Everyone appreciates a particular film for their own reasons. For some context and influence is important, they like to know the why, the where, and the how of something, and that’s not wrong. Although, I do agree that sometimes that seems to take precedence in deciding what films belong in the so called “canon,” and the question then becomes, what factors should be the most important in deciding a film’s value in relation to film/art history, and then… who are we really to judge another person’s art as having or not having value for any particular reason? Art does not exist in a vacuum it’s true, but sometimes the best art is the art that is made without an explicit purpose, without an express goal of some sort. For myself I appreciate the beauty of things… the aesthetic nature of the artwork, and I can appreciate that in and of itself. I don’t care whether the film was influential, because a film’s influence doesn’t move me … it’s emotional impact, on me, is what draws me to it. I would love to see more appreciation for Chantal Akerman’s Toute une Nuit, but Jeanne Dielman will forever obscure it because it has more “context,” has had more influence, can be more explicitly analyzed in a specific area of film studies. In turn, I think that influence is a tricky thing to talk about. People can speak of being influenced by one or more great films, but I think influence is something much more complex than that… and, speaking plainly, I don’t think the influence a film has had makes it any better, or more important in any way than a film that no one has seen but its creator. I’ve always believed in the phrase “art, for the sake of art” … meaning to me that just the act of making art is important, whatever it is, and I have a problem with the idea of judging another person’s personal contribution to artmaking. I guess, in essence, I find it best, for myself, to ignore the film historians and critics when I don’t agree with them, and just spend my time searching out the art that I find influential, irregardless of what anyone else may think, and finding a way to incpororate the aspects of those which I am emotionally triggered by into my own style, diregarding completely anyone else’s views on what is important and what is not… because, ultimately, I believe, importance is qualified by individual connection, not group connection.
and as to the question “Why do ‘we’ care so much about influence?” … well, I suppose the answer would be that most everyone is looking for something to follow and more importantly, looking to make a dollar (or a million). And yes, history is written by those who win, and those who have the most power. Those people that don’t care about those things, in effect, those people that don’t give a hoot about influence, aren’t the people doing the writing/promoting and thus, aren’t being heard.
Oh Heather, my dear … look at all these people posting about getting their films from netflix, and torrent sites! Well … I don’t think you need to worry too much about it. Alt Vid has a loyal following, as do the other smaller stores in the city. There will always be people that want to support their local businesses … like you and me. That being said … and you know I am a firm believer in small local businesses, and have a serious hate-on for the lack of human contact these days, and Blockbuster (!!!!) … I have rented movies from Zip.ca in the past, the things I might not be able to get locally that I really want to see, and I am thankful that I can download torrents and watch films on the internet, because sometimes I just don’t want to go anywhere, or leave the house, and sometimes you just can’t get those things anywhere else (thanks in no small part to this stupid region coding, which we know is all about profit over the real distribution of art) But… there are a lot of people that just don’t care or, for the love of all things holy and I wish this wasn’t the case, don’t even realize that anything besides blockbuster, or for that matter, roger’s exists. Which is sad, really. Unfortunately that is the way the world is turning. The days when most of the businesses in a city were locally owned and operated are gone and dead. We are now in an age of insane massive-profit capitalism, which I could and would bitch about endlessly if I thought anyone would listen, or it would make a difference. I completely agree with you about the way you rate neighbourhoods, by the way… and, like you, I wish that all development was geared towards those aspects you pointed out, just one of the reasons why I’m itching to get the hell out of this city. Let’s start our own city ;-)
If it’s optimism you’re looking for, and maybe this will cheer you up… I have noticed recently an increasing sentiment among people in our general age group against corporate greed, and towards a more sustainable, local, capitalist model. A lot of people are starting to look at the world, and think … “This is bull****!!” Those people are your base, and that base is growing. I’m sure you’ve noticed it too … just think of all those people that were calling about that Zeitgeist movie, which was annoying, but I think points towards a general awakening. Not that the awakening will be overnight, but it certainly is taking place, and who knows… maybe things will change ;-)
Also, I think with you at its helm, the good ol’ Alternative Vid will keep motoring on, and increasing it’s business. I know you’ve been thinking of doing some radio stuff, and you should consider trying to get a show together that would discuss these kinds of issues, or do some writing for the paper… and not just SEE and Vue, but, say … the Journal, where you would reach a different group of people, than you could with the independents. I think that the issues you raise, and not just in terms of film rental activity, are important, and I know that a lot of people would be interested in beginning a serious discussion about them. As the saying goes… “be the change” lady!!
hmm … and just a random thought here… maybe you would want to consider doing some kind of promotion in the store where when someone rents a new release they can take a foreign film for free. Some people might actually take you up on it, enjoy the free film, and start renting them on their own volition. lol … or something that makes more business sense .. hope you’re enjoying your vacation!
