my blog about Grand Illusion at Cinematic Idiot where I am blogging my way through the entire Criterion Collection http://cinematicidiot.blogspot.com/2009/09/grand-illusion-is-first-film-that-i.html
Grand Illusion is the first film that I have seen by Jean Renoir. And yes, he is the son of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Ridiculous, I know. It came out in 1937 and was hailed as one of the first prison break films. As I ate my Skittles and drank my Squirt and vodka, its influences on prison films throughout time became very apparent. From the playful performance of Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke matching that of Jean Gabin’s, to the fantastic prison dinner scene in GoodFellas.
And without this film, Colin Farrell would not have been able to cause me such pain (as he does in every film he is in) in Hart’s War. Besides all of the lawyer nonsense, it is a blatant rip off of Grand Illusion. Maybe if Colin Farrell wasn’t in it I could call it a homage. But he is, so it isn’t.
One fantastic scene where Jean Gabin’s character Lieutenant Maréchal was starting a tunnel in his cell with a spoon when a guard walked in and asked, “what are you doing?”. Lieutenant Maréchal replied, “making a little hole to escape”. And he proceeds to knock out the guard and make a run for it, only to be caught moments later and returned.
I very thoughtful shooting style used a lot of camera movements in and out of windows really keeping the thought of “escape” on the brain. And the theme of antiwar that Renoir was shooting for was captured very nicely with the incredibly respectful relationship between Pierre Fresnay’s French prisoner character Captain de Boeldieu and Erich von Stroheim’s German captor character Captain von Rauffenstein.
Another great scene depicted the prisoners where partaking in a snowball fight in the prison courtyard. Soldiers always!
If there was anything that made me feel any anger (besides having to think about Colin Farell) from Grand Illusion, was the giant, cookie-dusting mustaches sported by the German officers that I am not able to grow myself. I’m German! Come on! My mom says it’s the hairless Native American genes in me. I blame Global Warming.
Co-written and directed by Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai is claimed to be the first “lets get a bunch of kick-ass guys together and bust some shit up” type of film. Which lead the way for The Dirty Dozen, Ocean’s Eleven, The Three Amigos and even my favorite childhood show, The A-Team. Not to mention the western remake of the film, The Magnificent Seven.
The comedy in this film is one of the first things that really struck me. The very slapstick physical humor caught me off guard at first, but it played nicely throughout offering a relief from the tension. An early scene about seventeen minutes in showing the villagers sent to find samurai seems to be a big influence on the notorious band photo where everyone is looking in a different direction. Classic.
There were many great performances, but none could even compare to Toshirō Mifune in the role of Kikuchiyo. Ranging from humorous and psychotic to sympathetic and vunerable, the viewer can’t help be mesmerized by his every action. He was the only one of the seven who was not a true samurai and carried a big chip on his shoulder throughout. One of the other samurai makes a banner for their small group were each samurai is represented by a circle, except for Kikuchiyo who was jokingly represented by a triangle (you can see this on the DVD cover pictured above). Which is possibly going to be my next tattoo, minus the kanji at the bottom (I already got my bad kanji tattoo when I was 18, never again).
The film was beutifuly shot. Kurosawa has a wonderful eye for staging and is a master at using forground, midground, and background in his shots. The relationships and dynamics between all the characters are constantly changing and pulsing, dealing with everything from young love to redemption. One of the last shots of the film showing the samurai together will haunt you for days to come.
Seven Samurai was a film on my must-see list for a few years now. I couldn’t tell you why it’s taken me this long to see, with my intense love of Asian cinema and epic battle scenes. This film is absolutely brilliant! If you’ve never seen it and it’s on your list, bump it to the top.
Amarcord (I Remember) is the third film that I have seen by Federico Fellini. With the other two being 8 1/2 and Intervista, I couldn’t help but wonder what Fellini’s obsession with people holding hands and running in a circle was, and if it was in all of his films. But my friend assured me that none of his other films contain this act. Of the three films of his I have seen, this was the easiest and most fun to watch. It’s influence on Woody Allen’s Annie Hall screamed out all over the place, especially in Allen’s childhood flashbacks.
It’s amazing how timeless and universal the way he portrayed sexuality and youthful naivety towards it. Although I never had a group jerk-off session in a garage with my friends, I could relate to the rest.
As Fellini reminisces about his youth in Fascist Italy, you see that kids are still kids. They are all daydreaming about growing up to be race car drivers and who they are going to marry as they march in parades, twirling rifles for their country. With adults being interrogated and even tortured, the youths only concern are the enormous tits belonging to the smoke shop lady.
The film was shot in Fellini’s unmistakable style and vision. With anything else he has done, the viewing feels they are in a half-dream type of reality. Grand things appear fake and the unrealistic seems to be everyday occurrences. I guess this could be true for all of our memories of our childhoods.
The soundtrack was also a Fellini staple. The circus-esque was so fun I couldn’t help but take out my guitar and play along every time the main theme spun the film in spectacular circles.
