first and foremost, j.s. bach. i feel terrible any time anyone asks who my favourite artists are because i listen to more bach than anything else at all. after bach, abel, forqueray, pergolesi, monteverdi, handel, purcell, gibbons, byrd, chopin, vivaldi, tchaikovsky, arvo part, schoenberg, stravinsky, and far too many more.
and leonard cohen. i do adore leonard cohen. and bill callahan of ‘smog’, yes.
“to love is to suffer. to avoid suffering one must not love. but then one suffers from not loving. therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. to be happy is to love. to be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. therefore, to be unhappy, one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness.”
i agree completely with the perfect use of the bach in ‘through a glass darkly’. also, because i can be a sentimental sap in more ways than one, the rachmaninoff piano concerto in ‘brief encounter’ and the bach harpsichord concerto in ‘les enfants terribles’ only for the ending scene. even though it feels forced and a little irritating in the rest of the film, that scene pardons it all.
‘au hasard balthazar’ will always remain as one of the, if not the, most beautiful films i’ve ever seen. i’ve never weeped as hard as at the ending of it. in the most seemingly simple and subtle of ways, it manages to touch a certain part of me that only bergman has been able to touch before. ‘mouchette’, too, has the same sort of devastating quality to it.
as of little more than a month ago, eighteen and in my third attempt of college. if i don’t decide to move across the country on a whim again, i’m thinking strongly of pursuing linguistics or perhaps film. or english literature and philosophy, if i’m feeling particularly impractical.
i’ve seen the majority of bergman’s works, but somehow never ‘the seventh seal’. although, after having heard so much about tarkovsky, i watched ‘andrei rublev’ a month or so ago and had to curse myself for not having watched it earlier. i may just end up having to spend this weekend holed up in my bedroom with all of the movies i’ve been meaning to watch.
“tous les matins du monde” and “thirty-two short films about glenn gould” as mr. stuntsman above mentioned, but also “the silence before bach”, which is beyond awe-inspiring, and bergman’s “to joy”.
“brief encounter”, certainly, “the lady eve”, “in the mood for love”, “broken blossoms”, “philadelphia story”, and “it happened one night”, as mentioned above, and then perhaps “to have and have not”, “der blaue engel”, “hiroshima mon amour”, “les amants du pont-neuf”, “shall we dance?”, and “my fair lady”. not exactly five, but i don’t think it’d be possible for me to list any less than these.
“beaches of agnes”, nine if not ten. i’m very, very hesitant to give anything a true ten, but varda is so delightful and so charming and oh goodness, it was just an overall lovely film!
while i do hold somewhat of a feverish love for both “breathless” and “pierrot le fou”, i am undoubtedly more of a bergman person. no other director has pierced the level of complexity and depth of human emotion as deeply as he did. humans have never been so vulnerable on film, so revealed in the most essential and personal of ways as they were in his films. compared in that aspect, godard seems a little too juvenile and too self-conscious of his own “hipness” to even begin to compete. that being said, i still hold godard as one of my favorite directors as i find his charm, his sense of humour, which manifests itself even in otherwise dark moments, so delightful and refreshing, and of course, his adroit use and general sense of aesthetics can never be praised too highly.
as mr. fritzson above states, i think the most interesting thing about musicals is that they do allow for an entirely new realm of expression, bringing a different kind of depth to the characters. there is something to be said about one’s dancing or singing revealing something otherwise inexpressible about a person. i certainly wouldn’t place them at the pinnacle of all film, but sometimes on a grey, rainy day with a large cup of tea and a fluffy, affectionate cat, there can be nothing more perfect than “my fair lady”, “the gay divorcee”, “top hat”, “the music man”, “porgy and bess”, or “une femme est une femme”.
on the other hand, i’m not so fond of broadway, to say the least, and i have to admit i found “west side story” a little irritating.
there have been quite a few ninety minute films that have made me feel much more antsy and eager to break than any of the longer films i’ve seen (“andrei rublev”, “scenes from a marriage”, “fanny and alexander”, etc.) so i wouldn’t say that there’s any real correlation between length and enjoyment for me. i enter this very meditative state after the first two hours and it becomes much more intense an experience, to just be consumed by the flickering images without thought to the surrounding world or even your own existence outside of the film. i can’t imagine any of those films any shorter, though. that length of time really allows for the creation of an entire world and a much more thorough connection and understanding of the characters. as far as being intimidated goes, perhaps approach longer films more as a form of meditation?