And … I think the real thing you need to be questioning (and not that you aren’t) is why these films aren’t available, and why people feel they have to go through netflix… this isn’t just about local stores not getting the traffic they need to bring in these films. And one of the posters is right… you really can’t afford, as a small business to bring in ALL the films that people want to see, and a business like Netflix will always have the advantage there… what this really is about is things like region coding… restrictions that make it next to impossible for people to see certain films, making them turn to things like torrents. Copyright issues. The total saturation of American products worldwide that make local products less appealing to the masses for some reason. I believe that France has some kind of tax system at the movie theatres, where American films are taxed, and that tax goes towards supporting the local film industry. I’ve always wished that Canada would implement a system like that (although, English Canadian filmmakers certainly have a disadvantage to French Canadian filmmakers just based on language). There need to be fundamental changes in not only laws, but acceptable levels of profit and people’s views on local products (art being the major one.) Those changes are not easy to come by, but I think they are possible… it just requires a fundamental change in the way we model our society, and I think it begins with making art more accessable to the masses, and finding a way to make it more acceptable (or, perhaps cheaper) to go see a foreign film (or god-forbid) a Canadian film over some Hollywood commercial vehicle. When I lived in St.Albert, I really had no idea that anything besides Hollywood existed… but this was before the real explosion of the internet… and as much as I find abhorrent about the internet, I also think that as a tool, it has its value, and it is spreading awareness among young people of films, that perhaps, ten years ago, if they weren’t living in a big city, they would have no knowledge of. And that is a good thing… for local video stores as well.
I took an intro to film studies class in university, simply as a way to get my fine art credits. I skipped practically the whole first semester ( I have to admit I really didn’t care so much for the silent films), and for some reason started attending just in time for the section on French Film … It could have been The Grande Illusion, The 400 Blows, Breathless, or Cleo from 5 to 7… but I’m pretty positive it was A Man Escaped … yup, I’m pretty sure that was the film that made me switch my major to film studies. By the time we got to Chantal Akerman’s Toute une Nuit at the end of the year, I was hooked. I always loved movies, but A Man Escaped and Toute une Nuit tought me to love a different kind of filmmaking, film as an art form. And then the next year, it was Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Gods of the Plague (just when I thought I knew what filmmaking could be, I realized it could be so much more)… and then, a couple years later, Theo Angelopoulos’s The Travelling Players moved me in ways I didn’t think was possible… it never ceases to amaze me, just when I think I can’t be moved more by a film, something else comes along :-) Sometimes I think that every film I watch changes the way I look at cinema… in any case, the list is long.
Most definitely, Criterion needs some Theo Angelopoulos in its collection. Region 1 dvds of his works are scarce. I would love love love to see The Travelling Players on Criterion.
I would agree that you definitely should check out Gods of the Plague. That film was my introduction to Fassbinder when I took a course on him. I don’t think you need to watch his films in chronolgical order.
Fassbinder was more concerned in the later years of his career in gaining commercial acceptance for his films, which makes them more accessible… I didn’t REALLY connect to his films until after I watched Ali: Fear eats the Soul. After I saw that, I found a way into his earlier films, and now I appreciate them more fully. I think that the more films you watch of his, the more you will appreciate the earlier stuff, even if the later stuff still grabs hold of you more.
Last movie you saw and rate it about 3 years ago
Battle in Seattle: 8/10
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What films do you always catch shit for for not liking? about 3 years ago
Jules and Jim … I just didn’t like it.
and, well, pretty much everything by P.T. Anderson… actually, no, EVERYTHING by P.T. Anderson.
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WHY DO WE CARE SO MUCH ABOUT INFLUENCE? about 3 years ago
Everyone appreciates a particular film for their own reasons. For some context and influence is important, they like to know the why, the where, and the how of something, and that’s not wrong. Although, I do agree that sometimes that seems to take precedence in deciding what films belong in the so called “canon,” and the question then becomes, what factors should be the most important in deciding a film’s value in relation to film/art history, and then… who are we really to judge another person’s art as having or not having value for any particular reason? Art does not exist in a vacuum it’s true, but sometimes the best art is the art that is made without an explicit purpose, without an express goal of some sort. For myself I appreciate the beauty of things… the aesthetic nature of the artwork, and I can appreciate that in and of itself. I don’t care whether the film was influential, because a film’s influence doesn’t move me … it’s emotional impact, on me, is what draws me to it. I would love to see more appreciation for Chantal Akerman’s Toute une Nuit, but Jeanne Dielman will forever obscure it because it has more “context,” has had more influence, can be more explicitly analyzed in a specific area of film studies. In turn, I think that influence is a tricky thing to talk about. People can speak of being influenced by one or more great films, but I think influence is something much more complex than that… and, speaking plainly, I don’t think the influence a film has had makes it any better, or more important in any way than a film that no one has seen but its creator. I’ve always believed in the phrase “art, for the sake of art” … meaning to me that just the act of making art is important, whatever it is, and I have a problem with the idea of judging another person’s personal contribution to artmaking. I guess, in essence, I find it best, for myself, to ignore the film historians and critics when I don’t agree with them, and just spend my time searching out the art that I find influential, irregardless of what anyone else may think, and finding a way to incpororate the aspects of those which I am emotionally triggered by into my own style, diregarding completely anyone else’s views on what is important and what is not… because, ultimately, I believe, importance is qualified by individual connection, not group connection.
