Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club - Page 119

george kaplan · 01-19-2008, 11:12 AM

Brook is right, Alphaville is comedy, quite obviously so. A spoof, even.

Well, I'm willing to concede that Alphaville is a comedy. However, since it elicited not one laugh, nor even a single smile from me, it's certainly not a funny comedy. And ergo, at least for me, a very bad comedy.

I have to say, however, that to me, Alphaville viewed as a science fiction film, while not good, is a lot better than Alphaville viewed as a comedy, since it works at least somewhat as sci-fi, and not at all as comedy.

Of course, I understand that humor is very subjective, and if there are people falling off their chairs with laughter til their sides hurt while watching Alphaville, then more power to them.

Michael Elliott · 01-19-2008, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by george kaplan

[q]

Of course, I understand that humor is very subjective, and if there are people falling off their chairs with laughter til their sides hurt while watching Alphaville, then more power to them.

When I watched ALPHAVILLE last year it struck me as one of those films where the director obviously hated a certain genre and he thought it would be funny to do something with that hatred. I personally found the film downright horrible but while watching it I couldn't help but picture Godard laughing his ass off while making it. To me, the entire film seems like something only Godard would be laughing at but apparently (and clearly) it has supporters.

rich_d · 01-19-2008, 07:34 PM

Clearly people see what they want to see in any movie. To me, the start of the film is more a reference to the James Bond films than anything else. Lemmy pulls up in a white Mustang references Goldfinger with the white mustang in that film. Certainly the Mustang was first released in the second half of 1964 in the USA. It shows up on a set in France? You have to want to have that car in the film for that to happen. I doubt that Godard had the Ford contract that Brocoli/Saltzman had. Also, Lemmy shows up at a hotel with women throwing themselves at him being attacked by the bath also seems to reference the pre-title sequence in Goldfinger (from the prior year).

For those thinking that Alphaville is a parody of sci-fi, my question is simple ... to do a parody one needs at least one film that is being parodied ... what film(s) is that?

My view is that the sci-fi stuff in Alphaville is a nice spin on the Tarzan story. Alphaville a.k.a Tarzan versus IBM is, the guy from the outer-lands (the wilds of Africa) showing up in the 'modern' world and finds it lacking. Add in Jane and you have a Tarzan film set in future day. Tarzan stops the madness, Jane falls for him and gives up 'civilization' to return with Tarzan to deepest darkest Africa.

Mario Gauci · 01-21-2008, 05:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rich_d

Clearly people see what they want to see in any movie. To me, the start of the film is more a reference to the James Bond films than anything else. Lemmy pulls up in a white Mustang references Goldfinger with the white mustang in that film. Certainly the Mustang was first released in the second half of 1964 in the USA. It shows up on a set in France? You have to want to have that car in the film for that to happen. I doubt that Godard had the Ford contract that Brocoli/Saltzman had. Also, Lemmy shows up at a hotel with women throwing themselves at him being attacked by the bath also seems to reference the pre-title sequence in Goldfinger (from the prior year).

For those thinking that Alphaville is a parody of sci-fi, my question is simple ... to do a parody one needs at least one film that is being parodied ... what film(s) is that?

My view is that the sci-fi stuff in Alphaville is a nice spin on the Tarzan story. Alphaville a.k.a Tarzan versus IBM is, the guy from the outer-lands (the wilds of Africa) showing up in the 'modern' world and finds it lacking. Add in Jane and you have a Tarzan film set in future day. Tarzan stops the madness, Jane falls for him and gives up 'civilization' to return with Tarzan to deepest darkest Africa.

Now, that is what I would could a perceptive review, folks! Of course, it helps that I think highly of Jean-Luc Godard (at least, during his 1960s phase) and ALPHAVILLE (1965), in particular, myself...despite the objections of my pal, Michael

!

Martin Teller · 01-27-2008, 05:03 PM

#277 Berlin Alexanderplatz - A review in 13 parts with an epilogue.