“the earrings of madame de…”, “echoes of silence”, “summer with monika”, the student academy award regional finals, and an open screening of local filmmakers. it seems this is a good time of year for film, as the theaters here are brimming with lovely films throughout the next month, including “lola montes”, a bruce conner memorial, a slew of truffaut, “amarcord”, and “made in u.s.a.”.
i’m not really fond of wes anderson or gus van sant, but it’s only cringeworthy when used as an attempt to appear cultured and intellectual at stale parties that reek of apathy and inauthenticity.
my father had a penchant for the classics, so i think we ended up watching “bringing up baby” more than any other movie i’ve seen, as well as almost all of the rest of katherine hepburn’s films, particularly “the philadelphia story”. we loved fred astaire, more than gene kelly, but “singing in the rain” was definitely one of my favorite films. “the thin man” and “topper” series i remember very well and “aresenic and old lace”. despite the multiple times i remember being sent out of the room or having my mother shield my eyes at something inappropriate on the screen, she still showed me “tous les matins du monde”, “hilary and jackie”, cocteau’s “beauty and the beast”, “manon of the spring”, and the film about nijinsky. i do have to admit i was a little obsessed with “star wars”, though, and yes, “the last unicorn”!
i’m forever grateful for the existence of the northwest film center in portland, oregon. the first film i saw there (or rather, at the art museum where they show the films) was ‘the big sleep’ and ever since, i think i may have spent more time there – with, perhaps, the exception of powell’s – than anywhere else in portland. the past month has been a whirlwind of ophuls, fellini, godard’s “made in u.s.a.”, truffaut, and now we’re about to embark on a varda spree. not to mention the portland international film festival, which deserves mountainous praise on its own. there’s also the cinema project whose showings i’ve only seen a few of but i enjoyed the screening of goldman’s “echoes of silence” (which i had previously been completely unfamiliar with) so much that i’m certainly very interested in seeing more through them. i don’t know if i could ever live in a city again without as good a cinema as the ones we have here.
confession: i can’t understand this distaste for bergman in the slightest. for me, bergman is one of the only directors who has been able to reveal that vast emotional depth, that sustenance of the soul that is so rarely satisfied.
confession no. 2: i have such a soft spot for “funny face”, despite it supporting values that i find more than a little nauseatingly superficial and misogynistic. …but it’s audrey hepburn and fred astaire! how can you resist!
confession no. 3: while watching “shoot the piano player” for the first time, i realized it would have been very possible for me to have had no choice but to passionately kiss whomever i was watching it with. fortunately and unfortunately, i sat alone in the front row. sometimes i am an overly idealistic, overly romantic, naiive eighteen year old girl with far too deep a fascination with film and too little of an appreciation for reality.
honestly, i’m not so much a fan of film composers but more i enjoy the use classical pieces to illuminate, to enhance certain aspects of a film. it has to be done with a very discriminating, particular hand, but i think both bergman and bresson – bach’s cello suite no. 2 in ‘through a glass darkly’ and schubert’s piano sonata no. 20 in ‘au hasard balthazar, for example – are evidence of exactly how powerful it can be. even truffaut’s “wild child” i thought gained an otherwise unattainable dimensionality to it because of his use of the vivaldi mandolin concerto.
i should add, though, that since seeing ‘shoot the piano player’, i’ve had a hard time listening to anything but georges delerue ‘charlie’ and nino rota makes me swoon more than a little.
i’m not familiar with “tremors”, but i think, as others have articulated earlier, limiting yourself to one area of film is denying yourself a very essential part of film or of any art form, really. film, art are a means of expression and to limit yourself to any specific sort of film is then neglecting the multitude of filmmakers of different cultures or different eras that perhaps all are trying to communicate some of the universal human experience. it’s just seems very narrow-minded (obviously) to me. not to mention the fact that you should never feel ashamed of your taste and what pleasures you as the idea of being “cool” or “hip” is never worth the sacrifice of your own personal fulfillment and satisfaction. what you enjoy is what you enjoy and that’s absolutely lovely no matter what it is in the very fact that you enjoy it.
that being said, i do find myself drawn to certain movements and certain time periods but more because i find the values of those closer and truer to those of my own. i don’t think i’ve seen a film made before 1970, with the few exceptions of a few bruce connor, daniel conrad, and students films, in a very, very long while. most of my favorite films are foreign but not because i find american film inferior, but because i enjoy the european sensibility and they tend to have a sensitivity and charm that i’ve not really found elsewhere. of course, this is an incredibly eurocentric view but unfortunately i’ve yet to explore the realms of international film as much as i’d like to. soon!
