As a film professor and overall movie buff, I’ve seen over 8,000 movies in my lifetime. I’ve only walked out of 8 of them, although I have switched channels on a few I was viewing on television. The most notable films by auteurs that I walked out on were: Federico Fellini’s CASANOVA (extremely boring + Donald Sutherland was miscast as the Italian lover); Werner Herzog’s FATA MORGANA (the first 20-30 minutes consist of repeated views of an airplane landing, and desert sands. A human being doesn’t appear on screen for quite some time); Stan Brakhage’s avant-garde classic THE ART OF VISION (4 hours of visuals, mostly of 4-5 separate images, with NO soundtrack. I walked out after 2 1/2 hours, long after everyone else evacuated the theater at the Museum of Modern Art!); Robert Bresson’s DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST (actually, I never walked out; I have just fallen asleep every time [5-6 attempts] I tried to watch this classic story of a French prelate writing entries in his diary as we hear his boring voice-over…and as my life ebbed away).
MANY thanks to Kenji and Kim Packard for annotating several of the beautiful pictures. I was only able to identify a handful of the photos (Niagara Falls, Grand Canyon, Venice, Istanbul, etc.) as scenery from famous (and not so famous) flicks.
The only information I can add is that I THINK that Crater Lake was featured in both 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and KOYANISQATTSI; Rio (including the statue of Jesus on Sugarloaf Mountain) was seen in BLACK ORPHEUS, IT HAPPENED IN RIO, and PIXOTE; Versailles was used in Rossellini’s THE RISE TO POWER OF LOUIS XIV and Sophia Coppola’s MARIE ANTOINETTE; and Hong Kong harbor is the backdrop for many movies, including OLIVER’S STORY and LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING.
Now, with CGI (computer-generated imagery) special effects, today’s filmmakers can fake these locations (or even redo them). Special effects were always available, but the degree with which they can be composited has changed radically in recent years.
Dear All: As an old philosophy major, I tend to agree with most of the directors mentioned above. There are certainly philosophical threads in most of their films. I’d like to add Alain Resnais, whose LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD is perhaps the pre-eminent film dealing with phenomenology and the nature of reality. Many of his other films — NIGHT AND FOG; HIROSHIMA, MON AMOUR; MURIEL; LA GUERRE EST FINI; and even MON ONCLE D’AMERIQUE — deal with issues such as Time, Memory, Reality. Ethics, the Human Condition, and other philosophical questions. One of the major intellectual influences on Resnais was probably Henri Bergson, in addition to Sartre and Merleau-Ponty.
Just a note to Howard Fritzman’s post of 2 months ago: “You are correct, sir!” It IS “Il Trovatore” being performed at the beginning of Visconti’s SENSO.
I hate to admit it, but Roger Corman’s BUCKET OF BLOOD is an authentic “B” movie, and even has the letter “B” in the title! It’s a guilty pleasure, too.
To Mark Penny: Actually, Monica Vitti puts her hand on Gabriele Ferzetti’s HAIR, not his shoulder, in the last scene of L’AVVENTURA. Her tentative gesture is shot in close-up as she raises her hand to his head. The sharp contrast of her white hand against his dark hair make for an extraordinary graphic visual. Then, there’s that unexpected but great cut to an Extreme Long Shot of the couple, against the background of Mt. Etna. (I wish I could post that final shot on this site to illustrate my point. Does anyone know how one can do that?)
I haven’t been able to read all the messages above, but in case someone hasn’t mentioned it, I’d love to be able to post frame enlargements and pictures to the site, especially when discussing specific images from auteur films.
Dear All: Although I generally respect auteurs and their visions, I have seen very few “director’s cuts” that are better than the original release. The most prominent better director’s cut is probably BLADE RUNNER. THE WILD BUNCH’s director’s cut is also arguably better than the studio release, as is Antonioni’s PROFESSION: REPORTER, as opposed to THE PASSENGER (even though the difference is only a few minutes in length and a couple of scenes). But, in my opinion, here are some of the director’s cuts that made a great (or near-great) film worse:
APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX (those scenes in the French rubber plantation were cut for good reasons in 1979)
JFK (there’s already too much of Sissy Spacek’s nagging wife in the original)
HEAVEN’S GATE (an hour more of mess)
1900 (an hour more of mass)
THE LAST EMPEROR (an hour more of miss)
WATERWORLD (an hour more of mess)
DANCES WITH WOLVES (an hour more)
Visconti’s LUDWIG (90 minutes more)
Two additional films that might be considered “disguised” films about the Vietnam War are THE WILD BUNCH and ULZANA’S RAID. Only a handful of U.S. movies dealing directly with Vietnam were made during the years of the war: THE GREEN BERETS, IN THE YEAR OF THE PIG, and HEARTS AND MINDS. In 1973, my screenwriting agent told me, “The William Morris Agency policy is that the American public is not ready for films about Vietnam and they won’t be ready for another five years.” A pretty good prediction, given that 1978-79 was the period that many of those films finally appeared.
I guess it says something about the role of women in the directorial ranks that very few of the films we’ve mentioned have been directed (or even written) by female auteurs. Earlier, I mentioned A QUESTION OF SILENCE by the Dutch director Marleen Gouris (who won the Foreign Oscar for ANTONIA’S LINE, 1995). More recently, she directed MRS. DALLOWAY (1997).
But, with a few other exceptions, almost all the movies cited above have been directed by men.
