otm
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 13 March 2023 15:51 (one year ago) link
I had the good luck for my first viewing of Sunrise to be on a big screen, and I went in not knowing much except it was supposed to be great. Thought it was pretty amazing visually, and yes also crazy.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Monday, 13 March 2023 16:12 (one year ago) link
I've seen Sunrise maybe 3 or 4 times through the years and it never fails to amaze me how much its pieces shouldn't work together but, ultimately, absolutely do. Best movie to ever win a best picture Oscar outside of All About Eve.
― عباس کیارستمی (Eric H.), Monday, 13 March 2023 16:55 (one year ago) link
finally saw SHERLOCK JR yesterday and loved it. the film within a film conceit, culminating in proposing to the girl at the end after seeing it done on the screen, so well executed and I imaging it felt especially fresh 100 years ago. the stunts were awesome and mostly didn’t detract from the story. only major issue I had was the female lead who was kind of a zero
― k3vin k., Tuesday, 14 March 2023 16:47 (one year ago) link
Enjoyed sunrise, my favourite part was the photographers face when he saw his remade statue
― nxd, Wednesday, 15 March 2023 16:04 (one year ago) link
yeah, total reversal of expectations, like many other touches a complete joy.I was thinking Sunrise reminds me a little of Before Sunrise, not just the name, both films we're mainly just hanging out with a couple as they spend time together.
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Wednesday, 15 March 2023 18:36 (one year ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/The_Passion_of_Joan_of_Arc_%281928%29_English_Poster.png
The Passion of Joan of Arc, Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1928
Morbsies # 40Sight & Sound Critics # 21Sight & Sound Directors # 30
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Monday, 20 March 2023 22:26 (one year ago) link
This was the first one I've seen already (shocking) so I just put on my DVD, but here is a youtube link for easy viewing.
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Monday, 20 March 2023 22:31 (one year ago) link
So yes, I voted for this in the morbsies poll, love it, now not sure I would put it above everything else from the 20s. her performance is outstanding, what utter devotion to a role, and not only does it look absolutely incredible, but the use of dolly shots seems revolutionary. but, do I care about it beyond the performance and the cinematography? not sure. there is a lot of theology here that goes over my head, cannot pretend I understand everything that's happening. feel like critic-wise this might be the new battleship potemkin, and there will be another in 20 years.
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Monday, 20 March 2023 23:13 (one year ago) link
This one never doesn’t work on me. Watched it fresh after the S&S results and, unlike with POTEMKIN, I was engrossed the whole time and wet-cheeked by the end.
― عباس کیارستمی (Eric H.), Monday, 20 March 2023 23:30 (one year ago) link
Falconetti is riveting, just one of the all-time great performances. And Dreyer basing the script on the actual trial records was a smart choice — the film is adulatory in a way but not hagiographic, imo, and I think the trial transcripts keep it grounded.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Monday, 20 March 2023 23:36 (one year ago) link
I've only seen it once, live accompaniment, definitely unforgettable (as is the quotation in My Life to Live, as is the "Nothing Compares 2 U" video).
― clemenza, Monday, 20 March 2023 23:42 (one year ago) link
And just in case all that’s not enough for you, Dreyer threw in Antonin Artaud to sweeten the deal.
― Bringing Up Initials B.B. (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 20 March 2023 23:43 (one year ago) link
as far as films from this era go, I loved Chaplin’s The Kid with Jackie Coogan (1921) and Safety Last! from Newmeyer/Taylor (1923) starring Harold Lloyd.
Sunrise and The Passion of Joan of Arc are two of my favorite films of all time, but I hated Metropolis
― Dan S, Tuesday, 21 March 2023 01:05 (one year ago) link
The Kid and Safety Last are both good, but a bit too basic for my tastes, I thought these two Keaton films were a nice step up from that.I considered adding the best-rated film for every missing year, on the plus side that would have meant not just Harold Lloyd and even Méliès, but unfortunately on the negative would also have meant sitting through many hours of D.W.Griffith.
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Tuesday, 21 March 2023 13:52 (one year ago) link
I'm hardly the person to advocate for Griffith--I've never voluntarily seen a film of his, just what I saw in film class; maybe j.lu would want to--but there are at least two films of his that are highly regarded (Way Down East and Broken Blossoms; I've seen the former) and I'm pretty sure have zero to do with the film that destroyed his stature or the follow-up that was supposed to excuse that one. But if you can't get past the fact that it was him who made them, I can appreciate that.
