Some nice visual and outdated views on honour. I couldn't really follow how he found his wife again or if she really was a whore, that was a really fast sequence in the middle of a slow movie that could've used a bit more explanation imo.
Spain's attempt at neorealism - a countryside family struggles to find a better life in the city. It turns out decent but it's not there with the great achievements of neorealismo. At first, on wonders how such a bleak realist drama could be made in a dictatorship but it's not so illogical when you look closer: a country with the rural population leaving for the city might like to show a family that hopelessly fails doing that and there's an evident focus on conservative Christian values (and crime isn't successful). I certainly wasn't surprised at all that I quickly stumbled upon a scientific paper analyzing gender violence in Surcos, every man seems to beat everyone over honour (with men fighting back) and disobedience (women quietly accept their fate). The "highlight" of this subject is the puppet theater that the puppeteer shows the man who is supposed to sleep in his daughter's room from now on: a woman confronts her husband about losing the couple's money while gambling and gets beaten (and accidentally beheaded), the beating is called the only way to treat your wife. It feels over the top but I have a feeling they were serious about it.
Further reading (gender violence in Surcos):
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=2ahUKEwiukpS2uaHeAhUCDOwKHbeBAD0QFjAEegQIBBAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdialnet.unirioja.es%2Fdescarga%2Farticulo%2F5428229.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2mx5szuA85N0r6taPgGVoX
Well, the novel's gimmick (telling each of the 6 chapters in just one sentences) was lost in its translation to film, although the chapters are still there. The characters are divided between rich landowners and the poor folk that simply exists to serve the rich although the younger generation doesn't seem to agree with that. I can see a certain link between the servants and the birds that are endlessly killed just to make the landowners feel great about themselves, being treated with the same carelessness.
Further reading: https://grunes.wordpress.com/2008/01/04/the-holy-innocents-mario-camus-1984/
With a strong rise of juvenile crime in late 70s Spain and an ongoing change of society towards consumerism, Saura cast real life delinquents, bank robbers and heroin addicts for this stylish film (I imagine Tarantino likes it), using the desolate, polluted outskirts of Madrid as a backdrop. Especially cool is the heavy use of music and the subsequent silence which is used effectively near the end. Along the lines of early Japanese New Wave movies (like Naked Youth) some 20 years earlier. Rather weird that a strong female lead character is supplemented with another girl who doesn't say anything during the movie.
Further reading: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f395/113e45f93723cb8f0a5dcfc83c11548df28c.pdf
Weird, with lots of attention to details and beautiful cinematography, especially noteworthy are the squirrel POV shots, one of the many motifs that is all but clear in its interpretation. The ending is a rather unsatisfying but acceptable.
Further reading:
http://filmref.com/2017/12/23/the-red-squirrel-1993/
http://366weirdmovies.com/126-the-red-squirrel-la-adrilla-roja-1993/
A visual feast! Unfortunately, the story isn't quite on par with the great cinematography (especially noteworthy are the heavy use of wide-angle lenses like in The Cremator and the "cat POV" very low angle tracking shots) and the music. And I'm relieved that I wasn't the only one that didn't realize they're played by the same actress (which gives Viktoria's early remark that Klara has an annoying face a little twist). The make-up artist and the wig made a good job if that was intentional (I somehow like the idea of taking the same actress for both part and then concealing it).
The story itself suffered from the censorship: it actually revolved around a schrizophrenia twist - Viktoria and Klara are actually the same person. I'm not a fan of this kind of plot twist anymore but I guess most of the exploitation of it was done by later films. Would the movie even be more hallucinogenic if both characters had drunk the poison?
Overall, it doesn't quite reach the heights of my beloved Cremator but it's a sensory pleasure. And the story definitely isn't bad and well-executed, even if we'd reduce it to the poisoned glass - Viktoria's doubt (trying to prevent her sister from drinking it at first) and feeling of guilt (the scene were she watched a red fluid dilute and subsequently doesn't want to drink her tea from clear glasses anymore) to the accidental killing of the titular cat with the hypnotic blue eyes - there's lots of great moments and details.
8-/10
Sadly going off the 500<400 list this year but I hope it'll come back.
Further reading:
http://sensesofcinema.com/2017/cteq/morgiana/
http://nothingbutthenight.blogspot.com/2015/03/morgiana-1972.html
http://w-cinema.blogspot.com/2012/05/morgiana-1972.html
Beautifully shot. Like It Rains in My Village it's another story (but much better executed) about the unpleasant life in a small town, love or rather lack of love, death and indifference, with a lot of laughter from the character but a depressing feeling for the viewer. Recommended!
