Antonioni’s “The Passenger”, the camerawork in this is quietly spectacular, and the filtered color of the film just adds so much to the beautiful positioning. And the long-take tracking shot of the window and dusty parking lot during Locke’s assassination, it’s so poignant and mellow, and it’s perfect that way because the character’s destiny is inevitable; like Antonioni let his creature just finally surrender.
Bogdanovich’s “The Last Picture Show” I think the camera captures the loneliness and emptiness of a southern dying dust town so well, and just the general flatness and wideness of Texas. I have one particular scene in mind, when Sonny drives out past city limits and parks his truck on the side of the road and gets out to see Anarene from afar, beautiful.
Also, the camerawork in Sergio Leone’s dollar trilogy leaves me speechless, I always think it’s so.. modern. It still pushes the envelope today, I think.
Vivre sa Vie, easily. This was actually my introduction to international cinema, it changed my life. I went to a local movie store and bought it, just because I thought it sounded interesting, and well.. because Anna Karina looked incredible on the cover, I admit it. That was 3 years ago, and now I have seen almost all of Godard, and it’s still the one I revisit the most.
My name is Klaus, I’m a musician, and my biggest inspiration is film. My introduction to cinema was Vivre sa Vie about 3 years ago, and I have been hooked ever since, and self educating myself in international film history. My desk at work is well adorned with “weird movie” lobby cards and stills, my coworkers don’t understand why I watch black and white subtitled movies, when I could easily watch Kill Bill. I’m really excited about this, and I can’t wait to explore the site more. Thanks for creating this great community filled with people with discerning taste, I look forward to refreshing forum pages and watching great movies!
Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, and Repulsion, although I am not sure wether the latter was an American release it’s definitely worthy of the Criterion treatment, as I think it’s been too under the radar for the past 40 something years.
Red River
8 1/2
Un Chien Andalou
Pierrot le Fou
The Last Picture Show
Fanny and Alexander
The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Vertigo
Pandora’s Box
Bicycle Thieves or Rome Open City (It was hard choosing one from this period)
But those are classics.. I think true cinephiles spend glorious amounts of time digging into the dark less known corners of a director’s ouvre, mostly* late films.. past their artistic prime decade;
Fellini- La Voce Della Luna
Truffaut- The Last Metro
Hitchcock- Lifeboat
Fuller- I Shot Jesse James
Godard- Made in U.S.A
Allen- The Purple Rose of Cairo
Coppola- Rumblefish
Ford- Young Mr. Lincoln
De Sica- Two Women
Keaton- Spite Marriage
Glauber Rocha, Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol, man. I think Cinema Novo in general is over looked. I really love early political rudimentary film making like this.
I forgot.. but, Mario Bava. I really like him, and he’s popular in the avid horror buff community..but not so much with the cinephiles. It’s unfair because he had such brilliant vision for color, juxtaposition, and framing. I think he was a flower arranger and a painter before becoming a director later in life, so I think that’s where a lot of the beauty in his films came from. One of the most elegantly shot black and white films that I have ever seen is Black Sunday.
So many favorite films, and so many memorable sequences.. So I’m going to try to do this as spontaneously as possible;
The opening sequence from 8 1/2, all the way up to Guido waking up.
The sequence in A Place in the Sun (although not a great movie) where Elizabeth Taylor’s family and Clift’s character get in the boat, and at ground level on the dock moving calmly with the water, you see the radio announcing the news about the body in the lake.
In A Streetcar Named Desire, when Blanche finally flips her lid alone after Harold spills everything that Stan told him he knew about her, and put her face under the ceiling light to see the years on her face. This leaves me speechless, Vivien Leigh did one of the most amazing things ever captured on camera here, I think.
The Passenger, the scene before last, when Lock is killed. You know what I’m talking about.
My top 5 looks an awful lot like everyone else’s, with Johnny Guitar, Leone’s work and Red River somewhere on the top (my list couldn’t realistically stop at 5.) But I was surprised not to see Sydney Pollack’s Jeremiah Johnson on any of the posts. I really love this film’s contrast in the genre, with it’s harsh but quiet winter Utah mountain setting, it sets it apart (with the exception of The Great Silence) from the usual Monument Valley and Spanish desert. Robert Redford’s subtle performance is well textured with his solitude, humility, and determination and goes down as his most memorable to me, for sure.
