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SCREENING LOG
- 12/15-12/21, 2003
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I watched ANATAHAN, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP,
TALES OF HOFFMANN and KILLER OF SHEEP. In order of preference:
In order of preference:
Killer of Sheep (1977, Charles Burnett)
Authenticity is something I think about from time to time
when regarding films that depict the experiences of a certain
group of people -- how do you know if a movie about blacks,
gays, Jews, etc. is authentic if you are not one of those
people (or even if you ARE, if the experience depicted onscreen
is different from your own)? The dilemma comes to the fore
with a movie like KILLER OF SHEEP, which to me simply *feels*
like one of the most authentic depictions of ghetto life I've
ever seen, even though I've never lived in a ghetto. Just
the specificity of certain images, the mood and feel of dilapidated
kitchens and run-down streets, scenes with kids playing games
that don't resemble any game I know, the loose ebb and flow
of family conversations hollered back and forth across noisy
rooms. This impressionistic portrait of a man's slow burn
in slum despair has all the evocative mystery of some of my
favorite Soviet silents, not to mention the deep, dark, gritty
funk of some of my favorite early jazz and blues recordings
(a number of which feature prominently in the purposefully
murky soundtrack). Authentic or not, this was an eye-opening
experience and I'm still trying to process it. But I have
no doubt that Burnett is a true poet. #1 for 1977
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943, Michael Powell
and Emeric Pressburger)
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0036112
My two favorite films by the Archers are their wartime films
A CANTERBURY TALE and this epic masterpiece that charts the
winding career of a distinguished British officer from his
days as a young upstart to a domineering general whose code
of honor may no longer be relevant in the age of Nazism and
modern warfare. I love these films because they have the most
beguiling narratives, the kind that would be thrown out of
any contemporary screenwriting workshop. In both cases the
movement of the story runs secondary to understanding the
momement and growth of the characters; moments like a duel
or a chance encounter with a woman in a monastery are depicted
in a what that one can't help reflecting on the strange twists
of events that led to these monumental, life altering-moments.
And so the film has a profound sense of metaphysical mystery
that deeply enhances our understanding of how these characters
have changed and have been changed by the ebb and flow of
history. I will probably always prefer this kind of thoughtful,
delicate, sharply rendered and arrestingly quirky depiction
of life to the panting, bobble-headed stylistic indulgences
that the Archers indulged in later on. It's not as if this
film is lacking for style -- for the record this film has
perhaps the most astounding assortment of scene transitions
of any movie I've seen -- but its style enhances the story
instead of overwhelming it. #3 for 1943 between DAY OF WRATH
and THE LEOPARD MAN
Anatahan (1954, Josef von Sternberg)
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0046712
Sternberg's last production is arguably his boldest achievement:
the story of an outfit of Japanese sailors stranded in a Pacific
island at the end of WWII is told with no subtitles and a
bizarre voice-over narration (done by Sternberg) that slips
between first and third person as well as past and future
tenses. Shot entirely on a soundstage with everything except
the water made of paper and cellophane, the film at times
wears its artifice on its sleeve, and yet the feelings of
human longing, lust, camaraderie and general bewilderment
are genuine -- Sternberg is out to isolate, crystiallize,
and purify the most fundamental reason we watch movies --human
feeling -- while acknowledging and subverting the apparatus
of illusion that makes it possible. The finale is simply devastating
and threatens to turn the entire cinematic medium inside out.
#4 for 1954 between SANSHO THE BAILIFF and JOHNNY GUITAR
The Tales of Hoffmann (1951, Michael Powell and Emeric
Pressburger)
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0044103
The Archers took their triumphant ballet sequences from THE
RED SHOES and tried to extend them for an entire feature,
with mixed but often beguiling results. ETA Hoffmann recounts
three fantastical encounters with women that led to his choice
to become a poet. This is probably targeted more for opera
and ballet fans than for most viewers (the sung dialogue was
often impossible for me to understand), but visually the film
had more than enough to tie my interest throughout. The film
has little going for it in terms of character development
and narrative movement, instead opting to fill the screen
with phantasmagoric effects while repeatedly underscoring
the tenuous relationship between the artistic (male) controlling
power over the (female) muse/object/idee fixe, a Powellian
theme most notably celebrated in THE RED SHOES and PEEPING
TOM (even COLONEL BLIMP has a recurring female muse representing
an unsustainable, elusive ideal). In many respects I couldn't
help but be reminded of Fellini's CASANOVA of 25 years later;
both films often drift through unabashed indulgence and lack
the rigor of their creators' best work, but nonetheless serve
as telling statements of their unique creative visions and
do not lack for moments of cinematic wonder. #7 for 1951 between
RASHOMON and STRANGERS ON A TRAIN
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