Wall

You'll also have to add all the various interpretations of Carmen on this list. One of the most spectacular is the Senegalese version of that tale: Karmen Gei. And.... French cinema has a lot of these women, definitely Jules and Jim, and even Murmur of the Heart. This is a nice topic to think about.

John

14Mar11

I don't know how you do it, but you did it. That's what cinema is all about: desire.

Kenji

13Mar11

Thanks. And that reminds me, i think Laura may do too

Edwin N

13Mar11

Don't you think 'The Strange Case of Angelica' is also a film about an unattainable woman, other than the fact that it explores the collision between art and death ?

Martinus

3Jan11

Another list I wanted to make... But then there's always a great Kenji-list. Some suggestions: PANDORA AND THE FLYING DUTCHMAN (Albert Lewin, 1951), DE MAN DIE ZIJN HAAR KORT LIET KNIPPEN (André Delvaux, 1965), HUNGER (Henning Carlsen, 1966), ACCIDENT (Joseph Losey, 1967), EXOTICA (Atom Egoyan, 1994), TWO LOVERS (James Gray, 2008) and LE NOTTI BIANCHE (Visconti 1957).

gojira

7Oct10

May I suggest The Bride of Frankenstein?

Kenji

24Jul10

Thanks, i'm really looking fiorward to seeing it

Ally the Manic Listmaker

24Jul10

Manoel de Oliveira's new one: Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl is also one about an unattainable woman.

Kenji

30May10

I'm not an opera buff but i love La Boheme too.

Robert Regan

30May10

You've hit on one of my favorite themes here, though I'm not sure how some of the films fit in. I guess it won't surprise you that my favorite opera is La Boheme: addio senza rancor

Jon K

21Feb10

Great idea. Not for the list, but a film that takes the opposite view is the anime 'Millennium Actress'. There we follow a woman through life searching for her 'unattainable man'. If you haven't seen it, it's well worth watching.

Blake GOBLE

21Nov09

No, sorry for pestering. But yeah, when I see her in those movies, I definitely think "unattainable," and not just in the sense that she's gone...

Kenji

21Nov09

no i was just expressing myself badly; she was famous for her luscious long hair in Gilda, and as she controversially had the short cut for Welles, i should have automatically thought of Gilda, her most famous role

Blake GOBLE

21Nov09

Wait, you think Rita Hayworth should have had her hair cut for "Gilda" too? I dunno. I love seeing that one shot of her, shoulders exposed, whipping that beautiful hair back.

Kenji

21Nov09

yes he did cut the locks for Lady from Shanghai, which i'd already picked, so should have had Gilda too

Blake GOBLE

21Nov09

And for the LOLs, "The Lady in Red" with Gene Wilder. Complete with great Stevie Wonder music!

Blake GOBLE

21Nov09

I thought he cut the locks for "Lady from Shanghai?" Also, might you consider "That Obscure Object of Desire" or "Annie Hall?"

Kenji

21Nov09

ah yes, Gilda- i should have thought of that, with Welles cutting her famous locks

Mark Ayala

21Nov09

Love this list. I never thought about it, but it's a common recurring cinematic theme. I also love the lack of post-2000's pseudo-indie films like 500 Days of Summer and Garden State which seems to thrive on the theme of males being unable to handle their lives instead of the grand scale of things in films like Sansho the Bailiff, Brazil and especially Vertigo.

Blake GOBLE

21Nov09

Isn't every almost Scorsese film in part about the mystery that is woman? Though, this list is refreshingly devoid of post-2000 hipster indie chicks. You know who you are Kate Winslet, Zooey Deschanel, Natalie Portman! Throw me some Gilda!