Cinema's greatest classics

[ajay124]

The song of the little road....
Pathar Panchali had a modest beginning with a budget of 1,50,000.Satyajit Ray was working for an advertising company in Calcutta.Inspired by Italian neo-realist films like Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thief and Akira Kurosawa's Roshomon,Ray began shooting the film with a largely amateur cast.Financing was such a big hurdle that Ray sold his treasured collection of LP's(Ray was a fan of Mozart)to raise some cash....
Lacking technical experience,directing and acting experience,plagued by a paucity of cash,bad weather and power failures,this was a film which might never have got made!
Last minute additional funding by the government and the Museum Of Modern Art,New York enabled Ray to complete the film in 1955.
The response to this the FIRST and greatest landmark in Indian cinema was largely one of incomprehension and confusion.Ray was even accused of trying to 'sell' India's poverty to the west.It was a thumbs up from the Prime Minster,Jawahar Lal Nehru,which finally saw the song of the little road gradually enthralling the world with a cinema they had seldom experienced before.
Sent to the Cannes film festival,Pathar Panchali had a late night screening to an almost completely empty hall.The critics and fans were expecting another one of those Bollywood weepies or musicals.But some who saw the films were impressed enough to arrange a repeat screening and the film went on to win the 'best human document ' award.
Pathar Panchali had two sequel's,Aprajito and Apur Sansar,and along with Charulata and Jalsaghar,are among the best films of Ray and of our nation.
Apu and Durga's 'discovery' of another India,one with electricity and trains,is what I consider 'pure' cinema.The only kind I am interested in.
YouTube - Pather Panchali - the train scene

 

[avidyarthy]

Ajay, you seem to have taken a liking for Bengali cinema ..... more of Ray's works.

Would ask you to watch "SONAR KELLA" - the Golden Fort. This also is Ray's work ..... a detective thriller, made in the early 70s.

 

[ajay124]

Ajay, you seem to have taken a liking for Bengali cinema ..... more of Ray's works.

Would ask you to watch "SONAR KELLA" - the Golden Fort. This also is Ray's work ..... a detective thriller, made in the early 70s.

I have seen each and every film of Ray from Pathar Panchali to Agantuk.

 

[avidyarthy]

Great @ Ajay.
Khuub bhalo laglo shuney .........

 

[ajay124]

IFFI 2010 Updates
International Film Festival of India

 

[Pratters]

I have seen each and every film of Ray from Pathar Panchali to Agantuk.

LOL. That's not true. I am sure you haven't seen the Ray fim which was broadcast for the first time this year at the Kolkata Film Festiva. Most directors, even Ray, has a few films which are very difficult, some times impossible to source.

Meh, whatever.

 

[Pratters]

You know what Ajay, you act like you are a great lover of cinema but you really are not imo. You dismiss hollywood and say it is not even cinema. Really? I can understand not liking a part but hollywood has so many types of cinema, so many great directors and such a huge history of path breaking cinema. Also whenever you recommend films you recommend the most popular films of the most acclaimed directors. It is as if you have no personal choice or opinion. I am not even sure you have watched most of these films. Statements like world cinema right now is in a poor state and American television is crap right now are really mind blowing. I can't believe some one who likes to show himself as a great lover of cinema can make such statements.

Cheers.

 

[ajay124]

@Pratters
I have received a pm from the mods and I presume you have too.I have no intention or interest in trading insults on the forum.I think we should both move on and go our separate ways from here on.
"I am not even sure you have watched most of these films."

From my post on 2nd April

*I am not listing these films in any order of preference or merit but merely on the basis of which director comes to mind.I have watched roughly 75 % of these films and the rest are included merely on the basis of their reputation or my gut feeling that they will be worth viewing.I consider most of these films to be of roughly equal merit or value.7 or 8 Bergman films are among my personal favorites.But for me Andrei Tarkovsky is incomparable.I believe that Andrei lives among the gods while all other filmmakers past,present or future will merely try in vain to break free from their earthly shackles.His cinema is the closest thing I have had to a religous experience.By religous experience I mean looking up in awe at the perfection and beauty of human creation at its best.I rate Andrei's films as being on the same level as the work of Johann Sebastian Bach,Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,Ludwig Von Beethoven,Fyodor Dostoevesky,Plato,Nietzsche,Ibsen,Fernando Pessoa,Pablo Neruda,Jorge Luis Borges,Pieter Bruegel,Francisco Goya,Pablo Picasso....My preference in cinema.books and music leans towards Europe.But I love JAZZ.America's greatest gift to our planet.I do not want to foist my opinion on anyone but merely to share what I like.I hope others will impart what cinema they like or dislike dispassionately and amicably....