My hometown is New York City, so THOUSANDS of films were shot on those “mean streets.” However, that background gives me a keen eye for mistakes in New York movies. To give one example, in the famous car-train high-speed chase sequence in THE FRENCH CONNECTION, Popeye Doyle’s speeding car passes my Brooklyn high school TWICE during that scene. And it somehow manages to switch sides of the street as he’s driving along! The montage editing prevents most people from noticing such details, but if you recognize a landmark, you can catch those flubs more easily.
And, of course, because I lived in NYC for so long, I realized that NONE of the street scenes in EYES WIDE SHUT were actually shot in Greenwich Village.
An anecdote from my student days: In New York, there was a VERY UNIQUE screening room-movie theater In the Anthology Film Archives. It has since been converted to other uses. The theater was all black velvet: walls, seats, etc. In addition, the backs of the chairs were very tall so that you could not see anyone behind you, nor could you see the person sitting next to you because there were black velvet “blinders” on either side of every seat. In short, all you could see was the screen. It really focused your attention!
This description is just a prelude to my story about subtitles. The Archives policy was to show the best possible, most complete, prints of classic films (mostly avant-garde movies by Mekas, Brakhage, etc.). So, I went to see Dreyer’s silent THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC there. Before the screening, someone came out and said that they had found this print in Denmark and that it was the most complete version ever screened, but that we would have to accept two limitations: (1) there was no music or sound at all, and (2) the intertitles would be in Danish! I tried to lip read the French but most of Joan’s speeches (and those of her accusers) were truncated on screen. Ah, purity!
I’d add David Hemmings in Antonioni’s BLOW-UP. He doesn’t speak much throughout the film, yet conveys everything you need to know about the character. At the end, when he throws back the imaginary tennis ball, the camera focuses on his face and the subtle changes of his expression for several seconds. It’s like the epitome of silent film acting.
@Andrew. I don’t want to distract this perfectly good thread about subtitles and intertitles, but according to my (admittedly ancient) dictionary “unique” not only means “one of a kind” but it has secondary meanings of “distinctively characteristic” and “unusual.” Using those connotations, something can be “VERY UNIQUE.”
To get us back on track on subtitles, a related issue is HOW various foreign words are translated in subtitled (or dubbed) films, especially words that would normally be censored. If one understands foreign languages (especially their curse words), one can be taken aback when an Italian character is fulminating against another, shouting and gesticulating wildly, and the subtitle reads: “You … stinker!”
I’m surprised that no one’s mentioned BLAZING SADDLES as the greatest Western. Talk about genre busting! (OK, I’m only kidding.)
Going back to the original discussion about THE SEARCHERS, Christopher Sharrett wrote an excellent article in CINEASTE debunking many of the film’s flaws. I’ll try to dig up a citation or link so that people can read it for themselves.
Also Brian Henderson’s long-ago essay on THE SEARCHERS suggests that it is a social allegory that is really about Black people, not Indians, and that Ethan’s decision at the end not to kill Debbie (Natalie Wood) represents a coming-to-terms between the races right after Brown v. Board of Education.
Finally, I had the honor of publishing a very significant article on the film in CINEMA JOURNAL in 1998. (I’ll post the beginning of that piece below, along with the citation. It’s available from JSTOR.com) The fascinating thing that came out was that one scene in the script had Ethan Edwards meeting General Custer (the only reference to Custer now is that the cavalry flags have a “7” on them, Custer’s regiment). Ford even shot the scene of Ethan meeting Custer but decided not to use it because Custer’s racism and cruelty made Ethan look good in comparison and he wanted to present Ethan as a “dark” character.
Darkening Ethan: John Ford’s “The Searchers” (1956) from Novel to Screenplay to Screen, by Arthur M. Eckstein
Cinema Journal, Vol. 38, No. 1 (Autumn, 1998), pp. 3-24
Abstract: Some film scholars charge that director John Ford was complicit in the savage racism of “The Searchers’” central character, Ethan Edwards. This essay demonstrates that Ford viewed Ethan as a negative, psychologically damaged, and tragic figure. By comparing the changes made from the source novel to the shooting script to the final film, a constant darkening of Ethan’s personality is revealed—most of it directly attributable to director John Ford.
Marleen Gorris’s Dutch film A QUESTION OF SILENCE demonstrates the sexist nature of the legal system even in a “humane” society such as the Netherlands.
Moving beyond the scum comments about students, I’d like to mention two films that seem to have been only of their time and place:
Haskell Wexler’s MEDIUM COOL (1969) — About the police riot at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago in 1968, with a tacked-on love story and comments about the media, particularly TV news. Most of it seems “old hat” today and the actors/actresses weren’t up for these parts (in my opinion). But, “in the day,” it seemed like a very important film.
Barbet Schroeder’s THE VALLEY (OBSCURED BY CLOUDS) (1972) — A beautiful movie starring Bulle Ogier, shot by Nestor Almendros, and scored by Pink Floyd. But you probably have to be very high these days to appreciate its meandering narrative.
Probably some people will cite EASY RIDER as an example of a film that has lost its impact over time, but I’d disagree because of the film’s cinematography, music, and acting.
@Parky: Yes, the Mel Brooks names are priceless but we should add Mongo SantaMaria from BLAZING SADDLES.
