Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club - Page 16

OcieB · 05-29-2003, 12:04 AM

Watching Singin' in the Rain(A+) made me realize how bad a film Chicago was. I thought Singin' in the Rain was brilliantly directed, and written; some films are just made so well it doesn't matter what genre they are. [b]54[/i] viewed.

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Brook K · 05-29-2003, 12:38 AM

207 is Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, part Nanook-style documentary, part Innuit folk tale. The film is overlong and I thought being shot on DV was not to this particular film's benefit, but it proves an ultimately rewarding exprience to watch this story of morality and traditional values through the eyes of a completely different culture.

Doug D · 05-29-2003, 02:12 AM

176 is PAISAN, and it was a sorely disappointing experience on all fronts. The print was scratchy and had lots of jumps in it, plus they only had one projector and had to stop after every two stories to change things.

A more satisfying technical experience probably wouldn't fix my fundamental problems with this film, though. The drama is often contrived, the music is suffocating ... the best thing about it, the use of expressive photography, has been topped by many others.

Call me a philistine.

SENSES ain't coming soon because I'm not watching a full frame disc. Dang library.

Lew Crippen · 05-29-2003, 10:09 AM

Age of Innocence, Martin Scorsese’s take on Edith Wharton’s novel. Of course it is about New York society. In some ways Daniel Day Lewis’s character is too much of a wimp, but this is a very fine nit to pick about such an outstanding film.

This is absolutely a sumptuous film on every level. I had not thought about it before, but viewing the film this time made me realize how much Scorsese was influenced by Powell & Pressberger (and Jack Cardiff) in the area of set design and cinematography (and story telling, too).

I know that narration in a film is usually critized, but I found the read excerpts of the book to fit in perfectly.

Highly recommended.

Lew Crippen · 05-29-2003, 10:40 AM

The dreaded double post

Lew Crippen · 05-29-2003, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Watching Singin' in the Rain(A+) made me realize how bad a film Chicago was.

Well I did not think Chicago to be a bad film (in fact I quite enjoyed it).

But Singin’ in the Rain is in a different class altogether. No one felt it necessary to include a note in the end credits that Kelly, Reynolds and O’Connor did their own singing and dancing.

Brook K · 05-29-2003, 01:17 PM

I hate the current rage in Hollywood for using editing to turn anyone into a kung-fu expert and now this is going to spill over into turning actors into dancers. I liked Chicago, not enthusiastically so, but except for Renee Zellweger it entertained. However, look at how the dancing is filmed in Chicago, and then look at how the dancing is filmed in Broadway Melody of 1940 or in Singin' In The Rain. There's just no comparison.

Doug, I hope it was mostly the bad presentation and you'll give Paisan another chance in the future. For me, it is both a touching and stunning film, exploring the tragedy and resilience of a nation enduring a terrible fate. Though for me too it is not without structual flaws. I find the first two and last two stories to be head and shoulders above the middle two and that "middle sag" somewhat dilutes the power and experience of watching the film. It is also notable for being the only European film I can think of that acknowledges any sort of debt or thanks to America.

The director, Roberto Rosselini, would have greater triumphs ahead of him with Germany Year Zero (my favorite neo-realist film) and Stromboli.

OcieB · 05-29-2003, 06:54 PM

Lew, let me elaborate. I found Chicago entertaining, but in no way did it have any special storytelling skills, or deep meaning. Everything you learn in this movie is done through talking; for example, Richard Gere's speech about media. Any smart person realizes that hype and the media create what happens to people in this town, and a speech by Gere is just nonessential, and takes away from the movie. Maybe this being adapted from a play spoiled it's chances, maybe not; but the adapters should have remembered "A picture is worth a thousand words."

Lew Crippen · 05-30-2003, 10:50 AM

Ocie, you have articulated my feelings completely. I did not understand how your use of the word ‘bad’ in your first post.

For me it was enjoyable, but not good.

Lew Crippen · 05-30-2003, 11:02 AM

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner

Brook, in addition to having a shelf of the same unviewed DVDs, we must be at the same place in our Netflix queues. I quite agree with your comments, other than I would expect that DV was about the only way this film was going to be made. (As an aside, I think that DV movies tend to need tighter editing. Cheap digital tape allows for even low budget films to have a ton of footage (note my mixed use of measurements) which needs a firm hand in the editing room.

In this case, it may be that the length of the film was intended to somehow resemble the life that the Intuits are living—I’m just not sure. Or maybe I’m trying to make an excuse for a weakness in a film that I admire.

Seth Paxton · 05-30-2003, 11:07 AM

Lew, its not just you two. The only Netflix disc in my house right now is Fast Runner and its been there for about a month while others have come and gone.

Your reports of it being a lengthy DV film aren't helping to get it down off the shelf.

I guess I just need to focus and dig into it.

Chris_Richard · 05-30-2003, 11:34 AM

Lancelot du Lac – an interesting experiment and take on the Arthurian legend that I enjoyed. This film is technically very good but Bresson’s minimalistic approach, the use of non-actors, and then having them show no emotion throughout takes a little getting used to. It looks like Bresson succeeds in putting exactly what he wanted to on screen. A lot of people will probably dislike this film, yet, possibly due to being a King Arthur fan, I was fascinated by it.

Atanarjuat was one of my favorite films of last year. I loved the look of the film so obviously it being on DV didn’t bother me. The length fit the film. It had a epic quality, much like Lawrence of Arabia or Shakespeare, that kept me interested through the endless scenes on the ice. I feel like I exit almost every film now thinking I would have cut 10 to 30 minutes, but with this film it worked.