The Criterion Collection

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

I was able to watch Winter Light Friday night and I watched the first part of The Silence on Saturday. For some reason watching B&W Swedish films was not on my wife's Mother's Day to-do list yesterday, so I'll have to finish The Silence tonight.

Winter Light was one of the bleakest and most depressing films I've ever seen. Well made, but I am very glad that I did not connect with the film whatsoever. Loss of faith in God and love sure sounds like a joyous way to go through life. Bergman should have worked a little cancer and more loss of loved ones into the plot to brighten things up. 7/10

I just watched this and while I still can't make my mind on a rating I think I might have liked it a bit more than you, the theme seems like the perfect Woody Allen plot although he may do some kind of a comedy out of it.

I think my problem is with how short it is as the ending comes quite sudden and didn't felt like it wrapped it all nicely, (Or maybe it did?

[Show spoiler]did the Sexton talk about Christ passion convinced him that somehow he just needed to hang on a bit longer? hence we see him preparing to do the mass like if nothing has happened?

).

Still there are some powerful scenes in it like the reading of Marta's letter by Ingrid Thulin, don't know why but I tend to like these shots where the Actor speaks directly toward the camera like in some Ozu films.

And while I can't directly relate to the theme since I wasn't brought up with any religion, at least I can relate by the stories of my parents lost of any kind of religious faith, although of course from what I gather they didn't had any of the problems depicted, if anything only the liberation aspects.

[Sifox211]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

I watched another first one of a director for me, just like previously with Teshigahara Woman in the Dunes, this time Eric Rohmer's Claire's Knee.

[Show spoiler]

And while at first I thought I might get bored due to the static style, but the heavy dialog driven story got to me after 30 minutes or so, and I ended up loving it, now I am very intrigued by the rest of the titles in that Six Moral Tales release, if only Criterion upgraded their old boxsets more often .

Edit: just noticed there is an English friendly version in France for a good price, just wonder if it is barebones or comes with supplements, hmm now that I think about it if they have they most likely will not be subtitled so it doesn't matter

There is a fantastic complete set from Potemkine which has everything he directed; English subs on the features but not the extras sadly (and they are copious).



I think I need to learn more French...

I think only a small number are available individually but you can get some of the series separately, eg., The Moral Tales



Edit: Claire's Knee is probably my favourite of his, though L'ami de mon ami runs it pretty close!

[Polaroid]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

There is a fantastic complete set from Potemkine which has everything he directed; English subs on the features but not the extras sadly (and they are copious).



I think I need to learn more French...

I think only a small number are available individually but you can get some of the series separately, eg., The Moral Tales



Edit: Claire's Knee is probably my favourite of his, though L'ami de mon ami runs it pretty close!

Ugh, been trying to avoid seeing this set as I really want it but trying to save my money.

Thanks for reminding me of its existence :P!

[I KEEL YOU]

Yeah, all those dance scenes are nice, but I have a feeling I'm speaking for everyone when I say that this is objectively the greatest dance scene ever shot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVcbY3Tf_TE

[Sifox211]

Originally Posted by Polaroid

Ugh, been trying to avoid seeing this set as I really want it but trying to save my money... Thanks for reminding me of its existence :P!

You're welcome

PS You get some Eric Rohmer teabags with it!

[adamhopelies]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

You're welcome

PS You get some Eric Rohmer teabags with it!

The Rohmer set is a marvel. There are problems with some of the transfers but nothing that distracted a luddite such as I.

On a related note Antoine de Baecque's Rohmer biography is released in English this month. I've recommended his book on Truffaut several times in this thread, and have high hopes for this too.

[Sifox211]

I think the main issue with the set (apart from some of them being DVDs) is the AR - it's often a bone of contention with 16mm films, but the many titles are presented open matte, whereas at least some (eg Le rayon vert) would have been projected at 1.66:1 (and it was when I saw it last year).

But thanks for the heads up on the Rohmer bio - that is definitely something I am going to check out!

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

I think the main issue with the set (apart from some of them being DVDs) is the AR - it's often a bone of contention with 16mm films, but the many titles are presented open matte, whereas at least some (eg Le rayon vert) would have been projected at 1.66:1 (and it was when I saw it last year).

Seems to me that Rohmer's films were rarely released on home video in anything but 1.33:1.

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by adamhopelies

The Rohmer set is a marvel. There are problems with some of the transfers but nothing that distracted a luddite such as I.

