Cinema's greatest classics

[ajay124]

Cannes Film Festival 2011: How Hollywood invaded - Telegraph

Can Cannes be "both a refuge for rigorous,arthouse filmmaking and an ideal theme park for the glitz,vulgarity and showmanship of mainstream movies? "

Personally, I don't think it is possible. Rigorous, arthouse filmaking is taking a backseat as Hollywood gains a bigger foothold at Cannes. All that will be left behind is the glitz, vulgarity and showmanship of mainstream movies. 'Both' is a pipedream!

 

[Jibs]

If I may offer my suggestion, all IMHO...

Start with Bergman's "Smiles of a Summer Night" - a comedy. Once you ease into it, then watch "Wild Strawberries", "A Virgin Spring" and move on to "Seventh Seal" and go from there. You can watch the 'faith trilogy' right after "Seventh Seal" - "Through a Glass Darkly", "Winter Light" and "The Silence". "Persona", "Cries and Whispers", "Autumn Sonata" are three of my favorites from Bergman apart from "Wild Strawberries". Form ideas, try to interpret your own way, read more about the films and see if they clear up a few more things. Art house movies don't require any special talent - just needs you to get acquainted to it. Best movies for me are not those which just entertain you while on screen, but those which do not leave your thoughts long after the screen has blanked out.

Kurosawa is much easier to watch as he made many different kinds of movies, many of them easily accessible. My favorites are marked in Bold, but YMMV

"Seven Samurai", "Yojimbo", "Sanjuro", "The Hidden Fortress" - are all action films in a way, Samurai Westerns if you want. "Hidden Fortress" is one of the inspirations for George Lucas' "Star Wars".

"Stray Dog", "High and Low" are thrillers.

"One wonderful Sunday", "Drunken Angel", "Bad sleep well" are modern day dramas. "Ikiru", one of my favorites, is a tear-jerker.

"Red Beard" is a drama set in the 19th Century.

"Rashomon" is art house.

"Dersu Uzala", his first color film is great for it's scenery and tale.

"Throne of Blood" is Macbeth in Noh theater style.

"Ran" is my favorite work of his latter days, though his most productive and great films were in association with Toshiro Mifune - atleast IMHO.

These are off the top of my head.

Thnks bro... i have already started with Rashomon n will follow ur list ... thanks for the help..will keep udating you

 

[Jibs]

Among the European directors mentioned in this thread, Tarkovsky, Bergman, Bela Tarr, Miklos Jancso, Alain Resnais, Robert Bresson, Jean Luc Godard, Michelangelo Antonioni and Luis Bunuel could be termed as 'difficult viewing'. If somebody had the time,inclination and access to art house films, then perhaps, a timeline sequence would be an interesting way to go about watching cinema.

1920-1940
Sergei Eisenstein
Carl Thedore Dreyer
Fritz Lang
Charlie Chaplin
Marcel Pagnol
Jean Renoir
Jean Cocteau

1940-1950
Vittorio De Sica,
Pier Paolo Rossolini
Kenji Mizoguchi
Marcel Carne
Alfred Hitchcock
Orson Welles

1950-1960
Akira Kurosawa
Satyajit Ray
Francois Truffaut
Claude Chabrol
Federico Fellini
Yasujiro Ozu
Rene Clement
Elia Kazan

1960-1980
Andrzej Wajda
Claude Berri
Rene Clemente
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Werner Herzog
Volker Schlondorff
Shohei Imamura
Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Elia Kazan
Martin Scorsese
Stanley Kubrick
Robert Altman

1980-
Istvan Szabo
Abaas Kiarostami
Chen Kaige
Zhang Zimou
Emir Kusturica
Wong Kar Wai
Bernard Tavernier
Lars Von Trier
Michael Haneke
Tom Tykwer
Ken Loach
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Krzsztof Zanussi
Roman Polanski
Carlo Saura
Pedro Almodovar
Alejandro Innaritu
Cristian Mungui
Abdellatif Kechiche
Mahamat Saleh Haroun

By no means a complete or definitive list. Merely a drop in the ocean of cinema. A quicklist of exciting cinema from around the world. Many of these directors were, or have been active for many decades, therefore their films span a much broader timeline than the simplified one I have resorted to.The 'difficult' directors are among the greatest.I feel they are 'essential' viewing for every cinephile, when he/she is ready to take them on

Thanks for such a informative list Ajay... I will surely start to follow their films

 

[esanthosh]

@Jibs,

A few suggestions -

There are so many good movies across the globe that it's a little too daunting to know where to start.