Another thing to consider is Antonioni’s NON-use of character names. For instance, the protagonist in BLOW-UP (David Hemmings) is never named in the film, although he’s called Thomas in the screenplay. Likewise, the female lead (Vanessa Redgrave) is not given a name in the movie, but is called Jane in the script. (Incidentally, in LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER, the gardener refers to the male and female sex organs as John THOMAS and Lady JANE and the book’s original title was JOHN THOMAS AND LADY JANE.) In THE PASSENGER, the Maria Schneider character is just called “The Girl,” in THE MYSTERY OF OBERWALD, the main character is “The Queen,” and in L’AVVENTURA, L’ECLISSE, RED DESERT, and ZABRISKIE POINT, we never learn the characters’ last names.
@Law: Salvador Dali was “without mental disorders”? Anyone who ever saw him in person or interviewed could suspect that he was “crazy,” at least in the common-sense use of that term. I’m not talking about his work. Giorgio de Chirico was a Surrealist but, from what I know, he did not have the kinds of life experiences in a semi-feudal Spain that Dali grew up with.
As for filmmakers, Hitchcock’s father apparently had him locked in a jail cell “to show him what happens to bad little boys”; he also underwent corporal punishment at the hands of his Jesuit teachers. Bergman’s dad, a clergyman, used to lock up young Ingmar in a dark closet and tell him that there were rats running around on the floor. Fellini was forced to kneel on dry corn for long stretches of time by the priests and nuns of his childhood. These sorts of childhood traumas may not ALWAYS produce artistic geniuses but it may give one a high sense of drama that can be drawn on in one’s artistic career.
As far as I know, Steven Spielberg did not have a particularly traumatic childhood (except for his parents’ divorce) but I don’t consider him to be a cinematic genius.
Speaking of dubbing (which this thread has emphasized), I’m always bemused by the lengths that TV networks go to in eliminating “obscene” words from soundtracks of movies they play. Hooray for cable! A few examples from their original TV network premieres:
APOCALYPSE NOW: Capt. Willard (to himself): “Saigon…………………………………………I’m still only in Saigon.” [a word was removed. Most of you know what that word is]
THE GODFATHER: Sonny: “I don’t want my brother coming out of that bathroom with just A STICK in his hand.” [“his dick” was dubbed over]
…AND JUSTICE FOR ALL: At the end, after denouncing his own client in open court, Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino) screams: “He should go right to FILTHY jail!” [a different “F” word was dubbed over]
Two interesting facts about Billy Wilder films (to get us off the dubbing issue for a while):
1. DOUBLE INDEMNITY: Wilder actually shot a concluding scene of Fred MacMurray in the gas chamber, with Edward G. Robinson watching as an official witness. (I’ve seen still photos of the scene.) Apparently the censors didn’t like that ending and it was never used. I think that many people now assume that MacMurray dies on the office building floor (maybe from that final cigarette he smokes!)
2. SUNSET BOULEVARD: Wilder wanted to begin the film by having William Holden sit up from a slab in the morgue to begin to tell the flashback story of how he died. This time, it may have been the studio (Paramount) that thought this beginning a bit too macabre.
@JOSH RYAN: You’re right: It took balls to shoot that extended fight scene in one take. But the REAL balls were worn by the stuntmen, many of whom I assume ended up in the hospital! Even with breakaway furniture and glass props, several of those guys fell a couple of stories.
Let me add another long take with moving camera: the next-to-last shot of Antonioni’s THE PASSENGER, in which the camera starts on Jack Nicholson’s sleeping form and gradually moves forward through the grillwork of a window, into the courtyard and ends up facing in on Nicholson’s dead body. (I’m leaving out all of the details to avoid spoiling it for people who haven’t seen it.) One interesting thing about the shot is that, seen from above, it traces the shape of the Greek letter OMEGA, which is a shape re-echoed in the facade of the bullring across the way. (The cars that drive by trace the Greek letter ALPHA.) I interviewed Antonioni years ago and he explained how he managed to achieve this shot — before the invention of the Steadicam.
By the way, the next shot, the final image of the film, is also a long take. It follows a car for a while and then holds on a view of the hotel at sundown while all the credits roll.
I’ll second the motions on the following films being really bad: BIG MAMA’S HOUSE, EXORCIST II, GUMMO, WICKER MAN (remake), NORBIT, and (as Dimitros put it) "anything with Adam Sandler and/or Ben Stiller. I guess I managed to miss some of the other contenders mentuoned by others (GIGLI, for one).
But I’d like to add some new titles to the mix:
1. PINK FLAMINGOS (Divine eating real, fresh dog excrement on screen does not appeal to me)
2. WATER WORLD
3. SOMETHING ABOUT MARY
4. JAMAICA INN (Yes, I know it’s Hitchcock)
5. THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (Yes, I know it won the Oscar for Best Picture)
I tend to agree with Law, who said that some of these Masonic symbols found in films may not be intentional propaganda devices. One such example is this: in the original storyboards for RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, the medallion that Marian possessed, the one that led the way to God, was embossed with the light-emitting eye on top of the pyramid, which is not only a Masonic symbol but the Great Seal of the United States (found on the back of the dollar bill). Over that image is the inscription Annuit Coeptis (“He has favored our undertaking”).
Did Spielberg & Co. originally intend to send out a Masonic message or advocate for the “New World Order”? I doubt it. Probably that symbol was initially chosen because it was a national icon that represented God and Country (the U.S.), money and capitalism, the patriotic goals of Indiana Jones, who was working for the U.S. Army.
