Cinema's greatest classics

[ajay124]

The delegate registration for IFFI GOA 2011 has begun. Delegate forms are available online. Once the delegate card is cleared there is a charge of 300 rupees which can be paid online or on arrival at the ESG (Entertainment Society of Goa) complex at the time of card collection. Those who apply early stand a good chance of getting the delegate pass. Early flight booking work out much cheaper. There is no need to book rooms in advance as there are many budget hotels in Panjim near the Inox theatre and Kala Academy where the films are screened. Personally I check into a clean budget hotel (1000-1500) near the Inox. Luxury is not required. I am out of the room by 7 am for B'fast at a roadside Udipi cafe, and reach back around 10.30 pm after having watched four or five movies. Many films need to be watched back to back, but in the afternoon time can be taken out for a long leisurely lunch, with a few glasses of wine. I don't drink Kingfisher

The festival usually begins with an inaugural film on 22nd November. The regular film screenings start from 23 November. The closing film is screened on 3rd December. The atmosphere and the crowd is great. Superb weather, plenty of chilled Kingfisher beer and domestic wines by the glass, kebabs, biryanis and other nourishment's. Impromptu conversations with passionate cinephiles. One meets an astonishing number of people who quit watching mainstream films ages ago. Once you have experienced high fidelity cinema, you can't go back to watching shoddy mass market stuff. The films are a whirling, swirling visual kaleidoscope of stories, people and landscapes from around the world. These films will NEVER come to a neighborhood multiplex. These films define cinema in a way that the tired formula fare released in multiplexes NEVER can.

It does not take much effort to watch a film in a personal home theatre or a multiplex. But those who have a passion for cinema should make the effort to watch multiple films at an international film festival. Last year I was there for seven and a half days. Watched 32 films. I have barely watched 8-10 films in the entire year since coming back to Chandigarh. Non festival viewing at home or a noisy multiplex seems very tame in comparison.

Entertainment Society of Goa

 

[ajay124]

One of the most iconoclastic and original film makers of our nation passed away recently. Mani Kaul. He is considered to be one of the key figures of the Indian new wave cinema. I read a few tributes in the mainstream dailies after his death, but I wonder if any of the 100+ television channels cared to show a retrospective of his films. I doubt it.

I do not have much exposure to his films. I have a dim memory of having viewed Uski Roti in the late 70's. I was young and still into plot driven, what happened next cinema, and this film did not leave much of an impact. But I intend to make amends now. I will make an effort to watch his great films in the near future. Hopefully there will be a Mani Kaul retrospective at IFFI this year. Some of his well known films were Uski Roti (1969) Asad Ka Ek Din (1971) Duvida (1973) Ghasiram Kotwal (1979) and Nazar (1989).

Tribute in The Hindu
The Hindu : Arts / Cinema : Lights off

Quotes from a tribute to Mani Kaul by Neville Tuli

"It is obvious that we are creating a world which is by and large respectful of the popular and mediocre, the superficially glamorous and the inane, far in excess of what history will feel just in years to come"

"Human institutions are re-calibrating our standards of excellence so low, that the aspirations and idealism essential in every young mind are being choked before given a chance to breathe, let alone live"

"His ability to create something from nothing, to dwell on the simple act of waiting, like many before, to concoct a creative energy from just understanding the moment: why are we here, what is our purpose? That it is all within us; that nothing of consequence lies beyond, that the outer are but minor triggers to dig deep into ones infinite inner angst..."

 

[ajay124]

Szindbad/ Zoltan Huszarik

Far beyond the routine and predictable images that spin across multiplex and television screens, lies a magical kingdom of enchanting visuals, beguiling stories, remarkable men and women. Remarkable not because they drive big cars, or live in big houses, or wear dark sunglasses which make them look ever-so-cool. But remarkable for their labyrinth dreams, lives, loves and stories.

Huszarik's "Szindbad" is a lyrical, beautiful film which is now available on DVD. I ordered it a couple of weeks ago, but it has not been dispatched as yet. I admire East European cinema, and this film is one of the great classics from Hungary, one of my favorite film making nation. I have not seen the film, but it was recommended to me by a cinephile friend whose opinion I hold in very high regard.

Szindbad [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Zoltn Latinovits, va Ruttkai, Eva Leelossy, Zoltn Huszrik: Film & TV

The Lonely Place - Filmmakers

 

[tryst]

I feel that the classics demonstrated human emotions and circumstances which matched real life situations but movies these days ( most of them) have special effects and show emotions which are far too out of life. But these days society is reminiscent to that Roger Waters song "Amused to Death" and its the same scenario in Hollywood & Bollywood.

