My problem with this short film is that I wouldn't really consider it a film at all. It is a slideshow with narration. Sure, its somber sci-fi story is what inspired Terry Gilliam to make 12 MONKEYS...but if you can't comment on acting, directing, photography, or anything else....you can only comment on pictures. That isn't a movie...and it was a bit frustrating for me. The story? Neat enough....but there was no reason this short film couldn't have been filmed properly instead of just posting chronologically significant pictures.
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I will tell you exactly what this Salvador Dali collaborative effort reminded me of. It reminded me of the tape in THE RING that will kill you in seven days after you watch it. This is a surrealist hodgepodge of visuals that only produces a "What the F**K?" emotion. There is that slit eyeball scene (which the film is most famous for), a man pulling 2 pianos into the living room with pilgrims in tow, breasts morphing from covered, to bare, to under overalls, to butt cheeks etc.. It is so weird. I think this short film is famous because it reminds us that there were werid, abstract filmmakers even back in the 20s. I still don't really enjoy it though.
Unlike other silent films I have seen, this film wasn't filled with hokey acting and unimpressive, jerky camerawork, and it gets a bunch of props for that. The Odessa Massacre that occurs in this film is quite suprisingly bloody and exciting, and has been homaged many times in later cinematic history. It still has that major hump to get over of making my enjoy a silent film from the 20s, but it gets further over the hump than most...even if the film does come across as incredible communist propaganda. But then again, I guess that is why it is famous.
This is my first Federico Fellini film, and it is very impressive. I couldn't quite get into the early scenes, but the film got better and better as it progressed and finished quite extraordinarily. It plays like a greek tragedy, with Anthony Quinn playing the violent, grumpy Zampano and Giulietta Masina playing Gelsomina as a naive, childlike woman...both as broad archetypes with seemingly unavoidable fates. Apparently Fellini has a lot of circus stuff in his films, and this is no exception. LA STRADA impressed me, especially because of the superb performances by the leads. I can't wait to knock off some other Fellini films on this list like LA DOLCE VITA, 8 1/2, and SATYRICON.
I was first introduced to SOLARIS with the 2002 George Clooney version, and I hated it. Now I have seen the original Tarkovsky version, and I'm still not crazy about it. I realize that there are some deep, humanistic themes going on here about the nature of love and what you love...a person or your own idea of that person...but the whole endeavor still comes across as pretentious to me. At 165 minutes, this film is a bit stenuous to get through...but it is oddly beautiful in some respects, and you have to give it credit to the film for its audacious aspirations, even if the film's reach is much farther than its grasp. I am told Tarkovsy's films are legendary. I hope they improve on SOLARIS, which was a chore.
What a unique, wonderful film. The subject matter is as depressing and sorrowful as anyone can come up with, but Pedro Almodovar films it in a vibrant, almost creepy way. The film follows two men. One is in love with a champion bullfighting woman who is gored and put into a vegetative state. The other is infatuated, but hardly knows, a bellerina who dances across from his window...and she is put it a vegetative state from a car accident. The one who loves his woman can't touch, look, or speak to her lifeless body. The one who only yearns for his woman talks to her like they are a seasoned married couple. The emotions run high, confused, and a little bit unnaturally. I love when my emotions are pulled in so many ways at one time.
I am a huge fan of the Brett Ratner film, RED DRAGON...but this original version of the Thomas Harris novel is excellent in its own right. This film was made before Hannibal Lecter was a cinematic icon, and Brian Cox does quite a superb job as the imprisoned doctor. I also enjoyed the rest of the cast, William Peterson, Thomas Noonan, Denis Farina, Joan Allen....great stuff. Also, directed by Michael Mann in 1986, the story is all about Will Graham and the psychological weight he carries while trying to solve these horrendus murders. 2002's Red Dragon was all about giving us Anthony Hopkins again and shocking us. 1986's Manhunter is all about disturbing us. And it certainly does.
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These are Kevin's viewings out of the above Steven Jay Schneider tome Archives
May 2012
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