tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.comments2022-05-09T09:20:48.004-07:00Film of the Month ClubChris Caglehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11896423565458620046noreply@blogger.comBlogger331125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-91762616728678405802009-11-10T00:45:37.841-08:002009-11-10T00:45:37.841-08:00So, nearly a year and a half later, I return to th...So, nearly a year and a half later, I return to this blog post. I have just watched a VHS tape of the 1919 <b><i>the Tong Man</i></b>, which features Utake/Yutake Abe in a role as Lucero, Sessue Hayakawa's sidekick. I feel certain that the actor is indeed the one appearing in both <b><i>the Cheat</i></b> and <b><i>the Golden Chance</i></b>. Not the actor shown in screencap #3 of this post, who appears only in <b><i>the Cheat</i></b>. In other words, Ringgold and Bodeen are correct, and the answer to the question posed in the title of this post is: Yes!Brian Darrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17693169310367670898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-15322271542001540782009-10-06T20:23:07.077-07:002009-10-06T20:23:07.077-07:00Can you give me the source citation for that artic...Can you give me the source citation for that article by Browne regarding Stagecoach?E. Michele Ramseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17849951461590752406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-89125865110148294902009-09-17T08:50:05.716-07:002009-09-17T08:50:05.716-07:00This is a really amazing piece that was a slap in ...This is a really amazing piece that was a slap in the face to observational documentarians who felt they had realized Vertov's vision of a wholly ontologically valid way of presenting "reality" and "real objects." Block's excruciating practical joke showed that the style and look of observational documentary could indeed be manufactured, and as such could come with an agenda attached.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-71050699045948872272009-08-30T18:15:51.539-07:002009-08-30T18:15:51.539-07:00And 24 City, of course, another entry in this genr...And 24 City, of course, another entry in this genre...weepingsamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11885871104310819374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-67637854679899568822009-07-30T18:14:20.949-07:002009-07-30T18:14:20.949-07:00Yes - there is a very interesting play of walls, w...Yes - there is a very interesting play of walls, windows and doors - pictures, maps - representations of the city and views of the city - in the seen in Nottola's office. Let's see - a map, that turns out to be painted directly on the wall, and turns out to have an invisible door in the middle of it. The big photos on the other wall, views of the city that look like windows, but aren't - then later, we see Steiger looking out the real window at the city, with the reflection of the pictures in the glass... and of course the big model of his development in the corner, dominating the room.weepingsamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11885871104310819374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-74674757182774913492009-07-30T18:09:07.963-07:002009-07-30T18:09:07.963-07:00I just got it and watched it - definitely a great ...I just got it and watched it - definitely a great choice.. try to slip some comments in, just under the wire, I guess...weepingsamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11885871104310819374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-54799727129089580692009-07-25T19:39:33.883-07:002009-07-25T19:39:33.883-07:00This is a movie I have never seen, but your words ...This is a movie I have never seen, but your words really make me want to. I'll add it to my Netflix list pronto.TrustMovieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01130460547029155342noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-19177840233706601962009-07-23T07:41:34.331-07:002009-07-23T07:41:34.331-07:00Chris - Absolutely, also, the lack of walls in cer...Chris - Absolutely, also, the lack of walls in certain places, like the development projects, where their future presence will represent more of the same political compromises.GHJ -https://www.blogger.com/profile/12235068406016194156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-70698038687109012602009-07-22T13:04:11.072-07:002009-07-22T13:04:11.072-07:00I like your point about the walls as a running mot...I like your point about the walls as a running motif. I hadn't even thought of it. There, of course, are the structural walls which fall down in the tenement. If there's a metaphorical dimension to them, it's telling that the city experts don't know which walls are structural and which ones are superfluous. The walls inside the developer's office are disguised not to look like walls at all.Chris Caglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11896423565458620046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-77104180541091896702009-07-06T10:26:41.085-07:002009-07-06T10:26:41.085-07:00This will be my first Rosi! Can't wait.This will be my first Rosi! Can't wait.GHJ -https://www.blogger.com/profile/12235068406016194156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-65757609206384410382009-07-05T19:40:55.249-07:002009-07-05T19:40:55.249-07:00Great choice. I am very excited about this one. I ...Great choice. I am very excited about this one. I am approaching it fresh. Should be very interesting.Peter Rinaldihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08665020900615475757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-9206639745892895182009-07-02T14:55:26.016-07:002009-07-02T14:55:26.016-07:00Yes, true! Love that film.Yes, true! Love that film.Peter Rinaldihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08665020900615475757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-76346481857428265682009-07-02T14:53:01.102-07:002009-07-02T14:53:01.102-07:00Peter, that's a great question and I tend to a...Peter, that's a great question and I tend to agree that the effect would be quite different. Different subject matter, but Bill Greaves' <i>Symbiopsychotaxiplasm</i> illustrates the setup you're talking about.Chris Caglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11896423565458620046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-63484519290864479652009-07-02T14:51:33.697-07:002009-07-02T14:51:33.697-07:00Peter, that's a great question and I tend to a...Peter, that's a great question and I tend to agree that the effect would be quite different. Different subject matter, but Bill Greaves' <i>Symbiopsychotaxiplasm</i> illustrates the setup you're talking about.Chris Caglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11896423565458620046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-38395030660907086192009-07-01T08:25:30.237-07:002009-07-01T08:25:30.237-07:00Chris,
this makes me think--what would be differe...Chris, <br />this makes me think--what would be different about this experience if Mitchell Block was filming Alec filming Shelby? in other words, if Alec (the "cameraman") was in the frame the whole time with Shelby, and everything else was the same. the impact would obviously be different. examining this, i think, gets one into a better understanding of what we experience as "the camera" in the hands of victimizer, rather than another camera absorbing the victimization from a distance.Peter Rinaldihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08665020900615475757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-2980185470061833492009-06-30T09:24:34.555-07:002009-06-30T09:24:34.555-07:00Hey! very nice Blog here!
Greetings from Argentina...Hey! very nice Blog here!<br />Greetings from Argentina.<br />I'll keep in touch.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-11264489551552912882009-06-14T15:27:29.714-07:002009-06-14T15:27:29.714-07:00You might've just hit on the "secret"...You might've just hit on the "secret" here - <br /><br />Everyone performs for the camera in some way when it is on them. An actor does it in a very calculated, professional way. Someone comfortable in front of a camera will also "perform" when it is on and they will present a version of themselves that they choose to present for whatever reasons. And everyone else "performs" in a way that is out of embarrassment or discomfort of some kind; this might manifest as an attempt to seem unaffected. <br /><br />Like you say, the brilliance of Shelby Leverington's work and Block's construction of this piece is that, in the beginning there is a performance of a performance (someone pretending to be someone pretending to unaffected by the camera long enough to put her makeup on) then there is a dropping of that "second" performance when the rape begins to be discussed. And because it is "dropped" so delicately and convincingly, just like someone letting their true guard down, we don't expect there to be any performance left, and we take what remains to be "real". <br /><br />like you say "it's as if she drops the character she is supposed to be playing to speak as herself" but the greatness of this work, of course, is that this "her" is the second layer of her performance.Peter Rinaldihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08665020900615475757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-73359749140538685192009-06-14T08:33:47.295-07:002009-06-14T08:33:47.295-07:00It's interesting that, since you didn't ca...It's interesting that, since you <i>didn't</i> call it a documentary when you announced it, my first reaction was to associate it with films like David Holzman's Diary or Coming Apart - fiction in the form of documentary... But when she started talking about the rape, I began to wonder - is that right? is this part of the fiction or did she just interrupt their little improvisation with something different? It's an interesting effect. I think - especially watching it again - that they are aiming at something like that: the way it starts with her putting on makeup, getting dressed, like the beginning of a performance, then - she launches into the performance... Though, again, the performance seems more "natural" than the introduction - they drop the self-conscious cinema references, things like that... It's as if she drops the character she is supposed to be playing to speak as herself - and I admit, looking back on it, the artistry of how they create that effect is pretty impressive as well. (I noticed just now the way the camera frames her in a close up just before she reveals the rape - in the mirror, actually - a detail that seems completely natural, in the flow of the film, but is very artful in fact...) <br /><br />All that does feed into all the questions about the ontology of cinema the film raises. It shows the artistry involved in creating something that hides its artifice; it also raises other questions - one is, why would the story she tells seem less powerful or moving if it was written and acted and directed than if it were genuinely caught on the fly? Or, where are the lines between documentary and fiction? what if they were reenacting a real scene, with the real people? (Something you get in quite a few later documentaries, like Kiarostami's Close Up, or Zhang Yuan's Sons.) It retains its power even after you know all the facts - but it makes you think about what it means to talk about fiction telling the truth...weepingsamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11885871104310819374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-38877268028191173992009-06-09T14:23:09.336-07:002009-06-09T14:23:09.336-07:00Very interesting stuff, Marc. I hadn't heard o...Very interesting stuff, Marc. I hadn't heard of "Daughter Rite". I'd be interested to find out if Block knows of it. <br /><br />You make a revelatory point: "if it was in fact "real" or we were made to think it was, it would be more of a rape, especially of the woman we see filmed. At that point, wouldn't we be victimizing her just as the policeman, wanting to hear the sordid sexual details of her ordeal?"