@Neil McCauley’s Cooler Brother: I agree that THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952) was probably the least-deserving Best Picture winner ever. However, TECHNICALLY it did not beat out SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, because SINGIN’ wasn’t even nominated that year! GREATEST SHOW beat out HIGH NOON, IVANHOE, MOULIN ROUGE (the good one!), and THE QUIET MAN.
As far as acting is concerned, the Academy tends to reward OVER-acting. My prime example would be Nicolas Cage in LEAVING LAS VEGAS (his drunken opening stroll through a liquor store is so over the top, I wanted to get loaded just to erase the memory of his performance!).Another example of overacting winning the Oscar is Richard Dreyfuss in THE GOODBYE GIRL, although at least there he had the excuse that he was playing an over-the-top actor.
As far as Oscar-winning actresses who overplayed their roles are concerned, I’d list Tatum O’Neal in PAPER MOON and the oft-mentioned Marisa Tomei in MY COUSIN VINNY. Both were in the Supporting Actress category.
All of these performers may have given much better performances in other films, but these were the roles for which they were (unfairly) rewarded.
There’s a series of short books called (I think) FILM FLUBS, which document numerous bloopers in famous & not so famous movies. Plus, imdb.com lists bloopers with almost every film listing they have.
Wrist watches and tennis shoes in SPARTACUS
The Universal Studios Black Tower building in HIGH NOON
Liquid food dropping through a straw in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (they’re supposed to be in a zero-gravity environment)
The wrench (or some kind of tool) sitting next to King Kong in the original.
I’ve spotted a few on my own that are not in the books:
At the end of ADAPTATION, Nicolas Cage drives off, supposedly alone in his car, but there’s someone (just barely) visible in the passenger’s seat.
In Bertolucci’s 1900, the film depicts farm life in Italy at the turn of last century with pain-staking realism — except for the red Farrari driving by in the background of one shot
In tthe original run of THE TURNING POINT, about the world of ballet, there’s a shot that shows the long mirror in a rehearsal room and you can see the entire crew and Herbet Ross, the director, in the mirror. That shot was eventually removed from all release prints.
More important are holes in the plot. For instance…
The main plot point in CASABLANCA is obtaining the “letters of transit” that will enable Ilsa and her husband to leave Casablanca and continue the Resistance. We’re told that the letters were “personally signed by Charles DeGaulle.” Unfortunately, Charles DeGaulle had absolutely no authority in Vichy-occupied Casablanca.
In CITIZEN KANE, right after Kane dies, a nurse bursts into the room to attend to him. So, who heard his famous last word, “Rosebud”? Don’t tell me it was the butler, Raymond, unless you can prove that he was hiding behind a curtain. Raymond CLAIMS he heard the last word, but he actually heard it at another time (when Kane’s wife left him), NOT at the moment of the tycoon’s death.
In THE PIANO, another important plot point seems to be illogical. The woman sends messages to her Aboriginal lover (Harvey Keitel) written on piano keys. However, it’s been established that the man is illiterate. Why would someone write a note to a person who can’t read?
Jake: I have a theory that accounts for about 95% of LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD. I published my analysis many years ago in a film journal called POST SCRIPT. If I knew how to post attachments or files on this site, I’d forward it to everyone. It’s difficult to summarize in a few words, but it also helps to explain the themes of other Resnais films such as HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR, MURIEL, LA GUERRE EST FINI, and even NIGHT AND FOG.
Even better than sending around my article, I’d post the frame from MARIENBAD in which, hidden in the shadows on screen right, a life-size cardboard cut-out of Alfred Hitchcock can be seen (and his feet are off the ground). I’m not sure that this in-joke will help explain the film’s deep meaning but it certainly shows a sense of humor (and maybe it’s a tribute or homage to Hitch, who also used both long takes and montage editing). Those of you who just got your Criterion DVD in the mail should look for this shot. On screen left is a hotel corridor and in screen right there is some grillwork (probably the elevator). Right in front of that grillwork is Hitch’s profiled body, probably a movie lobby cut-out. What’s it doing in that creepy hotel? I don’t know — that’s part of the 5% of the film I don’t understand!
The Auteurs Gallery of great places and buildings about 3 years ago
How about pointing out the cinematic references for these photos?
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The Auteurs Gallery of great places and buildings about 3 years ago
How about pointing out the cinematic relevance of these photos? Otherwise, this is just another nice picture postcard gallery.
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What films have you walked out on and why ? about 3 years ago
As a film professor and overall movie buff, I’ve seen over 8,000 movies in my lifetime. I’ve only walked out of 8 of them, although I have switched channels on a few I was viewing on television. The most notable films by auteurs that I walked out on were: Federico Fellini’s CASANOVA (extremely boring + Donald Sutherland was miscast as the Italian lover); Werner Herzog’s FATA MORGANA (the first 20-30 minutes consist of repeated views of an airplane landing, and desert sands. A human being doesn’t appear on screen for quite some time); Stan Brakhage’s avant-garde classic THE ART OF VISION (4 hours of visuals, mostly of 4-5 separate images, with NO soundtrack. I walked out after 2 1/2 hours, long after everyone else evacuated the theater at the Museum of Modern Art!); Robert Bresson’s DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST (actually, I never walked out; I have just fallen asleep every time [5-6 attempts] I tried to watch this classic story of a French prelate writing entries in his diary as we hear his boring voice-over…and as my life ebbed away).