 

[ajay124]

Bo Gunnar Widerberg was a Swedish director who gained fame in the mid 60's with the film Elvira Madigan. These were the years when Swedish cinema was mostly known for the films of Ingmar Bergman. Bo was not particularly impressed with the masters films. He felt there was too much religion and theology in Bergman's films. The central theme of Bergman films was usually mankind's relationship with God. Whereas Bo Widerberg was more interested in cinema which focused on the relationship between human beings.

Elvira Madigan was based on a true story which has been passed down through several generations in Sweden. Elvira a young tightrope walker falls in love with Count Sparre a 'happily' married army man. The film is about the temporary paradise which the couple discovers in a forest. Having abandoned all the trappings and responsibilities of 'real' life they make love, chase butterflies, and in a wonderful scene, feast on a can full of fresh cream and berries collected from the forest. The beauty of their romance lies in it's ephemeral nature. Both of them (and the audience as well) are aware that the 'picnic' will be over soon, and that it will end badly. Elvira lives for the moment and is completely at home in the forest. But the count is a thinking man. Why is it not acceptable in this world that people can change their minds and want to live different lives? Why must the choices thoughtlessly made when we are young become a prison which we can never leave?

The real greatness of the film lies in the fact that Widerberg does not preach or seek to give any answers. Like the lovers he focuses on the moment. Until the moment is finally shattered by twin gunshots when the counts first shoots Elvira and then himself. The film ends with the frozen frame of beautiful Elvira chasing a butterfly. And for the audience it is time to stop chasing butterflies and return to their 'prisons'.

 

[ajay124]

THE CRITERION COLLECTION has built up an enviable collection of world cinema titles over the last 25 years. They have restored and released many cinema classics in collaboration with Janus Films.

The Criterion Collection

Janus Films

Recommendations from The Criterion Collection:

Andrei Rublev (1969) - The Criterion Collection

 

[rambo1]

The best classic is Italian job. The best action movie at that time.

 

[ajay124]

There were plenty of good caper movies in the late 60's and early 70's. The Italian Job starring Michael Caine and Noel Coward was one of the best.

On days like these.....

ITALIAN JOB TITLES - YouTube

 

[ajay124]

Had to cancel my Amazon order for Bela Tarr's Satantango because even two months after I had placed the order, they were unable to arrange a copy for dispatch.

Looking at buying some of Emir Kusturica's great films.

Underground [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Miki Manojlovic, Lazar Ristovski, Mirjana Jokovic, Slavko Stimac, Emir Kusturica: Film & TV

When Father Was Away on Business [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Moreno De Bartolli, Miki Manojlovic, Mirjana Karanovic, Mustafa Nadarevic, Emir Kusturica: Film & TV

Life Is a Miracle [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Slavko Stimac, Natasa Solak, Vesna Trivalic, Vuk Kostic, Emir Kusturica: Film & TV

Time Of The Gypsies:region 2 compatable ntsc.Emir Kusturica's...: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV

Black Cat, White Cat [1998] [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Bajram Sevredzan, Srdan Todorovic, Branka Katic, Emir Kusturica: Film & TV

Maradona [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV

 

[hydra]

There were plenty of good caper movies in the late 60's and early 70's. The Italian Job starring Michael Caine and Noel Coward was one of the best.
...

Some other really good caper movies (50's and 60's) are:
Bob le flambeur
Le cercle rouge (1970s)
How to Steal a Million
Du rififi chez le hommes
Gambit
Charade

 

[ajay124]

Hollywood caper films:

The Thomas Crown Affair
The Getaway
The Taking of Pelham 123
Get Carter
Bonnie And Clyde
Dog Day Afternoon
The Heist
The French Connection
The Anderson Tapes
Entrapment
A Fish Called Wanda
Resevoir Dogs
Ronin
Ocean 11

 

[trinitron]

MAMI 2011 was the largest festival held in India so far and i was impressed by the lineup of films from Cannes and all around the world here in Mumbai. out of 600 films i saw 30 and the films which impressed me were.
The Turin Horse - Hungary
36 Chowringhee Lane - India
The Artist - France
Armadillo - Denmark
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia - Turkey
Melancholia - Denmark
Pina - Germany
Chinese take away - Argentina
That Summer - France
As Tears Go By - Hong Kong

Films i missed -
My Little Princess - France
Samna - India
Ghatashraddha - India
Out of Bounds/Labrador - Denmark
Seeta Rani - India
Almayer's Folly - Belgium
Aparoopa - India
Even The Rain - Spain
The Yellow Sea - South Korea
One Life - UK
Greystoke - UK
Piravi - India
Yeh vo manzil toh nahi - India
Life Without Principle - Hong Kong
Declaration of War - France
Abu, son of Adam - India
Faust - Russia
Jane Bhi Do Yaron - India
Teesri Manzil - India

 

[ajay124]

trinitron

The Turin Horse. Bela Tarr's new film! I envy you. Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist is destined to go down as the festival favorite of 2011. Lars Von Trier's Melancholia. I believe Adoor's Swayamvaram was also shown at the festival. Good collection of films, old and new. After being a regular at IFFI for many years, I will not be going to Goa this year. I am going to miss out on the good films of 2011 :sad:

Did you like The Turin Horse?

