For me, Nicholas Ray’s films are fascinating to me for their vitality and their critical spirit, the way the characters are all struggling against society and themselves. And also for the way Ray constantly pushed the limits of the plot and genre elements in order to get the audience into his characters. Of all great american auteurs, his is the most tragic vision of human beings but also filled with a great deal of affection and sympathy.
My favourites are THE LUSTY MEN, BIGGER THAN LIFE, IN A LONELY PLACE and REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE.
SENSO is certainly the first manifestation of Visconti’s peculiar and unprecedented blend of psychological realism and stylized melodrama. “If Stendhal had a camera, he would make SENSO” – Martin Scorsese.
What I like about the film is the sense of romantic doom running throughout the film. Visconti is able to deal with that romanticism critically but he also allows us to share that doom subjectively, through Alida Valli’s remarkable performance. And then there are moments when the mise-en-scene takes your breath away, the opening scene of course but also that romantic interlude by the canal where they find that body and that stunning battle scene(more impressive than the charge of the Red Shirts in IL GATTOPARDO in my view) and of course the final confrontation.
I’d say “Senso” is his first masterpiece. -——————————————-
I thought LA TERRA TREMA was his first masterpiece!
Antonioni’s films are scored by Giovanni Fusco whose scores for CRONACA DI UN AMORE, LE AMICHE, LA SIGNORA SENZA CAMELIE, L’AVVENTURA(Antonioni requested “Hellenic Jazz”, the kind the Ancient Greeks might have listened to if they invented Jazz) are key to setting up the mood of the film. Fusco’s music doesn’t work like conventional music but Antonioni disliked that kind of music.
Luis Bunuel frequently made films without music scores. Although it’s absurd to say his movies lack soundtrack since he was very particular about the use of sound in his movies and often they serve as the musical score. THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL, BELLE DE JOUR, DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOSIE. Music scores were imposed on his films during the Mexican period and sometimes he made striking use of them(especially THE CRIMINAL LIFE OF ARCHIBALDO DE LA CRUZ).
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER is first and foremost a morality play, by using figures as larger than life as Gish and Mitchum it offers commentary on the rest of humanity. Don’t forget that when Robert Mitchum is caught by the cops and he talks about wanting money to build a church, the boy throws the same money his father robbed a bank and died for, the money his mother was murdered for into that man’s face. The reason is that the boy understands that the evil preacher was a victim, just like his father was. And don’t forget that after his father is hung, the town people make the family into outcasts, the kids get taunted by that hanging song rather than have compassion offered to them for losing their father.
For me extras and other stuff come after the film and not before. I never read introductions, afterwords, footnotes and annotations of a novel until I have read the book proper.
In the case of a film like SANS SOLEIL there isn’t any need for extras. The film says all that it has to say thoroughly. It cites the sources of the footage in the end credits. And that’s that.
Erich von Strohem’s GREED
Many King Vidor films. Including THE CROWD
Leo McCarey’s RUGGLES OF RED GAP, MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW, GOOD SAM.
Raoul Walsh’s ME AND MY GAL, THE BOWERY
Nicholas Ray’s THE LUSTY MEN
John Ford’s THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT
(two disc including both the theatrical cut and the extended cut released on VHS)
The Complete American Max Ophuls
The Complete American Jean Renoir
Vincente Minnelli’s THE COBWEB
Elia Kazan’s WILD RIVER, AMERICA AMERICA.
Roberto Rossellini’s LA PRISE DU POUVOIR PAR LOUIS XIV
or his PAISAN
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP is an ironic paean to the end of the british empire made and released in it’s “finest hour”.
Sergei Eisenstein’s IVAN THE TERRIBLE, PARTS I AND II is a film about the madness, the insanity of having power made under thee aegis of a dictator, and it is also the first major work that mixes together Freud and Marx.