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The Auteurs Gallery of great places and buildings about 3 years ago
MANY thanks to Kenji and Kim Packard for annotating several of the beautiful pictures. I was only able to identify a handful of the photos (Niagara Falls, Grand Canyon, Venice, Istanbul, etc.) as scenery from famous (and not so famous) flicks.
The only information I can add is that I THINK that Crater Lake was featured in both 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and KOYANISQATTSI; Rio (including the statue of Jesus on Sugarloaf Mountain) was seen in BLACK ORPHEUS, IT HAPPENED IN RIO, and PIXOTE; Versailles was used in Rossellini’s THE RISE TO POWER OF LOUIS XIV and Sophia Coppola’s MARIE ANTOINETTE; and Hong Kong harbor is the backdrop for many movies, including OLIVER’S STORY and LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING.
Now, with CGI (computer-generated imagery) special effects, today’s filmmakers can fake these locations (or even redo them). Special effects were always available, but the degree with which they can be composited has changed radically in recent years.
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Most Philosophical Filmmakers? about 3 years ago
Dear All: As an old philosophy major, I tend to agree with most of the directors mentioned above. There are certainly philosophical threads in most of their films. I’d like to add Alain Resnais, whose LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD is perhaps the pre-eminent film dealing with phenomenology and the nature of reality. Many of his other films — NIGHT AND FOG; HIROSHIMA, MON AMOUR; MURIEL; LA GUERRE EST FINI; and even MON ONCLE D’AMERIQUE — deal with issues such as Time, Memory, Reality. Ethics, the Human Condition, and other philosophical questions. One of the major intellectual influences on Resnais was probably Henri Bergson, in addition to Sartre and Merleau-Ponty.
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Favorite opening scene about 3 years ago
Just a note to Howard Fritzman’s post of 2 months ago: “You are correct, sir!” It IS “Il Trovatore” being performed at the beginning of Visconti’s SENSO.
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Guilty pleasures, your favourite B-movies about 3 years ago
I hate to admit it, but Roger Corman’s BUCKET OF BLOOD is an authentic “B” movie, and even has the letter “B” in the title! It’s a guilty pleasure, too.
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Most Memorable "Open" Endings in Cinema about 3 years ago
To Mark Penny: Actually, Monica Vitti puts her hand on Gabriele Ferzetti’s HAIR, not his shoulder, in the last scene of L’AVVENTURA. Her tentative gesture is shot in close-up as she raises her hand to his head. The sharp contrast of her white hand against his dark hair make for an extraordinary graphic visual. Then, there’s that unexpected but great cut to an Extreme Long Shot of the couple, against the background of Mt. Etna. (I wish I could post that final shot on this site to illustrate my point. Does anyone know how one can do that?)
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Help make The Auteurs totally awesome almost 3 years ago
I haven’t been able to read all the messages above, but in case someone hasn’t mentioned it, I’d love to be able to post frame enlargements and pictures to the site, especially when discussing specific images from auteur films.
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IS THE "DIRECTOR'S CUT" ALWAYS BETTER? almost 3 years ago
Dear All: Although I generally respect auteurs and their visions, I have seen very few “director’s cuts” that are better than the original release. The most prominent better director’s cut is probably BLADE RUNNER. THE WILD BUNCH’s director’s cut is also arguably better than the studio release, as is Antonioni’s PROFESSION: REPORTER, as opposed to THE PASSENGER (even though the difference is only a few minutes in length and a couple of scenes). But, in my opinion, here are some of the director’s cuts that made a great (or near-great) film worse:
APOCALYPSE NOW REDUX (those scenes in the French rubber plantation were cut for good reasons in 1979)
JFK (there’s already too much of Sissy Spacek’s nagging wife in the original)
HEAVEN’S GATE (an hour more of mess)
1900 (an hour more of mass)
THE LAST EMPEROR (an hour more of miss)
WATERWORLD (an hour more of mess)
DANCES WITH WOLVES (an hour more)
Visconti’s LUDWIG (90 minutes more)
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What do you consider to be the best film about Vietnam? almost 3 years ago
Two additional films that might be considered “disguised” films about the Vietnam War are THE WILD BUNCH and ULZANA’S RAID. Only a handful of U.S. movies dealing directly with Vietnam were made during the years of the war: THE GREEN BERETS, IN THE YEAR OF THE PIG, and HEARTS AND MINDS. In 1973, my screenwriting agent told me, “The William Morris Agency policy is that the American public is not ready for films about Vietnam and they won’t be ready for another five years.” A pretty good prediction, given that 1978-79 was the period that many of those films finally appeared.
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Philogyny almost 3 years ago
I’d add Fellini’s JULIET OF THE SPIRITS to the list, as well as Marleen Gouris’s A QUESTION OF SILENCE.
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Philogyny almost 3 years ago
I guess it says something about the role of women in the directorial ranks that very few of the films we’ve mentioned have been directed (or even written) by female auteurs. Earlier, I mentioned A QUESTION OF SILENCE by the Dutch director Marleen Gouris (who won the Foreign Oscar for ANTONIA’S LINE, 1995). More recently, she directed MRS. DALLOWAY (1997).
But, with a few other exceptions, almost all the movies cited above have been directed by men.
