WOW!!! Sátántangó Directed by Béla Tarr • 1994 • Hungary Starring Mihály Vig, Putyi Horváth, László feLugossy One of the towering achievements of modern cinema, Béla Tarr’s newly restored magnum opus, based on the novel by László Krasznahorkai, follows members of a small, defunct agricultural collective who set out to leave their village on the heels of a financial windfall. As a few of the townspeople secretly conspire to abscond with all of the earnings themselves, a mysterious character, long thought dead, returns to the village, altering the course of everyone’s lives. Shot in exquisite monochrome and composed in arresting long takes, SÁTÁNTANGÓ unfolds in twelve distinct movements, alternating forward and backward in time, echoing the structure of a tango dance. Tarr’s monumental vision, aided by longtime partner and collaborator Ágnes Hranitzky, is enthralling, and his immersive evocation of rural Hungary as a postapocalyptic world of boozy dance parties, treachery, and near-perpetual rainfall is both transfixing and uncompromising.
I actually bought 3 of these 4 (not Golem) this week on Blu Ray! Watched Basil Dearden's All Night Long this morning. Very cool (man!)
Just finished the Apu Trilogy: Pather Panchali - 1955 Aparajito - 1956 The World of Apu - 1959 Great films, fantastic cinematography and a moving and emotional ride. And even though it's a culture far from my own, the movies were very relatable.
John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection Directed by Julien Faraut • 2018 • France Narrated by Mathieu Amalric, this innovative documentary revisits a wealth of 16 mm footage of tennis superstar John McEnroe taken at the height of his career, when he competed to defend his status as the world’s top-ranked player at the 1984 French Open. Close-ups and slow-motion sequences of McEnroe playing, as well as flare-ups of his notorious on-court tantrums, reveal a “man who played on the edge of his senses.” Far from a traditional sports documentary, JOHN MCENROE: IN THE REALM OF PERFECTION expressively reshapes its material to explore both McEnroe’s game and the footage itself, creating a mesmerizing, immersive study of a driven athlete, the human body in motion, and cinema itself.
Yeah, they're terrific, I agree! There were tons of Satyajit Ray films on the channel (or maybe it was Filmstruck?) ... perhaps they're still there?
Currently there are 16 of his film available to watch. I think you recommended Charulata previously. Would that still be your recommendation on where to go after the Apu trilogy?
I've been working through the "Bad Vacations" list, and saw this one, tonight. A tough watch, to say the least. Funny Games Directed by Michael Haneke • 1997 • Austria Starring Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Mühe, Arno Frisch Michael Haneke’s most notorious provocation, FUNNY GAMES spares no detail in its depiction of the agony of a bourgeois family held captive at their vacation home by a pair of white-gloved young men. In a series of escalating “games,” the sadistic duo subject their victims to unspeakable physical and psychological torture over the course of a night. A home-invasion thriller in which the genre’s threat of bloodshed is made stomach-churningly real, the film ratchets up shocks even as its executioners interrupt the action to address the audience, drawing queasy attention to the way that cinema milks pleasure from pain and stokes our appetite for atrocity. With this controversial treatise on violence and entertainment, Haneke issued a summation of his cinematic philosophy, implicating his audience in a spectacle of unbearable cruelty.
I want to like Albert Brooks. 7/10 for me. Mother Directed by Albert Brooks • 1996 • United States Starring Albert Brooks, Debbie Reynolds Following his second divorce, a science fiction author (writer-director Albert Brooks) realizes he is never going to find lasting love if he doesn't straighten out his relationship with his mother first. But when he moves back in with his maddeningly passive-aggressive mom (Debbie Reynolds in a smashing comeback performance), it soon becomes clear that she has no intention of making the process easy for him. With his customary blend of sharp observational humor and all-American angst, Albert Brooks delivers an alternately hilarious and painfully relatable look at the complicated ties that bind parents and children.
I saw the "Albert Brooks Festival" was happening and I'd like to rewatch all of these if I can find the time. The NBA Playoffs and a new semester of teaching have wiped out my CC time for the moment!
Whoa! Loved This! 10/10 The Housemaid Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project A torrent of sexual obsession, revenge, and betrayal is unleashed under one roof in this venomous melodrama from South Korean master Kim Ki-young. Immensely popular in its home country when it was released, THE HOUSEMAID is the thrilling, at times jaw-dropping story of the devastating effect an unstable housemaid has on the domestic cocoon of a bourgeois, morally dubious music teacher, his devoted wife, and their precocious young children. Grim and taut yet perched on the border of the absurd, Kim’s film is an engrossing tale of class warfare and familial disintegration that has been hugely influential on the new generation of South Korean filmmakers. Restored in 2008 by the Korean Film Archive (KOFA), in association with The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project and HFR-Digital Film laboratory. Additional restoration funded by Armani, Cartier, Qatar Airways, and Qatar Museum Authority.
One of my all time favorites. I watched it twice in a row the first time. Then I was lucky to see it in the theater not long after that.
I highly recommend the other two films in the BRD trilogy. "Veronica Voss" is one of three. "The Marriage of Maria Braun" and "Lola" are just as good! I also highly recommend "Ali: Fear Eats the Soul". "Chinese Roulette" is great but definitely not everyones cup of tea.