(Friday night)
1: I confess that I'm going into this with an attitude. With 50 (yes, 50!) other movies to watch, it's a little annoying that I'll have to spend the better part of my weekend to get through just one. Also, I haven't particularly loved any of the other Fassbinder films I've seen (but there haven't been many). On top of that, I'm a little skeptical of the film's stellar reputation. I suspect that part of it is is due to people not wanting to admit they sat through 15+ hours of something without it being a masterpiece. Despite all this, I have to say: so far, so good. I'm fairly invested in the story already, I'm intrigued by some of the more offbeat elements (the internal monologues, the cataloguing, the technical analyses of sex and violence) and the camerawork is quite nice. The look reminds me a bit of Once Upon in Time in America, perhaps because of all the yellow filters.

2: And here comes the Nazi stuff. For some reason I thought it would come later, or maybe even not at all. Now it reminds me even more of Heimat (another extremely long German movie). I was less interested in this episode, I usually don't like a lot of overt politics in films. But, I will soldier on... only 13 hours left to go! As an aside, I should mention that in my head, this movie is always called Berlin Alexanderpants.

3: This is better, now we're getting back to the real human elements of the story. The vile Otto, the lonely widow, the relationship with Lina, and of course Franz, who is shaping up to be a complex character. I'm anxious to see what happens to him next.

4: The length is starting to get to me, I suppose because this particular episode was so slow and mopey. On the other hand, it really does add to the novel-esque air of the project (I feel like I won't ever have to read the book after this is all done). If this wasn't an especially plot-heavy episode, it does seem like it was an important phase for Franz to work through. How'd he afford all the beer, though?

5: A weird one. This business with Reinhold and the girls just comes out of nowhere and doesn't feel much like the Franz we've gotten to know. The use of music -- the seemingly endless stretches of avant-garde piano -- was very interesting, though. I've been trying to figure out if the occasional flashing lights mean anything. Signaling a new direction in Franz's life, perhaps, but then again they're ALWAYS on in his apartment, so perhaps not.

6: This movie has been called experimental, but so far it's relatively conventional. Long, yes, but it was originally seen as a television series anyway. I'm enjoying the story, but I don't know what's up with Franz's character. At times he's extremely eloquent and insightful, but then other times he's hopelessly naive... maybe even borderline retarded. Anyway, I've got to pack it in for the night, but I'm looking forward to watching the rest tomorrow (I wonder if Lina will show up again at some point).

(Saturday)
7: At the halfway mark now. Nothing much new to add, on to part 8.

8: Between waking up late, taking my cat to the vet, and getting caught up in the S.C. primary coverage (yay Obama!), I'm way behind schedule. I should still finish it tonight, but there probably won't be time for anything else. I get more anxious when I have a lot of stuff to watch, it makes it harder for me to enjoy what I'm doing. I'm interested in Berlin, but fatigue is also setting in and I'm looking forward to the end. It's a good story, and I have no big complaints, but I wouldn't call it genius filmmaking yet. Ambitious, yes, genius, no.

9: Now the politics are creeping back in, but it arises much more organically from the plot. The parallels between Franz and Germany are interesting... I'm curious to know how much of this is Döblin (who wouldn't have known how bad it would get) and how much is Fassbinder. I'm getting annoyed with Fassbinder's narration, too much of this authorial voice intruding on things.

10: This idea for adding to my review after every episode seemed clever at first, but now it's getting to be a hassle. I can't think of much to say. God, FIVE hours left still? I think tomorrow I'll watch the shortest movies I have on deck.

11. I'm still expecting Lina to return at some point. They built her up as such an important character for the first 3 episodes, and then she just drops out of the picture (is she still with Meck? they never say). But perhaps she's gone for good... people drop in and out of our lives all the time. This story has quite a Dickensian flavor to it. Another aside: every time I see a picture of Fassbinder, he looks like a drowned rat.

12. I see now that it was a mistake to try to watch all this consecutively. It would have been better to break it up as it was originally seen on TV, perhaps one episode a day. Not that I'm sick of it (I'm not), it's just kind of tiring to digest it all at once. Anyway, I won't be able to finish tonight. One more episode, but the epilogue (the longest part) will have to wait for tomorrow. Part 12 is notably light on Franz, instead concentrating quite a bit on Meize and Reinhold. I don't like Meize that much, she's not a very convincing character to me.

13. Fassbinder lays on the narration way too thick here, but perhaps that's how the novel is, too. Oh well, I'm beat. We'll wrap this up in the morning.