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What films were shot in or near your hometown? almost 3 years ago
My hometown is New York City, so THOUSANDS of films were shot on those “mean streets.” However, that background gives me a keen eye for mistakes in New York movies. To give one example, in the famous car-train high-speed chase sequence in THE FRENCH CONNECTION, Popeye Doyle’s speeding car passes my Brooklyn high school TWICE during that scene. And it somehow manages to switch sides of the street as he’s driving along! The montage editing prevents most people from noticing such details, but if you recognize a landmark, you can catch those flubs more easily.
And, of course, because I lived in NYC for so long, I realized that NONE of the street scenes in EYES WIDE SHUT were actually shot in Greenwich Village.
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Pure Cinema and Subtitles almost 3 years ago
An anecdote from my student days: In New York, there was a VERY UNIQUE screening room-movie theater In the Anthology Film Archives. It has since been converted to other uses. The theater was all black velvet: walls, seats, etc. In addition, the backs of the chairs were very tall so that you could not see anyone behind you, nor could you see the person sitting next to you because there were black velvet “blinders” on either side of every seat. In short, all you could see was the screen. It really focused your attention!
This description is just a prelude to my story about subtitles. The Archives policy was to show the best possible, most complete, prints of classic films (mostly avant-garde movies by Mekas, Brakhage, etc.). So, I went to see Dreyer’s silent THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC there. Before the screening, someone came out and said that they had found this print in Denmark and that it was the most complete version ever screened, but that we would have to accept two limitations: (1) there was no music or sound at all, and (2) the intertitles would be in Danish! I tried to lip read the French but most of Joan’s speeches (and those of her accusers) were truncated on screen. Ah, purity!
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Great performances that hardly ever get discussed almost 3 years ago
I’d add David Hemmings in Antonioni’s BLOW-UP. He doesn’t speak much throughout the film, yet conveys everything you need to know about the character. At the end, when he throws back the imaginary tennis ball, the camera focuses on his face and the subtle changes of his expression for several seconds. It’s like the epitome of silent film acting.
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Pure Cinema and Subtitles almost 3 years ago
@Andrew. I don’t want to distract this perfectly good thread about subtitles and intertitles, but according to my (admittedly ancient) dictionary “unique” not only means “one of a kind” but it has secondary meanings of “distinctively characteristic” and “unusual.” Using those connotations, something can be “VERY UNIQUE.”
To get us back on track on subtitles, a related issue is HOW various foreign words are translated in subtitled (or dubbed) films, especially words that would normally be censored. If one understands foreign languages (especially their curse words), one can be taken aback when an Italian character is fulminating against another, shouting and gesticulating wildly, and the subtitle reads: “You … stinker!”
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What's the greatest Western? almost 3 years ago
I’m surprised that no one’s mentioned BLAZING SADDLES as the greatest Western. Talk about genre busting! (OK, I’m only kidding.)
Going back to the original discussion about THE SEARCHERS, Christopher Sharrett wrote an excellent article in CINEASTE debunking many of the film’s flaws. I’ll try to dig up a citation or link so that people can read it for themselves.
Also Brian Henderson’s long-ago essay on THE SEARCHERS suggests that it is a social allegory that is really about Black people, not Indians, and that Ethan’s decision at the end not to kill Debbie (Natalie Wood) represents a coming-to-terms between the races right after Brown v. Board of Education.
Finally, I had the honor of publishing a very significant article on the film in CINEMA JOURNAL in 1998. (I’ll post the beginning of that piece below, along with the citation. It’s available from JSTOR.com) The fascinating thing that came out was that one scene in the script had Ethan Edwards meeting General Custer (the only reference to Custer now is that the cavalry flags have a “7” on them, Custer’s regiment). Ford even shot the scene of Ethan meeting Custer but decided not to use it because Custer’s racism and cruelty made Ethan look good in comparison and he wanted to present Ethan as a “dark” character.
Darkening Ethan: John Ford’s “The Searchers” (1956) from Novel to Screenplay to Screen, by Arthur M. Eckstein
Cinema Journal, Vol. 38, No. 1 (Autumn, 1998), pp. 3-24
Abstract: Some film scholars charge that director John Ford was complicit in the savage racism of “The Searchers’” central character, Ethan Edwards. This essay demonstrates that Ford viewed Ethan as a negative, psychologically damaged, and tragic figure. By comparing the changes made from the source novel to the shooting script to the final film, a constant darkening of Ethan’s personality is revealed—most of it directly attributable to director John Ford.
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Films that question belief in legal justice almost 3 years ago
Marleen Gorris’s Dutch film A QUESTION OF SILENCE demonstrates the sexist nature of the legal system even in a “humane” society such as the Netherlands.
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Films that lose their impact with time, and why this should be. almost 3 years ago
Moving beyond the scum comments about students, I’d like to mention two films that seem to have been only of their time and place:
Haskell Wexler’s MEDIUM COOL (1969) — About the police riot at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago in 1968, with a tacked-on love story and comments about the media, particularly TV news. Most of it seems “old hat” today and the actors/actresses weren’t up for these parts (in my opinion). But, “in the day,” it seemed like a very important film.
Barbet Schroeder’s THE VALLEY (OBSCURED BY CLOUDS) (1972) — A beautiful movie starring Bulle Ogier, shot by Nestor Almendros, and scored by Pink Floyd. But you probably have to be very high these days to appreciate its meandering narrative.