Watch a movie or two of each director from ajay's list. To begin with, go to IMDB, sort the director's movies by ratings and catch the one from the top. While IMDB ratings are generally not the benchmark for evaluation, it gives you an idea of the most popular and most watched film of a certain director. If you like the film, research on the director a bit and watch a select portion of his filmography. Sometimes, if you like a movie, look for 'Films similar to this' threads in IMDB forums. That sometimes leads to other similar, good movies.

You can also register at iCheckMovies. It is much easier to access many lists like IMDB Top 250, '1001 Must See films' etc., in one place. The ranking and awards, while meaningless, gives me a little target from time to time to catch up on movies.

I also club movies under some theme - 1930's sometimes, film-noir another week, Korean films in a week, Truffaut another etc., Keeps it a bit fresh.

 

[Jibs]

@Jibs,

A few suggestions -

There are so many good movies across the globe that it's a little too daunting to know where to start.

Watch a movie or two of each director from ajay's list. To begin with, go to IMDB, sort the director's movies by ratings and catch the one from the top. While IMDB ratings are generally not the benchmark for evaluation, it gives you an idea of the most popular and most watched film of a certain director. If you like the film, research on the director a bit and watch a select portion of his filmography. Sometimes, if you like a movie, look for 'Films similar to this' threads in IMDB forums. That sometimes leads to other similar, good movies.

You can also register at iCheckMovies. It is much easier to access many lists like IMDB Top 250, '1001 Must See films' etc., in one place. The ranking and awards, while meaningless, gives me a little target from time to time to catch up on movies.

I also club movies under some theme - 1930's sometimes, film-noir another week, Korean films in a week, Truffaut another etc., Keeps it a bit fresh.

Thanx esanthosh

 

[ajay124]

German Expressionism and Film Noir

During the 1920's, Germany's silent cinema did not have the same access to funds as their American counterparts. But artistically their cinema was already marching to a modern beat. In those years Hollywood was immersed in extravaganza and French Cinema was dominated by a single producer called Charles Pathe. Several German filmakers, embittered and disillusioned by the dark times their nation was passing through, and influenced by the work of Sigmund Freud, started exploring the darker recesses of the human mind and behaviour. Their cinema stripped off all the gay artifice and fairy tale romantic frills which audiences were used to. Instead they explored themes like death, insanity, betrayal, murder.

The first great film from these times was Erich Pommer's "The Cabinet Of Dr. Calgari". This film was set in an insane asylum, where the doctor hypnotises his assistant and sends him out to kill people. F.W. Murnau's "Nosferatu" was adapted from Bram Stoker's book Dracula. Murnau also made "Phantom" and "The Last Laugh" Other famous films from these times are Paul Wegener's The Golem and Arthur Robinson's "Warning Shadows". A little later, Fritz Lang made one of the greatest films of all times, Metropolis, and also "M", the original inspiration for all the serial killer films to follow. The first Marlene Dietrich film "The Blue Angel" was relesed and she went on to become a star in Hollywood.

New themes and new stories abounded. The 'hero' as a fiendish villain, crime and murder in the lanes and dirty alley's of an uncaring city, dark and light, ominous shadows, menacing doors and windows....all the paraphernilia which has been borrowed and reduced to kitsch by 'noir' hacks around the world.

These films also bought a revolution in set design and the 'look' of the film. The filmakers borrowed liberally from expressionist paintings, stark angles and contrasts, slashing diagonal lines, exxagerated facial expressions and body movements.

During the 20's, Alfred Hitchcock visited the German film studios. What he learnt there would heavily influence his film work and result in some of the most famous 'noir' films of the 20th century. When the Nazis rose to power, many of these German filmakers fled to America. Adolf Hitler deemed expressionist work as 'degenerate' and morally depraved. Hollywood welcomed these pioneers and thus was launched the "Film Noir" or the "Black Film".

Over the next four decades, until the 70's, this genre flowered into a world wide movement. The hard nosed "private eye" digging out all the dirt and slime came out of this movement.Several films were influenced by or adapted from the fiction of Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammet and James.M.Cain. Some of the famous films from the 40's and 50's were The Big Sleep, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Strangers On A Train, The Maltese Falcon, Double Indemnity, Key Largo, Sunset Boulevard, Laura.

 

[ajay124]

The dullness and drudgery of 'entertaining' cinema! Yesterday evening, I had the bright idea of taking my daughter to see POTC On Stranger Tides. Lots of pops and bangs, and Johnny Depp going through essentially the same motions, for a fourth time. The mermaid episode before the intermission was mildly interesting. I have no idea what happened after the intermission, because my daughter had, had her fill of pop corns, pepsi and spectacle. I too had endured the torture long enough! We walked out into a gusty, stormy and rainy night. And silently thanked nature, for being far more real, mysterious, captivating and bigger than blockbuster cinema!