That’s a sequel to “ALEXANDRIA WHY?” isn’t it? I attended two screenings earlier this year at my local Alliance Francaise. I saw that film and DESTINY/AL-MASSIR. I want to see more.
My home city is most deficient in showing classic films in good 35mm prints. I got a chance to see Mizoguchi’s UGETSU in a tattered print that looked more dark brown and gray than black and white but it was still a great experience because you could feel the cutting and the camera movement. Even better was Ingmar Bergman’s THE SILENCE which I saw last year, still remember every second. Anyone who says Bergman is a theatre bound film-maker ought to see that film and weep for the fools they are.
If they try and update the action to present day political realities then it might work. The story is pretty good and the actors are nice. It all depends on who they get to make it.
The chief targets of ACO are the liberal leaning writer played by Patrick Magee who are against the fascist government in the dystopian paralellverse and they are shown as hypocrites and lechers. So I can see how it can appeal to a conservative like Mr. Schickel.
Mr. Schickel it must be said is a better documentarian than a film writer precisely because he allows for other points of view. Like he doesn’t personally like Chaplin, but his film on Chaplin is filled with multi-faceted point of views that give respect to people who like Chaplin.
That said, his chief contribution to film culture might be reconstructing Sam Fuller’s THE BIG RED ONE.
Just finished readin the article. All I can say is that Mr. Schickel must have had bad personal experiences agaisnt Altman to write something so wrong-headed.
Altman’s masterpieces include
MASH
BREWSTER McCLOUD
IMAGES
MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER
CALIFORNIA SPLIT
THE LONG GOODBYE
NASHVILLE
3 WOMEN
SECRET HONOR
TANNER ’88(which I saw recently)
THE PLAYER
SHORT CUTS
A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION.
More importantly he crafted a really personal film language that few are capable of and go far beyond anything Stanley Kubrick ever did.
A cinephile is someone who is never satisfied with any official source and supply of “good films” and interested in ceaseless exploration of the seventh art. But he also knows to return to silent cinema and the Old Masters.
"Match Point" is better than "A Place in the Sun" almost 3 years ago
YES
Go to Comment
Wim Wenders a master Director ?!? over 2 years ago
What do you mean David? I don’t know anything about Wenders at all.
Go to Comment
Wim Wenders a master Director ?!? over 2 years ago
Funny…he never seemed the type. Of his movies, I love ALICE IN THE CITIES to bits and pieces. And I plan on seeing THE STATE OF THINGS tonight.
Go to Comment
The Master of the Crime Genre? over 2 years ago
The master of the crime genre is Fritz Lang…
Go to Comment
Nicholas Ray over 2 years ago
For me, Nicholas Ray’s films are fascinating to me for their vitality and their critical spirit, the way the characters are all struggling against society and themselves. And also for the way Ray constantly pushed the limits of the plot and genre elements in order to get the audience into his characters. Of all great american auteurs, his is the most tragic vision of human beings but also filled with a great deal of affection and sympathy.
My favourites are THE LUSTY MEN, BIGGER THAN LIFE, IN A LONELY PLACE and REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE.
Go to Comment
Luchino Visconti's Senso over 2 years ago
SENSO is certainly the first manifestation of Visconti’s peculiar and unprecedented blend of psychological realism and stylized melodrama. “If Stendhal had a camera, he would make SENSO” – Martin Scorsese.
What I like about the film is the sense of romantic doom running throughout the film. Visconti is able to deal with that romanticism critically but he also allows us to share that doom subjectively, through Alida Valli’s remarkable performance. And then there are moments when the mise-en-scene takes your breath away, the opening scene of course but also that romantic interlude by the canal where they find that body and that stunning battle scene(more impressive than the charge of the Red Shirts in IL GATTOPARDO in my view) and of course the final confrontation.
I’d say “Senso” is his first masterpiece.
-——————————————-I thought LA TERRA TREMA was his first masterpiece!