Probably some people will cite EASY RIDER as an example of a film that has lost its impact over time, but I’d disagree because of the film’s cinematography, music, and acting.
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The Greatest Character Names almost 3 years ago
@Parky: Yes, the Mel Brooks names are priceless but we should add Mongo SantaMaria from BLAZING SADDLES.
Another thing to consider is Antonioni’s NON-use of character names. For instance, the protagonist in BLOW-UP (David Hemmings) is never named in the film, although he’s called Thomas in the screenplay. Likewise, the female lead (Vanessa Redgrave) is not given a name in the movie, but is called Jane in the script. (Incidentally, in LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER, the gardener refers to the male and female sex organs as John THOMAS and Lady JANE and the book’s original title was JOHN THOMAS AND LADY JANE.) In THE PASSENGER, the Maria Schneider character is just called “The Girl,” in THE MYSTERY OF OBERWALD, the main character is “The Queen,” and in L’AVVENTURA, L’ECLISSE, RED DESERT, and ZABRISKIE POINT, we never learn the characters’ last names.
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Creative Genius and Madness almost 3 years ago
@Law: Salvador Dali was “without mental disorders”? Anyone who ever saw him in person or interviewed could suspect that he was “crazy,” at least in the common-sense use of that term. I’m not talking about his work. Giorgio de Chirico was a Surrealist but, from what I know, he did not have the kinds of life experiences in a semi-feudal Spain that Dali grew up with.
As for filmmakers, Hitchcock’s father apparently had him locked in a jail cell “to show him what happens to bad little boys”; he also underwent corporal punishment at the hands of his Jesuit teachers. Bergman’s dad, a clergyman, used to lock up young Ingmar in a dark closet and tell him that there were rats running around on the floor. Fellini was forced to kneel on dry corn for long stretches of time by the priests and nuns of his childhood. These sorts of childhood traumas may not ALWAYS produce artistic geniuses but it may give one a high sense of drama that can be drawn on in one’s artistic career.
As far as I know, Steven Spielberg did not have a particularly traumatic childhood (except for his parents’ divorce) but I don’t consider him to be a cinematic genius.
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FACTS ON GREAT FILMS MOST PEOPLE DOESn't KNOW ABOUT? almost 3 years ago
Speaking of dubbing (which this thread has emphasized), I’m always bemused by the lengths that TV networks go to in eliminating “obscene” words from soundtracks of movies they play. Hooray for cable! A few examples from their original TV network premieres:
APOCALYPSE NOW: Capt. Willard (to himself): “Saigon…………………………………………I’m still only in Saigon.” [a word was removed. Most of you know what that word is]
THE GODFATHER: Sonny: “I don’t want my brother coming out of that bathroom with just A STICK in his hand.” [“his dick” was dubbed over]
…AND JUSTICE FOR ALL: At the end, after denouncing his own client in open court, Arthur Kirkland (Al Pacino) screams: “He should go right to FILTHY jail!” [a different “F” word was dubbed over]
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FACTS ON GREAT FILMS MOST PEOPLE DOESn't KNOW ABOUT? almost 3 years ago
Two interesting facts about Billy Wilder films (to get us off the dubbing issue for a while):
1. DOUBLE INDEMNITY: Wilder actually shot a concluding scene of Fred MacMurray in the gas chamber, with Edward G. Robinson watching as an official witness. (I’ve seen still photos of the scene.) Apparently the censors didn’t like that ending and it was never used. I think that many people now assume that MacMurray dies on the office building floor (maybe from that final cigarette he smokes!)
2. SUNSET BOULEVARD: Wilder wanted to begin the film by having William Holden sit up from a slab in the morgue to begin to tell the flashback story of how he died. This time, it may have been the studio (Paramount) that thought this beginning a bit too macabre.
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Most impressive one-take tracking shot? almost 3 years ago
@JOSH RYAN: You’re right: It took balls to shoot that extended fight scene in one take. But the REAL balls were worn by the stuntmen, many of whom I assume ended up in the hospital! Even with breakaway furniture and glass props, several of those guys fell a couple of stories.
Let me add another long take with moving camera: the next-to-last shot of Antonioni’s THE PASSENGER, in which the camera starts on Jack Nicholson’s sleeping form and gradually moves forward through the grillwork of a window, into the courtyard and ends up facing in on Nicholson’s dead body. (I’m leaving out all of the details to avoid spoiling it for people who haven’t seen it.) One interesting thing about the shot is that, seen from above, it traces the shape of the Greek letter OMEGA, which is a shape re-echoed in the facade of the bullring across the way. (The cars that drive by trace the Greek letter ALPHA.) I interviewed Antonioni years ago and he explained how he managed to achieve this shot — before the invention of the Steadicam.
By the way, the next shot, the final image of the film, is also a long take. It follows a car for a while and then holds on a view of the hotel at sundown while all the credits roll.
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Ten Worst Movies You've Ever Seen? almost 3 years ago
I’ll second the motions on the following films being really bad: BIG MAMA’S HOUSE, EXORCIST II, GUMMO, WICKER MAN (remake), NORBIT, and (as Dimitros put it) "anything with Adam Sandler and/or Ben Stiller. I guess I managed to miss some of the other contenders mentuoned by others (GIGLI, for one).