The only saving grace for this is that Daniel Day Lewis and Sophia Lauren agreed to roles in the film. But Fergie? Christ. But, really, I don’t think any of it’s fantastical hollywood garbage will rub off onto Fellini’s nearly 50 year old film.
I think you guys have it all wrong. I would not go for the romantic comedy approach at all. The only exception is A Streetcar Named Desire. Since this is about more serious themes, like gradual descent into sheer schizophrenia, it might make you seem like a more serious artistic dude, or whatever. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, etc etc. might make you seem like you purposefully picked a touching relationship drama to either get in her pants or to make her fall for you via film. I don’t think these are your intentions.. but, if they are, that sucks for you.
Some Like it Hot is an exception, too. The romantic themes in this are too funny to take seriously. Consider Wilder’s Double Indemnity, a double crossing wife and a sucker of an insurance salesman take romance to violent death, it is definitely intriguing enough and well worth the time.
What kind of dame is she? Does she paint landscapes? Does she ever laugh? These might all be clues as to what she might enjoy.
In Andrei Rublev, when the dog is beaten to death with a cane.
In Dry Summer, when the dog is shot and killed.
In Bertolucci’s Partner, when Giacobbe 2 strangles the detergent salesgirl.
The Piano Teacher, when Walter shows up at the teacher’s apartment in the middle of the night, and repeats her wishes as she wrote them; to punch her beat her and so forth, and goes on to do so.
Mamma Roma, Ettore’s death. The dialogue before his death. The shot from his feet up, crucified to the table, his face leaning to the side lifeless, the bucket. Mamma’s reaction at the market.
Look into Buster Keaton’s silent work, it’s almost all really really good. I recommend Pabst’s “Pandora’s Box.” Mornau’s “Faust” and “Sunrise.” And, of course, Eisenstein’s “Battleship Potemkin” and Dreyer’s “The Passion of Joan of Arc.”
I can not for the life of me watch The Red Shoes in one sitting. But, this is the unfortunate truth for every Powell and Pressburger film that I’ve seen. The first time I watched The Marx Brothers’ A Night at the Opera I fell asleep, but really found it hysterical when I payed closer attention the second time. And, I don’t think I’ve been able to stay awake through any costume drama, the most notable and acclaimed probably being Visconti’s The Leopard, and Rosselini’s television historical stuff.
I’m in Tampa. We have a historic theatre down here, www.tampatheatre.org, during the summers they play blatant American classics, and throughout the rest of the year it’s mostly documentaries and contemporary domestic and foreign independent features. It’s descent to good. The theatre itself is nicer than the selection. USF used to have some screenings of good films, I’m not sure wether they do still or not, and from time to time the Salvador Dali museum in St. Pete will show some art stuff, last time I went a few years ago they played Suzuki’s Tokyo Drifter. The public library system is great down here, and really the best place to find good films. But I am definitely jealous of your art multiplex, and film society.
Besides the ones you’ve seen, the creme de la creme are Une Femme Est Une Femme, Vivre Sa Vie, Le Petit Soldat, Masculin Feminin, and Weekend. If you really like those, try out Une Femme Mariee, and 2 ou 3 Choses Que Je Sais D’elle. I can’t find most later Godard really recommendable, with the exception of Detective, but it is still worth seeking depending on how fanatic you become.
1. Andrei Rublev (Tarkovsky)
2. Manhattan (Allen)
3. The Gospel According to Saint Matthew (Pasolini)
And if this was a FIVE most visually pleasing films you’ve ever seen list, I’d add The Passenger (Antonioni), and The Searchers (Ford), and even then I’d have a have a hard time leaving out The Apartment (Wilder), The 400 Blows (Truffaut), and Yo Soy Cuba (Kalatozov) ..
Best Film Ever – L’Atalante
Worst Film Ever – Lawrence of Arabia, The Wild One
Most Overrated Film Ever – 2001 A Space Odyssey
Most Underrated Film Ever – Mississippi Mermaid, The Tenant, The Trial
Best Director Ever – Alfred Hitchcock
Worst Director Ever – Kevin Smith
Most Overrated Director Ever – George Cukor
Most Underrated Director Ever – Elia Kazan, Orson Welles
Best Actor/Actress Ever – Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani
Worst Actor/Actress Ever – Clark Gable, Maria Schneider (Though the blank face and stiff voice make for a strange and effective blend of things next to Brando and Nicholson)
Yes! It’s a beautifully photographed unsentimental telling of the life of Christ. The faces, and locations not only look like they’re right out of the old testament, but when combined with the eclectic score they have a strangely hypnotic effect. You really can’t go wrong with it. I’d definitely say it’s a good starting point.