Many of those impressive outdoor shot feature an artificially darkened sky which looks amateurish but also gave me a bit of a surrealistic feeling.
For those interested in what become of the actors: http://exclusivas.canalrcn.com/galerias/articulo-galeria/que-paso-con-los-protagonistas-de-la-cinta-la-vendedora-de-rosas (In Spanish - you can google translate of course)
"In the decade since the film came out, there have been a handful of similar incidents in China, and the brutal schemes have come to be known as “Blind Shaft cases.”"
It's not cut into episodes to make it better watchable. It's cut into episodes because it was produced as a TV Mini-Series. I tried to watch it in 2 sessions (but had to delay the second half of the epilogue to another day because of a DVD failure). It's certainly exhausting this way so I think I'd only watch a few episodes at a time when I revisit it.
Comments 1 - 25 of 95
Movie comment on 98.3 KHz: Bridge at Electrical Storm
Melvelet
watch it here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=967895140033009Toplist comment on 500<400 and DtC Correlation
Melvelet
*Intersection :PMovie comment on La aldea maldita
Melvelet
Some nice visual and outdated views on honour. I couldn't really follow how he found his wife again or if she really was a whore, that was a really fast sequence in the middle of a slow movie that could've used a bit more explanation imo.Movie comment on Surcos
Melvelet
Spain's attempt at neorealism - a countryside family struggles to find a better life in the city. It turns out decent but it's not there with the great achievements of neorealismo. At first, on wonders how such a bleak realist drama could be made in a dictatorship but it's not so illogical when you look closer: a country with the rural population leaving for the city might like to show a family that hopelessly fails doing that and there's an evident focus on conservative Christian values (and crime isn't successful). I certainly wasn't surprised at all that I quickly stumbled upon a scientific paper analyzing gender violence in Surcos, every man seems to beat everyone over honour (with men fighting back) and disobedience (women quietly accept their fate). The "highlight" of this subject is the puppet theater that the puppeteer shows the man who is supposed to sleep in his daughter's room from now on: a woman confronts her husband about losing the couple's money while gambling and gets beaten (and accidentally beheaded), the beating is called the only way to treat your wife. It feels over the top but I have a feeling they were serious about it.Further reading (gender violence in Surcos):
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=2ahUKEwiukpS2uaHeAhUCDOwKHbeBAD0QFjAEegQIBBAC&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdialnet.unirioja.es%2Fdescarga%2Farticulo%2F5428229.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2mx5szuA85N0r6taPgGVoX
Movie comment on Los santos inocentes
Melvelet
Well, the novel's gimmick (telling each of the 6 chapters in just one sentences) was lost in its translation to film, although the chapters are still there. The characters are divided between rich landowners and the poor folk that simply exists to serve the rich although the younger generation doesn't seem to agree with that. I can see a certain link between the servants and the birds that are endlessly killed just to make the landowners feel great about themselves, being treated with the same carelessness.Further reading: https://grunes.wordpress.com/2008/01/04/the-holy-innocents-mario-camus-1984/
Movie comment on Deprisa, deprisa
Melvelet
With a strong rise of juvenile crime in late 70s Spain and an ongoing change of society towards consumerism, Saura cast real life delinquents, bank robbers and heroin addicts for this stylish film (I imagine Tarantino likes it), using the desolate, polluted outskirts of Madrid as a backdrop. Especially cool is the heavy use of music and the subsequent silence which is used effectively near the end. Along the lines of early Japanese New Wave movies (like Naked Youth) some 20 years earlier. Rather weird that a strong female lead character is supplemented with another girl who doesn't say anything during the movie.Further reading: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f395/113e45f93723cb8f0a5dcfc83c11548df28c.pdf
Movie comment on La ardilla roja
Melvelet
Weird, with lots of attention to details and beautiful cinematography, especially noteworthy are the squirrel POV shots, one of the many motifs that is all but clear in its interpretation. The ending is a rather unsatisfying but acceptable.Further reading:
http://filmref.com/2017/12/23/the-red-squirrel-1993/
http://366weirdmovies.com/126-the-red-squirrel-la-adrilla-roja-1993/
Movie comment on Morgiana
Melvelet
A visual feast! Unfortunately, the story isn't quite on par with the great cinematography (especially noteworthy are the heavy use of wide-angle lenses like in The Cremator and the "cat POV" very low angle tracking shots) and the music. And I'm relieved that I wasn't the only one that didn't realize they're played by the same actress (which gives Viktoria's early remark that Klara has an annoying face a little twist). The make-up artist and the wig made a good job if that was intentional (I somehow like the idea of taking the same actress for both part and then concealing it).The story itself suffered from the censorship: it actually revolved around a schrizophrenia twist - Viktoria and Klara are actually the same person. I'm not a fan of this kind of plot twist anymore but I guess most of the exploitation of it was done by later films. Would the movie even be more hallucinogenic if both characters had drunk the poison?
