tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post2043844521924101680..comments2023-10-11T03:42:59.033-07:00Comments on The Criterion Contraption: #104: Double SuicideMatthew Dessemhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-74179810395680292622011-07-14T08:58:36.157-07:002011-07-14T08:58:36.157-07:00I loved this review and found your breakdown of th...I loved this review and found your breakdown of that one scene particularly valuable. I hadn't noticed any of those blocking and camera techniques before.<br /><br />Watching this film was a strange experience for me. I generally hate overly theatrical films and I really don't care for Brecht, yet I loved this movie. It's interesting that, though the film does its utmost to produce a Rebeccahttp://uncertainguest.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-47445311504474221552011-02-26T22:42:19.857-08:002011-02-26T22:42:19.857-08:00The UK editions of Jansco's films are great, c...The UK editions of Jansco's films are great, cheap and R0 if you enjoy what you see with The Red and the White(my personal favorite though is The Roundup.<br />In the case of Price I think it's a bit more complicated than playing himself. If anything the real comparison would not be to Grant, but Gallo. It's a sort of performance art.<br />As for the Beckett on Film project there arenlegatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-66913308496610351122011-02-26T14:37:10.782-08:002011-02-26T14:37:10.782-08:00Richelieu Jr.,
I would pay just about anything t...Richelieu Jr., <br /><br />I would pay just about anything to be in a pitch meeting for <em>Rhinoceros</em>.Matthew Dessemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-58705136837706286512011-02-26T14:35:54.662-08:002011-02-26T14:35:54.662-08:00djproject,
Yeah, the Italians make a surprising n...djproject,<br /><br />Yeah, the Italians make a surprising number and variety of terrible, terrible films. And variety shows!Matthew Dessemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-83050409123148375152011-02-26T14:35:06.865-08:002011-02-26T14:35:06.865-08:00Legato,
That's fascinating, and yes, clearly ...Legato,<br /><br />That's fascinating, and yes, clearly Beckett owes a hell of a lot to silent film. I don't know Jansco or Tarr; I've addded <em>Damnation</em> to my Netflix queue; it looks like <em>The Red and the Black</em> is available over Amazon Instant, so if I can figure out a way to watch that on my television I might check it out as well.<br /><br />I wouldn't say that Matthew Dessemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-25549321773134946152011-02-26T02:01:43.944-08:002011-02-26T02:01:43.944-08:00Interestingly, Alexander MacKendrick spent many ye...Interestingly, Alexander MacKendrick spent many years trying to adapt Ionesco's Rhinocerous for the cinema, unfortunately without success.You can almost imagine the studios saying 'Ionesco, who?' Or, more likely, oh yeah, Ion... Great, great guy...') It was one of his great unrealized projects (along with Mary, Queen of Scots) and a real pity.<br /><br />I have seen his productionrichelieu jrnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-24579659050725094722011-02-25T10:15:00.911-08:002011-02-25T10:15:00.911-08:00again this is why i said it's my delusion =]
...again this is why i said it's my delusion =]<br /><br />but yes you can find crap outside of the united states ... you mentioned italian comedies but i would add italian exploitation films and italian rip-off films too =]. and likewise you can find gems inside of the united states ... <b>citizen kane</b> or <b>the godfather</b> anyone? good is good regardless of origin =Ddjprojecthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13280172854635114084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-2309062774122810102011-02-03T15:45:45.461-08:002011-02-03T15:45:45.461-08:00First things first Beckett was actually severely i...First things first Beckett was actually severely indebted to cinema. The only two sources of inspiration I recall him claiming is Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy. I'm sure without movies Beckett would have grown into a drastically different playwright.<br />As for film that is indebted to him, much as Film hints to, much of the modern minimalist movements are Beckett like. The big legatonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-44197333243781576422011-02-03T00:25:00.912-08:002011-02-03T00:25:00.912-08:00Jonah,
I guess I feel like Shinoda goes out of hi...Jonah,<br /><br />I guess I feel like Shinoda goes out of his way to stop the audience from getting too invested in the power or felicity of the telling, you know? But I take your point that it wasn't necessarily a bold move to title the film <em>Double Suicide</em>.<br /><br />Thanks for the film recommendations--I've put "Boiling Point" in my queue but "Sonezaki shinjû&Matthew Dessemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-22938989143643220272011-02-03T00:14:54.723-08:002011-02-03T00:14:54.723-08:00DJProject,
There's certainly a tradition of a...DJProject,<br /><br />There's certainly a tradition of art & experimental film abroad that's not as strong here, but if you really think European films are <em>normally</em> above the easy and superficial, I insist you spend some time with Italian comedies. It's just that the easy and superficial foreign films usually don't get released here.<br /><br />You're definitely Matthew Dessemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-58006615743632419332011-02-03T00:05:52.433-08:002011-02-03T00:05:52.433-08:00Le Ted,
Thanks for the documentary link -- I'...Le Ted,<br /><br />Thanks for the documentary link -- I'll watch it at work tomorrow. As far as Kaufman goes, I must confess that I still haven't seen <em>Synechdoche, New York</em>; I read the screenplay and was baffled by it. So I don't have much to say about that. I love <em>Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind</em> and <em>Adaptation</em>, but I wouldn't say either is Matthew Dessemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-14063515000220777332011-02-02T23:58:18.298-08:002011-02-02T23:58:18.298-08:00Legato,
I completely agree that some films draw f...Legato,<br /><br />I completely agree that <em>some</em> films draw from Beckett (especially Beckett films—in my ambitious college days, I tried to produce a version of "Eh Joe," recorded the voiceover, never filmed it). But I wouldn't say that's a lot of cinema and I wouldn't say <em>Film</em> is something a lot of people have seen—it isn't even on Region One DVD. ButMatthew Dessemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288268335735601918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-51862936022859166012011-02-01T18:06:10.452-08:002011-02-01T18:06:10.452-08:00This is another sensitive review. I have problems ...This is another sensitive review. I have problems with the assumptions behind notion of "distanciation," among them your assertion that without it audience's "forget they're watching a movie." I think fictions, including films, offer audiences multiple levels of engagement, which can coexist. To take a familiar example: we can worry over the fate of Luke Skywalker Jonah H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-73693092487605415042011-02-01T14:25:19.061-08:002011-02-01T14:25:19.061-08:00i think this is going to join the chorus as it wer...i think this is going to join the chorus as it were but i think brecht provides the demarcation between american and european cinema. you are right that cinema owes more to vaudeville but i would say that american cinema does that more and certainly continues to do so. or maybe this is my continuing delusion that cinema outside of the united states is normally above the easy and the superficialdjprojecthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13280172854635114084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-69122812751769955832011-02-01T13:48:13.381-08:002011-02-01T13:48:13.381-08:00Excellent review. You may be interested in explor...Excellent review. You may be interested in exploring the influence of the dance form 'Butoh' on other Japanese films, in particular certain surrealist exploitation horror movies. There's a great doc you could kill a little time with here: http://wildgrounds.com/index.php/2010/04/27/documentary-on-butoh/<br /><br />Also, I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the lip-service Le Tedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05242378351959159148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796371.post-8480359343462587752011-02-01T11:06:27.605-08:002011-02-01T11:06:27.605-08:00I haven't finished yet what is already an othe...I haven't finished yet what is already an other great review from you, but I want to pick a tiny bone in your opening line. A lot of cinema(particularly the experimental sort)owes itself to Brecht and to a lesser extent Beckett. The later was actually involved in a film appropriately enough called Film with his cinematic compatriot Buster Keaton. Brecht even more so has relations with film. legatonoreply@blogger.com