On a related note Antoine de Baecque's Rohmer biography is released in English this month. I've recommended his book on Truffaut several times in this thread, and have high hopes for this too.

I tried My Night At Maud's and must confess - I'm just not smart enough to keep up with what they were talking about in the first 30 min or so of that film. that doesn't make me, by any means, "done w/ Rohmer," but I wonder if the rest of his filmography would be over my head, too.

Truffaut, on the other hand, is more my speed. I didn't know about the book you mention. I'll see a few more of his films (I've seen around half) and maybe see if I can find it somewhere.

I brought the Godard book with me to the office, so I can read it on lunch breaks. the problem is: I'm more likely to spend my time seeing what you people are up to than I am reading.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I brought the Godard book with me to the office, so I can read it on lunch breaks. the problem is: I'm more likely to spend my time seeing what you people are up to than I am reading.

What book is this?

[Polaroid]

Sadly I couldn't find a Top Gun dance scene but this is close enough.. this is for you Ray.

top gun (volleyball scene) - YouTube

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

What book is this?

this one:

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...s+cinema+brody

[ShellOilJunior]

I'm seeing that 7/5 date being mentioned again for the BN sale. Stay tuned.

[profholt82]

Van Damme Fever

[pedromvu]

Originally Posted by I KEEL YOU

Yeah, all those dance scenes are nice, but I have a feeling I'm speaking for everyone when I say that this is objectively the greatest dance scene ever shot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVcbY3Tf_TE

Haha, which reminded me to watch this again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U35MvblI4og

[SammyJankis]

I'm not sure if this tops the Band of Outsiders one, but it's the first that comes to mind.

Vivre Sa Vie Dance Scene anna karina HD - YouTube

[llj]

Originally Posted by bwdowiak

I tried My Night At Maud's and must confess - I'm just not smart enough to keep up with what they were talking about in the first 30 min or so of that film. that doesn't make me, by any means, "done w/ Rohmer," but I wonder if the rest of his filmography would be over my head, too.
.

It doesn't require supreme intelligence to "get" Rohmer. Remember, his characters are never quite as smart as they *think* they are, either. Having a taste for rambling philosophy as idle chatter WOULD help enjoy his stuff better, though. Much like with Whit Stillman, Rohmer's characters often get lost in Big Words for questions that could be answered with much more simple ones. Like with Stillman also, Rohmer doesn't look down on his characters, so they come off as more earnestly pretentious than as young and insufferable college students.

[monorail91]

Eraserhead came out Sep 2014, and Mulholland Drive was Oct 2015... do we have any hints to indicate whether more David Lynch is coming this fall?

[Scottie]

“One of the discoveries of the road movies was not only that you could travel and work and make a film at the same time, and improvise it, but that rock and roll could also be, in the true sense, a driving force.” — Wim Wenders

Looking back on the films of Wim Wenders, it’s easy to see that music has not only had a strong personal influence on the German director, but also plays an essential role in the kind of cinema he creates. The melancholy mise-en-scène and considered pacing of Wenders’s work allows music to seep into the heart of his films—from his existential road movies to his lovelorn character studies—and become almost as important as the stories themselves. As a lifelong lover of music, Wenders came of age in a time when his contemporaries were “reinventing rock and roll,” as he put it in a program on our release of Wim Wenders: The Road Trilogy. And although he never trained as a musician, Wenders notes that the camera was, in a sense, his guitar—an instrument that enabled him to create that rock-and-roll ethos he loved so much.

In celebration of the supreme wealth of great music in Wenders’s work, we created the ultimate Wenders mixtape over on Spotify, which you can also enjoy in full below.

https://play.spotify.com/user/thecri...tm_medium=open

https://www.criterion.com/current/po...along-the-road

[bwdowiak]

Originally Posted by llj

It doesn't require supreme intelligence to "get" Rohmer. Remember, his characters are never quite as smart as they *think* they are, either. Having a taste for rambling philosophy as idle chatter WOULD help enjoy his stuff better, though. Much like with Whit Stillman, Rohmer's characters often get lost in Big Words for questions that could be answered with much more simple ones. Like with Stillman also, Rohmer doesn't look down on his characters, so they come off as more earnestly pretentious than as young and insufferable college students.

I like simple words, but I'll be sure to give him another go.

As for Stillman, I saw Last Days of Disco some years ago and absolutely loathed it.