Go to Comment
Best Films with NO soundtrack over 2 years ago
Antonioni’s films are scored by Giovanni Fusco whose scores for CRONACA DI UN AMORE, LE AMICHE, LA SIGNORA SENZA CAMELIE, L’AVVENTURA(Antonioni requested “Hellenic Jazz”, the kind the Ancient Greeks might have listened to if they invented Jazz) are key to setting up the mood of the film. Fusco’s music doesn’t work like conventional music but Antonioni disliked that kind of music.
Luis Bunuel frequently made films without music scores. Although it’s absurd to say his movies lack soundtrack since he was very particular about the use of sound in his movies and often they serve as the musical score. THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL, BELLE DE JOUR, DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOSIE. Music scores were imposed on his films during the Mexican period and sometimes he made striking use of them(especially THE CRIMINAL LIFE OF ARCHIBALDO DE LA CRUZ).
Go to Comment
not with a whimper, the last great films of the masters over 2 years ago
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER is first and foremost a morality play, by using figures as larger than life as Gish and Mitchum it offers commentary on the rest of humanity. Don’t forget that when Robert Mitchum is caught by the cops and he talks about wanting money to build a church, the boy throws the same money his father robbed a bank and died for, the money his mother was murdered for into that man’s face. The reason is that the boy understands that the evil preacher was a victim, just like his father was. And don’t forget that after his father is hung, the town people make the family into outcasts, the kids get taunted by that hanging song rather than have compassion offered to them for losing their father.
Go to Comment
Do you watch the interview & other materials before or after the film? over 2 years ago
For me extras and other stuff come after the film and not before. I never read introductions, afterwords, footnotes and annotations of a novel until I have read the book proper.
In the case of a film like SANS SOLEIL there isn’t any need for extras. The film says all that it has to say thoroughly. It cites the sources of the footage in the end credits. And that’s that.
Go to Comment
not with a whimper, the last great films of the masters over 2 years ago
did she willingly cause anyone any harm?
-—————————————————————-To quote from another great morality play…
“I wager a far less evil/to take the lives of miserable men/than be causers of their misery”
Go to Comment
not with a whimper, the last great films of the masters over 2 years ago
i must be blind!Anything is possible!
Go to Comment
Which director would you most like to have a one night stand with? over 2 years ago
Ida Lupino.
Go to Comment
FILMS NEVER RELEASED ON DVD THAT OUGHT TO BE! over 2 years ago
Erich von Strohem’s GREED
Many King Vidor films. Including THE CROWD
Leo McCarey’s RUGGLES OF RED GAP, MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW, GOOD SAM.
Raoul Walsh’s ME AND MY GAL, THE BOWERY
Nicholas Ray’s THE LUSTY MEN
John Ford’s THE SUN SHINES BRIGHT
(two disc including both the theatrical cut and the extended cut released on VHS)
The Complete American Max Ophuls
The Complete American Jean Renoir
Vincente Minnelli’s THE COBWEB
Elia Kazan’s WILD RIVER, AMERICA AMERICA.
Go to Comment
Favorite religious movies over 2 years ago
Satyajt Ray’s DEVI.
Pasolini’s TEOREMA
Bergman’s THE SILENCE
Go to Comment
Favorite religious movies over 2 years ago
I liked Terence Stamp too in his brief cameo(:
Go to Comment
what did you watch today? over 2 years ago
Alexander Korda’s THAT HAMILTON WOMAN,
Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh…“There was no after…”
Go to Comment
History through Film over 2 years ago
Roberto Rossellini’s LA PRISE DU POUVOIR PAR LOUIS XIV
or his PAISAN
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP is an ironic paean to the end of the british empire made and released in it’s “finest hour”.
Sergei Eisenstein’s IVAN THE TERRIBLE, PARTS I AND II is a film about the madness, the insanity of having power made under thee aegis of a dictator, and it is also the first major work that mixes together Freud and Marx.
