Track the Films You Watch (2005) - Page 56

Mario Gauci · 09-27-2005, 01:36 PM

Quote (originally posted by Michael Elliott):

"Beauty and the Beast (1946)

Jean Cocteau’s masterpiece is a story everyone already knows. The actual story here was impressive to me even though most people only talk about the visual aspect of the film. I’ve always enjoyed the Disney version but every aspect of this film is far better. As a die-hard horror fan I was also really impressed with the look of The Beast, which was better than the Universal horror films of the time. The mood and atmosphere in the film also struck me as something Val Lewton made. As for the visuals, there’s really not too much I can add since the film is already considered one of the greatest looking ever made. The fairy tale aspect is what really won me over and the director’s ability to create that “dreamlike” nature was very impressive."

I'm glad you loved this one, Mike - though I had little doubt you wouldn't

! As you said, Cocteau here managed to mingle the fairy-tale quality of the best Universal horror films with the literate approach which marked the Val Lewton cycle at RKO; all of this, most certainly, was done unconsciously on his part and the film still feels completely like a Cocteau film, as his personal touches are all over it. I too love the Disney animated version, which is a modern classic in its own right, but the artistry with which the original is made is almost impossible to recapture even with all that modern technology can provide!

I assume this was your first Cocteau film: if so, you ought to pursue the rest of his work too, as they are just as fascinating and "dreamlike", if somewhat pretentious on occasion. I've managed to watch all the films he directed, as well as a masterful adaptation of his play LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES (1950) made by the great Jean-Pierre Melville. Your best best would be Criterion's 3-Disc Set of his "The Orphic Trilogy", comprising THE BLOOD OF A POET (1930) - a surreal non-narrative film a` la Bunuel's L'AGE D'OR (1930)

!; ORPHEUS (1949), his masterpiece, is an indescribably original and poetic romantic fantasy and a favorite of mine (as is, after all, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST [1946]); and THE TESTAMENT OF ORPHEUS (1959), Cocteau's last film and perhaps the least satisfactory, most pretentious entry (but still irresistible, in my opinion

), in which he even plays the leading role (as himself, no less!) and where he attempts to explain his art as he meets many of the characters/actors which have inhabited his filmography and life in general (including Yul Brynner and Pablo Picasso!).

With regards to AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD (1972), I agree with every word you said; the best Herzog/Kinski collaboration and one of the best films ever made, period.

I don't share your initial enthusiasm for Asian horror films: I've seen a few (The "Ring" Trilogy, AUDITION [2000], UZUMAKI [2000], DARK WATER [2002], THE EYE [2002], as well as the American remakes of THE RING [2004] and THE GRUDGE [2004]), and while certainly very creepy in themselves, they are also repetitive and interchangable and, as you said, they are more interested in delivering scares/shocks (of a generally disturbing kind - one particular scene from THE EYE scared the shit out of me

) rather than come up with a plotline which makes much sense or which has any genuine interest or depth. From what I recall, DARK WATER was the most effective one (I still haven't watched the remake), AUDITION the most chilling (which is a suburban drama rather than a ghost story) and UZUMAKI the weirdest (or, if you like, the one which made least sense

)...

Michael Elliott · 09-27-2005, 02:08 PM

Thanks for the recommendations. I should have AUDITION and RINGU in the next couple of days. I just received HIGH TENSION in the mail, which is the recent French horror film so hopefully it'll live up to the hype.

Brook, I hope one of those Lewton titles is THE BODY SNATCHER, which is the best IMO.

Quote:

I don't share your initial enthusiasm for Asian horror films: I've seen a few (The "Ring" Trilogy, AUDITION [2000], UZUMAKI [2000], DARK WATER [2002], THE EYE [2002], as well as the American remakes of THE RING [2004] and THE GRUDGE [2004]), and while certainly very creepy in themselves, they are also repetitive and interchangable and, as you said, they are more interested in delivering scares/shocks (of a generally disturbing kind - one particular scene from THE EYE scared the shit out of me) rather than come up with a plotline which makes much sense or which has any genuine interest or depth.

I've got a theory on these Asian horror films that I'm going to keep to myself until I watch THE GRUDGE and perhaps RINGU since I've seen the American remake of that one. I've stayed away from these Asian films due to my theory but I want to see a couple others before I say anything.

Quote:

literate approach which marked the Val Lewton cycle at RKO

Lewton is hated among some horror fans since he hated the genre and made "his" horror films to be "better" than the other stuff that was around at the time. THE BODY SNATCHER is one of the greatest of the decade but I'm not too familiar with the rest in the box set. In fact, there's three I've never seen. Even the ones I have seen didn't leave that much of an impression on me but hopefully I'll see them in a new light next week. The ones I have seen I only watched once because I didn't like the fact that they were so different from the Universal films. Since I've got a more open mind now hopefully I'll enjoy them more.

Until October I'm going to try and get some of these foreign films watched up. I just finished part one of Lang's DIE NIBELUNGEN but I'll probably hold part two for a later date. I got HIGH TENSION for tonight so it'll either be THE LEOPARD or FANNY AND ALEXANDER in the next few minutes. Bergman's SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT was to show on TCM last Friday but got pushed back due to the Wise tribute so I'll have to rent that one.