Seconding Film Movement. So far I’ve only seen really good films distributed from these guys. Because they release mostly foreign contemporary work I think it’s a reliable way of keeping up with cinema outside the theatre, and the few modern films the more popular distributors put out.
Best camerawork in a movie...handheld or otherwise. Or best use of the camera to convey the scene's intention. over 3 years ago
Antonioni’s “The Passenger”, the camerawork in this is quietly spectacular, and the filtered color of the film just adds so much to the beautiful positioning. And the long-take tracking shot of the window and dusty parking lot during Locke’s assassination, it’s so poignant and mellow, and it’s perfect that way because the character’s destiny is inevitable; like Antonioni let his creature just finally surrender.
Bogdanovich’s “The Last Picture Show” I think the camera captures the loneliness and emptiness of a southern dying dust town so well, and just the general flatness and wideness of Texas. I have one particular scene in mind, when Sonny drives out past city limits and parks his truck on the side of the road and gets out to see Anarene from afar, beautiful.
Also, the camerawork in Sergio Leone’s dollar trilogy leaves me speechless, I always think it’s so.. modern. It still pushes the envelope today, I think.
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Your Favorite Godard Film? over 3 years ago
Vivre sa Vie, easily. This was actually my introduction to international cinema, it changed my life. I went to a local movie store and bought it, just because I thought it sounded interesting, and well.. because Anna Karina looked incredible on the cover, I admit it. That was 3 years ago, and now I have seen almost all of Godard, and it’s still the one I revisit the most.
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New to The Auteurs? You Belong Here over 3 years ago
My name is Klaus, I’m a musician, and my biggest inspiration is film. My introduction to cinema was Vivre sa Vie about 3 years ago, and I have been hooked ever since, and self educating myself in international film history. My desk at work is well adorned with “weird movie” lobby cards and stills, my coworkers don’t understand why I watch black and white subtitled movies, when I could easily watch Kill Bill. I’m really excited about this, and I can’t wait to explore the site more. Thanks for creating this great community filled with people with discerning taste, I look forward to refreshing forum pages and watching great movies!
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WHAT MODERN...AMERICAN...HORROR FILMS SHOULD BE ADDED TO THE CRITERION COLLECTION? over 3 years ago
Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, and Repulsion, although I am not sure wether the latter was an American release it’s definitely worthy of the Criterion treatment, as I think it’s been too under the radar for the past 40 something years.
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10 films you MUST have seen to even be in with a chance of being a true Cinephile over 3 years ago
Not in a specific order;
Red River
8 1/2
Un Chien Andalou
Pierrot le Fou
The Last Picture Show
Fanny and Alexander
The Good the Bad and the Ugly
Vertigo
Pandora’s Box
Bicycle Thieves or Rome Open City (It was hard choosing one from this period)
But those are classics.. I think true cinephiles spend glorious amounts of time digging into the dark less known corners of a director’s ouvre, mostly* late films.. past their artistic prime decade;
Fellini- La Voce Della Luna
Truffaut- The Last Metro
Hitchcock- Lifeboat
Fuller- I Shot Jesse James
Godard- Made in U.S.A
Allen- The Purple Rose of Cairo
Coppola- Rumblefish
Ford- Young Mr. Lincoln
De Sica- Two Women
Keaton- Spite Marriage
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YOUR FAVOURITE "ROAD MOVIE" ? over 3 years ago
My favorites;
Pierrot le Fou
Stagecoach
The Passenger
La Strada
Bound for Glory
The Grapes of Wrath
Paper Moon
Down by Law
The Motorcycle Diaries
Two-lane Blacktop
and
Bonnie and Clyde.
I think everyone forgot Speed, 1994. It’s my 12th all time favorite road movie.
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Favorite underseen/unknown directors over 3 years ago
Glauber Rocha, Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol, man. I think Cinema Novo in general is over looked. I really love early political rudimentary film making like this.
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Favorite underseen/unknown directors over 3 years ago
I forgot.. but, Mario Bava. I really like him, and he’s popular in the avid horror buff community..but not so much with the cinephiles. It’s unfair because he had such brilliant vision for color, juxtaposition, and framing. I think he was a flower arranger and a painter before becoming a director later in life, so I think that’s where a lot of the beauty in his films came from. One of the most elegantly shot black and white films that I have ever seen is Black Sunday.
