When I decided, at the age of seventeen, to watch every movies in their original language only (I live in a non english speaking European country). That meant then to go to the movies for the 10, 11 or 12 PM showings only and to cycle for miles through improbable neighborhoods trying to find the little cinema showing The Seventh Seal.
When I started to choose a film according to the name of its director.
When I started to sit quietly through all the final credits and to be mad at those who were leaving the auditorium.
When I first watched Werner Herzog’s AGUIRRE. 34 years ago.
I began to really love movies when I first watched Werner Herzog’s AGUIRRE back in the 70’s. It was the first time I felt completely enthralled by a film. The conjonction of Aguirre’s musical score and images created in me the feeling to watch a work of art as if I were in front of a painting. Over the years, I discovered a few movies that created in me the same feeling. According to me they deserve to be part of a peculiar movie genre : Ecstatic and lyrical films. Here is my selection :
Akira Kurosawa’s HIGH AND LOW
John Mackenzie’s THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY
Phyllida Lloyd’s MAMMA MIA
Jean-Luc Godard’s ALPHAVILLE
Richard Linklater’s FAST FOOD NATION
Sidney Lumet’s BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD
Jason Reitman’s THANK YOU FOR SMOKING
Don Sharp’s BEAR ISLAND
Paul Morrissey’s FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN
William Friedkin’s TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.
Kit: I mentioned Robert Bresson’s AU HASARD BALTHAZAR mainly because of the perfect adequation, in my souvenir, between the shots of the donkey Balthasar and the Schubert piano sonata.
Kenji: I agree with you about Jean Vigo’s L’ATALANTE and most of Eric Rohmer’s films. You’re also right mentioning King Vidor who’s one of the rare classic American directors, with Frank Borzage maybe, who managed to insert poetry and lyricism in their films.
But the ultime reference is in my opinion Werner Herzog who proposed, in movies like AGUIRRE or KASPAR HAUSER, moments of dazzling poetic explosions.
90 minutes of perfection is impossible to find but an old friend of mine told me years ago that in every film, there are at least five minutes of pure cinema which make you pardon the director for the 85 other minutes. And the more I grow older, the more I agree with him.
Justin: well, I can’t say that I was enthralled by every release but I never was REALLY disappointed by one of them. I just had the chance to start to collect them as the DVDs were released. I guess I wouldn’t start to buy them one by one now. At that time (1997-1998), Criterion was the only company releasing classics on a regular basis in the DVD standard. True that I wouldn’t have bought a Beastie Boy anthology (I even didn’t know that this band existed then!) or a Seijun Suzuki movie (I also hadn’t heard of this director back in the 90’s) if they hadn’t been released by Criterion but I thank this company for having shaken my laziness then and waken up in me the envy to discover new interesting directors, that’s all.
Don’t be so rude with Daniel Purcell.! Here’s a guy who appreciated a b&w film without having been forced (by parents, by teachers, make your choice) to watch it. That’s pretty rare nowadays. Now, if I consider that Sam Fuller is one of the most underrated American directors, I also like a lot of things in Tarantino movies (unfortunately nothing in Sin City but it’s another story) even if I’m past the 50 years mark. To be a cinephile is to be open-minded to any form of cinema and not to despise all the people who think that Michael Bay and Ron Howard are the best directors of the world.
I think that Daniel Purcell is perfectly right here. I watched maybe 9000 movies in my life, patronized dozens of film clubs and I still watch more or less one film a day. I also used to discuss hours with friends about a movie but, believe me, my greatest pleasure is still to have someone discover a movie thanks to me. To become a cinephile doesn’t mean to become an egocentric monomaniac such as I can encounter here in some threads. Cinema can only live if we can manage to explain and show it to the younger generation.
Francis Ford Coppola’s ONE OF THE HEART (1982). The film was a total flop in the U.S.A. and went so so in Europe. I had the strange feeling to be the only one to appreciate it then.
The same for me. I like a lot this film but rather some scenes of it. For instance, the two scenes in the middle of the boulevard in the city. When the two lovers cross it gazing into each other’s eyes, the moment certainly becomes one of the best scenes ever presented on screen. I also like Murnau’s work on antagonisms (Night/Day, Moon/Sun, City/Country etc..) in the film. Nevertheless, I can think of a dozen other films deserving the status of Best Film of the World.
I used to follow the Tour in the 70’s and the 80’s but since we know by now that every riders take doping substances, it doesn’t interest me anymore. I prefer to go watching local my local amateur soccer team on sundays. That’s real sport !
Rich Uncle Skeleton “well, let’s be honest, there has been doping in pro-cycling for at least 50 years now.”
Yes but now they ALL take doping substances. Really, I can’t enjoy watching guys who are cheating, can you ?. That’s the reason why I stopped watching sports competitions on TV years ago. More time with the family, more films to enjoy, less beer and snacks to digest. You should try it, sometimes, it’s worth it!