― clemenza, Tuesday, 21 March 2023 19:31 (one year ago) link
Yes, omitting all of Griffith, as good as it might feel, is not an accurate portrait of film history
― عباس کیارستمی (Eric H.), Tuesday, 21 March 2023 19:44 (one year ago) link
sorry, didn't want to get into the griffith debate again, will just say that I don't agree and leave it at that
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Tuesday, 21 March 2023 20:26 (one year ago) link
I mean, it's empirical but whatev
― عباس کیارستمی (Eric H.), Tuesday, 21 March 2023 20:28 (one year ago) link
(Intolerance and Broken Blossoms aside, I don't even particularly enjoy Griffith that much.)
― عباس کیارستمی (Eric H.), Tuesday, 21 March 2023 20:30 (one year ago) link
I'm doubtful there's any such thing as "an accurate portrait of film history" but even if there was I don't see that that is what we're supposed to be doing on this thread?
― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 21 March 2023 20:37 (one year ago) link
Been having a look through and these are the films which would be added if I followed the "one for every year" rule
Voyage dans la lune, Le Méliès, Georges 1902After Death Bauer, Yevgeni 1915Intolerance Griffith, D.W. 1916Outlaw and His Wife, The Sjöström, Victor 1918One Week Keaton, Buster & Edward F. Cline 1920High Sign, The Cline, Edward F. and Buster Keaton 1921Nosferatu Murnau, F.W. 1922Safety Last Newmeyer, Fred C./Sam Taylor 1923Unholy Three, The Conway, Jack 1930Shanghai Express von Sternberg, Josef 193239 Steps, The Hitchcock, Alfred 1935Make Way for Tomorrow McCarey, Leo 1937Holiday Cukor, George 1938His Girl Friday Hawks, Howard 1940Double Indemnity Wilder, Billy 1944Enfants du paradis, Les Carné, Marcel 1945Victims of Sin Fernández, Emilio 1951Kes Loach, Ken 1969Goodbye, Dragon Inn Tsai Ming-liang 2003Transporter 2, The Leterrier, Louis 2005Clock, The Marclay, Christian 2010Field in England, A Wheatley, Ben 2013First Cow Reichardt, Kelly 2020
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Tuesday, 21 March 2023 23:11 (one year ago) link
Love Holiday, love Kes. Simple as.
― Daniel_Rf, Tuesday, 21 March 2023 23:12 (one year ago) link
Oh god, THE CLOCK needs to be added and mandatory
― عباس کیارستمی (Eric H.), Tuesday, 21 March 2023 23:24 (one year ago) link
and Goodbye, Dragon Inn
― Dan S, Tuesday, 21 March 2023 23:33 (one year ago) link
Victims of Sin Fernández
One of my favourite screenings over the last few years.
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 21 March 2023 23:45 (one year ago) link
One Week Keaton, Buster & Edward F. Cline 1920High Sign, The Cline, Edward F. and Buster Keaton 1921Nosferatu Murnau, F.W. 1922Safety Last Newmeyer, Fred C./Sam Taylor 1923Unholy Three, The Conway, Jack 1930Shanghai Express von Sternberg, Josef 1932
All highly recommended by me.
I'm not inclined to defend D.W. Griffith, although he definitely helped create the feature film as we now know it.
― Infanta Terrible (j.lu), Tuesday, 21 March 2023 23:58 (one year ago) link
ok, I've done it.not sure if a good idea, but I've done it.(check link at top of thread for confusing new details)
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Wednesday, 22 March 2023 15:45 (one year ago) link
would advise anyone about to watch Man With A Movie Camera to check the updated list.
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Wednesday, 22 March 2023 19:46 (one year ago) link
downloaded the whole of jeanne d'arc without noticing the inter titles were in French. i might be able to scrape by with my cse grade 2.
― koogs, Thursday, 23 March 2023 00:44 (one year ago) link
Youtube link above has english subs, I think
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Thursday, 23 March 2023 07:47 (one year ago) link
Such a counter-intuitive move for a film in the pre-sound era, a court proceeding. Yet Dreyer makes it work squeezing every last drop of emotion from those faces. And of course the ending becomes plenty cinematic.
Agreed that Falconetti is superb.
The gender dynamics are so front and centre now, perhaps more than they were to people when it came out - this woman being gaslit and humiliated by a procession of grotesque men.
Failed to recognize Michel Simon, holy shit!
My own cultural context makes me read the situation as "these guys are horrible sadistic pricks, Jeanne is troubled and in need of the kind of psychological existence that didn't exist back then", but Dreyer himself was a believer, so I don't think that's how he'd read it?
Philistine alert: 80 min did still have my attention wandering, might not on the big screen tho.
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 23 March 2023 11:07 (one year ago) link
the few seconds i saw when ffwding through it to check last night had some odd framing in it, shots of characters from their knees to their chins, made me wonder if i had a bad version. it also had fake red curtains added at the sides to pad it out to 16:9. :puke:
― koogs, Thursday, 23 March 2023 12:02 (one year ago) link
One of my most philistine takes is that Passion, though extremely great, is even better with the now-standard Einhorn accompaniment.