Go to Comment
BEST SEQUENCE OR SCENE FROM ANY FILM(CAN BE AN OPENING OR ANYTHING ELSE) over 3 years ago
So many favorite films, and so many memorable sequences.. So I’m going to try to do this as spontaneously as possible;
The opening sequence from 8 1/2, all the way up to Guido waking up.
The sequence in A Place in the Sun (although not a great movie) where Elizabeth Taylor’s family and Clift’s character get in the boat, and at ground level on the dock moving calmly with the water, you see the radio announcing the news about the body in the lake.
In A Streetcar Named Desire, when Blanche finally flips her lid alone after Harold spills everything that Stan told him he knew about her, and put her face under the ceiling light to see the years on her face. This leaves me speechless, Vivien Leigh did one of the most amazing things ever captured on camera here, I think.
The Passenger, the scene before last, when Lock is killed. You know what I’m talking about.
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BEST SEQUENCE OR SCENE FROM ANY FILM(CAN BE AN OPENING OR ANYTHING ELSE) over 3 years ago
And,
When Lulu dies.
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BEST SEQUENCE OR SCENE FROM ANY FILM(CAN BE AN OPENING OR ANYTHING ELSE) over 3 years ago
Ah! Awesome input with Leone! That’s one of my favorite opening sequences, for sure.
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Best film of the 80's? over 3 years ago
The Land Before Time, man.
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You choose the book to make into a film. Then choose the director. Go! over 3 years ago
I request the almost impossible:
Howl- Allen Ginsberg
CoDirection by Gaspar Noe and Walter Salles.
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Best Westerns about 3 years ago
My top 5 looks an awful lot like everyone else’s, with Johnny Guitar, Leone’s work and Red River somewhere on the top (my list couldn’t realistically stop at 5.) But I was surprised not to see Sydney Pollack’s Jeremiah Johnson on any of the posts. I really love this film’s contrast in the genre, with it’s harsh but quiet winter Utah mountain setting, it sets it apart (with the exception of The Great Silence) from the usual Monument Valley and Spanish desert. Robert Redford’s subtle performance is well textured with his solitude, humility, and determination and goes down as his most memorable to me, for sure.
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Rob Marshall and Fellini shall clash? almost 3 years ago
The only saving grace for this is that Daniel Day Lewis and Sophia Lauren agreed to roles in the film. But Fergie? Christ. But, really, I don’t think any of it’s fantastical hollywood garbage will rub off onto Fellini’s nearly 50 year old film.
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What do you believe is the most visually impressive film of all time? almost 3 years ago
Andrei Rublev, or Solaris
8 1/2
Manhattan, or Stardust Memories
Godard’s early color work, mostly Une Femme est une Femme
The Passenger
Shock Corridor
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In need of some quick guidance almost 3 years ago
I think you guys have it all wrong. I would not go for the romantic comedy approach at all. The only exception is A Streetcar Named Desire. Since this is about more serious themes, like gradual descent into sheer schizophrenia, it might make you seem like a more serious artistic dude, or whatever. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, etc etc. might make you seem like you purposefully picked a touching relationship drama to either get in her pants or to make her fall for you via film. I don’t think these are your intentions.. but, if they are, that sucks for you.
Some Like it Hot is an exception, too. The romantic themes in this are too funny to take seriously. Consider Wilder’s Double Indemnity, a double crossing wife and a sucker of an insurance salesman take romance to violent death, it is definitely intriguing enough and well worth the time.
What kind of dame is she? Does she paint landscapes? Does she ever laugh? These might all be clues as to what she might enjoy.
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Most traumatizing scene in a film....... almost 3 years ago
In Andrei Rublev, when the dog is beaten to death with a cane.
In Dry Summer, when the dog is shot and killed.
In Bertolucci’s Partner, when Giacobbe 2 strangles the detergent salesgirl.
The Piano Teacher, when Walter shows up at the teacher’s apartment in the middle of the night, and repeats her wishes as she wrote them; to punch her beat her and so forth, and goes on to do so.
Mamma Roma, Ettore’s death. The dialogue before his death. The shot from his feet up, crucified to the table, his face leaning to the side lifeless, the bucket. Mamma’s reaction at the market.