 

[ajay124]

Once upon a time there was a country...
What do you do,if you are a film maker,and witness your country literally falling apart over your life time.If you are an auteur like Emir Kusturica,you make a black comedy called Underground.
Beginning with a heart rending scene of animals dying in a Belgrade zoo,as the Nazis begin there bombing of Yugoslavia....and a bleeding lion,chimp?(can't remember),looking up at the heavens and asking the unanswerable question,WHY ARE HUMAN BEINGS DOING THIS TO US?....this is a gut wrenching film,by a master of the medium.
Leaving aside all the politics attached to the film,I viewed this film,as simply the triumph and survival of the individual over a history beyond his/her control.
Emir Kusturica has also made other great films like Life Is A Miracle,When Father Was Away On Business and his famous football film Maradona.
The opening scene sets the pace for the wild ride to follow
YouTube - Underground Kusturica - Opening scene

 

[ajay124]

IFFI 2010
Screening Schedule.Finally!
Foreign Films
http://iffi.nic.in/akalPdf/international-screening-23-27.pdf
Indian Films
http://iffi.nic.in/akalPdf/GoaScreeningSchedule.pdf

 

[ajay124]

Reconstruction of an economic miracle
Rainer Werner Fassbinder,Germany's most famous director was a man in a hurry.Someone who truly followed Neil Young's maxim "It's better to burn out,than it is to rust".In a short life of 37 years,he broke most rules which could be broken....in his relationships with men,women,drugs,alcohol.Constantly at war with himself,with his actors and with society as a whole,he nevertheless made some of the most beautiful and sensitive films of all times.
Some of the most famous being,
Ali,Fear Eat's The Soul
Effi Briest
The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant
The Merchant Of The Four Seasons
In The Year Of Thirteen Moons
The Marriage Of Maria Braun
Lola
Veronica Voss
The last three,form a loosely knit trilogy called The BRD Trilogy.Together these films are a relentlessly honest and illuminating look into the reconstruction of Germany after the second World War and the economic miracle,which turned it once more into one of the most prosperous nations in the world.The central character in all three films is a woman,but the theme is the nation at large,it's triumphs and failures,it's attempts to bury the memory of Fascism and move on.
A central theme which runs through Fassbinder's films is that fascism has many faces.It exists not only in nations,but also in communities and individuals.It exists wherever there is a relentless imposition of ONE will and idea and the demolition of all other will's and idea's.I am sure we've all seen plenty of that in our families,friends,work places....and especially in what is generally termed as "a long and happily married life"!

 

[ajay124]

Part of this is re-posted from my earlier post in the General Lounge.
Bela Tarr is a Hungarian director,who visually and philosophically shares common ground with Tarkovsky.His best known films are Damnation,Satantango,Werckmeister Harmonies and The Man From London.I have viewed Damnation and Man From London,and the other two are right at the top my wishlist.
Damnation is a great film with incredible cinematography.The theme of ennui and nausea inspired by existentialist philosophers like Sartre and Camus,is just the sort of depressing cinema that I find entertaining!In fact it's the 'feel good' cinema which I find depressing,because most of it seems so patently false.
Beautifully shot in black and white,the film moves languidly through a 'barren' landscape towards a remarkable climax.Remarkable for me,because it extended the possibilities of what great cinema can do.The hero having betrayed the women he loves and also his 'best' friend,heads out into a rotting,rain soaked landscape.He comes across a big black stray dog,gets down on all fours and a barking contest ensues,two alley dogs facing off,all the lies and trappings of 'civilization' finally stripped off and anandoned.
YouTube - The Ending of Bela Tarr's Damnation (1987)

 

[ajay124]

Leaving for Goa tomorrow.
There was a bit of a glitch,regarding my delegate card(server error!),but a call and a mail to the Dy.Director,Directorate of Film Festivals lead to surprise,surprise,immediate action and I will(hopefully)get my card on arrival.Interesting selection of films as usual.Really looking forward to watching films on the big screen (the only way I like them),as Chandigarh had only 1 festival this year!And the last time I visited a multiplex was for Ishqiya.
Over the years,I and several members of our Chandigarh Film Society,have acquired immense respect for East European cinema.This opinion is not based on reviews or 'best film lists' but on films we have experienced together in festivals or on DVD...Especially films from Hungary and Poland.Films which may be poor in 'finances' but are rich in imagination.
Therefore my emphasis over the 8-9 days at IFFI will be to watch more of the cinema of Hungary,Poland,Czech Republic,Georgia,Russia.With a bit of Greece,Israel,Japan,China thrown in.From India,I am looking forward to new films by the masters,Goutam Ghose and Girish Kasaravalli.
http://www.iffigoa.org/images/pdf/cinema-of-world.pdf
http://www.iffigoa.org/images/pdf/screening-schedule_phase1.pdf

 

[Pratters]

I am attending the Kerala Film Festival. Very excited. The selection of films here is always the best among all festivals in India in my opinion. Really looking forward to watching a lot of the newer films as well as Indian films. Herzog is going to be there for as many as 5 days. Uncle Boonmee is being shown!

 

[sivasarjun]

Yes.Kerala always had great film society culture.Even in villages.especially in the seventies and eighties.
In the Trivandrum festival There is fassbinder retro among many other good films.I guess you already know that since you are going there.

 

[Pratters]

Yeah, 7 films of Fassbinder are being shown. I have seen a few of them. Max Mueller Bhavan in Kolkata showed around 14 Fassbinder films a few years ago and I watched around 7 of them there. We also had a discussion session on the last day of the festival which was very interesting.

