Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club - Page 40

Lew Crippen · 11-11-2003, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Ahh, but they aren't really accepted by the community. They are only accepted in so far as they are vulnerable and can be exploited.

I agree with that Brook. But even this false acceptance is enough to allow the couple to focus on their relationship with one another, rather than standing against the world. And it is at this point that the Fassbinder does directly and even crudely what Sirk does by implication and elegantly.

My Life to Live is certainly one of Godard's best. As I noted in my post to Martin, if you want to see him display his technical powers, this is the film.

Lew Crippen · 11-12-2003, 10:26 AM

The General is as close to perfection as it is possible for a film to get. Strangely for a film set in the Civil War, complete with mass war scenes and individuals shooting others who die and where the plot revolves around Keaton’s rejection by the recruiting office when he tries to enlist, this film is devoid (as I see it) of real social commentary. What you see is what you get.

And what you get is a highly inventive chase (I read somewhere that this was based on a real incident) along a railroad that links Atlanta to a retreating Confederate Army in Tennessee (and to the advancing Union Army as well).

Every time I watch Buster Keaton movie, I am overwhelmed with the shear technical accomplishment of the stunts. Here all of the stunts contribute to the narrative and none detract from the story.

If you have not seen this one, do so. If you have, watch it again.

Brook K · 11-12-2003, 11:51 AM

The General's technical feats are unquestionable, but moviewise, I've always preferred Steamboat Bill, Jr and Sherlock, Jr.

You can go see the real General at a museum in Kennesaw, GA. Plan your vacations now!

http://www.locomotivegeneral.com/

Lew Crippen · 11-12-2003, 12:04 PM

Thanks for the link Brook. I knew that there had to be some reason to visit Georgia other than the peaches.

Dome Vongvises · 11-12-2003, 03:29 PM

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I knew that there had to be some reason to visit Georgia other than the peaches.

Mmm.....peaches.....

BTW, is The General available on DVD? I'm thinking of getting Netflix so I can see some more obscure titles not readily available by rental at BB or for sale in the 5.88 bin.

Brook K · 11-12-2003, 03:47 PM

Yes, Dome, The General, and a bunch of other Buster Keaton films are available from Netflix. That's how I've seen them. Steamboat Bill Jr. is the only one I've gotten around to buying.

MartinTeller · 11-12-2003, 04:10 PM

I think there's a Buster Keaton box set from Kino with like 11 movies and a bunch of shorts. I saw The General from that "40 Free Movies" deal that Total Movie magazine had.

george kaplan · 11-12-2003, 08:00 PM

The General is, indeed based on a real incident, at least somewhat more realistically portrayed in Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase.

MartinTeller · 11-13-2003, 01:08 AM

Well, I started watching Ben-Hur but the disc froze up after about 50 minutes (perils of borrowing from the public library). I was really not into it, anyway.

MartinTeller · 11-14-2003, 01:14 AM

Une Partie de Campagne is a bittersweet Renoir short. A family of somewhat clueless Parisians takes a Sunday afternoon in the country. A pair of lecherous locals scheme to get the mother & daughter away from their inattentive and ridiculous mates. Renoir's disdain for the bourgeois is not as biting as Le Regle du Jeu, but it's definitely there, especially in the beginning. The film gradually changes direction and becomes more of a fable about fleeting happiness and lost opportunities. The photography is gorgeous -- everything bathed in bright sunlight, some amazing footage of the daughter on a swing, and magnificent nature shots, particularly during a rainstorm.

Une Partie de Campagne shares a Kino VHS with La Chienne, a sometimes hilarious, sometimes brutal, and always extremely cynical dram-edy from Renoir. The hero is a whipped, broken-down shell of a man, mocked by his colleagues, unappreciated and unloved by his shrew of a wife, and manipulated by his whore mistress. It has a lot to say about people taking advantage of each other, and about the fate of artists. The puppet show intro is quite unique and funny. A very interesting, entertaining and worthwhile movie.

Adam_S · 11-14-2003, 02:53 AM

The Lady Vanishes -

This is absolutely great vintage Hitch. It has some of the tightest plotting I've ever seen. while the beginning may initially seem to plod a bit, taking it's own glorious time introducing us to all these lovely characters, there is a moment near the end of the film that makes everything in the beginning important to the plot as well as the initial character development. A lovely little piece with some truly fantastic editing and train imagry (I do love the train fetish you find in so much early cinema; Berlin Portrait of a Great City for instance), it's just a delightful and enjoyable film to view. There's also the added depth of all the other people in the hotel and train that are somewhat scandalous for the thirties--but then, this is a british, not a hollywood film.

Adam