I always found the protective ice comment (ice cream/sorbet) funny as I know people who have actually had those conversations with their parents.
Had never seen this before. Great movie! 9/10 The Shop on Main Street Directed by Ján Kadár and Elmar Klos • 1965 • Czechoslovakia Starring Idá Kaminská, Josef Kroner, František Zvarík An inept Slovak peasant is torn between greed and guilt when the Nazi-backed bosses of his town appoint him “Aryan controller” of an old Jewish widow’s button shop. Humor and tragedy fuse in this scathing exploration of one cowardly man’s complicity in the horrors of a totalitarian regime. Made near the height of Soviet oppression in Czechoslovakia, THE SHOP ON MAIN STREET features intense editing and camera work which won it the Academy Award for best foreign film in 1965.
I struggle to like Albert Brooks as I find him to be rather light on depth, but perhaps deceptively so. I'd never seen this until now and laughed out loud three times. Lost in America Directed by Albert Brooks • 1985 • United States Starring Albert Brooks, Julie Hagerty In this hysterical satire of Reagan-era values, written and directed by Albert Brooks, a successful Los Angeles advertising executive (Brooks) and his wife (Julie Hagerty) decide to quit their jobs, buy a Winnebago, and follow their EASY RIDER fantasies of freedom and the open road. When a stop in Las Vegas nearly derails their plans, they’re forced to come to terms with their own limitations and those of the American dream. Brooks’s barbed wit and confident direction drive LOST IN AMERICA, an iconic example of his restless comedies about insecure characters searching for satisfaction in the modern world that established his unique comic voice and transformed the art of observational humor.
A tour de force, IMO: Lenny Directed by Bob Fosse • 1974 • United States Starring Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, Jan Miner Dustin Hoffman brilliantly captures the complexities and contradictions of the legendary comedian Lenny Bruce’s mercurial character in this searing, behind-the-scenes portrait from director Bob Fosse. Cutting back and forth in time, LENNY captures the stand-up at both his electrifying prime—when he broke new ground and courted controversy with his outspoken, uncensored style—and his late-career low, when, worn down by his conviction in an obscenity trial, he succumbed to drug addiction. Costar Valerie Perrine received the best actress prize at Cannes for her wrenching performance as Bruce’s wife, Honey.
This is a must see! Can't wait to see the other two by Lucrecia Martel. BTW, theres an OK article on her over at Hyperallergic: Lucrecia Martel's Feminine Monsters La Ciénaga The release of Lucrecia Martel’s LA CIÉNAGA heralded the arrival of an astonishingly vital and original voice in Argentine cinema. With a radical and disturbing take on narrative, beautiful cinematography, and a highly sophisticated use of on- and offscreen sound, Martel turns her tale of a dissolute bourgeois extended family, whiling away the hours of one sweaty, sticky summer, into a cinematic marvel. This visceral take on class, nature, sexuality, and the ways that political turmoil and social stagnation can manifest in human relationships is a drama of extraordinary tactility, and one of the great contemporary film debuts.
First time watching these Powell Pressburger films. I enjoyed both. What does everyone think of these films? Any other favorites by these directors? Black Narcissus Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger • 1947 • United Kingdom Starring Deborah Kerr, Sabu, David Farrar This explosive work about the conflict between the spirit and the flesh is the epitome of the sensuous style of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. A group of nuns—played by some of Britain’s finest actresses, including Deborah Kerr, Kathleen Byron, and Flora Robson—struggle to establish a convent in the Himalayas, while isolation, extreme weather, altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad. A darkly grand film that won Oscars for Alfred Junge's art direction and Jack Cardiff's cinematography, BLACK NARCISSUS is one of the greatest achievements by two of cinema’s true visionaries. The Red Shoes Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger • 1948 • United Kingdom Starring Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring THE RED SHOES, the singular fantasia from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is cinema’s quintessential backstage drama, as well as one of the most glorious Technicolor feasts ever concocted for the screen. Moira Shearer is a rising star ballerina torn between an idealistic composer and a ruthless impresario intent on perfection. Featuring outstanding performances, blazingly beautiful cinematography by Jack Cardiff, Oscar-winning sets and music, and an unforgettable, hallucinatory central dance sequence, this beloved classic, now dazzlingly restored, stands as an enthralling tribute to the life of the artist. Restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive in association with the BFI, The Film Foundation, ITV Global Entertainment Ltd., and Janus Films. Restoration funding provided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, The Film Foundation, and the Louis B. Mayer Foundation.
Excellent!! Recommended by Scorsese and Coppola on their top ten favorite films. I already want to watch it again. Ashes and Diamonds Directed by Andrzej Wajda • 1958 • Poland Starring Zbigniew Cybulski, Ewa Krzyzewska, Waclaw Zastrzezynski On the last day of World War II in a small town somewhere in Poland, Polish exiles of war and the occupying Soviet forces confront the beginning of a new day and a new Poland. In this incendiary environment we find Home Army soldier Maciek Chelmicki, who has been ordered to assassinate an incoming commissar. But a mistake stalls his progress and leads him to Krystyna, a beautiful barmaid who gives him a glimpse of what his life could be. Gorgeously photographed and brilliantly performed, ASHES AND DIAMONDS masterfully interweaves the fate of a nation with that of one man, resulting in one of the most important Polish films of all time.
