Robert Bresson: Search & Destroy

such a = so

i think lancelot du lac is the one ive liked the best or maybe i was just in the perfect mood for it, uncertainty and dread and severity. idk i thought it was really good, ive been kinda thinking about it all day

it is surely one of his very best. the jousting!

haha yeah! its so tense but also anticlimactic, almost? amateursit tell why this movie is so good tho, is it the lighting???

no, it's the ambient sounds!

http://books.google.com/books?id=8ESLZUA9lCsC&pg=PA289&lpg=PA289&dq=kristin+thompson+lancelot+du+lac+whinnies&source=bl&ots=OVcZ0zo27G&sig=acU08F9B_s_gyWJacZjIQNEA3L4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wT6kT5y1IoaFgwfVgL3oAQ&ved=0CE4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

should revisit this one. does anyone else like his 'joan of arc' film a lot?

syuzhet and fabula!!! (xp)

I just saw the Joan recently, it's fine, as good a climax as imaginable (perhaps better than Dreyer's).

saw "Joan" years ago -- maybe the closest Bresson came to dull craftsmanship.

dr. morbius you can tell me why lancelot is so good too. (xp)

syuzhet and fabula!!!

best stalin-era comedy duo ever!

i particularly like their "who's on first?" routine.

i agreed with what i understood to be the thesis of the article you linked but reading it made me laugh p hard i always forget that jargon is the humanities version of ~equations~

this note of bresson's seems relevant:

Slow films in which everyone gallops and gesticulates; quick films in which people hardly move.

raymond durgnat called red psalm 'processional' cinema, and lancelot du lac seems to fit that, too

(best joan of arc movie(s)= the full-length rivette version imho)

that article is not really super-jargony, once you get past several russian formalist terms -- it's surely not written in a way designed to impede understanding as is often the case w/ academics.

quick films in which people hardly move.

ha! he basically anticipates the matrix sequels.

no no give or take a 'parametric variations' her style is quite good and clear it just struck me as funny perhaps because i am working/avoiding working on a paper stuffed full of equations atm

anyway 'ambient sounds' was a good answer, thank you for playing

yeah i see. the book is very nearly all _about_ "parametric narration" and the introduction lays that all out pretty clearly IIRC. it's not the best-written article ever but i think it gets at some of the things that make the movie special.

(best joan of arc movie(s)= the full-length rivette version imho)

kinda interesting that so many of the best filmmakers have taken on this subject -- offhand i can't think of any other historical figure who's gotten that much attention. maybe napoleon, if we count kubrick's abandoned project.

http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0026778/

Jesus?

xpost

jesus: 359 films
adolf hitler: 341 films
abraham lincoln: 300 films
joan of arc: 82 films

don king: 9 films

i think bresson's joan of arc film is interesting, like all his films. the one i don't have much patience with is "a gentle woman."

the casting of Dominique Sanda is all too easy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQsEyyqF5Xw

jesus: 359 films
adolf hitler: 341 films
abraham lincoln: 300 films
joan of arc: 82 films

i guess i meant 'great' filmmakers, as in it's interesting that ppl of the caliber of dreyer, bresson and rivette all felt compelled to take on joan. jesus is a good suggestion, tho, and lincoln has at least two greats in his corner (griffith and ford).

dreyer, bresson and rivette

don't forget luc besson!

and Otto Perminger!

the making of doc on the mouchette criterion is really awesome imo

Dreyer and Besson ftw!

Interesting - and gossipy - obit for Francois Weyergans, who made a documentary about Bresson and whose wife at the time later married Bresson and became his main collaborator:

https://www.sabzian.be/note/françois-weyergans-1941-2019?fbclid=IwAR2SpKhdd6s_68_kVLqhXQIMk1q3Z9eL6B80D8e_OBxIJuwGeU1xRbbQ7L8

Greatest character in film history is Charles in The Devil Probably (1977). Just tools around Paris talking shit on everyone he meets between getting his fuck on and doing suicide attempts. Total legend.

— 𝖜𝖊 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖎𝖓 𝖉𝖆𝖓𝖌𝖊𝖗 (@NickPinkerton) March 27, 2018

watched again tonight and it is true

Charles is like a couple of Parisians I've known

indefinite integral of co-sign

This is old news but hasn't been mentioned here: Four Nights of a Dreamer came out in a decent transfer on Blu-Ray in Japan a few years back. Seems it is also on Amazon Prime in the USA (I don't live there so I can't check the quality). But it's nice that this film is out there and looking OK. It can't touch his greatest films, but it certainly should be seen by every Bresson head and the movie premiere scene is great and memorable.

I have Prime for two more days and no, it's not available in the US. :(

Destroy: Joan of Arc movie

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto)

rong

Getting into Bresson has been the greatest outcome of watching more old movies at home during the pandemic. Went to LA in September on a few weeks’ notice specifically to watch six of them in the theatre courtesy of American Cinemateque. Country Priest in 35mm and Lancelot in a recent 4K were both incredible, first time seeing each of them. The man was right about acting.

Great to read about Bresson still working his magic on newcomers. I envy you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QvvIpXrnCA

Destroy: Joan of Arc movie

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto)

rong

― G. D’Arcy Cheesewright (silby)

I was, yeah.

Showing Pickpocket to my enthusiastic students in October was one of my premier teaching experiences.

You have a premium-level student subscription level?

SubscriptioN?

Sorry. Was making a bad joke because you said “premium experience.”

FYI, Four Nights of a Dreamer is streaming right now at Le Cinéma Club.