 

[vinay]

Tetro

Ajay,

I think you should consider to watch this movie.

Tetro

Storyline

The week of his 18th birthday, Bennie, who's a waiter on a cruise ship, has a layover in Buenos Aires. He seeks out his older brother, Tetro, whom he hasn't seen in years. Tetro, who lives with Miranda, is a burned-out case; he's hot and cold toward his brother, introducing him as a "friend," refusing to talk about their family, telling Bennie not to tell Miranda who their father is. Thoughts of their father cast a shadow over both brothers. Who is he, and what past has Tetro left behind? Bennie finds pages of Tetro's unfinished novel, and he pushes both to know his own history and to become a part of his brother's life again. What can come of Bennie's pushing?

Tetro (2009) - IMDb

V.

 

[ajay124]

Thanks Vinay.
I checked up 'Tetro' on Google, and came to know that it's a new film by Francis Coppola. I had no idea that he was still active and had made a film recently. Any Coppola film, would be heads and shoulders above the normal Hollywood stuff.

 

[Jibs]

A few days back I cam across with a very gud movie The Band's Visit. Its an Israeli film directed by Eran Kolirin. Have u guys seen the movie??

 

[ajay124]

Terrence Malick, the winner of this years Palme d'Or, for The Tree Of Life is different. He is a recluse who shuns publicity. He refuses to give interviews, and seldom appears in public to promote his films. He did not visit Cannes to accept his first Palme d'Or. The producers of the film accepted the award on his behalf. He has made only 5 films in a 40 year career! All the films have gone on to achieve cult status, and a gradual acknowledgement, that they are masterpieces.

Terence Malick made his first full length film called Badlands in 1972. Starring the eminently watchable trio of Martin Sheen, Warren Oates and Sissy Spacek. Two teenagers drop out of 'normal' small town living, and go on a killing spree. With Warren Oates in hot pursuit. Interspersed with a charming backdrop of nature and romance. (Warren Oates, like Tommy Lee Jones, excels in roles which demand a stubborn and tough protagonist relentlessly pursuing the bad guys. He also starred in the lead role in Sam Peckinpah's Bring Me The Head Of Diego Garcia, perhaps the finest kill fest ever made in Hollywood. I stopped watching 'bodycount' movies in my teens. But if I felt the urge one day, then I would prefer to watch Sam Peckinpah rather than Quentin Tarantino or The Coen Brothers)

Terence Malick's next film 'Days Of Heaven" with Richard Gere was released in 1978. I have not seen it but would love to watch it on a big screen. Fat chance. The days of re-runs of old films are gone forever. Mutiplexes have bought comfort and state of the art viewing to audiences, but have killed the romance of watching cinema. Watching a film now is an 'outing' with too many diversions. Dating, families, cell phones, horrendously priced, 'watery and fizzfree' soft drinks, and monster tubs of popcorn!

His next film took a long time coming. But The Thin Red Line is possibly the best war film made by Hollywood. Among the famous works of serious fiction which emerged from World War 2 are The Thin Red Line/ From Here To Eternity by James Jones and The Naked And The Dead by Norman Mailer. Malick's film based on The Thin Red Line came out in 1998, twenty years after Days Of Heaven. Huge star studded cast, Jim Caviezel, Nick Nolte, Ben Chaplin, Sean Penn, George Clooney, John Travolta. I remember watching the film twice in a movie hall. I am not a fan of war films, but this one had stunning cinematography and direction. A far better film, in my book, than Apocalypse Now. Another war film I enjoyed watching was Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter. With Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep and Christopher Walken in a scene stealing 'Russian Roulette' role.

In 2005 Terence Malick made "The New World', which did not fare well commercially or critically. Another film I would like to watch!

The Tree Of Life, starring Sean Penn and Brad Pitt will hopefully be released in India soon. The Palme d'Or has created a buzz around the film, and this may become the first Mailck film, to be widely viewed. I have a feeling this is Terrence Malick's year at the Oscars. And Brad Pitt's too! Both have won nominations before, but never the award.

Long post. Because Terrence Malick is one of those rare Hollywood directors that I find fascinating....

 

[ajay124]

The Tree Of Life. Malick seems to have made one more 'magical' film. The last time I was so excited about a Hollywood film was in 1994. Pulp Fiction. And before that in 1984. Amadeus.

Most reviews hint that this was one of the better years at Cannes. And that the Palm d'Or went to the right film. Some critics feel that the monumental scale and ambition of The Tree Of Life is too big for Malick too handle. Some have even hinted that it is 'pretentious'.