But I’d like to add some new titles to the mix:
1. PINK FLAMINGOS (Divine eating real, fresh dog excrement on screen does not appeal to me)
2. WATER WORLD
3. SOMETHING ABOUT MARY
4. JAMAICA INN (Yes, I know it’s Hitchcock)
5. THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD (Yes, I know it won the Oscar for Best Picture)
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I just found out today that many directors use Masonic symbols throughout their movies (i.e. triangles, suns, pentacles, etc.). What do you think about these subliminal messages put in films as propoganda for the Freemasons? almost 3 years ago
I tend to agree with Law, who said that some of these Masonic symbols found in films may not be intentional propaganda devices. One such example is this: in the original storyboards for RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, the medallion that Marian possessed, the one that led the way to God, was embossed with the light-emitting eye on top of the pyramid, which is not only a Masonic symbol but the Great Seal of the United States (found on the back of the dollar bill). Over that image is the inscription Annuit Coeptis (“He has favored our undertaking”).
Did Spielberg & Co. originally intend to send out a Masonic message or advocate for the “New World Order”? I doubt it. Probably that symbol was initially chosen because it was a national icon that represented God and Country (the U.S.), money and capitalism, the patriotic goals of Indiana Jones, who was working for the U.S. Army.
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most overrated oscar performances or robberies almost 3 years ago
@Neil McCauley’s Cooler Brother: I agree that THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH (1952) was probably the least-deserving Best Picture winner ever. However, TECHNICALLY it did not beat out SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN, because SINGIN’ wasn’t even nominated that year! GREATEST SHOW beat out HIGH NOON, IVANHOE, MOULIN ROUGE (the good one!), and THE QUIET MAN.
As far as acting is concerned, the Academy tends to reward OVER-acting. My prime example would be Nicolas Cage in LEAVING LAS VEGAS (his drunken opening stroll through a liquor store is so over the top, I wanted to get loaded just to erase the memory of his performance!).Another example of overacting winning the Oscar is Richard Dreyfuss in THE GOODBYE GIRL, although at least there he had the excuse that he was playing an over-the-top actor.
As far as Oscar-winning actresses who overplayed their roles are concerned, I’d list Tatum O’Neal in PAPER MOON and the oft-mentioned Marisa Tomei in MY COUSIN VINNY. Both were in the Supporting Actress category.
All of these performers may have given much better performances in other films, but these were the roles for which they were (unfairly) rewarded.
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Favorite bloopers that made it into films? almost 3 years ago
There’s a series of short books called (I think) FILM FLUBS, which document numerous bloopers in famous & not so famous movies. Plus, imdb.com lists bloopers with almost every film listing they have.
Wrist watches and tennis shoes in SPARTACUS
The Universal Studios Black Tower building in HIGH NOON
Liquid food dropping through a straw in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (they’re supposed to be in a zero-gravity environment)
The wrench (or some kind of tool) sitting next to King Kong in the original.
I’ve spotted a few on my own that are not in the books:
At the end of ADAPTATION, Nicolas Cage drives off, supposedly alone in his car, but there’s someone (just barely) visible in the passenger’s seat.
In Bertolucci’s 1900, the film depicts farm life in Italy at the turn of last century with pain-staking realism — except for the red Farrari driving by in the background of one shot
In tthe original run of THE TURNING POINT, about the world of ballet, there’s a shot that shows the long mirror in a rehearsal room and you can see the entire crew and Herbet Ross, the director, in the mirror. That shot was eventually removed from all release prints.
More important are holes in the plot. For instance…
The main plot point in CASABLANCA is obtaining the “letters of transit” that will enable Ilsa and her husband to leave Casablanca and continue the Resistance. We’re told that the letters were “personally signed by Charles DeGaulle.” Unfortunately, Charles DeGaulle had absolutely no authority in Vichy-occupied Casablanca.
In CITIZEN KANE, right after Kane dies, a nurse bursts into the room to attend to him. So, who heard his famous last word, “Rosebud”? Don’t tell me it was the butler, Raymond, unless you can prove that he was hiding behind a curtain. Raymond CLAIMS he heard the last word, but he actually heard it at another time (when Kane’s wife left him), NOT at the moment of the tycoon’s death.
In THE PIANO, another important plot point seems to be illogical. The woman sends messages to her Aboriginal lover (Harvey Keitel) written on piano keys. However, it’s been established that the man is illiterate. Why would someone write a note to a person who can’t read?
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Could someone please explain Last Year At Marienbad to me? almost 3 years ago
Jake: I have a theory that accounts for about 95% of LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD. I published my analysis many years ago in a film journal called POST SCRIPT. If I knew how to post attachments or files on this site, I’d forward it to everyone. It’s difficult to summarize in a few words, but it also helps to explain the themes of other Resnais films such as HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR, MURIEL, LA GUERRE EST FINI, and even NIGHT AND FOG.
Even better than sending around my article, I’d post the frame from MARIENBAD in which, hidden in the shadows on screen right, a life-size cardboard cut-out of Alfred Hitchcock can be seen (and his feet are off the ground). I’m not sure that this in-joke will help explain the film’s deep meaning but it certainly shows a sense of humor (and maybe it’s a tribute or homage to Hitch, who also used both long takes and montage editing). Those of you who just got your Criterion DVD in the mail should look for this shot. On screen left is a hotel corridor and in screen right there is some grillwork (probably the elevator). Right in front of that grillwork is Hitch’s profiled body, probably a movie lobby cut-out. What’s it doing in that creepy hotel? I don’t know — that’s part of the 5% of the film I don’t understand!
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