***1/2
A uniquely playful and exuberant, both visually and (lack-of)-plot-wise, take on nihilism (or whatever-ism) as endless quest for food & minor mischief in pyschedelic collage form. Total girly fun, too. You'd love this!
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
Daisies (1966), Vera Chytilova
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060959/
***1/2
A uniquely playful and exuberant, both visually and (lack-of)-plot-wise, take on nihilism (or whatever-ism) as endless quest for food & minor mischief in pyschedelic collage form. Total girly fun, too. You'd love this!
***1/2
A uniquely playful and exuberant, both visually and (lack-of)-plot-wise, take on nihilism (or whatever-ism) as endless quest for food & minor mischief in pyschedelic collage form. Total girly fun, too. You'd love this!
Monday, 30 March 2009
Katzelmacher (1969), Rainer Werner Fassbinder
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064536/
***1/2
Fun, if you treat it with some patience. Bunch of idiotic, indolent, self-important people of both sexes being indolent, self-important and mean to one another. Extra half-star for a particularly unexpected hilarious scene.
***1/2
Fun, if you treat it with some patience. Bunch of idiotic, indolent, self-important people of both sexes being indolent, self-important and mean to one another. Extra half-star for a particularly unexpected hilarious scene.
Sunday, 29 March 2009
King Lear (1971), Grigori Kozintsev
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064553/
****1/2
A highly worthy piece of film-making. Some superb casting (the title character is played by Juri Jarvet, "Snaut" in "Solaris") and very inspired acting/direction moments. I particularly liked the interpretation of "Regan". Excellent locations and atmosphere.
****1/2
A highly worthy piece of film-making. Some superb casting (the title character is played by Juri Jarvet, "Snaut" in "Solaris") and very inspired acting/direction moments. I particularly liked the interpretation of "Regan". Excellent locations and atmosphere.
Saturday, 28 March 2009
Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari (1920), Robert Wiene
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0010323/
****1/2
The quintessential German Expressionist film (and apparently one of the only 6 ones unanimously recognized as purely Expressionist). Fantastic. Once you start figuring out how to apply psychoanalytical theory to its structure, it stops bordering on silly and turns out to be an unexpectedly profound effort. "Cesare"'s wall-walk is one of my favorite moments in cinema.
****1/2
The quintessential German Expressionist film (and apparently one of the only 6 ones unanimously recognized as purely Expressionist). Fantastic. Once you start figuring out how to apply psychoanalytical theory to its structure, it stops bordering on silly and turns out to be an unexpectedly profound effort. "Cesare"'s wall-walk is one of my favorite moments in cinema.
Andrei Rublev (1966), Andrei Tarkovsky
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060107/
*****
A fine contender to best film ever. It's certainly got the right scope.
I am in awe of Anatoli Solonitsyn after having seen him in three such different, profoundly different, parts (in "Andrei Rublev", "Solaris" and "Stalker").
*****
A fine contender to best film ever. It's certainly got the right scope.
I am in awe of Anatoli Solonitsyn after having seen him in three such different, profoundly different, parts (in "Andrei Rublev", "Solaris" and "Stalker").
Cries and Whispers (1972), Ingmar Bergman
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069467/
*****
Bergman's goddess pantheon. So far, the greatest concentration of female talent in any film I've seen. Harriet Andersson is out of this World.
*****
Bergman's goddess pantheon. So far, the greatest concentration of female talent in any film I've seen. Harriet Andersson is out of this World.
Faust (1926), F.W. Murnau
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016847/
*****
Glorious visuals, glorious piece of film-making.
*****
Glorious visuals, glorious piece of film-making.
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1964), Sergei Parajanov
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058642/
******, FAVORITE
Obviously, my favorites tend to render me speechless :).
******, FAVORITE
Obviously, my favorites tend to render me speechless :).
Comments on Choice of Format and Ratings
Right, so I went with a one post per film format, in order to make it easier to find individual titles and add tags that make them sortable by rating/director/whatever :). What do you think?
I'll now be slowly working my way through the recently-watched backlog.
Ratings mean:
*****: Favorites or Too good to receive anything less
****,****1/2 : Very worthy, Highly recommended
***, ***1/2: Good, Solid, Fun, etc (or stuff I didn't personally like all that much but due to obvious merits can't receive anything less)
**,**1/2: Dissapointments
...and I hope my good sense prevents me from watching any one-star-or-less material ;).
I'll now be slowly working my way through the recently-watched backlog.
Ratings mean:
*****: Favorites or Too good to receive anything less
****,****1/2 : Very worthy, Highly recommended
***, ***1/2: Good, Solid, Fun, etc (or stuff I didn't personally like all that much but due to obvious merits can't receive anything less)
**,**1/2: Dissapointments
...and I hope my good sense prevents me from watching any one-star-or-less material ;).
Solaris (1972), Andrei Tarkovsky
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069293/
*****, FAVORITE
My all-time favorite film by my dearest director.
Natalya Bondarchuk's ("Hari") acting is unbelievable. She was 18 or 19 at the time and acts like she's 40.
*****, FAVORITE
My all-time favorite film by my dearest director.
Natalya Bondarchuk's ("Hari") acting is unbelievable. She was 18 or 19 at the time and acts like she's 40.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