Overall, it doesn't quite reach the heights of my beloved Cremator but it's a sensory pleasure. And the story definitely isn't bad and well-executed, even if we'd reduce it to the poisoned glass - Viktoria's doubt (trying to prevent her sister from drinking it at first) and feeling of guilt (the scene were she watched a red fluid dilute and subsequently doesn't want to drink her tea from clear glasses anymore) to the accidental killing of the titular cat with the hypnotic blue eyes - there's lots of great moments and details.
8-/10
Sadly going off the 500<400 list this year but I hope it'll come back.
Further reading:
http://sensesofcinema.com/2017/cteq/morgiana/
http://nothingbutthenight.blogspot.com/2015/03/morgiana-1972.html
http://w-cinema.blogspot.com/2012/05/morgiana-1972.html
Toplist comment on 1000<400
Melvelet
Hey, could you please update this list? ;)Movie comment on Breza
Melvelet
Beautifully shot. Like It Rains in My Village it's another story (but much better executed) about the unpleasant life in a small town, love or rather lack of love, death and indifference, with a lot of laughter from the character but a depressing feeling for the viewer. Recommended!Many of those impressive outdoor shot feature an artificially darkened sky which looks amateurish but also gave me a bit of a surrealistic feeling.
Movie comment on Di Cavalcanti
Melvelet
With English subs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTaPy0VkK8gMovie comment on Ryoma ansatsu
Melvelet
(Crucial?) background information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakamoto_Ry%C5%8DmaBlog comment on Community
Melvelet
Will Asian Cinema: A Field Guide get a real icon as well? ;)Movie comment on La vendedora de rosas
Melvelet
For those interested in what become of the actors: http://exclusivas.canalrcn.com/galerias/articulo-galeria/que-paso-con-los-protagonistas-de-la-cinta-la-vendedora-de-rosas (In Spanish - you can google translate of course)Toplist comment on Kinema Junpo Annual Top Tens available online with English subtitles
Melvelet
Now available:Fukai kawa (1995)
Subbed ones from the 2014 list:
Soko nomi nite hikari kagayaku
Chiisai ouchi
Toplist comment on Kinema Junpo Annual Top 10s
Melvelet
2014 list:1. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3039932/
2. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3825360/
3. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3560492/
4. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3506606/
5. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2889716/
6. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2530392/
7. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2763746/
8. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4080598/
9. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4296022/
10. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3090310/
10. (tied) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2770290/
Toplist comment on Kinema Junpo Annual Top Tens available online with English subtitles
Melvelet
Tsui no shintaku (2012) shouldn't be here.Toplist comment on Kinema Junpo Annual Top Tens available online with English subtitles
Melvelet
Kaguyahime no monogatari (2013) is available now.Toplist comment on Sight and Sound Annual Best of the Year Polls
Melvelet
Thanks!Movie comment on Nippon konchûki
Melvelet
Insect Woman or Incest Women?Movie comment on Mang jing
Melvelet
"In the decade since the film came out, there have been a handful of similar incidents in China, and the brutal schemes have come to be known as “Blind Shaft cases.”"http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/07/21-guilty-in-mine-shaft-murders-echoing-chinese-film/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
Movie comment on Berlin Alexanderplatz
Melvelet
It's not cut into episodes to make it better watchable. It's cut into episodes because it was produced as a TV Mini-Series. I tried to watch it in 2 sessions (but had to delay the second half of the epilogue to another day because of a DVD failure). It's certainly exhausting this way so I think I'd only watch a few episodes at a time when I revisit it.Movie comment on La noire de...
Melvelet
Recommended reading: http://sensesofcinema.com/2002/cteq/black_girl/Movie comment on Topio stin omihli
Melvelet
Wonderful tracking shots.Movie comment on Ossessione
Melvelet
And another Italian film (noir) from the 40s that I really enjoyed.Showing items 1 – 25 of 95