oh goodness. for better or for worse, i seem to love these devastating films. first and foremost, “au hasard balthazar”. i can’t even explain the story to my friends without tearing and always have to ration my viewings of it in accordance to my emotional stability at the time. “brief encounter” should definitely be mentioned, but some credit must also be given to rachmaninoff. “shoot the piano player” even if just purely because of aznavour’s eyes. “the virgin spring” emotionally maimed me, as well “through a glass darkly”. “umberto d.”, certainly, as well as “the shop on main street”. “der blaue engel” is beyond heartbreaking and i don’t think i can ever hear a rooster crow the same way again. “the passion of joan of arc” simply in awe. “scenes from a marriage” as one very shortly begins to feel emotionally involved in their relationship as well and the hatred permeates your heart in the most excruciating of ways. i’m sure i’m neglecting some terribly important films and i’ll curse myself later tonight as i’m moments from falling asleep, but for now i think this should do.
VILLAINS. over 4 years ago
while bergman shows a little sympathy near the end of of the film, caligula in ‘torment’ is one of the most sinister villains i’ve ever seen.
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FANTASY ARTHOUSE DOUBLE FEATURE over 4 years ago
‘last year at marienbad’ followed by ‘les enfants terribles’.
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Which movies would you like to see on The Auteurs? over 4 years ago
any and all cocteau! also, bresson and rohmer, please.
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thread where we talk about music over 4 years ago
first and foremost, j.s. bach. i feel terrible any time anyone asks who my favourite artists are because i listen to more bach than anything else at all. after bach, abel, forqueray, pergolesi, monteverdi, handel, purcell, gibbons, byrd, chopin, vivaldi, tchaikovsky, arvo part, schoenberg, stravinsky, and far too many more.
and leonard cohen. i do adore leonard cohen. and bill callahan of ‘smog’, yes.
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If you had to pick ONE film as your favorite... over 4 years ago
‘au hasard balthazar’ or ‘persona’.
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Rate The Last Film You Watched over 4 years ago
“to love is to suffer. to avoid suffering one must not love. but then one suffers from not loving. therefore, to love is to suffer; not to love is to suffer; to suffer is to suffer. to be happy is to love. to be happy, then, is to suffer, but suffering makes one unhappy. therefore, to be unhappy, one must love or love to suffer or suffer from too much happiness.”
‘love and death’: 93/100.
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GREAT USE OF MUSIC IN FILMS over 4 years ago
i agree completely with the perfect use of the bach in ‘through a glass darkly’. also, because i can be a sentimental sap in more ways than one, the rachmaninoff piano concerto in ‘brief encounter’ and the bach harpsichord concerto in ‘les enfants terribles’ only for the ending scene. even though it feels forced and a little irritating in the rest of the film, that scene pardons it all.
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Appreciation over 4 years ago
‘au hasard balthazar’ will always remain as one of the, if not the, most beautiful films i’ve ever seen. i’ve never weeped as hard as at the ending of it. in the most seemingly simple and subtle of ways, it manages to touch a certain part of me that only bergman has been able to touch before. ‘mouchette’, too, has the same sort of devastating quality to it.
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Film quotes you love over 4 years ago
you know how to whistle, don’t you?
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Age / Level of education? (An informal poll) over 4 years ago
as of little more than a month ago, eighteen and in my third attempt of college. if i don’t decide to move across the country on a whim again, i’m thinking strongly of pursuing linguistics or perhaps film. or english literature and philosophy, if i’m feeling particularly impractical.
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CONFESSIONS--FILMS YOU ARE ASHAMED TO SAY YOU HAVE NOT SEEN (YET) over 4 years ago
i’ve seen the majority of bergman’s works, but somehow never ‘the seventh seal’. although, after having heard so much about tarkovsky, i watched ‘andrei rublev’ a month or so ago and had to curse myself for not having watched it earlier. i may just end up having to spend this weekend holed up in my bedroom with all of the movies i’ve been meaning to watch.
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SEX & LOVE IN CELLULOID: WHO FIRST, AND WHO LATELY, TURNED YOU ON? over 4 years ago
i will always have an enormous soft spot for cary grant, but jean-pierre leaud and monica vitti have both been invading my dreams recently.
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Favourite Movie About Music. over 4 years ago
“tous les matins du monde” and “thirty-two short films about glenn gould” as mr. stuntsman above mentioned, but also “the silence before bach”, which is beyond awe-inspiring, and bergman’s “to joy”.
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Recommend some Light Hearted/Uplifting/Feel Good FOREIGN Movies over 4 years ago
i, too, would recommend “king of hearts”. it’s one of the most charming films.
