The Criterion Collection

[jw007]

Now let me get back onto the Criterion bandwagon with my next post...

[jw007]

Late last night I watched Wim Wenders' The American Friend, and I was SPELLBOUND!

It was my first Criterion viewing in weeks, if not months. Nice to be back again in the big C.

I am compelled to watch this film again with the commentary on, featuring Dennis Hopper and Wim Wenders, because I'm so fascinated by Dennis Hopper in general, and the fact that he was still in character from his crazed role in Apocalypse Now, when he met Mr. Wenders for the role of Tom Ripley. I watched the new Wim Wenders interview after watching the film and then immediately watched the interview with Bruno Ganz. First off I had no idea Hopper was on every drug imaginable at the time and could have prob. died (Wenders was referred to as his "Saint Bernard", as Hopper referenced that dog that goes into avalanches and rescues victims). Basically his life was saved and Wenders cut down on Hopper's drug use to sober him out for this film. It was also amazing to hear of the story of Ganz and Hopper getting into a punching match and fighting it out on the set before they went out and beat each other up more and then spending the whole night getting drunk before they finally were able to move past their differences and respect one another as actors and become good friends. Wow! This kind of story is the stuff of legend, but the movie itself was really fascinating, because it was hard for me to pin this film down. It was at times a meditation or tone poem, at times a crime-suspense Hitchcockian thriller, at times a character drama and at times a real plot-driven story. The directing is STUPENDOUS. I mean, the story moves slow, and Wenders isn't for everyone, but I for one enjoyed watching everything I saw Robby Müller photograph on lens. The cinematography is BREATHTAKING.

I'm not sure this is a real formal review, but just some of my thoughts I had to get out. This is a great film to take in.

Below is one of my favorite shots in the film. Wenders style all the way.

[Scottie]

The Player review is up.

[Popcorn_Bliss]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

For me, it's always been the French New Wave and pretty much everything from Sweden. I love Antonioni, but I don't know Italian cinema like I should. Although, La Dolce Vita is one of my favorite films. But ask me something about the French New Wave, and I generally know the answer. Ask me something about Italian Neo-Realism, and I am clueless.

As I said before, I am trying to fix that. Slowly, but surely.

But yikes, my knowledge of Asian cinema is just pathetic. I have a LONG way to go there. It's just going to be one of those things. I need to learn, and I am willing to. But the more Ozu and even a bit of Mizoguchi (since I've never even seen a single film by him) are moving in the right direction.

And there's the Chinese and Korean cinemas to investigate. Yeesh.

Yeah, there's so much out there. I'm a little bit the reverse - many of my favorites are some of the more languid Italian films (Last Year At Marienbad, which I guess is kind of French-Italian), love the surrealism of something like 8 1/2. Need to watch La Dolce Vita again. The first time I kind of drifted through it but that may have been my fault. I really want to see it again. I do enjoy many of Bergman's films. And Japan cinema has always allured me from a stylistic standpoint.

The French New Wave is the area I need to work on. I've seen parts of Breathless and appreciate its revolutionary impact but the general style of brisker movements, hand-held cameras, etc, sometimes loses me quicker than the more "sensual" styles of Bergman or many Italian films.

I need to keep exploring!

[jw007]

Originally Posted by iScottie

The Player review is up.

That opening 9 min. shot was required studying in one of my film classes! Great film and I look forward to revisiting the movie again on this Criterion release.

[pedromvu]

Talking about Japanese Cinema, I saw When a Woman Ascends the Stairs by Mikio Naruse a director I haven't seen any movie before, and I see on his filmography has a whooping 70+ feature films

Anyway in some ways it is the Japanese Nights of Cabiria, I even saw what might be a reference with a place called Cabiria in one of the scenes. It's style is very different and it's themes are broader focusing more on the place of women in Japanese society at the time, definitely check it out if it sounds right up your alley.

I don't particularly seek Japanese films, but like with any country, the output is so varied that it is hard to dismiss it completely, Ozu is nothing like Kurosawa, and that is nothing like Imamura, although there are so many Samurai movies that I could see someone easily classifying it as a typical Japanese genre.

Just checked my top countries from my collected Criterions other than from US:

UK 14
Japan 15-39 (Zatoichi)
Italy 18
France 41

[Fabs]

It's a shame that North America only has one Naruse film on DVD.

[Huseyin]

Got this the other day guys by far one of the greatest box sets ever made!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO3NWyW1PSg

[shadedpain4]

Originally Posted by Fabs

It's a shame that North America only has one (non-silent) Naruse film on DVD.

[jshaide]

A buddy of mine wrote a book on Naruse essays-he saw all the films he made (that aren't lost) through various internet means. He threw the book online for consumption.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5s8...t?pref=2&pli=1

[bwdowiak]

@ Aaron - you've been really missing out if you've only seen a handful of Japanese films. People here are always going on about the best ones, so I won't relist them here. I suggest taking a chance on something you think sounds interesting. You'll latch on to a filmmaker and it will take off from there.

[SkyAntoine]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

It's been a while since I've watched any good brain drain films, so I started Bergman's "Faith Trilogy" last night.
I watched Through a Glass Darkly last night and had to go back and watch the majority of it again at lunch today. Wow...occasionally a film will stay on my mind for several days, but Bergman is the only director that can do it every. single. time.