"In Turin on 3rd January, 1889, Friedrich Nietzsche steps out of the doorway of number six, Via Carlo Albert. Not far from him, the driver of a hansom cab is having trouble with a stubborn horse. Despite all his urging, the horse refuses to move, whereupon the driver loses his patience and takes his whip to it. Nietzsche comes up to the throng and puts an end to the brutal scene, throwing his arms around the horses neck, sobbing. His landlord takes him home, he lies motionless and silent for two days on a divan until he mutters the obligatory last words, and lives for another ten years, silent and demented, cared for by his mother and sisters. We do not know what happened to the horse.-- Bela Tarr's introduction to the film.

I am happy that we still have film makers in the world creating a different kind of cinema.

 

[trinitron]

yes yes 'the Turin horse' by bela taar. i didn't knew anything about him before and was also not aware of his art but his film was a different experience to everyone at MAMI. a slow paced long shot film there were only 10 scenes in the Turin horse. a story about survival, about a routine in a human world

Bela Taar has a style when he makes movies a static slow and long blocks which gives u enough time to understand visually what the scene is about and he does it masterfully. yes The Artist was festivals favorite it was the most joyous and entertaining film at Cannes as well as in Mumbai one of the best films of this year. everyone loved it including Shyam Benegal, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Ramesh Sippy, Anurag Kashayp, Vikram Motwani and Yash Chopra at the screening. crowd was going crazy before the screening of The Artist. yes Swayamvaram was also shown at the festival. Lars Von Trier's Melancholia was the the most important film for me to grab on 35mm it was my first choice as Lars is one of my favorite directors of our time his Dancer in the Dark was a wonder.

 

[ajay124]

trinitron

Now that you have been 'Tarred' you can look for the other great films by Bela Tarr. Damnation, Satantango, Werckmeister Harmonies and The Man From London.

I am not sure if it is actually valid or nor, but for me Bela Tarr is the spiritual heir of two great auteurs - Andrei Tarkovsky and Miklos Jancso. I have met cinephiles who are familiar with Tarkovsky but very few who have watched Jancso's films. Personally I would place him among the handful of truly greats and his film "The Round Up" among the best films ever made.

What sets Jancso apart from other film makers is that his protagonists are nameless, faceless human beings. There are no larger than life heroes or villains in his films.

"I don't believe there can be anything in the world which is 'larger than life'. Mainstream cinema has lost its way. It has become so much 'larger than life' that it bears little relation to life or humanity anymore."

http://www.filmref.com/directors/dirpages/jancso.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZBHv3saKi8

 

[ajay124]

The buzz around The Artist is getting bigger and bigger. It is likely to build up to a frenzy on 26 Feb 2012 when (I normally avoid forecasting the future, but this time I will make an exception ) it probably wins the Best Picture Oscar at the 84th Academy awards.

It is not very often that a European film is widely screened all around the world. Life Is Beautiful (1997), Amelie (2001) and hopefully The Artist in 2011-2012. Directed by French film maker Michel Hazanavicius. Sarring Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo. And since it is a silent film it will probably be nominated for Best Picture rather than Best Foreign Language Film !


The Artist Trailer 2011 HD - YouTube

 

[trinitron]

yes ajay124 i am 'TARRED' and his films are on my list. the only 'different' kind of film which i saw at MAMI. i have not seen any Miklos Jancso films as wasn't aware of the director. will research

"I don't believe there can be anything in the world which is 'larger than life' i second on that!

The artist is not completely a silent film they do talk in the end. but what confused me being a french film the dialogues were in English and the reason is the 'story' its about a real Hollywood actor in the silent film era. i felt the same way in the first 15 min of the film that the film will be nominated for best picture at Oscars and maybe even win making it a first foreign film to win Best Motion Picture. this film has the greatness like The Jazz Singer (1927) worlds 1st talkie picture and Singin' in the Rain (1952) yes the film reminded me of these 2 masterworks when i was walking towards exit and made me feel how immortal filmmaking is and a beautiful machine called camera which has given us so much.

 

[ajay124]

Some popular latin american films from recent years. I have watched Pan's Labyrinth and Amores Perros and both the films are very good. Would love to view the rest of the films in this list.

The Ten Best Latin American Films of the Decade IFC Center

 

[ajay124]

Zoltan Huszarik's 'lost masterpiece' Szindbad, has been released on DVD by Second Run. They seem to have done a good 'restoration' job with the audio and video. The DVD has a crisp, clean and recent feel. This 1971 Hungarian classic is essential viewing for cinephiles.