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WHY DO WE CARE SO MUCH ABOUT INFLUENCE? about 3 years ago
and as to the question “Why do ‘we’ care so much about influence?” … well, I suppose the answer would be that most everyone is looking for something to follow and more importantly, looking to make a dollar (or a million). And yes, history is written by those who win, and those who have the most power. Those people that don’t care about those things, in effect, those people that don’t give a hoot about influence, aren’t the people doing the writing/promoting and thus, aren’t being heard.
Go to Comment
netflix/downloading/local video store about 3 years ago
Oh Heather, my dear … look at all these people posting about getting their films from netflix, and torrent sites! Well … I don’t think you need to worry too much about it. Alt Vid has a loyal following, as do the other smaller stores in the city. There will always be people that want to support their local businesses … like you and me. That being said … and you know I am a firm believer in small local businesses, and have a serious hate-on for the lack of human contact these days, and Blockbuster (!!!!) … I have rented movies from Zip.ca in the past, the things I might not be able to get locally that I really want to see, and I am thankful that I can download torrents and watch films on the internet, because sometimes I just don’t want to go anywhere, or leave the house, and sometimes you just can’t get those things anywhere else (thanks in no small part to this stupid region coding, which we know is all about profit over the real distribution of art) But… there are a lot of people that just don’t care or, for the love of all things holy and I wish this wasn’t the case, don’t even realize that anything besides blockbuster, or for that matter, roger’s exists. Which is sad, really. Unfortunately that is the way the world is turning. The days when most of the businesses in a city were locally owned and operated are gone and dead. We are now in an age of insane massive-profit capitalism, which I could and would bitch about endlessly if I thought anyone would listen, or it would make a difference. I completely agree with you about the way you rate neighbourhoods, by the way… and, like you, I wish that all development was geared towards those aspects you pointed out, just one of the reasons why I’m itching to get the hell out of this city. Let’s start our own city ;-)
If it’s optimism you’re looking for, and maybe this will cheer you up… I have noticed recently an increasing sentiment among people in our general age group against corporate greed, and towards a more sustainable, local, capitalist model. A lot of people are starting to look at the world, and think … “This is bull****!!” Those people are your base, and that base is growing. I’m sure you’ve noticed it too … just think of all those people that were calling about that Zeitgeist movie, which was annoying, but I think points towards a general awakening. Not that the awakening will be overnight, but it certainly is taking place, and who knows… maybe things will change ;-)
Also, I think with you at its helm, the good ol’ Alternative Vid will keep motoring on, and increasing it’s business. I know you’ve been thinking of doing some radio stuff, and you should consider trying to get a show together that would discuss these kinds of issues, or do some writing for the paper… and not just SEE and Vue, but, say … the Journal, where you would reach a different group of people, than you could with the independents. I think that the issues you raise, and not just in terms of film rental activity, are important, and I know that a lot of people would be interested in beginning a serious discussion about them. As the saying goes… “be the change” lady!!
Go to Comment
netflix/downloading/local video store about 3 years ago
hmm … and just a random thought here… maybe you would want to consider doing some kind of promotion in the store where when someone rents a new release they can take a foreign film for free. Some people might actually take you up on it, enjoy the free film, and start renting them on their own volition. lol … or something that makes more business sense .. hope you’re enjoying your vacation!