(Sunday)
Epilogue: The ending is both expected (in that we knew Fassbinder was going to go over the top eventually) and surprising (in that he manages to go so far over the top and then rein it back in, and in a satisfactory manner). The bag of tricks he pulls from -- Fellini-esque dream scenes, jumbled religious symbolism, contemporary music out of nowhere, Nazi imagery, and a cameo by himself -- are perhaps appropriate, but still annoying. I don't know what to think anymore, to be honest. I'm all Alexanderplatzed out, I'm tired of writing about it (even if I haven't said much). Bottom line is this... I pretty much enjoyed watching it, it was generally very well-done and interesting (especially in what it says about Germany), and Lamprecht was terrific. But I didn't think it was unassailably brilliant, and I wouldn't watch it again. Rating: 8

george kaplan · 01-27-2008, 05:09 PM

The Last Laugh

Although this film doesn't exactly qualify for the "pure silent" film it is reputed to be, it's certainly an attempt to be mostly that. Intertitles show up only a few times, and only once outside of a letter/newspaper. For the most part, it does tell the story without dialogue (though certainly not silently).

And for the most part, it does it pretty well. However, there are certainly things that are unclear without exposition - e.g., is the bride his daughter, or some other relative? Is the woman who visits him his wife, his housekeeper, just a nosy neighbor or what?

But the biggest problem for me, is the fact that the story is rather trite. Yes, he does a good job showing the harsh treatment and corresponding emotional turmoil. But all that 'respect' cause he was a doorman? And all that horrible humiliation cause he's no longer the doorman? I haven't seen anything that melodramatically overblown since high school. To me, that's far more of a problem with this film than the ending.

I think the attempt to tell the story without words, while imperfect, probably makes this film worthy of being on this list, for historical reasons, if not as a great film per se.

Martin Teller · 01-30-2008, 12:55 AM

#278 - Ali: Fear Eats the Soul

Not strictly a remake of All That Heaven Allows, although I admire it just as much. Fassbinder borrows from Sirk's film (anyone who has seen both would immediately see the similarities), but makes it clearly his own. He boils it down a pure essence... as a result, this unconventional romance is as genuine and touching as any other on film. Much of the credit here belongs to Brigitte Mira and El Hedi ben Salem, who create such sympathetic characters. The handling of racial issues is perhaps simplistic, and yet that contributes to the film's power, the message of hope in the face of adversity. Also some wonderful cinematography, with vivid colors and striking use of space and frames. I'm glad I found a Fassbinder film that I could truly love. Rating: 9

Thomas J. · 01-30-2008, 04:56 PM

I was really underwhelmed by ALI: FEAR EATS THE SOUL. It's just not sophisticated. Plus I hate the fact that, once again, the "other" can't speak the language of the film fluently. That directorial shortcut drives me up the wall, because it's stereotypical of the "other" in cinema and lazy in terms of a way to build down a character (rather than build up, mind you).

In addition, the film is very theatrical in staging, whereas Sirk was much more purely cinematic. You can watch a Sirk film on multiple levels, whereas ALI seems meant to be experienced on one level, which is not innately a "bad" thing...but also is a step down from Sirk, in the sense that in ALI, the characters are more self-aware than in ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS...which basically undermines Sirk's vision. Now, you could argue that Fassbinder's vision was different from Sirk's, but people always compare them, so then I will too, and the comparison doesn't bode well for Fassbinder based on this film, the only Fassbinder I've seen.

It's more simplistic in execution, which undermines the "message" of these types of films.

In short, I was underwhelmed. I will see more Fassbinder, but right now he's CERTAINLY a step down from Sirk in sophisitication in my book

rich_d · 02-04-2008, 09:36 AM

That Obscure Object of Desire

Interesting film and story. It's sort of like a spin on Vertigo. In Vertigo, there are two look-a-like women using the same name played by the same actress that drive Scottie crazy, supposedly descended from another look-a-like Spanish woman who presumably died crazy. In this film, there are two actresses that play the same Spanish woman with the same name that don't look-alike yet drive a man crazy.

Having said that you do need to hide the bullshit meter when ...

Spoiler:

But Buñuel is always interesting and a wonderful filmmaker. I got the sense that more is going on than meets the eye but I couldn't figure it out. What's with the potato sacks?

At the very least, you get to look at Bond and Chanel girl Carole Bouquet.