<br /><br />I think that upon my first viewing, having thought it was real, my reaction was one of having participated in this figurative violation by watching her tell this story and wanting to know, along with the cameraman, if it "really happened". Like you say, we share a perversion with the officer and then, finally, with the cameraman. Me thinking Block tacked some credits on this documentary so as to "not embarrass the woman" then, was in a way me thinking block was trying to STOP this "final" raping of the woman by the audience. Of course, finding out that this was created, I then become the violated. <br /><br />Incidentally, Block says he was greatly influenced by "David Holtzman's diary". He speaks more about influences in our interview. I will post it. <br /><br />I think the "truth" it has in abundance is emotional truth. Leverington pulls this from a deep place. <br /><br />Her performance is actually so good that we can sooner believe that what she is hiding is the fact that she is exaggerating about the events of the rape (which is what the camerman is trying to get out of her)rather than hiding the biggest "lie", that she is actually an actress!<br /><br />Also, because she based a lot of this story on actually stories by rape victims found on something called "the rape tape", all of what she described actually did happen in reality, just not to her.Peter Rinaldihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08665020900615475757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-59892360381817143822009-05-26T19:13:25.224-07:002009-05-26T19:13:25.224-07:00interesting. you're making me want to throw it on ...interesting. you're making me want to throw it on again. that pacing, i think, is something that Cimino cultivated into a distinct style. <br /><br />Warfreak, <br />yeah, I think there are some people that would say Crash is the ultimate car fetish film.Peter Rinaldihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08665020900615475757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-58090709227944991792009-05-23T18:51:29.866-07:002009-05-23T18:51:29.866-07:00It's taken me all month to watch it, but yep - wor...It's taken me all month to watch it, but yep - worth the wait... very nice film. I noticed (since I was looking for it) just how often they take the cars to water - it's where most of the "chapter" shifts in the film occur... including the end, if I'm not mistaken - they're crossing a bridge when what happens happens... <br /><br />It has an interesting elliptical pacing - which I think gives it some of that melancholy tone - pausing on the scenery, those shots by the rivers, jumping from the middle of a conversation to another scene, but taking a while to put the scene in perspective - there are quite a few scenes where it takes a minute or two to get your bearings... though the film lets you reorient yourself - lets you live with scenes a bit, both to let you stay with the characters a bit, and to figure out where the story is going. Nice effect.weepingsamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11885871104310819374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-7937665520412714182009-05-22T11:24:46.536-07:002009-05-22T11:24:46.536-07:00Sounds awesome. I've never seen the picture, but I...Sounds awesome. I've never seen the picture, but I do dig "car films". <br /><br />My favorite probably being Vanishing Point, but I also have a really soft spot for a picture that's a little bit different, The Car.<br /><br />Does Cronenberg's Crash count?Jordan in Texashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00197588555082145460noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-73456210122771549372009-05-14T17:34:00.000-07:002009-05-14T17:34:00.000-07:00I don't think you're reading too much into it, but...I don't think you're reading too much into it, but I didn't get the odd sensibility you did. I felt a deep sadness in the last sequence that makes the ending strange and compassionate.GHJ -https://www.blogger.com/profile/12235068406016194156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-88706182636323291202009-05-08T20:34:00.000-07:002009-05-08T20:34:00.000-07:00Interesting.
but don't you think there is somethi...Interesting. <br />but don't you think there is something a little odd (intentionally) about the last scene? Thunderbolt picks up Lightfoot, and the exchange, before he gets in the car, threw me off both times i watched it. I realized they were just "joking around", kind of acting like they didn't know each other or something. But it was just a little too odd to be just off-key, almost like something is trying to be conveyed. Am i just reading into it too much?Peter Rinaldihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08665020900615475757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-718363357363343340.post-23834087874141206182009-05-08T09:44:00.000-07:002009-05-08T09:44:00.000-07:00Peter - great observations! Sincerity is a great w...Peter - great observations! Sincerity is a great way to describe Cimino's approach to Western themes, which take on a very personal meaning. As for the ending, I think Cimino wanted to show us a deep sadness in Thunderbolt's character. They finally attain the White Cadillac (i.e. freedom), but it means very little without the presence of Lightfoot. It's not the car that matters, but the friendship linked by memories of the car. Nostalgia and melancholy are inseparable.GHJ -https://www.blogger.com/profile/12235068406016194156noreply@blogger.com