedish production from 1922. macabre..

apparently there's a shorter version with burroughs as narrator:

[MoFiya]

A serbian film, Srđan Spasojević

Btw - did you really watch through the whole movie? I only followed the discussion on it and I thought to myself that there are borders a movie shouldn't cross / films I don't wanna see.

[Faust]

/\ Agreed

[Diego]

Btw - did you really watch through the whole movie? I only followed the discussion on it and I thought to myself that there are borders a movie shouldn't cross / films I don't wanna see.

People will always watch what they want and as far as I know the movie has a very limited distribution, but the thing is that with all the loud press (like the sitges film festival incident) more people will want to see it.

I own a film production company that focuses on horror, fantasy and sci-fi so its obvious that I'll watch things that have to do with those genres and their sub-genres, my choice.

From a technical point of view I have to say that its very well made, good photography, good narrative, believable characters, etc... it didn't win all the prizes for nothing. As a father of two I hated the fucking thing and that's exactly what the movie wants... to make you uncomfortable. Even if its not my cup of tea and I have no plans to meet Spasojević, it works.

[KM80]

I think that's the only movie I've actually stopped watching just because it was too fucked up and I'd seen enough.

[Faust]

Saw the new Almodovar film today, The Skin I Live In. Fucking warped, even by his standards.

Saw Tree of Life earlier. Unparalleled cinematography, beyond banal story - same as all of his other films.

[AKA*NYC]

^ you find the very meaning, purpose, and origin of existence to be a banal subject for cinema?! let me guess you're from new york.

[Faust]

Haha, Ok, let me rephrase that. The idea is not banal, of course, but the treatment is. Same as in The Thin Red Line.

[AKA*NYC]

Haha, Ok, let me rephrase that. The idea is not banal, of course, but the treatment is. Same as in The Thin Red Line.

i was underwhelmed by thin red line as well: it struck me as a run of the mill war film mashed up with a pbs nature documentary. tree of life won me over to his vision. i found it profound and wholly convincing.