Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club - Page 125

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

#344 - L'Enfance nue

It's no shocker that Truffaut was a producer on this film, comparisons to 400 Blows are unavoidable. Both are about troublesome boys, both around the same age, both get picked up by the cops, and both end with an ambiguous future. Pialat's film is about a foster child, though, and he dares to make the character far more difficult to sympathize with. When taken in by an elderly couple, his warmer side surfaces, but he's still overcome by his nastier impulses. Pailat also does not share Truffaut's New Wave sensibility, instead he goes for a much more realistic approach, almost documentarian. The only stylistic flourishes are some time cuts that seem very sudden. I wasn't swept off my feet by this film, but I enjoyed it far more than Pialat's A Nos Amours. Rating: 8


And... that's it, I'm done! I wish I had ended on more of a high note, but good enough. I might throw together some best of/worst of S&S lists later. I wish it was 2012 already, I'm really curious to see how the DVD era will change the list.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Congrats on being the first to finish this monstrosity Martin!

I lost momentum after getting The Silence of the Palace from the library and then returning it a few weeks later unwatched. Once the Horror Challenge is over, I expect I'll get Earrings of Madame de... and An Autumn Afternoon fairly quickly, but I don't know when I'll get to Palace and the other remaining titles the library has which are all lengthy.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Congratulations Martin! Man, you really plowed through a bunch of films this summer. I'd be interested in your best/worst views.

The only good news about a 10 year wait is that (on average) a new film will have been around for 5 years before being voted on the list. Five years is a good amount of time for the film still resonates with audiences. As it is, I don't think voting for newer films was a significant factor in the 2002 list.

Of course, it will be interesting to see what modern gems replace old masters on the list. As far as the DVD era, I'm not sure for the cineaste (that's voting) that is the key issue as much as significant home video will be 30+ old by 2012. So, long term exposure to the majority of films (also with 3+ years to go) can't be a bad thing. As always the cream will rise to the top.

I have little faith or interest in the few votes for a bunch of films. If Sight and Sound wanted to improve the poll, they would eliminate all 2002 voters that were FAR from voting for the Greatest films but voting for statistical outliers and 'shout outs' to films. If they can't understand what the vote is about they shouldn't be voting.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

I am both impressed and astonished Martin. Congratulations!

Actually I have liked watching some of the movies that were only mentioned by a few critics. Many I might not have seen otherwise. Of course some I could have done without.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

I think I'll get married—Today!


Buster Keaton in The Navigator has plans for his intended, but they all go awry when he and his intended are trapped on a crewless steamship. Perhaps not the equal of The General, but very, very funny.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Am I? I thought Lew had seen them all, and was simply RE-watching them this time around.


Here's one list... the 10 most glaring omissions (IMHO).

An Actor's Revenge (Kon Ichikawa)
Scenes from a Marriage (Ingmar Bergman)
Mahanagar (Satyajit Ray)
Satantango (Bela Tarr)
The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy)
Eraserhead (David Lynch)
The Scent of Green Papaya (Anh Hung Tran)
Subarnarekha (Ritwik Ghatak)
The Trial (Orson Welles)
An Angel at My Table (Jane Campion)



It's the "statistical outliers" that make this thing interesting and worthwhile. Does anyone need another list confirming that Citizen Kane, Vertigo, and The Godfather are great movies?

So here's my Top 10 From The Bottom (I've ignored stuff that's already represented higher up on the list, like "The Apu Trilogy").

A Woman Under the Influence (Cassavetes)
Nights of Cabiria (Fellini)
The Shining (Kubrick)
Time of the Gypsies (Kusturica)
Underground (Kusturica)
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Leone)
Network (Lumet)
A Moment of Innocence (Makhmalbaf)
Love Me Tonight (Mamoulian)
Pakeezah (Amrohi)

And my Bottom 10 From The Top (anything ranked over 100):

The Searchers (Ford)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Ford)
Amarcord (Fellini)
The Travelling Players (Angelopoulos)
The Lady Eve (Sturges)
Once Upon a Time in America (Leone)
2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (Godard)
Gone With the Wind (Fleming)
The Grapes of Wrath (Ford)
Andrei Rublev (Tarkovsky)

(I would give Rublev another chance, I've warmed up a lot to Tarkovsky since I saw it)

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

I did decide to re-watch everything that I’d seen, but there were (and are still) a few that I had not (and still haven’t) watched.

And if The Traveling Players is still on the next list--well, I’ll give it a miss newt time.