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Love Themed Criterions for Valentine's Day over 4 years ago
“brief encounter”, certainly, “the lady eve”, “in the mood for love”, “broken blossoms”, “philadelphia story”, and “it happened one night”, as mentioned above, and then perhaps “to have and have not”, “der blaue engel”, “hiroshima mon amour”, “les amants du pont-neuf”, “shall we dance?”, and “my fair lady”. not exactly five, but i don’t think it’d be possible for me to list any less than these.
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Last movie you saw and rate it over 4 years ago
“beaches of agnes”, nine if not ten. i’m very, very hesitant to give anything a true ten, but varda is so delightful and so charming and oh goodness, it was just an overall lovely film!
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Bergman vs. Godard about 4 years ago
while i do hold somewhat of a feverish love for both “breathless” and “pierrot le fou”, i am undoubtedly more of a bergman person. no other director has pierced the level of complexity and depth of human emotion as deeply as he did. humans have never been so vulnerable on film, so revealed in the most essential and personal of ways as they were in his films. compared in that aspect, godard seems a little too juvenile and too self-conscious of his own “hipness” to even begin to compete. that being said, i still hold godard as one of my favorite directors as i find his charm, his sense of humour, which manifests itself even in otherwise dark moments, so delightful and refreshing, and of course, his adroit use and general sense of aesthetics can never be praised too highly.
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Musicals? about 4 years ago
as mr. fritzson above states, i think the most interesting thing about musicals is that they do allow for an entirely new realm of expression, bringing a different kind of depth to the characters. there is something to be said about one’s dancing or singing revealing something otherwise inexpressible about a person. i certainly wouldn’t place them at the pinnacle of all film, but sometimes on a grey, rainy day with a large cup of tea and a fluffy, affectionate cat, there can be nothing more perfect than “my fair lady”, “the gay divorcee”, “top hat”, “the music man”, “porgy and bess”, or “une femme est une femme”.
on the other hand, i’m not so fond of broadway, to say the least, and i have to admit i found “west side story” a little irritating.
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Best Films about or related to (primary) school about 4 years ago
“ciao, professore!” really is awfully sweet.
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Is length intimidating? about 4 years ago
there have been quite a few ninety minute films that have made me feel much more antsy and eager to break than any of the longer films i’ve seen (“andrei rublev”, “scenes from a marriage”, “fanny and alexander”, etc.) so i wouldn’t say that there’s any real correlation between length and enjoyment for me. i enter this very meditative state after the first two hours and it becomes much more intense an experience, to just be consumed by the flickering images without thought to the surrounding world or even your own existence outside of the film. i can’t imagine any of those films any shorter, though. that length of time really allows for the creation of an entire world and a much more thorough connection and understanding of the characters. as far as being intimidated goes, perhaps approach longer films more as a form of meditation?
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SNL vs. Monty Python about 4 years ago
there’s no contest. monty python thoroughly and thoroughly.
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TheAuteurs List of the Week 5/3/09: What did you watch last week? about 4 years ago
“the earrings of madame de…”, “echoes of silence”, “summer with monika”, the student academy award regional finals, and an open screening of local filmmakers. it seems this is a good time of year for film, as the theaters here are brimming with lovely films throughout the next month, including “lola montes”, a bruce conner memorial, a slew of truffaut, “amarcord”, and “made in u.s.a.”.
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you cringe when someone tells you they love this film... about 4 years ago
i’m not really fond of wes anderson or gus van sant, but it’s only cringeworthy when used as an attempt to appear cultured and intellectual at stale parties that reek of apathy and inauthenticity.
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Where are you from? about 4 years ago
born in milan, but currently pining away in portland, or.
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TOP 5 Childhood Films about 4 years ago
my father had a penchant for the classics, so i think we ended up watching “bringing up baby” more than any other movie i’ve seen, as well as almost all of the rest of katherine hepburn’s films, particularly “the philadelphia story”. we loved fred astaire, more than gene kelly, but “singing in the rain” was definitely one of my favorite films. “the thin man” and “topper” series i remember very well and “aresenic and old lace”. despite the multiple times i remember being sent out of the room or having my mother shield my eyes at something inappropriate on the screen, she still showed me “tous les matins du monde”, “hilary and jackie”, cocteau’s “beauty and the beast”, “manon of the spring”, and the film about nijinsky. i do have to admit i was a little obsessed with “star wars”, though, and yes, “the last unicorn”!