I really loved this film and a great time watching it. It truly is a must see. I liked Fellini in the past, but now I really can’t wait to get to his films that I have not yet seen.
see more of my cinema ramblings at Cinematic Idiot. http://cinematicidiot.blogspot.com/
Any Thoughts on Grand Illusion? over 2 years ago
my blog about Grand Illusion at Cinematic Idiot where I am blogging my way through the entire Criterion Collection http://cinematicidiot.blogspot.com/2009/09/grand-illusion-is-first-film-that-i.html
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Any Thoughts on Grand Illusion? over 2 years ago
Grand Illusion is the first film that I have seen by Jean Renoir. And yes, he is the son of painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Ridiculous, I know. It came out in 1937 and was hailed as one of the first prison break films. As I ate my Skittles and drank my Squirt and vodka, its influences on prison films throughout time became very apparent. From the playful performance of Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke matching that of Jean Gabin’s, to the fantastic prison dinner scene in GoodFellas.
And without this film, Colin Farrell would not have been able to cause me such pain (as he does in every film he is in) in Hart’s War. Besides all of the lawyer nonsense, it is a blatant rip off of Grand Illusion. Maybe if Colin Farrell wasn’t in it I could call it a homage. But he is, so it isn’t.
One fantastic scene where Jean Gabin’s character Lieutenant Maréchal was starting a tunnel in his cell with a spoon when a guard walked in and asked, “what are you doing?”. Lieutenant Maréchal replied, “making a little hole to escape”. And he proceeds to knock out the guard and make a run for it, only to be caught moments later and returned.
I very thoughtful shooting style used a lot of camera movements in and out of windows really keeping the thought of “escape” on the brain. And the theme of antiwar that Renoir was shooting for was captured very nicely with the incredibly respectful relationship between Pierre Fresnay’s French prisoner character Captain de Boeldieu and Erich von Stroheim’s German captor character Captain von Rauffenstein.
Another great scene depicted the prisoners where partaking in a snowball fight in the prison courtyard. Soldiers always!
If there was anything that made me feel any anger (besides having to think about Colin Farell) from Grand Illusion, was the giant, cookie-dusting mustaches sported by the German officers that I am not able to grow myself. I’m German! Come on! My mom says it’s the hairless Native American genes in me. I blame Global Warming.
cinematicidiot.blogspot.com
Go to Comment
Thoughts on Seven Samurai over 2 years ago
Co-written and directed by Akira Kurosawa, Seven Samurai is claimed to be the first “lets get a bunch of kick-ass guys together and bust some shit up” type of film. Which lead the way for The Dirty Dozen, Ocean’s Eleven, The Three Amigos and even my favorite childhood show, The A-Team. Not to mention the western remake of the film, The Magnificent Seven.
The comedy in this film is one of the first things that really struck me. The very slapstick physical humor caught me off guard at first, but it played nicely throughout offering a relief from the tension. An early scene about seventeen minutes in showing the villagers sent to find samurai seems to be a big influence on the notorious band photo where everyone is looking in a different direction. Classic.
There were many great performances, but none could even compare to Toshirō Mifune in the role of Kikuchiyo. Ranging from humorous and psychotic to sympathetic and vunerable, the viewer can’t help be mesmerized by his every action. He was the only one of the seven who was not a true samurai and carried a big chip on his shoulder throughout. One of the other samurai makes a banner for their small group were each samurai is represented by a circle, except for Kikuchiyo who was jokingly represented by a triangle (you can see this on the DVD cover pictured above). Which is possibly going to be my next tattoo, minus the kanji at the bottom (I already got my bad kanji tattoo when I was 18, never again).
The film was beutifuly shot. Kurosawa has a wonderful eye for staging and is a master at using forground, midground, and background in his shots. The relationships and dynamics between all the characters are constantly changing and pulsing, dealing with everything from young love to redemption. One of the last shots of the film showing the samurai together will haunt you for days to come.
Seven Samurai was a film on my must-see list for a few years now. I couldn’t tell you why it’s taken me this long to see, with my intense love of Asian cinema and epic battle scenes. This film is absolutely brilliant! If you’ve never seen it and it’s on your list, bump it to the top.
follow me at cinematicidiot.blogspot.com
Go to Comment
Thoughts on Amarcord over 2 years ago
Amarcord (I Remember) is the third film that I have seen by Federico Fellini. With the other two being 8 1/2 and Intervista, I couldn’t help but wonder what Fellini’s obsession with people holding hands and running in a circle was, and if it was in all of his films. But my friend assured me that none of his other films contain this act. Of the three films of his I have seen, this was the easiest and most fun to watch. It’s influence on Woody Allen’s Annie Hall screamed out all over the place, especially in Allen’s childhood flashbacks.
It’s amazing how timeless and universal the way he portrayed sexuality and youthful naivety towards it. Although I never had a group jerk-off session in a garage with my friends, I could relate to the rest.
As Fellini reminisces about his youth in Fascist Italy, you see that kids are still kids. They are all daydreaming about growing up to be race car drivers and who they are going to marry as they march in parades, twirling rifles for their country. With adults being interrogated and even tortured, the youths only concern are the enormous tits belonging to the smoke shop lady.
The film was shot in Fellini’s unmistakable style and vision. With anything else he has done, the viewing feels they are in a half-dream type of reality. Grand things appear fake and the unrealistic seems to be everyday occurrences. I guess this could be true for all of our memories of our childhoods.
The soundtrack was also a Fellini staple. The circus-esque was so fun I couldn’t help but take out my guitar and play along every time the main theme spun the film in spectacular circles.
I really loved this film and a great time watching it. It truly is a must see. I liked Fellini in the past, but now I really can’t wait to get to his films that I have not yet seen.
see more of my cinema ramblings at Cinematic Idiot. http://cinematicidiot.blogspot.com/
Go to Comment