I really liked looking at your worst of the best and best of the worst list Martin. I disagree with many of your bottom movies (except for the aforementioned, very long piece of drivel from Angelopoulos) but mostly agree with your top choices.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

I didn't think anyone would ever finish all the movies. Congratulations on an incredible achievement.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

ugh, I just found out I missed a screening of The Round-Up tonight, now I'm pissed. Wished I'd heard about it earlier this week.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

I've got An Autumn Afternoon and Viridiana on deck and very much looking forward to getting into them. I sort of
feel like I might go on a S&S kick pretty soon.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

An Autumn Afternoon - 7 of 10
10/20/08
219 of 344

I'm quite ambivalent about An Autumn Afternoon just now. It seems to be a less impactful effort than any of the films of the late Ozu set. On the other hand, it has it's moments and it's an interesting more optimistic variation on the serene tragedy of Late Spring and the stern condemnation of Late Autumn (the film shares a great deal of plot in common with both films). what makes this film more interesting is the supporting cast, it seems an easier mediation and perhaps more realistic take on life in Japan, the drama less heightened for effect that we see in Late Autumn in particular.

One of the things I found most interesting about the film, actually was the costuming of the women, particularly in how it contrasts between contemporary Japanese dress, formal office wear and traditional Japanese dress and how different situations inform us about these women. It's also interesting that the men never dress in traditional kimonos, even at the ending wedding, they are dressed in tuxedos with tails, a stark contrast to the traditionally japanese wear of the women. It's interesting how it is the men who insist on the traditional role of women in marrying by arrangement, but at the same type are much more westernized in more subtle ways (perhaps this is what informs their desire to see women as more traditional). Alternatively, there's an extremely important moment of tenderness and empathy for Michiko (the girl being married) by Ozu in this film, and it occurs when Hirayama (the father, played by Chishu Ryu) tells his youngest son to prepare himself some food, after the young man had been demanding that his older sister feed him at once. Hirayama had just told his daughter he wanted her to marry and he didn't necessarily need her to get by (the assumption of all ozu women is that they cannot survive without their woman) so she should feel free to marry as she pleased or by his arrangement and assistance. This upset Michiko a great deal, and in earlier Ozu films I feel we would have expected things to be glossed over and pushed aside, the expectation that she continue her role and not let undue emotions effect her so. But this is set aside in this film, and her turmoil is allowed to show and affect other characters. I felt it was a turning point in the film's arc when we see that Michiko has a voice in this version of the story, that there is tremendous respect for her wishes as well, rather than simply what is good for her or worries about the family adhering to the social standards of right behavior. She's an agent in this. Oddly, although she has agency, she has vastly less presence in the film than either of her counterparts in Late Spring or Late Autumn. She's almost a side concern--the primary concern being booze. The correct translation of the title of the film, afterall, is The Taste of Sake.

And a great deal of the film takes place in bars and restaurants, primarily there are three. There's the local that all the old school chums attend. There's the ramen restaurant of one of their old school masters whom they call affectionately 'The Gourd' (and interesting that, as it hearkens back to Tokyo Chorus, and several of the supporting characters express the distaste for the lowclassness of the position/place that the protagonist of that film struggled with in order to work in such a restaurant). And there is the bar Hirayama goes to with an old military buddy where the barmaid reminds him of his departed wife in her younger days. Regardless, there is a lot of drinking in the film, and most of Hirayama's scenes when he's not in the office have him at least a little bit drunk (if not quite drunk), which is amusing to say the least. Also interesting is the crassness of the film, as the drinking buddies rag on one of their number who has married a girl only a few years older than his own daughter. they joke about him not being able to keep UP with her and that the nights are dirty old man time for him. They even joke that he died of a heart attack one night due to his young wife. The humor of the film is quite nicely done, perhaps the strongest of any of his post war films that I've seen, including a nice subplot of Hirayama's oldest son and daughter in law regarding how they spend their money on frivolity or necessities (this is not a totally useless sideplot as it provides the counterpoint to all the lonely people the film lingers on, and shows that even in their squabbles there is a lack of loneliness and even happiness to be taken from such minor bickerings and amusing missteps.

the fundamental philosophy seems to be that Life's something of a bitch, but fuck it, get drunk, get married, be happy and live it yourself. Don't sacrifice your own life for others or let others sacrifice their life for yours; it's the only life you'll get.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

