The cinema thread

[klangspiel]

xavier beauvois' of gods and men (des hommes et des dieux) is easily my film of the year so far. surely an auteur to watch for the coming decade. actually, i loved godard's film socialisme (which incidentally features the acting debut of a certain alain badiou) even more, but i doubt that's anyone's cup of tea, even by standards of the most hardened cineastes. vigorously ambitious and terribly divisive since its first showing. i'll give people the next 10-20 years to finally get it, otherwise global culture is a funk. other great films i've seen so far - shirin neshat's women without men (amazing debut), semih kapanoglu's honey, cristi puiu's aurora, manoel de oliveira's the strange case of angelica (the wry old bastard still rules), eugene green's homage to de oliveira, the portuguese nun, mike leigh's another year, pedro costa's ne change rien (the feature and not the short of the same name) and probably a few more i can't remember. have yet to see the new bartas, kiarostami and tarr (which apparently has only just got out of post-production).

but so far, it's all about this film:

[Faust]

Watched District 9 again. Such a fantastic film on so many levels.

[Faust]

God on Trial. Everyone should watch this instead of Schindler's List and such nonsense.

[klangspiel]

holocaust films of the narrative variety have always been far too problematic for my liking. there's just something inherently foul about the structural nature of narrativity that doesn't quite lend itself to approaching and representing an event like the holocaust. i can't quite put a handle on it just yet, but perhaps it lies in the deceit of literalness and the correspondence to a representational economy that shits me the most. presumptuously economical - a tightly woven nugget. as opposed to a poeisis of articulation - something predisposed and sensitive to an obliqueness, often with a profound sense of ellipsis, and often resulting in something too literal for those who look for literalness could ever deal with. like the way poetry, rather than prose, has been far more emphatic in dealing with the holocaust, eg. celan and sachs.

to that end, i think the 3 best films on the holocaust are alain resnais' night and fog (nuit et brouillard), claude lanzmann's shoah, and harun farocki's respite. they are certainly not films of the narrative variety. often placed within the bracket of "documentaries". hardly that, i'd say, at least not in the conventional sense. "cine-essays" would probably be more of an apt description.

outside of those 3, there are other favourites but they're of the narrative sort (fictional or adaptational). namely,

alfred rodok's the long journey
jan nemec's diamonds of the night
andrzej wajda's korczak
andrzej munk's the passenger
gillo pontecorvo's kapo
louis malle's lacombe, lucien
(easily one of malle's best)

all highly recommended.

[Fade to Black]

Wasn't much interested before but the new trailer and the opening credits did it for me. Hope it's out when I'm back in HK...the IMDB page has it listed as category III so I'm guessing it's scheduled to screen...

In the meantime, a discussion about Inception I had with a friend has me wanting to revisit Eyes Wide Shut. Only saw the film once upon its initial release, was probably too young to appreciate it then.

[████████]

[Faust]

Klangspiel, I understand what you are saying. But, I think one must try, no? By that rational it seems that art should leave some subjects alone.

[Diego]

anyone seen buttgereit's schramm? it's the only one i haven't had a chance to watch yet..

You are not missing much, imho Nekromantik and Der todesking are the best from him.

Recently:

conspirators of pleasure (Jan Svankmajer)
mother (Bong Joon-ho)
wicked city (Yoshiaki Kawajiri)
angel's egg (Mamoru Oshii)


school of the holy beast (Norifumi Suzuki)


pre-ordered videodrome and house criterion blu-rays.

[Faust]

Nice to see you, Diego.

[snafu]

recently
back log of Jim Jarmusch films

Eureka - Shinji Aoyama

[Fade to Black]

Takeshi Kitano's Violent Cop; the film is filled with moments of Kitanoesque poetry & violence. One helluva debut.

[sam_tem]

the good, the bad, and the wierd

i'm a sucker for a good western and they did a great job of wrapping a modern-day action flick with the good, the bad, and the ugly. lots of fun.


edit: and to ask the question here, anyone seen those TV Party show dvd's and can comment if they're worth a watch?

[Fade to Black]

Takeshi Kitano's Boiling Point. Looser than Violent Cop, yet somehow feels more complete with all the hallmarks that would become Kitano, a true blueprint film. Love the switch from the small town comedy feel of the first half to the surreal rapid-fire outbursts of the second, the transition came across as utterly convincing. Also not to spoil it, but this is one of the better examples of this narrative 'trick' executed from the films I've seen. Like Eyes Wide Shut, the title itself gives it away...(edit: The Japanese title apparently is literally translated as "The 3rd and 4th of October" in which case my last sentence here remains intact)

[TheNotoriousT]

Has anyone checked out Enter the Void?

The trailer really resonates with me.

Saw it yesterday in a big ass cinema and it is an outstanding monster of a movie.
All I can say is don't try to read too much about it before watching and avoid the trailers (it is so much more than just another drug movie) etc.
It really is a 160 minute long trip and something you have never seen before.
Must see 2010 for me!

[Diego]

really liked angel's egg .. will probably watch wicked city tomorrow.

Glad you liked it.

Finally found a copy of Rollin's Le frisson des vampires, if I remember correctly you mentioned it here a while ago, loved it, thanks for the tip.

And Maldoror, Dogtooth is great, already pre-ordered the blu-ray.

Tonight, Institute benjamenta by the brothers quay.