― عباس کیارستمی (Eric H.), Thursday, 23 March 2023 13:45 (one year ago) link
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Voyage_dans_la_lune_title_card.png
Le voyage dans la lune, Georges Méliès, 1902Morbsies #562
Youtube link here - loads of versions on Youtube but this seems to be the best quality non-colourized, non-50fps one, if you prefer that then there are plenty of options. This version has a brass band backing which I don't care for, you can just mute it though.
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Monday, 27 March 2023 13:07 (one year ago) link
Update! I had thought that the hand-colour version was lost, apparently it was found and restored. This seems to be the best version I can find - it claims to be 50fps but I can see no evidence of this.
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Monday, 27 March 2023 13:16 (one year ago) link
Unlike most of the other films so far, I've watched this quite a few times. It's hard to judge by later film standards as Méliès doesn't really fit in the lineage, and if this were a history of the grammar of film-making, something like The Great Train Robbery (1903) would be more interesting, but it isn't, so it isn't. Obviously it's just a series of theatrical tableaux, but what tableaux!
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Monday, 27 March 2023 13:18 (one year ago) link
https://i.postimg.cc/d012c5xZ/MV5-BZj-Jk-Mm-Ji-Ym-Mt-YTg4-My00-OWVi-LThh-ODIt-ZGM4-NGMy-M2-M5-Yj-Az-L2lt-YWdl-L2lt-YWdl-Xk-Ey-Xk-Fqc-Gde-QXVy-MDI3-OTIz-OA-V1.jpgAfter Death, Yevgeni Bauer, 1915Morbsies #1133Youtube link
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Monday, 3 April 2023 12:47 (eleven months ago) link
* A film which is likely too goth even for goths, it's essentially an advertisement for suicide.* So, so beautiful though, all of the apparitions and that tracking shot at the party at the start is wonderful* Male lead and director both dead within the next few years. Vera Karalli OTOH was one of two women present on the night of Rasputin's murder. Then she lived until the 70s.
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Monday, 3 April 2023 12:53 (eleven months ago) link
More or less co-sign on all of that. This and Twilight of a Woman's Soul reached me at the right moment in my life to leave an indelible imprint.
― fair but so uncool beliefs here (Eric H.), Monday, 3 April 2023 14:29 (eleven months ago) link
Late to give my thinking on the Mélies: the version on Amazon has a dude narrating over it, was this perhaps common practice at some point in the silent era, pre introduction of intertitles? Anyway, it's great fun, reminded me a lot of Terry Gilliam (with the bonus that I know nothing about whether Mélies was an asshole).
fav letterboxd review, from user Allan:
Pretty realistic in the sense that if you did send a bunch of old guys into space, they probably would take a nap then try to kill some aliens and then expect a medal for it when they got back
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 3 April 2023 14:55 (eleven months ago) link
After Death - This is the first thing discussed itt that I'd never even heard of! I think I never considered that pre-revolutionary Russia would have a film industry, Eisenstein and co cast such a large shadow.
Anyway, enjoyed this a lot! A lot more plot focused than most of what we've watched so far, could easily imagine it as a short story. Very Russian, of course. Do think the ending could have been pulled off more economically, I suppose they're trying to build towards a crescendo but it doesn't really escalate so much as maintain the same level imo.
― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 5 April 2023 09:17 (eleven months ago) link
that dinner party long shot was beautiful
― nxd, Wednesday, 5 April 2023 13:35 (eleven months ago) link
watch my french jeanne d'arc. very strange framing at times as i've probably said before. and the burning at the end (spoilers) lingered on the corpse to an uncomfortable degree.
also recognised one shot of the cover of that adorable cd i have
https://www.discogs.com/master/20907-Adorable-Sunshine-Smile
― koogs, Sunday, 9 April 2023 19:24 (eleven months ago) link
the other startling thing, towards the end, is when he tracks people moving from in front of the camera to behind it - he rotates the camera in an axis such that the shot ends up upside down.
― koogs, Sunday, 9 April 2023 19:33 (eleven months ago) link
https://i.postimg.cc/7LpQnB7Y/517px-Intolerance-film.jpgIntolerance, D.W. Griffith, 1916Morbsies #956Youtube link
― Camaraderie at Arms Length, Monday, 10 April 2023 15:39 (eleven months ago) link
I have 50 minutes left on my rewatch of this, so will save my thoughts for a bit.
Yeah, sitting this one out.
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 10 April 2023 15:40 (eleven months ago) link
Remove Bookmark from this Thread
― fair but so uncool beliefs here (Eric H.), Monday, 10 April 2023 15:52 (eleven months ago) link
I'm actually curious what Camaraderie has to say!
― the very juice and sperm of kindness. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 10 April 2023 16:07 (eleven months ago) link