I used to show (good) movies to my children since they were 3. Now, 10 years later, I sometimes regret it because they know how to run the video-projector and I often have to wait until late at night in order to watch a film… My wife is cool, she knows I need to watch a film a day in order to digest the stress of a working day.
You know your a cinephile when? about 4 years ago
When I decided, at the age of seventeen, to watch every movies in their original language only (I live in a non english speaking European country). That meant then to go to the movies for the 10, 11 or 12 PM showings only and to cycle for miles through improbable neighborhoods trying to find the little cinema showing The Seventh Seal.
When I started to choose a film according to the name of its director.
When I started to sit quietly through all the final credits and to be mad at those who were leaving the auditorium.
When I first watched Werner Herzog’s AGUIRRE. 34 years ago.
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ECSTATIC AND LYRICAL MOVIES about 4 years ago
I began to really love movies when I first watched Werner Herzog’s AGUIRRE back in the 70’s. It was the first time I felt completely enthralled by a film. The conjonction of Aguirre’s musical score and images created in me the feeling to watch a work of art as if I were in front of a painting. Over the years, I discovered a few movies that created in me the same feeling. According to me they deserve to be part of a peculiar movie genre : Ecstatic and lyrical films. Here is my selection :
Walerian Borowczyk’s GOTO, ISLAND OF LOVE.
Béla Tarr’s WERCKMEISTER’S HARMONIES
Werner Herzog’s HEART OF GLASS
Terrence Malick’s DAYS OF HEAVEN
Peter Weir’s PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK
Robert Bresson’s AU HASARD, BALTHAZAR
What would be your personal selection ?
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Best movie with a train in it ? about 4 years ago
Andrei Konchalovsky’s RUNAWAY TRAIN
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TheAuteurs List of the Week 5/3/09: What did you watch last week? about 4 years ago
26.04/02.05
Akira Kurosawa’s HIGH AND LOW
John Mackenzie’s THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY
Phyllida Lloyd’s MAMMA MIA
Jean-Luc Godard’s ALPHAVILLE
Richard Linklater’s FAST FOOD NATION
Sidney Lumet’s BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD
Jason Reitman’s THANK YOU FOR SMOKING
Don Sharp’s BEAR ISLAND
Paul Morrissey’s FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN
William Friedkin’s TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A.
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ECSTATIC AND LYRICAL MOVIES about 4 years ago
You’re right Kit. I totally forgot to mention Sergei Parajanov, a U.F.O. in film making. I’ll check your suggestions. Thanks.
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ECSTATIC AND LYRICAL MOVIES about 4 years ago
Kit: I mentioned Robert Bresson’s AU HASARD BALTHAZAR mainly because of the perfect adequation, in my souvenir, between the shots of the donkey Balthasar and the Schubert piano sonata.
Kenji: I agree with you about Jean Vigo’s L’ATALANTE and most of Eric Rohmer’s films. You’re also right mentioning King Vidor who’s one of the rare classic American directors, with Frank Borzage maybe, who managed to insert poetry and lyricism in their films.
But the ultime reference is in my opinion Werner Herzog who proposed, in movies like AGUIRRE or KASPAR HAUSER, moments of dazzling poetic explosions.
90 minutes of perfection is impossible to find but an old friend of mine told me years ago that in every film, there are at least five minutes of pure cinema which make you pardon the director for the 85 other minutes. And the more I grow older, the more I agree with him.
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ECSTATIC AND LYRICAL MOVIES about 4 years ago
Kim Packard : YES. How could I miss this one! A pure masterpiece.
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Where are you from? about 4 years ago
Geneva, Switzerland.
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ESSENTIAL ARTHOUSE discs - Who's buying them? about 4 years ago
Did you notice that Criterion has just announced LAST HOLIDAY (1950) directed by Henry Cass in the Essential Art House section ?
It would be the first movie appearing in this section that wouldn’t be a regular Criterion release with a spine number.
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What Out of Print Criterions do you own? about 4 years ago
All of them. I started to collect Criterion DVD’s in 1998.
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Johnnie To - What to Watch? about 4 years ago
Start with PTU and THE MISSION, two thrillers between John Woo and Wim Wenders.
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Criterion junkies here? about 4 years ago
I own every Criterion DVDs ever released as well as the Eclipse series but no laserdiscs nor BLU-RAYS.
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Criterion junkies here? about 4 years ago
Justin: well, I can’t say that I was enthralled by every release but I never was REALLY disappointed by one of them. I just had the chance to start to collect them as the DVDs were released. I guess I wouldn’t start to buy them one by one now. At that time (1997-1998), Criterion was the only company releasing classics on a regular basis in the DVD standard. True that I wouldn’t have bought a Beastie Boy anthology (I even didn’t know that this band existed then!) or a Seijun Suzuki movie (I also hadn’t heard of this director back in the 90’s) if they hadn’t been released by Criterion but I thank this company for having shaken my laziness then and waken up in me the envy to discover new interesting directors, that’s all.
