Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club - Page 29

Lew Crippen · 08-20-2003, 10:29 AM

Just a bit of an addition to your post Seth. I got to writing so fast that I forget to mention the shift from one comparison to another.

And I am on a bit of a roll right now. With the summer films ascendant I’m not going to the theatre that much, and with the Rangers 18 games back, football preseason and basketball and hockey only in trade status, the Tour being over and most TV in reruns, I have a bit more time for movie catch-up than normal.

Lew Crippen · 08-21-2003, 10:27 AM

Only a pawn in the game.

Sings Bob Dylan in Don’t Look Back the D. A. Pennebaker documentary of his last non-amplified concert tour (this one in England). Some have called this the greatest rock ‘n roll documentary ever made, and to be sure it does offer quite a bit of insight into some aspects of a musician’s life on tour. And while the use of available light and sound that could be picked up while filming is understandable, the inability to keep things in focus is not. Technically, even for cinema verité, this film lacks a lot.

The music is omni-present and compelling. But the treatment of other’s by Dylan is only less troubling than the (after-the-fact) justification of his rudeness by Pennebaker in the DVD commentary, where this shabby treatment is put down to ‘pre-concert jitters).

Regardless, Dylan is a great musician and changed the face of popular music. Well worth watching to get a view on him as a young man—with all of a young man’s failings.

Brook K · 08-21-2003, 08:33 PM

Lew, if its still there, there was a GREAT review of Don't Look Now on the DVDBeaver website written by sometime HTF poster Mr. Vertigo - Rich Malloy. It might be linked to IMDB as well, I'm not sure.

Do to a Netflix queue mishap, I have Soderbergh's Solaris waiting at home for me so I guess I'm finally going to have to unwrap Tarkovsky's and watch it too.

I found a kick ass video store here in Tucson called "Casa Video". If I had access to this store, I could come very close to completing the list. They had TONS of films I've never seen. Most of the great directors had their own shelves.

Seth Paxton · 08-21-2003, 10:22 PM

I thought you were headed to Texas?

Anyway, I remember visiting Phoenix back around 1994 and visiting a BLOCKBUSTER with tons of LDs for rent. Of course Indy had/has Lasers Edge but it was the only place in town that had even heard of LDs and was on the other side of town. Forget finding LDs in a Blockbuster in Indy ever.

Arizona just seems hipper I guess.

Lew Crippen · 08-22-2003, 10:02 AM

Thanks for the tip Brook. I have never checkout out that site before—it was an excellent review.

Brook K · 08-23-2003, 02:56 AM

Seth, Austin is in two weeks, this week was Tucson, last week was San Bernadino.

Lew, the website has some great resources. I've been a member of the listserv connected with it for several years and it has members from all over the world, some with excellent overseas DVD connections. The newer reviews are too DVD centric and not enough about the film for my tastes, but a lot of the old ones are pretty good. There was a very brief period where everyone from the group was supposed to contribute reviews, and the Don't Look Now piece was one of those. I think I have one for Night of the Living Dead and Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant.

Holadem · 08-25-2003, 09:12 AM

Spirited Away

I kept waiting for it to make sense and it never did. Then I read it wasn't supposed to. So... what's the story? litterally. Sure it's impredictable, you never know what is going to happen next, which is always good. But it also goes nowhere and says nothing. Getting lost in a strange universe for the sake of getting lost in a strange universe is well... unsatisfying.

I am no fan of Alice in Wonderland, as a matter of fact I absolutely hate it. It's no wonder I guess.

--
Holadem

Lew Crippen · 08-25-2003, 10:47 AM

…not social criticism, but made for entertainment…

This is Jean Renior’s disclaimer to La Régle du jeu and as with all such disclaimers is not to be trusted. Renoir himself plays the one character who is most responsible for moving the plot along, as he arranges for others to meet, part and reunite. Like many other Renior films, this moive looks at all segments of society and suggests that all classes have their roles to play and rules to follow.

And within the context the one person who does not properly play his role

Spoiler:

.

There is much in the film—on the surface, a fast-paced, physical comedy of misunderstanding, mistaken identities and sexual hijinks. But underneath, keeping the pot boiling is a fire fuled by the constraints of society and convention and the attempt to break free from those restraints.

Brilliant.

Brook K · 08-25-2003, 01:35 PM

At its heart, Spirited Away is a coming-of-age story. Chihiro/Sen is a typical child when the film begins. But through her journey, she discovers the strength and spirit within herself to both assert her independence and to help others. From the pouting, scared child develops a bright, kind person who saves the spirit world from several disasters and rescues her parents through her strength of personality/spirit, good nature and sense of right and wrong.

It is also beautifully animated and features characters with far more emotive depth than what is generally seen in Western animation, such as the tortured body and soul of Noface. I guess one could see the spirits as strange, off-putting, or wonder "WTF is going on?", but to me the spirits and creatures of the film are wonderful, magical, and fun.

Spirited Away is admittedly crowded with a lot of action and characters. I do prefer his "simpler" films like My Neighbor Totoro and the similarly themed Kiki's Delivery Service, but my 4 and 2 year old children had no problem following the story. At its heart is a very simple and human story that every person on the planet experiences in one way or another.

And Lew, Rules of the Game takes on a whole new relevance and sadness when one considers what would soon befall the French society Renoir describes. It also would make an interesting double bill with Hitchcock's The Skin Game in which a country gentleman is threatened by the nouveau riche on the block turning the English countryside into factories and commerical development.