It may take several more viewings to delve into each character's struggles: their perception of life, of God, of state of mind, of relationships. At a short 89 minutes, minute for minute it may be one of the deepest films I have seen. I feel like there are layers upon layers that can be analyzed. On top of all that, the cinematography is breathtaking and Harriet Andersonn was so amazing.
Solid 9/10.

Can't wait to watch Winter Light and The Silence this weekend.

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

[Fabs]

Originally Posted by shadedpain4

True, but that decision still bugs me. Criterion takes a rather unknown director in the West, like Naruse, and instead of release his 1950s work which is considered his best works, they release a silent set? Silents already don't sell well unless they're Chaplin, so why did they do this?

[llj]

Originally Posted by Fabs

True, but that decision still bugs me. Criterion takes a rather unknown director in the West, like Naruse, and instead of release his 1950s work which is considered his best works, they release a silent set? Silents already don't sell well unless they're Chaplin, so why did they do this?

It really was bizarre. I can only guess that they originally had Naruse's 50s work in the pipeline for single DVD releases, but then the market for DVD-only releases finished and with no new HD masters of Naruse's films created in Japan, any planned releases for his 50s films have lain dormant for the foreseeable future.

But I'd rather they just release them through the Eclipse line anyway.

[Popcorn_Bliss]

Originally Posted by pedromvu

Talking about Japanese Cinema, I saw When a Woman Ascends the Stairs by Mikio Naruse a director I haven't seen any movie before, and I see on his filmography has a whooping 70+ feature films

Anyway in some ways it is the Japanese Nights of Cabiria, I even saw what might be a reference with a place called Cabiria in one of the scenes. It's style is very different and it's themes are broader focusing more on the place of women in Japanese society at the time, definitely check it out if it sounds right up your alley.

I don't particularly seek Japanese films, but like with any country, the output is so varied that it is hard to dismiss it completely, Ozu is nothing like Kurosawa, and that is nothing like Imamura, although there are so many Samurai movies that I could see someone easily classifying it as a typical Japanese genre.

Just checked my top countries from my collected Criterions other than from US:

UK 14
Japan 15-39 (Zatoichi)
Italy 18
France 41

Thanks! I'll have to explore more of them.

[mja345]

Anyone seen "How to Get Ahead in Advertising"? The Criterion DVD is long out of print, but I picked up a used copy of the regular MGM DVD last year for a few bucks. I watched it last night and I honestly have not laughed that hard in a long time. There were parts I was almost falling off my couch laughing. Richard E. Grant is beyond great in it. It's written and directed by Bruce Robinson, who also did "Withnail and I".

[Fabs]

Originally Posted by llj

It really was bizarre. I can only guess that they originally had Naruse's 50s work in the pipeline for single DVD releases, but then the market for DVD-only releases finished and with no new HD masters of Naruse's films created in Japan, any planned releases for his 50s films have lain dormant for the foreseeable future.

But I'd rather they just release them through the Eclipse line anyway.

Your explanation makes a lot of sense. I keep hoping for a Naruse Eclipse, and I think it would be a perfect set but they seem to have slowed down on Eclipse Sets. When was the last one?

[SkyAntoine]

Originally Posted by mja345

Anyone seen "How to Get Ahead in Advertising"? The Criterion DVD is long out of print, but I picked up a used copy of the regular MGM DVD last year for a few bucks. I watched it last night and I honestly have not laughed that hard in a long time. There were parts I was almost falling off my couch laughing. Richard E. Grant is beyond great in it. It's written and directed by Bruce Robinson, who also did "Withnail and I".

I watched it last year for the first time. It was a little pricey to get the OOP so I wish I had enjoyed it more to justify the purchase. It was good for some laughs.

My biggest take away was that I would have liked to see Cronenberg make this film to see what direction he would have taken it. It seems like I watched it around the same time as The Brood.

[llj]

Originally Posted by Fabs

Your explanation makes a lot of sense. I keep hoping for a Naruse Eclipse, and I think it would be a perfect set but they seem to have slowed down on Eclipse Sets. When was the last one?

Julien Duvivier In The Thirties. I think it was November of 2015? There were 3 Eclipse sets released last year.

[mja345]

Originally Posted by SkyAntoine

I watched it last year for the first time. It was a little pricey to get the OOP so I wish I had enjoyed it more to justify the purchase. It was good for some laughs.

My biggest take away was that I would have liked to see Cronenberg make this film to see what direction he would have taken it. It seems like I watched it around the same time as The Brood.

See, I've always thought Cronenberg struggles with comedy/satire. Great director, but that's his one weakness. I'm not a big fan of his version of "Naked Lunch" because I just don't think he has a deft touch for satire. I actually think Bruce Robinson could have done a better version of "Naked Lunch", or certainly David Lynch. "How to Get Ahead in Advertising" works for me because Robinson has a great feel for writing satire. The first 30 minutes showing Grant as this unbelievably pompous a-hole are amazing.

I think Cronenberg's weakest efforts are the ones where he tries to be less serious. "Cosmopolis" was absolutely awful, while "Maps to the Stars" was okay mostly due to Julianne Moore's performance. Cronenberg's best films are played with a straight face IMO, which is interesting considering how crazy much of his subject matter is. "Videodrome" and "Crash" are two of his best and never attempt to incorporate much humor, despite being batshit crazy premise-wise.