There are other great directors like Herzog (I almost bought two Box sets of his work last week from Amazon but resisted. Those are two great box sets I would recommend highly to any one.), Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Assayas and India's T.V. Chandran.

I am, as I usually do, looking forward to films I can't get access to and probably never will. For instance there are a lot of films from 2010 from Africa in a section titled 'Forget Africa'. Most African films are very difficult to find. If a film does get international acclaim like say Yesterday, you might find it but usually that's not the case. Even the African film awards are hardly covered any where.

I love watching Indian films as well. You find films from/about regions of the country you don't usually see. I went to a press conference which had Shyam Benegal at the Kolkata Film Festival and he talked about how one should always try and watch the local cinema of the region one is attending. They are the films appreciated by the people of that place which belong to that place and usually that means those selections are excellent. So I am looking forward to watching the Malyalam films.

Then of course there are the contemporary films. I love contemporary and new cinema and I try to watch films from recent years. Kerala has a great selection of films from the last 18 months or so. I have been talking about the films on a few film forums I visit and the selection seems really good.

There are a lot of cinema which is classic and great. But I usually avoid watching these as I can watch them any time in my home.

 

[sivasarjun]

Unfortunately Malayalam cinema is not in great shape at the moment.Seventies and eighties was a good period.Adoor,Aravindan and a few other offbeat directors.And also a few directors who made a few films whuch were in the middle ground ie commercial as well as artistically satisfying like P.Padmarajan,Bharathan,Mohan and others.
However last year there were one or two goodfilms like Paleri manickyam by Ranjith an adaptation of a brilliant novel by T.P.rajeevan himself a prominent poet.
Although I hardly ever watch malayalam films nowadays.

 

[Pratters]

The films in festivals are vastly different from what comes out in the mainstream..

 

[ajay124]

IFFI Impressions
Back from Goa after a week of sunshine,sossegado and films,films,films.For the major part of 2010 I was obsessed with putting together a HiFi set up and churning my music collection.That part is more or less a closed chapter now.I am glad that the year is ending with a burst of films.Intend to keep watching films from my library for the rest of December,with less emphasis on music.
I reached the Inox complex nice and early at 7 am on the 24th.By 8.45 am I had my delegate card and the first bunch of 9 tickets,3 per day in hand.Having been to the previous IFFI's,I felt quite at home and immediately got down to a continuous filmathon from 9 am to 9 pm, with a one hour lunch break (glass of red wine,chicken tikka with romali roti,phone call back home).I am very happy that I managed 5 films every day until the 29th and 2 before I departed on the 30th.Had to miss the last two days,because of a wedding in Chandigarh.As I left the Inox complex on the 30th afternoon,having finished off with a sensational film from Italy,a song was playing in the courtyard (a childhood favourite),Chalte Chalte...Kabhi Alvida Na Kahena,and I felt a lump in my throat...IFFI and Goa is a wonderful place to come back to every year in November!
First and foremost,the film fanatics.
Met about a dozen of them,mostly men and women in the 40-60 range.They became familiar faces,and with some of them I had intense conversations about films,in the brief intervals of free time between films.Two of them from Bombay seemed to believe that they were part of a trio of the three most knowledgeable cinephiles in the entire country!I must admit they were extremely well informed,articulate and passionate about cinema and their memories of film festivals attended,went back into the early 70's.I met a fan of American cinema,who considered that America was the only nation which had truly mastered the art of cinema.At the screening of ''The Ghostwriter'' I met a Roman Polanski fan who considered Polanski's Macbeth as the greatest film ever made.At the screening of 'You Will Meet A Tall,Dark,Stranger' I witnessed plenty of Woody Allen fans.I met a director from Argentina who's film was screened at IFFI,who shared my admiration for the films of Emir Kusturica.Also met a first time director from Italy,whose sensational film on the Mafia "The Sicilian Girl " met with an enthusiastic response.I asked him whether the reference text for many on the Mafia,"The Godfather" was as (I believed) a film full of cliches and stereotypes and he said that personally he had enjoyed the film and found it very well made.The biggest response was for the retrospective of the Polish director Jan Jakub Kolski,whose 5-6 films ran to full houses.I was happy to see that a lot of regulars were more interested in viewing cinema from the lesser known countries,rather than the big film producing ones like America,India,France,Germany,Spain and Italy.
The general consensus seemed to be that 'Pure' directed by Lisa Langseth (Sweden) was THE film of the festival.I missed that one,because the screening was at 10 pm and I struck to my plan of making the 7 pm screening the last film of the day.I still managed 32 films in six and a half days and I am satisfied!5 or 6 of these were great films,the rest fairly nice to very nice.Apart from the 32 there were three duds which I thankfully exited after the first 20 minutes.
More on the films later.

 

[Pratters]

I asked him whether the reference text for many on the Mafia,"The Godfather" was as (I believed) a film full of cliches and stereotypes and he said that personally he had enjoyed the film and found it very well made.

Why do you think The Godfather is full of cliches and stereotypes? Give me a few examples.