I have a suspicion An Autumn Afternoon is going to go down in estimation as more and more Ozu has become available over the last six years. The film is fine, but it pales in comparison to masterpieces like There Was a Father and Tokyo Twilight. I'm told that The Only Son is their equal as well. Additionally films such as Late Autumn, The End of Summer, I was Born But and Tokyo Chorus all are much stronger works than Autumn Afternoon. Held in comparison to the other Ozu films now available what used to be one of Ozu's finest of the bare handful of his films seen around the world, could wind up being seen, now, as a more middling effort of his.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Viridiana is probably my favorite of the latter Buñuel I've seen, although I remain partial in a big way to the earlier films of the 30s and Exterminating Angel. Still there is much to recommend this film, the remarkable photography and the central performance in particular. There's a great deal of texture to the symbolic structures within the film, but to some degree these feel slightly forced, although I do love many of the film's moments, such as the last supper of the paupers or Viridiana's 'marraige'. Fascinating film, but I felt the ending was a bit banal for all it is provocative and a phenomenal shot.

7 of 10

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

I'm sort of stunned the Human Condition Trilogy isn't on the list. It's long, self-important and beautifully made, you'd think that'd guarantee it a spot. I've only seen part one, but I can't stand the main actor, and the excessive purity of the main character. to a degree to have such a morally flawless figure in the central role is both incredibly boring and tremendously unrealistic and a striking contrast to the realism of the rest of the story, characters and overall film. Or maybe I just didn't like the lead actor's face. like a Bresson film, he only had one expression he was capable of, except unlike the tabula rasa Bresson wants his actors faces to be, here you have Kobayashi having his main actor have a permanent look of wounded astonishment welded onto his face. I wonder if the poor guy injured his eyelids holding them open so wide for so long. :-p

but since it's not on the list, no need to post a full review (and I only watched part one of the three part series), I do, however, have L'Argent on deck, which I've been meaning to watch for ages.

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Come my love, come—let us go beyond the moon.


Pakeezah (Pure One) is both a somewhat typical Bollywood movie, filled with song, dance, difficult romance and massive coincidences, and one of the classics of Indian cinema of any genre. It tells the story of Shaibjaan (Meena Kumari), a prostitute, if not with a heart of gold, at least with an inner pure heart, who longs to leave the brothels. Her journey (from even before her birth) is filled with coincidences and improbable circumstance (included being saved from a fate worse than death by a herd of wild elephants), but director Kamal Amrohi (a one-time husband of the star) has created a stunning world, where glamour and riches are contrasted to the dullness of everyday life, that elevates the movie from the routine to classic.

The music is considered to have set the bar for Bollywood films, although to my eyes much of Kumari’s dancing is not particularly good (the long shots clearly use a double instead of Kumari).

The movie is filled with symbolism, often heavy-handed—and I suspect that if I knew Urdu instead of relying of subtitles, that there is plenty more to be found. Even so the movie is a must-see, if only for the incredible shots of the street of brothels where women can be seen in every archway and niche and crevice dancing in the background, as the dance is played out in the foreground.

Even so, I’d have preferred that Kumari tried to escape her life, rather than just dream of it—and I somehow can’t but suspect that she will find her married life rather more dull than her prior one.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Pakeezah is a film that hasn't left me since I saw it. It sets a Busby Berkeley/MGM-esque gold standard for Bollywood and also compares to a film like Dancer in the Dark, with which it shares a female protagonist who's mundane life is only interrupted by either tragedy or musical fantasy. Of course it is more akin to the older Hollywood films in the use of coincidence as a driving force of the story and a heavy use of symbolism, but also like those films, the musical scenes are of such beauty and carefully choreographed action that one can forgive almost any improbability of plot.

It's just too bad the DVD (at least the one I saw) sucks balls. A properly restored Blu-ray would be amazing.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

An interesting comparison to Dancer in the Dark (another musical I love), Brook—it had not occurred to me.

The DVD I have is also pretty substandard, but at least it is the full 2 ½ hours (as opposed to some that have some cuts). Plus to have a continual SHEMAROO (the DVD manufacturer) in the lower right hand corner during the entire playing time is annoying. I’ve never been a fan of Eastman color, especially the night scenes—but I’d be against color correction in any restored version.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Nothing


Elisabeth Vogler’s (Liv Ullmann) only line in Persona, one of Ingmar Bergman’s finest (and certainly most minimal) movies. Bergman questions art, reality and individuality, but provides no answers. Sister Alma (Bibi Andersson), who is assigned to care for Vogler, an actress who stopped speaking during a performance, has what amounts to a monologue for the entire movie. Bergman suggests that the two women may have become one—or perhaps they have always been or perhaps they are two different sides of the same person.