Go to Comment
PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET almost 4 years ago
Don’t be so rude with Daniel Purcell.! Here’s a guy who appreciated a b&w film without having been forced (by parents, by teachers, make your choice) to watch it. That’s pretty rare nowadays. Now, if I consider that Sam Fuller is one of the most underrated American directors, I also like a lot of things in Tarantino movies (unfortunately nothing in Sin City but it’s another story) even if I’m past the 50 years mark. To be a cinephile is to be open-minded to any form of cinema and not to despise all the people who think that Michael Bay and Ron Howard are the best directors of the world.
Go to Comment
Arrogance is ruining the Auteurs almost 4 years ago
I think that Daniel Purcell is perfectly right here. I watched maybe 9000 movies in my life, patronized dozens of film clubs and I still watch more or less one film a day. I also used to discuss hours with friends about a movie but, believe me, my greatest pleasure is still to have someone discover a movie thanks to me. To become a cinephile doesn’t mean to become an egocentric monomaniac such as I can encounter here in some threads. Cinema can only live if we can manage to explain and show it to the younger generation.
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Ballsy Filmmakers almost 4 years ago
Robert Aldrich for APACHE, KISS ME DEADLY and ATTACK, three films that revitalized three dying Hollywood genres.
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completists: does it bug you having to own Armageddon? almost 4 years ago
“Are there really completists?”
Yes, I am but it just happened that I started to collect them in 1998-1999 when there weren’t a lot of good movies available in the DVD standard.
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The Apple Falls not Far From The Tree almost 4 years ago
The Carradines (John, David, Robert and Keith).
The Gainsbourgs (Serge and Charlotte).
The Baldwins (Alec, Daniel, Stephen and William).
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How Many Films Have You Seen this Year? Prefer Theater or DVD? almost 4 years ago
No movies in the theatre.
About 150 on DVD. No new releases. Mostly Criterion films, Hammer films and Richard Widmark films.
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How Many Films Have You Seen this Year? Prefer Theater or DVD? almost 4 years ago
No movies in the theatre.
About 150 on DVD. No new releases. Mostly Criterion films, Hammer films and Richard Widmark films.
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Last movie you saw and rate it almost 4 years ago
The Third Man (for the 5th time at least) 8/10
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The Gultiest of Guilty Pleasures. almost 4 years ago
“The Pirate Movie” :http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0084504/
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Anyone Else Sick of Clint Eastwood almost 4 years ago
Appalling thread. Clint Eastwood is one of the most interesting American directors of the last 40 years.
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Favorite auteurs missing from the profile selection box. almost 4 years ago
Joseph Losey and Robert Aldrich who are lingering on in the Auteurs’s purgatory for more than 25 years now.
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What underrated, forgotten (or critically panned) films do you love? almost 4 years ago
Francis Ford Coppola’s ONE OF THE HEART (1982). The film was a total flop in the U.S.A. and went so so in Europe. I had the strange feeling to be the only one to appreciate it then.
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SUNRISE almost 4 years ago
The same for me. I like a lot this film but rather some scenes of it. For instance, the two scenes in the middle of the boulevard in the city. When the two lovers cross it gazing into each other’s eyes, the moment certainly becomes one of the best scenes ever presented on screen. I also like Murnau’s work on antagonisms (Night/Day, Moon/Sun, City/Country etc..) in the film. Nevertheless, I can think of a dozen other films deserving the status of Best Film of the World.
Go to Comment
2009 Tour de France on TheAuteurs almost 4 years ago
I used to follow the Tour in the 70’s and the 80’s but since we know by now that every riders take doping substances, it doesn’t interest me anymore. I prefer to go watching local my local amateur soccer team on sundays. That’s real sport !
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2009 Tour de France on TheAuteurs almost 4 years ago
Rich Uncle Skeleton “well, let’s be honest, there has been doping in pro-cycling for at least 50 years now.”
Yes but now they ALL take doping substances. Really, I can’t enjoy watching guys who are cheating, can you ?. That’s the reason why I stopped watching sports competitions on TV years ago. More time with the family, more films to enjoy, less beer and snacks to digest. You should try it, sometimes, it’s worth it!
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2009 Tour de France on TheAuteurs almost 4 years ago
OK. No hard feelings.
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What Does Your Family Think Of Your Love of Cinema? almost 4 years ago
I used to show (good) movies to my children since they were 3. Now, 10 years later, I sometimes regret it because they know how to run the video-projector and I often have to wait until late at night in order to watch a film… My wife is cool, she knows I need to watch a film a day in order to digest the stress of a working day.
Go to Comment