Go to Comment
History through Film over 2 years ago
Which period of history does BARRY LYNDON have insight into? It’s about the 20th Century more than any other period.
Can’t Believe I forgot,
LA GRANDE ILLUSION by Jean Renoir
Go to Comment
15 best Egyptian films of all time Egyptian critics poll over 2 years ago
That’s a sequel to “ALEXANDRIA WHY?” isn’t it? I attended two screenings earlier this year at my local Alliance Francaise. I saw that film and DESTINY/AL-MASSIR. I want to see more.
Go to Comment
Pierre Clémenti over 2 years ago
His performance in PARTNER. by Bertolucci is incomparable.
Go to Comment
Favorite films involving Train Rides! (of at least 10 min of film) over 2 years ago
Key train ride for me is Gabin and Carette riding La Lison in LA BETE HUMAINE…
Also, the opening of SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS in the fake film-within-the-film.
Go to Comment
"All About Eve" or "Sunset Blvd." : Which do you prefer? over 2 years ago
Having just re-visited ALL ABOUT EVE very recently, I lean in favour of the Mankiewicz over the Wilder.
Go to Comment
I saw a 35mm print last night over 2 years ago
My home city is most deficient in showing classic films in good 35mm prints. I got a chance to see Mizoguchi’s UGETSU in a tattered print that looked more dark brown and gray than black and white but it was still a great experience because you could feel the cutting and the camera movement. Even better was Ingmar Bergman’s THE SILENCE which I saw last year, still remember every second. Anyone who says Bergman is a theatre bound film-maker ought to see that film and weep for the fools they are.
Go to Comment
Leonardo Di Caprio and Tobey Maguire to star in The Third Man remake? over 2 years ago
If they try and update the action to present day political realities then it might work. The story is pretty good and the actors are nice. It all depends on who they get to make it.
Go to Comment
Wow! Check out Richard Schickel's scathing attack on Robert Altman.... over 2 years ago
The chief targets of ACO are the liberal leaning writer played by Patrick Magee who are against the fascist government in the dystopian paralellverse and they are shown as hypocrites and lechers. So I can see how it can appeal to a conservative like Mr. Schickel.
Mr. Schickel it must be said is a better documentarian than a film writer precisely because he allows for other points of view. Like he doesn’t personally like Chaplin, but his film on Chaplin is filled with multi-faceted point of views that give respect to people who like Chaplin.
That said, his chief contribution to film culture might be reconstructing Sam Fuller’s THE BIG RED ONE.
Go to Comment
Wow! Check out Richard Schickel's scathing attack on Robert Altman.... over 2 years ago
Just finished readin the article. All I can say is that Mr. Schickel must have had bad personal experiences agaisnt Altman to write something so wrong-headed.
Altman’s masterpieces include
MASH
BREWSTER McCLOUD
IMAGES
MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER
CALIFORNIA SPLIT
THE LONG GOODBYE
NASHVILLE
3 WOMEN
SECRET HONOR
TANNER ’88(which I saw recently)
THE PLAYER
SHORT CUTS
A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION.
More importantly he crafted a really personal film language that few are capable of and go far beyond anything Stanley Kubrick ever did.
Go to Comment
What's your definition of a "cinephile"? over 2 years ago
A cinephile is someone who is never satisfied with any official source and supply of “good films” and interested in ceaseless exploration of the seventh art. But he also knows to return to silent cinema and the Old Masters.
Go to Comment
Sherlock Holmes over 2 years ago
And just think, Billy Wilder’s masterpiece The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes was mutilated. Life just isn’t fair…
Go to Comment
Sherlock Holmes over 2 years ago
Christopher Lee plays Mycroft Holmes in the Billy Wilder film. Nice bit of irony there.
Go to Comment
Sherlock Holmes over 2 years ago
Christopher Lee plays Mycroft Holmes in the Billy Wilder film. Nice bit of irony there.
Go to Comment