Regardless, even if Bergman is not your cup of tea and even if this type of movie is one that you would normally give a miss, it is an absolute must-see for the incredible cinematography of Sven Nykvist—sort of a direct descendent of The Passion of Joan of Arc.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

all three of my netflix movies are sight and sound films right now, so I'll have to watch one of them so I can get "Let the Right One In" shipped to me this week. :-p

L'Argent
Chungking Express (bluray)
Don't Look Now

probably will watch Chungking first.

Persona is a film I'd very much like to rewatch.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

L'Argent - 4 of 10

it's Bresson, it's boring, my reaction to the film was incredibly uneven, though as a piece, the film is very consistent (just not my cup of tea). Pickpocket remains the only Bresson film I really enjoyed.

The sound design was very good.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

I waver a bit on L'Argent. I wasn't too happy with it at first, but it grew on me the second time. I do think that Pickpocket is better (and kind of covers the same ground anyway).

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

The Hidden Fortress
03/26/09 - 35mm
6 of 10

When I started this challenge in January of 2003, I thought Hidden Fortress would be one of the first ones I watched (Seventh Seal was, actually) because I was a big Star Wars fan and I'd heard about the film for years. also, iirc, it had just been released onto DVD around that time.

For whatever reasons it's a film I've never gotten around to checking out, this doesn't distress me, as I don't like plowing through a single director or kind of film on these kinds of lists. I used to do that in middle school when I would find an author I'd like (say Anne McCaffrey, lol) and read everything they'd written to the exclusion of everything else, but I've found that sort of approach to be dissatisfying for years, and never really applied it to cinema. I like getting to films to come to me, so to speak. And here I am, sitting in a theatre, watching The Hidden Fortress for the first time in 35mm. The print was a bit beat up but the overall experience was excellent. That said I was somewhat dissappointed in the film. The comic scrunchy waily faces of the bumbly duo grated throughout. They were often amusing, but just as often I was shaking my head at their complete stupidity. this is an element of the film, I expect I would like a lot better on a second viewing, because I would go into that viewing with no expectation that they're supposed to be sympathetic characters, nor any expectation or reason to care at all about them.

And I think that gets into the core problem of the film, it's hard to care about any of the characters, and this is a rarity for Kurosawa, imo. Sequences of the film are just mindnumbingly wonderful, they play so brilliantly, perfect timing throughout. The spear fight, for instance, is just incredible. tense, death waiting at the slightest slip, it feels so much more real and authentic than the super hi speed whappity whappity of a Kill Bill or wire fu modern take on fighting. And at the same time, the very tension of the situation manages to capture the underlying absurdity of duels like this, and that humor is a like a soft counterpoint playing underneath the deadly serious cock fight.

I loved Toshiro Mifune's character in this film. He truly dominates this film in a spectacular fashion. It's terrific to see him in the character of a general, one used to command, and a general who is also supremely intelligent, quite cunning and a powerful, confident warrior of great skill. It's one hell of a role, and comparing this to his almost hyper more high pitched Kikuchiyo (which I also saw on the big screen last weekend) it's stunning it's the same actor. remarkable.

And I can't but pause without saying that damn the empress was smoking hot and oozing sexiness in those short pants and tight shirt she wore the entire film. Wow. Kurosawa was definitely toying with the audience when he used the full length of the widescreen to show off her body, it's unfair and brilliantly appropriate that he gives us that moment when the plot has the two oafs drawing straws over who gets to rape her.

I admit, I did fall asleep through a few minutes of the film. I'll revisit it whenever it is that criterion releases it on bluray and see what I missed. :-p I dozed off around the time we meet the princess and old woman and the princess is upset that her body double died for her, and I woke up with the four of them just starting down the road with all their packs of wood. :-p

I do see a lot of this film in Star Wars, and Indiana Jones as well, the gold and the general character remind me a great deal of that franchise, actually.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Chungking Express
3/28/09 bluray
10 of 10

This film is pretty much perfection, an amazing and engaging look into the life of two policemen and the women in their lives. I was particularly drawn to the second section of the film, and the more whimsical, leisurely and erotic storytelling going on for cop 633. The ending, especially, seemed to be one of the great perfect endings in cinema.

I'll probably wind up buying this bluray. It looks stunning and the film is so magnificent. I love it when films live up to, or exceed their reputation, particularly ones from this list.