Life is a chain of lies, made bearable by love (which may also be a lie).

Szindbad is a writer, a philosopher, a seducer of women. Far away from the mundane world of men primarily existing for their 9-5 job, or their business, Szindbad has spent his life romancing women. Rich, poor, young, old, ugly, beautiful women. All the women pledge eternal love and loyalty, some are even willing to die for him. But Szindbad does not even pretend that he loves them. They know that he will not be staying for long. But his absence only seems to enhance their love for him.

Masterpieces, especially elusive masterpieces like Szindbad, do not reveal their secrets in one viewing. I am looking forward to watching the film a few more times. My initial impression about Szindbad was, that he is an offspring of European rationalism, revisiting his past, reminiscing, seeking to find a meaning in the absurdities of life. The pursuit of women has provided him a reason for carrying on existing. I dimly remember this dialogue from the film "in the late nineteenth century man has been reduced to the status of a brute. It is up to women to try and restrain this brute ."

I was so absorbed in the beautiful cinematography that I did not pay attention to many other aspects of the film. Next time I intend to focus more on the subtitles! The beauty of the film is enhanced by landscapes and portraits which look like they have been painted by a Breughel or a Rembrandt. And there are wonderful scenes which seem to be an ode to sex and food as an antidote to the chill of life. Huszarik's direction, and his understanding of the medium, is original and impressive. This is the kind of film which I would call cinema. What the films released every friday in movie halls should be called is a mystery. Personally I do not consider most mainstream films being made as 'cinema'.

Second Run DVD - Szindbd

Szindbad [DVD] [1971]: Amazon.co.uk: Zoltn Latinovits, va Ruttkai, Eva Leelossy, Zoltn Huszrik: Music

 

[ajay124]

After many years of watching films alone, with my wife, or a couple of friends from our currently moribund local film society, I have found a new companion for the movies. My daughter. At the ripe old age of five she is already a devourer of Hollywood films. Her favorites for the past many months have been the entire series of Harry Potter films. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco Malfoy, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Snape, Sirius Black and Voldemort are real people for her. She dreams of going to Hogwarts when she becomes 11 years old. I have assured her that she is a wizard and not a muggle!

I have completely stopped buying any junk food or junk toys for her. The money saved is going into buying Enid Blyton's, JK Rowling's and children's classics which, for the moment, we narrate to her. Hopefully she will start reading them herself in a couple of years. And I buy her a lot of DVD's. There are plenty of VCD's for 50 bucks and DVD's for 100 bucks in the discount racks of the local music shops. Far more economical than the 700-800 rupees required for 2 multiplex tickets (3D) + pop corns, cokes and Dominoes pizzas! And home video provides multiple viewing. Since we don't have a television connection my daughter watches her Harry Potter's and Steven Spielberg's every day.

On weekends, if there is a children's film running, I accompany her to the multiplex in the DT mall, which (according to her) has the best ambience, sound, visuals and pop corns. Yesterday morning (blissful winter sunshine, cool breeze, empty sunday morning roads) we scootered down to watch The Adventures Of Tintin. The dozen+ films I have watched on a big screen in recent months have been fun, because I try to see them through the eyes of a child. As an adult the films may seem tacky, predictable, uninspired and dumb. But my daughter's eyes assume the shape of flying saucer's, her small hand clenches in my big hand with delight, fear, wonder and excitement. Heaving oceans, tossing ships, crashing cars, planes on fire, bad guys, good guys, horses, cats, lions, dinosaur's....perhaps Hollywood is only meant to be watched through the eyes of a child. And there are very few Hollywood directors who can do it better than Steven Spielberg. Jaws, Raiders, ET, Close Encounters, Jurassic Park....as an adult I may not have taken these films seriously, but children would have a different and better take on them. Perhaps every film, including the art house films I watch, should be seen through the eyes of a child.

The Adventures Of Tintin turned out to be a wonderful film. Head and shoulders above the other films I have watched with my daughter. I found myself crunching pop corns and unravelling the secret of the unicorn as eagerly as the rest of the full house audience. For once 3D seemed to make sense! For once every indoor and outdoor scene seemed to have been painstakingly worked out. The props and the atmosphere were just right. Tintin's character seemed more American than European (initially a big shock and a letdown for me), but perhaps it was to be expected as it is an American production! Most Spielberg characters, human or animated, have a distinctly American feel. Tintin, Snowy, Haddock, Thomson and Thomson seem different from their comic book personas, but they are nicely etched out and they grow on you. With an excellent background score by John Williams, this is a good beginning for the Tintin series of films. I wonder if the subsequent films will be directed by Spielberg or by different director like the Harry Potter films.