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Screening in London? almost 3 years ago
Yes.
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Any suggestions on introducing myself with Silent Pictures. over 2 years ago
Look into Buster Keaton’s silent work, it’s almost all really really good. I recommend Pabst’s “Pandora’s Box.” Mornau’s “Faust” and “Sunrise.” And, of course, Eisenstein’s “Battleship Potemkin” and Dreyer’s “The Passion of Joan of Arc.”
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Ok, admit you dozed off or slept while watching.... over 2 years ago
I can not for the life of me watch The Red Shoes in one sitting. But, this is the unfortunate truth for every Powell and Pressburger film that I’ve seen. The first time I watched The Marx Brothers’ A Night at the Opera I fell asleep, but really found it hysterical when I payed closer attention the second time. And, I don’t think I’ve been able to stay awake through any costume drama, the most notable and acclaimed probably being Visconti’s The Leopard, and Rosselini’s television historical stuff.
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Anyone from Florida? over 2 years ago
I’m in Tampa. We have a historic theatre down here, www.tampatheatre.org, during the summers they play blatant American classics, and throughout the rest of the year it’s mostly documentaries and contemporary domestic and foreign independent features. It’s descent to good. The theatre itself is nicer than the selection. USF used to have some screenings of good films, I’m not sure wether they do still or not, and from time to time the Salvador Dali museum in St. Pete will show some art stuff, last time I went a few years ago they played Suzuki’s Tokyo Drifter. The public library system is great down here, and really the best place to find good films. But I am definitely jealous of your art multiplex, and film society.
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Great film books free to read at Google Books over 2 years ago
Is this a preview? The link only allows me to read the foreword, and most of Renoir’s introduction.
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BEST CLOSE-UPS IN FILMS over 2 years ago
Second only to “The Passion of Joan of Arc”, some of the most memorable close ups for me are in Pasolini’s “The Gospel According to St. Matthew”.
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which godard films should I see over 2 years ago
Besides the ones you’ve seen, the creme de la creme are Une Femme Est Une Femme, Vivre Sa Vie, Le Petit Soldat, Masculin Feminin, and Weekend. If you really like those, try out Une Femme Mariee, and 2 ou 3 Choses Que Je Sais D’elle. I can’t find most later Godard really recommendable, with the exception of Detective, but it is still worth seeking depending on how fanatic you become.
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3 most visually pleasing films you've ever seen over 2 years ago
1. Andrei Rublev (Tarkovsky)
2. Manhattan (Allen)
3. The Gospel According to Saint Matthew (Pasolini)
And if this was a FIVE most visually pleasing films you’ve ever seen list, I’d add The Passenger (Antonioni), and The Searchers (Ford), and even then I’d have a have a hard time leaving out The Apartment (Wilder), The 400 Blows (Truffaut), and Yo Soy Cuba (Kalatozov) ..
And, Purple Noon (Clement).
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For the absolutist in you... over 2 years ago
Best Film Ever – L’Atalante
Worst Film Ever – Lawrence of Arabia, The Wild One
Most Overrated Film Ever – 2001 A Space Odyssey
Most Underrated Film Ever – Mississippi Mermaid, The Tenant, The Trial
Best Director Ever – Alfred Hitchcock
Worst Director Ever – Kevin Smith
Most Overrated Director Ever – George Cukor
Most Underrated Director Ever – Elia Kazan, Orson Welles
Best Actor/Actress Ever – Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani
Worst Actor/Actress Ever – Clark Gable, Maria Schneider (Though the blank face and stiff voice make for a strange and effective blend of things next to Brando and Nicholson)
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3 most visually pleasing films you've ever seen over 2 years ago
@ Dylan Travis
Yes! It’s a beautifully photographed unsentimental telling of the life of Christ. The faces, and locations not only look like they’re right out of the old testament, but when combined with the eclectic score they have a strangely hypnotic effect. You really can’t go wrong with it. I’d definitely say it’s a good starting point.
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METROPOLIS Restoration -- Anyone? about 2 years ago
It’s actually making it all the way down here in Tampa, FL next month. Looking forward to it.
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Best DVD Distributors about 2 years ago
Seconding Film Movement. So far I’ve only seen really good films distributed from these guys. Because they release mostly foreign contemporary work I think it’s a reliable way of keeping up with cinema outside the theatre, and the few modern films the more popular distributors put out.
http://www.filmmovement.com/index.asp?
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