Go to Comment
netflix/downloading/local video store about 3 years ago
And … I think the real thing you need to be questioning (and not that you aren’t) is why these films aren’t available, and why people feel they have to go through netflix… this isn’t just about local stores not getting the traffic they need to bring in these films. And one of the posters is right… you really can’t afford, as a small business to bring in ALL the films that people want to see, and a business like Netflix will always have the advantage there… what this really is about is things like region coding… restrictions that make it next to impossible for people to see certain films, making them turn to things like torrents. Copyright issues. The total saturation of American products worldwide that make local products less appealing to the masses for some reason. I believe that France has some kind of tax system at the movie theatres, where American films are taxed, and that tax goes towards supporting the local film industry. I’ve always wished that Canada would implement a system like that (although, English Canadian filmmakers certainly have a disadvantage to French Canadian filmmakers just based on language). There need to be fundamental changes in not only laws, but acceptable levels of profit and people’s views on local products (art being the major one.) Those changes are not easy to come by, but I think they are possible… it just requires a fundamental change in the way we model our society, and I think it begins with making art more accessable to the masses, and finding a way to make it more acceptable (or, perhaps cheaper) to go see a foreign film (or god-forbid) a Canadian film over some Hollywood commercial vehicle. When I lived in St.Albert, I really had no idea that anything besides Hollywood existed… but this was before the real explosion of the internet… and as much as I find abhorrent about the internet, I also think that as a tool, it has its value, and it is spreading awareness among young people of films, that perhaps, ten years ago, if they weren’t living in a big city, they would have no knowledge of. And that is a good thing… for local video stores as well.
Go to Comment
Films that changed how you looked at cinema about 3 years ago
I took an intro to film studies class in university, simply as a way to get my fine art credits. I skipped practically the whole first semester ( I have to admit I really didn’t care so much for the silent films), and for some reason started attending just in time for the section on French Film … It could have been The Grande Illusion, The 400 Blows, Breathless, or Cleo from 5 to 7… but I’m pretty positive it was A Man Escaped … yup, I’m pretty sure that was the film that made me switch my major to film studies. By the time we got to Chantal Akerman’s Toute une Nuit at the end of the year, I was hooked. I always loved movies, but A Man Escaped and Toute une Nuit tought me to love a different kind of filmmaking, film as an art form. And then the next year, it was Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Gods of the Plague (just when I thought I knew what filmmaking could be, I realized it could be so much more)… and then, a couple years later, Theo Angelopoulos’s The Travelling Players moved me in ways I didn’t think was possible… it never ceases to amaze me, just when I think I can’t be moved more by a film, something else comes along :-) Sometimes I think that every film I watch changes the way I look at cinema… in any case, the list is long.
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WHICH DIRECTORS...NOT...CURRENTLY REPRESENTED IN THE CRITERION COLLECTION DO YOU WANT TO SEE INCLUDED? about 3 years ago
Most definitely, Criterion needs some Theo Angelopoulos in its collection. Region 1 dvds of his works are scarce. I would love love love to see The Travelling Players on Criterion.
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WHICH DIRECTORS...NOT...CURRENTLY REPRESENTED IN THE CRITERION COLLECTION DO YOU WANT TO SEE INCLUDED? about 3 years ago
I would also love to see Chantal Akerman’s Toute Une Nuit as I’ve only been able to track down a VHS copy.
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Fassbinder's earlier works about 3 years ago
I would agree that you definitely should check out Gods of the Plague. That film was my introduction to Fassbinder when I took a course on him. I don’t think you need to watch his films in chronolgical order.
Fassbinder was more concerned in the later years of his career in gaining commercial acceptance for his films, which makes them more accessible… I didn’t REALLY connect to his films until after I watched Ali: Fear eats the Soul. After I saw that, I found a way into his earlier films, and now I appreciate them more fully. I think that the more films you watch of his, the more you will appreciate the earlier stuff, even if the later stuff still grabs hold of you more.
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Fassbinder's earlier works about 3 years ago
I also love Beware of a Holy Whore … it makes me laugh throughout :-)
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10 GREATEST FILMS IN YOUR OPINION!!!(in order) about 3 years ago
1.Toute une nuit (Chantal Akerman, 1982)
2.The Travelling Players (Theo Angelopoulos, 1975)
3.In a Year of 13 Moons (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1978)
4.Trois couleurs: Bleu (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1993)
5.Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966)
6.Gegen die Wand (Head-On) (Fatih Akin, 2004)
7.Sweetie (Jane Campion, 1989)
8.Bad Timing (Nicolas Roeg, 1980)
9.The Manchurian Candidate (John Frankenheimer, 1962)
10.Pierrot le fou (Jean-luc Godard, 1967)
Obviously personal favourites, since trying to determine, objectively, “greatest” is impossible, as I’ve not seen every film ever made…
And, the list is waaaay too short… I keep thinking of another film every two seconds I would love to have on the list.
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10 GREATEST FILMS IN YOUR OPINION!!!(in order) about 3 years ago
ok … I have to add at number 11. Dillinger Is Dead (Marco Ferreri, 1969)
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