But the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and what I am looking forward to, is an assured visual treat. If the 'cathedral like' structure of the film fails to hold up till the end, then so be it. The days of 'perfect' burnished masterpieces are long gone. I can think of only a few... Diary Of A Country Priest, Andrei Rublev, Winterlight, Pathar Panchali, Tokyo Story, La Dolce Vita, Underground, Fear Eats The Soul, Blow Up ). But I will be happy to watch an 'imperfect' masterpiece.

YouTube - ‪Tree Of Life - Official Trailer [HD]‬‏

 

[Rockfella]

Ichi the killer some bloody idiot masochist's imagination running on film, beating women all the time, this is what i detest in eastern films, they hit women like crazy people. ****ing idiot.

 

[Jibs]

Yesterday I came across a movie named "Machuca".
It is a 2004 Chilean film written and directed by Andrs Wood.

 

[Jibs]

Ichi the killer some bloody idiot masochist's imagination running on film, beating women all the time, this is what i detest in eastern films, they hit women like crazy people. ****ing idiot.

@Rockfella: lol...ur absolutely right...

 

[neel]

Falling Down is a masterpiece shot in very realistic surroundings depicting a very unlikely Michael Douglas, a patriot who sees the society very differently and becomes a misfit. The climax leading to his confrontation with police is built so gradually and convincingly. I would have watched this umpteen number of times and every time it is more real than the previous watch. Contains violence though.

 

[ajay124]

Ichi the killer some bloody idiot masochist's imagination running on film, beating women all the time, this is what i detest in eastern films, they hit women like crazy people. ****ing idiot.

I was very impressed with Pulp Fiction when it first came out. But after watching Kill Bill 1&2, I lost interest in Tarantino's films. His films are far more imaginatively shot than those of the average Hollywood hack, but I do not think that violence or dead bodies are stylish, cool or amusing. Hollywood's endless fascination with violence is sickening.

I have never had the slightest interest in watching films like 'Ichi The Killer', but two films I particularly disliked were Apocalypse Now and No Country For Old Men. The not so subtle subtext of both the films seems to be, Firepower is good! The more the better!

 

[Hiten]

Ajaybhai, Sorry for being offtopic. Reservoir Dogs is another movie which I liked to a point and which could have been great entertainer (not classical) but ruined by gross blood bath. Ear cutting scene is disgustingly creepy. Hate or violence doesn't take too much effort in the thinking and making. These days creative geniuses can't see beyond surprising their audiences and venturing in to areas which are not creative at all. It Seems people these days enjoy such movies. With passage of time people will become more and more numb and impotent to react to bad things in the name of all encompassing, broad minded, tolerant mind.

 

[trinitron]

Three Times 2005 by Hou Hsiao-Hsien​

YouTube - ‪Three Times Trailer‬‏

 

[trinitron]

Three Times 2005 by Hou Hsiao-Hsien​

YouTube - ‪Three Times Trailer‬‏

three times is the most beautifully shot love story i have ever seen. the opening segment of the film, A Time for Love is something which i will always remember, love in its purest cinematic form! Taiwanese Dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien films are on my list now and i guess 'love aaj kal' was inspired from this film.

well this film is a collection of short 3 stories: "A Time for Love" Set in 1966, "A Time for Freedom" Set in 1911 and "A Time for Youth" Set in 2005. i put this film in the league of films made by Yasugiro ozu, Abbas kairostami, Jacques Tati, because the director of this film has its own unique style which only few directors in the world truly achieved mentioned above include Robert bresson and Wong kar wai, maybe Godard also. and how can i forget Alain Resnais. i believe directors who made films with their own sense of unique style were the greatest directors. when u experience their films it feels like visiting different planets in the universe which are originally unique in its own way! (maybe it will sound funny but i don't have any other way to put it) hyeah:

Three Times, the way its been shot is so mesmerizing for the audience. the feeling of romance, developing love, a young shy boy, a young shy girl, the aroma of an era, the true love, distance, is shown through his long subtle camera moments, the use of properties / art direction like the snooker table, music, character moments and behavior tells the story. something which we film students and cinema professionals call "mise en scene" but its more than a mise en scene. its something more unique its Hou Hsiao-Hsien's Style! saying everything in a cinematic visual style without any dialogue! Satyajit Ray was a master in mise en scene.

feels good to be back on this forum after a long time and especially this thread! how are u ajay124? will read all the posts which i missed. i am also waiting for Terrence Malick's "the tree of life" looking at the trailers it feels the film has something very unique to say liked his old Badlands, the days of heaven and the masterwork "The thin red Line" is Superb!