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Favorite Theaters/Movie Houses almost 4 years ago
i’m forever grateful for the existence of the northwest film center in portland, oregon. the first film i saw there (or rather, at the art museum where they show the films) was ‘the big sleep’ and ever since, i think i may have spent more time there – with, perhaps, the exception of powell’s – than anywhere else in portland. the past month has been a whirlwind of ophuls, fellini, godard’s “made in u.s.a.”, truffaut, and now we’re about to embark on a varda spree. not to mention the portland international film festival, which deserves mountainous praise on its own. there’s also the cinema project whose showings i’ve only seen a few of but i enjoyed the screening of goldman’s “echoes of silence” (which i had previously been completely unfamiliar with) so much that i’m certainly very interested in seeing more through them. i don’t know if i could ever live in a city again without as good a cinema as the ones we have here.
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The Auteurs Confessions almost 4 years ago
confession: i can’t understand this distaste for bergman in the slightest. for me, bergman is one of the only directors who has been able to reveal that vast emotional depth, that sustenance of the soul that is so rarely satisfied.
confession no. 2: i have such a soft spot for “funny face”, despite it supporting values that i find more than a little nauseatingly superficial and misogynistic. …but it’s audrey hepburn and fred astaire! how can you resist!
confession no. 3: while watching “shoot the piano player” for the first time, i realized it would have been very possible for me to have had no choice but to passionately kiss whomever i was watching it with. fortunately and unfortunately, i sat alone in the front row. sometimes i am an overly idealistic, overly romantic, naiive eighteen year old girl with far too deep a fascination with film and too little of an appreciation for reality.
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Favorite film composers almost 4 years ago
honestly, i’m not so much a fan of film composers but more i enjoy the use classical pieces to illuminate, to enhance certain aspects of a film. it has to be done with a very discriminating, particular hand, but i think both bergman and bresson – bach’s cello suite no. 2 in ‘through a glass darkly’ and schubert’s piano sonata no. 20 in ‘au hasard balthazar, for example – are evidence of exactly how powerful it can be. even truffaut’s “wild child” i thought gained an otherwise unattainable dimensionality to it because of his use of the vivaldi mandolin concerto.
i should add, though, that since seeing ‘shoot the piano player’, i’ve had a hard time listening to anything but georges delerue ‘charlie’ and nino rota makes me swoon more than a little.
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Do You Only Watch the Art House? almost 4 years ago
i’m not familiar with “tremors”, but i think, as others have articulated earlier, limiting yourself to one area of film is denying yourself a very essential part of film or of any art form, really. film, art are a means of expression and to limit yourself to any specific sort of film is then neglecting the multitude of filmmakers of different cultures or different eras that perhaps all are trying to communicate some of the universal human experience. it’s just seems very narrow-minded (obviously) to me. not to mention the fact that you should never feel ashamed of your taste and what pleasures you as the idea of being “cool” or “hip” is never worth the sacrifice of your own personal fulfillment and satisfaction. what you enjoy is what you enjoy and that’s absolutely lovely no matter what it is in the very fact that you enjoy it.
that being said, i do find myself drawn to certain movements and certain time periods but more because i find the values of those closer and truer to those of my own. i don’t think i’ve seen a film made before 1970, with the few exceptions of a few bruce connor, daniel conrad, and students films, in a very, very long while. most of my favorite films are foreign but not because i find american film inferior, but because i enjoy the european sensibility and they tend to have a sensitivity and charm that i’ve not really found elsewhere. of course, this is an incredibly eurocentric view but unfortunately i’ve yet to explore the realms of international film as much as i’d like to. soon!
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What film scenes really make you cry? almost 4 years ago
oh goodness. for better or for worse, i seem to love these devastating films. first and foremost, “au hasard balthazar”. i can’t even explain the story to my friends without tearing and always have to ration my viewings of it in accordance to my emotional stability at the time. “brief encounter” should definitely be mentioned, but some credit must also be given to rachmaninoff. “shoot the piano player” even if just purely because of aznavour’s eyes. “the virgin spring” emotionally maimed me, as well “through a glass darkly”. “umberto d.”, certainly, as well as “the shop on main street”. “der blaue engel” is beyond heartbreaking and i don’t think i can ever hear a rooster crow the same way again. “the passion of joan of arc” simply in awe. “scenes from a marriage” as one very shortly begins to feel emotionally involved in their relationship as well and the hatred permeates your heart in the most excruciating of ways. i’m sure i’m neglecting some terribly important films and i’ll curse myself later tonight as i’m moments from falling asleep, but for now i think this should do.
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