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Don't Look Now
03/28/09 oardvd
10 of 10

woohoo! back to back amazing films. The editing, in particular, is fantastic in this film, just mindboggling great, and phenomenal to watch. Reminds me of why I like Walkabout so much, although I think it's integrated into the film even better here. In particular, the famed sex scene is stunning. Incredibly sexy and erotic without being pornographic. The way he cuts on the movement of a garment as its coming off to the movement of a similar garment being put on caught me off guard at how amazing an effect it was.

In addition to this, the performances and the story are wonderful. It chooses to keep you questioning and guessing and wondering what it is that's happening for much of the film because it refuses to indulge too many tropes of a suspense thriller, so as you start getting into the swing of things as a domestic melodrama it suddenly jumps out and 'scares' you into remembering that there's something else going on in Venice. So very creepy and evocative at creating an edge of your seat mood I was constantly enthralled and the film just flew by.

Oh and what an incredible and perfect score. Loved everything about this film. I will definitely buy this.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Glad you liked the movies Adam. I’m a great fan of Wong Kar-Wei and while I recently purchased the Criterion Blu-Ray, I’ve not yet watched this version. Perhaps I’m waiting for the Criterion BD of In the Mood for Love, for me Wong’s most stunning film, so I can schedule a double feature.

And just a quick mention for Christopher Doyle, who has been the DP on so many fine films.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

We have always understood each other, Shanti


But that understating does not lead to happiness for the tragic lovers, actress Shanti (Waheeda Rehman) and director Suresh Sinha(Guru Dutt) in Kaagaz ke Phool / Paper Flowers, the last (and prophetic) film of famed Indian actor/director Dutt. Perhaps a bit melodramatic for Western audiences and certainly suffering from disjointed editing, the somewhat autobiographical story of Sinha’s fall from the heights of Bollywood to the gutter resonates strongly even across cultures and time (think ]i\A Star is Born[/i].

A must-see, although the DVD I bought has as bad a transfer (both audio and video) as I’ve seen.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

I started to mention Christopher Doyle, but thought my praise of all aspects of the film and my run on sentances were already too exuberent. And I thought that any of the readers/posters of this thread knew it was a film he lensed. When I posted similar thoughts to a non-movie forum, I made sure to mention Christopher Doyle's outstanding photography, careful to attribute the name.

I'm still blown away by Don't Look Now. I've been praising the film to anyone who will pause to listen.

A big weekend of Pasolini at the theatre coming up. I'll be revisiting Salo, which I think will be quite a different experience for me now, compared to nearly 8 years ago as a fairly naive high school student. and there's also a double feature of The Apartment and One Two Three tomorrow night. I've seen the Apartment in 35 before, and can't wait to see it again, but One Two Three will be a huge treat to see on film.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

Great double feature. I love One Two Three. What a great script and cast.

Borodenko: When will papers be ready?
C.R. Macnamara: I'll put my secretary right to work on it.
Mishkin: Your secretary? She's that blonde lady?
C.R. Macnamara: That's the one.
Peripetchikoff: [after conferring with the others] You will send papers to East Berlin with blonde lady in triplicate.
C.R. Macnamara: You want the papers in triplicate, or the blonde in triplicate?
Peripetchikoff: See what you can do.

The Apartment is an example of how a film can hit you different upon another viewing. Didn't care for it upon first viewing. Didn't hate it just didn't see why I should care for someone that needs to grow a pair. Plus I never was a big Shirley MacLaine fan. She was good in the role but I didn't find Fran Kubelik endearing either. I guess the only thing that changed is me. I guess I'm more sympathetic to human frailty as I've gotten older. That and it's an amazing script.

Re: Sight and Sound (2002) Greatest Films Club

A very good point Rich—I went to see The Apartment during its first run, largely because Wilder’s Stalag 17 was the first movie that I ever saw that made me realize that a movie could be more than just a story and because it starred Jack Lemmon. And my impression was as yours—OK, but what’s the deal?

No longer in the transition of high school to college, and after 39 years of marriage (this weekend), I too have more tolerance for the human condition. While I’m not in the George Kaplan rating of best movie ever—it is on my list of one of the masterpieces of cinema.

BTW Adam, I too assume that anyone reading this thread knows about Chris Doyle and also that he has been a long-time collaborator with Wong. I just re-watched Rabbit Proof Fence and he was probably in the back of my mind.

And sign me up for that double feature.