hahaha! why did you buy so many films you did not yet watch. maybe it’s just me, but i only purchase films that make a huge impression on me — that i know i’ll want to watch whenever i feel like it.
are you like skipping out on life to watch films for 6 months? that sounds fun.
I blind buy a lot of stuff, but based on suggestions and research; and if I see one or two films that I like by a director, I will go out and buy four or five more. I bought a 14 disc set of Godard, I also got a Rohmer, Malle, and Melville set recently.
I plan on leaving myself a few days a week to do other things, and starting May 1st, I am going to be working night shift for the next 4 months, so I won’t have that much of a life anyway.
Some of you, by now, are familiar with my taste in film, and my philosophies; and you can use this when deciding whether or not to see a film.
I am just going to try and observe the films and give my initial thoughts.
Maybe you have a much different personality than I do, but I am on a similar quest… and lets just say it doesn’t work out so smoothly for me.
For instance, I knew today would be a slow day being Easter Sunday, so I told myself yesterday I would try to watch 2-4 films. I also told myself that I would watch at least one Godard film on netflix, because I haven’t seen any Godard films yet [don’t kill me], and I’m really fascinated to see what everyone is so obsessed with. I also really wanted to watch Cronenberg’s The Fly.
I ended up watching Balls Out: Gary the Tennis Coach [sean-william scott comedy], Superman Doomsday [a cartoon lol], Trailer Park Boys: Count Down to Liquor Day [canadian comedy, good but stupid], and then finally The Fly.
As you can probably guess, I usually just watch what ever suits my mood, which often times isn’t want I told myself I wanted to watch beforehand.
Don’t get me wrong lol, since I started my film journey I have definitely broadened my horizons and learned a lot about film. But I have also wasted a lot of time re-watching silly comedies, little cartoon movies, pixar films, and re-watching some of my favorites too.
I guess what I am saying is, if you are anything like me, you eventually burn out a bit on “serious” films.
Are you going to be checking out any Irani films? Anything by the likes of Kiarostami, Panahi or Majidi?
Jardun, the kind of films that I will be watching are the kind that I normally watch. I don’t watch too many comedies or action movies.
Brenton, I have tried a few by Kiarostami, and he is just not my taste.
Most of the non french or Japanese films that I am gonna be watching are African or Indian, but there are a few from Muslim countries:
“Blackboards” by Samira Makhmalbaf
“Time and Winds” by Reha Erdem
“Kandahar” by Mohsen Makhmalbaf
“At 5 in the Afternoon” by Samira Makhmalbaf
I also have Mouladde, which is a muslim film, in Africa
Waltz with Bashir
and Le Petite Jerousalem
I’ll have to look into Panahi and Majidi
why don’t you get netflix instead of blind buying all these films?
I like to send as much money as I can back to the distributer and directors who make the movies and make them available.
I also, like to have the physical copy on hand in case I want to watch a film again to study it, or lend it out.
I also enjoy supplements.
Well, I commend you on venturing out geographically. Getting people to watch African films is like pulling teeth, I’m telling you. Both African selections you have chosen are superb. Of course, Moolaade is very well known, but Dreams of Dust is not. But it’s a masterpiece.
I also have Yeelen, Waiting for Happiness, Touki Bouki, Lumumba, Guimba the Tyrant, The NIght of Truth, Wend Kuuni, and a movie called War Dance, which I don’t think was directed by an African.
Yeelen and Waiting for Happiness I have already watched and both were quite good. Waiting for Happiness I want to watch again, though.
I’ve seen all the ones you’ve mentioned except for Lumumba. That one’s a rather commerical film though, isn’t it? But you’re right. Yeelen and Waiting for Happiness are brilliant. Yeah, War Dance is not directed by an African. It’s a mediocre feel-good doc.
Where do you guys get African films from?
Alright, Dreams of Dust.
SPoilers ahead
I must say that I was less satisfied with Dreams of Dust than I was with Yeelen or Waiting for Happiness.
Its about a man running from his past. He comes to Burkina Faso to mine Gold. He was a farmer in Niger, but he had to leave after his daughter dies of Malaria. I think that the film implies that his wife and other children have already died, but its not made perfectly clear.
The film opens with a beautiful shot of a landscape covered in dust, and as the wind blows a dust cloud along, the characters and setting of the film are revealed, like the pulling back of a curtain. A great wordless opening.
You have Moctar, the main character, Thiam, who acts as his father figure, and Coumba and her daughter Marianne who function as the central characetrs. There are 2 or 3 other minor characters who speak a few words, but aren’t central to the story, other than serving as a means for the director to convey a few more thing to the audience about the main character.
Moctar takes a liking to Coumba, whose husband died mining a few years prior to his arrival.
One day Moctar while watching Coumba, and paying no mind to the task he is doing, hurst himself and has to visit the doctor. I didn’t really see the relevance in this scene, other than to show us that Moctar likes Coumba, and to have the doctor explain to us that blue-blues( a drink that Thiam offers Moctar in the beginning) is alcohol mixed with amphetamines.
Moctar befriends Coumba and her daughter, and Coumba tells him of her desire to send her daughter away to Paris to get an education. After finding a nugget of gold, Moctar gives them the money they need for the both of them to leave for Paris.
At the end we see him mixing up some blue-blues, and then he sees Marianne running through the street. He follows her out of the village, and into the desert. I don’t know if this was a hallucination, or a symbolic image. Is he going to follow her and her mother to Paris, or is he going to wander out into the desert and die?
This is a very dry description of a film, that does contain more life than this, but the telling of the story carries no kind of dramatic weight. We don’t really see much of the thought put into any of Moctar’s decisions, we only watch him meditate on them after he has made them.