Bob Turnbull · 09-27-2005, 03:28 PM

Quote:

I just received HIGH TENSION in the mail, which is the recent French horror film so hopefully it'll live up to the hype.

Mario Gauci · 09-27-2005, 04:07 PM

Mike,

I'm with Bob on HIGH TENSION (2003; **1/2); it didn't work for me, either, but I'll refrain from making any comments at this point until you've watched it for yourself...

I forgot to mention that a friend of mine, who is an Asian cinema nut, has lent me some well-regarded films including A TALE OF TWO SISTERS (2003) but I've yet to watch them; some time ago, he also introduced me to the best Korean film I've ever watched, OLDBOY (2003). He has, unsuccessfully, been trying to get me further acquainted with Miike's work but, after my highly unsatifactory experience with IZO (2004) at the Venice Film Festival, I'm not in that much of a hurry; I did get to attend the film's press conference and acquire Miike's autograph, though

!

I'm surprised about your little Val Lewton confession but still, it's never too late I guess

; however, it must be said that while THE BODY SNATCHER (1945) is generally considered the best of the bunch by horror film fans, critics usually opt for more cerebral fare like CAT PEOPLE (1942), I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943) and THE SEVENTH VICTIM (1943). Obviously, I've ordered the Lewton set myself but I won't be receiving it until mid-October and I probably won't even have time to watch any of them since I'll be embarking on my NYFA adventure at Universal Studios soon after

!

As for the foreign stuff you're planning on watching - Lang, Visconti and Bergman - you can't go wrong with any of them since they are among their greatest work; it goes without saying that I look forward to reading your reviews over here...

Michael Elliott · 09-28-2005, 12:50 AM

09/27/05

Die Nibelungen: Siegfried (1924)

The first part of Fritz Lang’s five hour epic has Siegfriend slay a dragon, bath in its blood and then head off to win the hand of Kriemhild. Story wise there really isn’t anything overly excellent about the film but the real key naturally is all the special effects and set design. This here is another film that makes me believe that CGI has caused filmmakers to become lazy because what happens in this film is a lot more realistic and amazing to the eye than anything a computer could make. The slaying of the dragon works very well after all these years and the sets are downright eyedropping, although I still think those in Intolerance look better. I wasn’t too drawn into the story and I think some editing could have helped but this is still a must see for film buffs.

Spirit of the Beehive, The (1973)

A seven year old girl (Ana Torrent) goes to see James Whale’s Frankenstein at a traveling cinema and soon sets out to see if she can find the monster. I’ve wanted to see this film for at least fifteen years after reading so much about it. While I enjoyed the film to some level I must also admit that I was really letdown in the fact that the movie wasn’t better. Perhaps my expectations got the best of me but I’ll give it a second viewing at some point. The highlight is certainly the performance by Torrent who’s quite remarkable given her age and the film’s subject matter. Director Victor Erice does a great job at telling the story without using words.

No Direction Home: Bob Dylan Pt. 2 (2005)

This part traces everything from Newport ’64 to the infamous Europeon tour of 1966. Once again I loved the documentary even more this second time. Being a die-hard fan of Dylan this offers all sorts of new information as well as several great performances. What really effected me and what I forgot to mention last time is that for the first time I really got to see the sadness of all the stuff happening to Dylan. The boos from the crowd also made me laugh but I never really thought of what it had to be like going through this stuff and Scorsese pulls this off wonderfully. The ending is in fact very depressing as we see all this stuff finally drag Dylan down. The real sad thing is that he was only 24-25 years old when all of this was going on.

Haute Tension (2003)

French version

Two girls go out into the country and soon find themselves being stalked by a madman. The hype surrounding this French film was pretty high but I left with very mixed emotions. The film works as a throwback to the 1970’s exploitation in the fact that it’s very gritty, features some nudity, it’s perverted and has all sorts of gore. All of this stuff is fine but when it comes to violence I think there’s a very fine line that you can’t cross and this film crosses that line way too many times. I enjoy horror films but if they cross that line I become a bit less interested. The violence is so strong and graphic that, to me, it takes away what’s “fun” about a horror film. The tension works quite nicely throughout most of the film but I’ve always felt gore and scares don’t mix and that’s another problem. Everytime things started to get tense we’d get some great gore effect that really took away the scares. The film is vile and repulsive, which is fine on one end but it doesn’t mix too well with the other. I’d probably dislike the film even more had it not been for the good performances, great score and very good direction. There’s so much that I loved with the film but there’s also way too much stuff that I didn’t care for. As for the ending, I don’t buy the excuses made by some of the members at this very forum. I thought the ending tries way too hard to be a “great trick ending” that it shoots itself in the foot. I might enjoy the film more on a second viewing. I think it tries to go for scares ala The Texas Chainsaw Massacre but the gore really stands in the way, although the effects are great.

Bob Turnbull · 09-28-2005, 09:56 AM

Quote:

I thought the ending tries way too hard to be a “great trick ending” that it shoots itself in the foot.

Haggai · 09-28-2005, 10:02 AM

Bob, as great as Masina was in Juliet of the Spirits, I think she was even better in Nights of Cabiria, which I also think is a better movie. La Strada's great as well, including her performance, but her role in Cabiria is one of the best performances I've ever seen by any actress.