The film has a plot, but not a very strong one. Let me make this clear, this is not the kind of film that does not have a plot, or is built of only vignettes. This is not “The Mirror” or even “Waiting for Happiness”. There is a traditional story here. In “Waiting for Happiness”, there is the story of the main character wanting to leave, but he is but a small player in that film. The other characters in Waiting for Happiness are more fully developed than those in “Dreams of Dust”, and the existence of a plot makes me wish that if the characters are not going to be more fully developed, that I could at least get be treated to an interesting plot.
For me, I wish that the film would have gone one way or the other, traditional plot of vignettes about the ensemble cast. Also, for me, a film must have memorable moments, and while there is some fine cinematography here, aside from the opening sequence of wind driven dust, there are not many magical moments in the film. One might say that the last scene was magical, but for me, it was too confusing, at least upon this initial viewing, for me to consider the final scene satisfying.
4/8
Next up
Eric Rohmer’s “The Green Ray”
Cancel the Green Ray.
This is like watching Ozu without the framing. Without Chisu Riyu and Noriko. Trainrides and Coca Cola. Without the pillow(pillar?) shots.
In Ozu there is a plot, and the characters are always scheming each other.
Here they just talk about their feelings the whole movie.
I’m not ready for this.
I don’t know if I ever will be ready for this kind of movie.
Nothing but talking.
I don’t even want to rate this thing. Its unrateable.
Army of Shadows is next
Le Doulos is a classic
Second Wind is a masterpiece.
Bob the Gambler was ok.
The Circle Rouge was really good.
edit: I was just getting myself ready for Army of Shadows. LOL, these aren’t even what I would call a review. Just acknowledging that I have seen these other films by Melville, and liked them, so this should be better than The Green Ray. thats all.
You really know how to sum a film up.
I get right to the heart of the matter, Robley.
Just stick with me, you’ll be alright.
Oooh, let me try.
Rocco and His Brothers sucks.
Red Beard isn’t good.
Bicycle Thieves is dumb.
Sansho the Bailiff is boring.
Don’t lie, you like those movies.
Army of Shadows is next
Le Doulos is a classic
Second Wind is a masterpiece.
Bob the Gambler was ok.
The Circle Rouge was really good.
edit: I was just getting myself ready for Army of Shadows. LOL, these aren’t even what I would call a review. Just acknowledging that I have seen these other films by Melville, and liked them, so this should be better than The Green Ray. thats all.
Yeah right! They don’t even move the camera! And all they do is talk about their feelings! Sooo boring…
If you ever plan to make any good films you would be better off not watching movies for six months, going out and experiencing life, paying close attention to your interactions with others and writing down your experiences. Forget about beautiful “shots” and pay attention to what’s around you and you might end up with something to say that we haven’t heard already.
I’d have to agree with Mike on that one. A person can watch as many films as they like, but a truly inspired vision comes from experiencing life. I know I’m contradicting what I’ve just stated by refering to media, but it’s like the monologue Jonathan Winters gives in that Twilight Zone episode “A Game of Pool,” when he relates to Jack Klugman the fact that he has lived outside of the poolhalls, and that’s what makes him the player he is. You have to experience life. A shut-in will only write a great story about a shut-in, and I don’t know if Taxi Driver is something you want to redo, Jason. Although I think going on a filmic odyssey is a lot of fun, I wouldn’t be surprised if at the end of the odyssey you were as proficient at writing stories as when you started your odyssey. Read books, study different philosophies, try falling in love with a circus performer, go on a cross-country adventure on your vacation time (if you have vacation time), join a protest involving illegal immigrants and wild brown beret militants, get a pet chuckwalla. Choose life!
Points well taken, but I still want to study the structural and visual elements of movies.
“I like to send as much money as I can back to the distributer and directors who make the movies and make them available.
I also, like to have the physical copy on hand in case I want to watch a film again to study it, or lend it out.
I also enjoy supplements"
That’s nice and all, but you can still buy them after renting the films (including suppliments), and save money not buying stuff you don’t like.
I’ve always wanted to do a film odyssey like that! I too have stacks of films that I haven’t seen yet at my house (although many of them I got for free, or a bunch of Criterions for $2.50 each that I got from a sale). But I’m already doing a short film, web series, and even a full length feature after that. Needless to say, I’ve got my plate full.
But I’m glad you’re doing this! Once I finish up the projects I’m working on, I will probably do the same thing! There’s just too much good stuff out there! What I want to do though is watch 2-3 movies during the daytime, then go out at night so I still get to experience life (and vice versa).
Army of Shadows is a classic. Worth many more looks. It has everything that I love about Melville, from his brilliant framing and camerawork, to the great group of actors that he works with, his ability to maintain a tight and tense plot, though the story line is a little more kalaidascopic than some of his other films. There is a great amount of ambiguity to all of the characters and this is the kind of film that demands to be seen more than once.
6/8
dope fiend willy
ok, so I have a little over a hundred films that I own that I need to either watch or rewatch, and with recommendations from you guys at The Auteurs, I’m sure that number will grow at least to 150. I am going to try and get through these as quickly as I can, and I would like to watch at least 6 week, if not 8.
So I figure this to last me about 6 months, if I can stick it out-hell, I spent a lot of money on these films, I need to watch them.
I plan to take notes and write reviews of each film, and even the films that I don’t like, I hope to learn something from them; and from there I am going to go into writing screenplays.
I’ve wasted enough in my life, I need to start setting some kind of goals, and actually working toward them. I guess I actually should start seriously writing before I finish watching the movies, so that I can begin critiquing my work as I go, and as I take things from the movies I watch.
First movie up is “Dreams of Dust” by Laurent Salgues. This is an African film, and I plan on alternating between movies from places that I am less familiar (African, Indian, Middle Eastern) to more familiar (American, French, Japanese), in an attempt to keep this whole exercise fresh.