Sorry to intrude on your conversation, but… I’m from Vancouver! Well, at least I’m currently residing there (or rather, here) for grad school… I’ve been wanting to meet fellow (international) cinema lovers for a while now in this city. Seeing as how I’m in science, suffice it to say that opportunities to discuss cinema don’t often arise for me unfortunately.
- Apu trilogy, or any other of Ray’s films (Charulata, Days and Nights in the Forest)
- Brighter Summer Day (Yang)
- Memories of Underdevelopment (Alea)
- Cloud-Capped Star (Ghatak)
- early films of Hou Hsiao-hsien (City of Sadness, Time to Live and a Time to Die)
- Where Is the Friend’s Home? (Kiarostami)
- Vivre sa Vie (Godard)
- Celine and Julie Go Boating (Rivette)
- Black God, White Devil (Rocha)
Josh: Really? :( I’m glad there’s such a thread then!
You guys all seem to be quite film-savvy. Do any of you study film? Or did it develop from a mere interest? I’ve just somewhat recently become more serious (or I guess I should say passionate since it’s turning into a borderline obsession) about cinema and definitely have a lot to learn and see still. I have yet to actually go to the Cinematheque or the Vancity Theatre! I should probably be focusing on my studies a bit more, but blah, too much science is never fun.
Harry: Relocate to Canada — specifically to Vancouver! It’s fun up north. :) (I wasn’t a fan of the last winter here though… It reminded me of Ontario, except with minimal snow removal…)
Speaking of meeting, have you guys met up before? If anyone is planning on going to any future international cinema retrospecs or whatnot, can I be notified? I’m really out of the loop when it comes to these things. I’d love to go too if my schedule permits it — especially if it’s focusing on works by an international director which I admire.
I love the site! There are definitely many great rare and obscure films available on that site that are hard to come by elsewhere. Plus, the community is friendly and people are helpful with requests as well! I’m a huge fan of international cinema and quite a few of the titles I wanted to see don’t have proper North American releases (I live in Canada) or were out of print so the site has helped me overcome some of those issues.
Oh, I want to go Rashômon too! That would be a great film to see on the big screen. When is it? Early July? Someone will have to remind me closer to the date… I’ve been rather absent-minded and forgetful these days…
Marko, I would love that. I wish I had the resources to host something like that, but unfortunately I don’t either. I solely rely on my 12" laptop to watch DVDs, which is a sad sight… I recently joined the Vancouver International Cinema group on Meetup.com because I was itching to meet other cinema lovers, but I haven’t been able to make it to one of their meetings yet. They meet up about once a week, usually on Sundays or Mondays I think, either at someone’s house or a theatre to watch films together and discuss them afterwards. I think their choices are more directed at some of the newer releases though (not that that’s bad in any way).
I didn’t go to the screening for Amarcord, but I have to say it’s one of my favourite Fellini films.
Thanks for the link Adam! I need to bookmark this so I don’t forget… Any of those dates/times would probably work for me (as of now anyway), so I guess whichever the majority decides!
Yes, (I third?) Edward Yang! When will his brilliant A Brighter Summer Day ever get a proper English DVD release?! :(
I’m also frustrated with the lack of availability of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s early films, but that’s another story… I’d love to see an Eclipse set for them since they definitely deserve some recognition.
I’d prefer 9:15 on the 3rd, but if it isn’t possible for others I can do the 4th.
I just went to the link for Vancity. Tokyo Sonata is playing for the next little while! I don’t know if there are any Japanese cinema fans among you guys, but I’d be interested in watching that…
This György Féher is very elusive and I’m interested. If anyone knows where I can obtain one of his films, I’d love to be notified… Otherwise I guess I’ll have to keep my fingers cross for some kind of cinematheque screening sometime.
Dan: The poor quality would have to be partially my fault. The copy I had wasn’t great quality to begin with, but converting it to upload onto YT probably made it worse since I’m not the most technology-savvy person out there… Sorry about that. I hope it wasn’t too unbearably painful.
I wish I had an inspiring story like most of the people who have posted. For me, it started out just a couple of years ago when I was procrastinating in my first year of undergrad. I didn’t want to study for my physics midterm coming up and decided that I should watch a film instead… I had heard of Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love and have always meant to watch it, and luckily it was checked in at my university library. I subsequently borrowed it and was blown away by everything about the film — the use of colour, the cinematography, the subtle development of the characters and the plot, the direction and the acting — and the score, the beautifully mesmerizing score. I still remember it to be one of my most powerful cinematic viewing experiences and it was the first film to completely redefine the way I thought about cinema and filmmaking. So to this day that specific film, and the filmmaker, still holds cinematic and sentimental attachments to me. It’s also an additional reason why I still view it as probably my favourite film. I guess the moral of the story is that procrastination can sometimes be good in certain instances?
From there the interest increased exponentially and I sought out many canonical classics since I thought I should start with those. This subsequently led to the discovery of less well-known titles and directors over the years, and a greater introduction to the world of international cinema. Before I knew it, I was consumed by cinema — utterly and completely. The only thing that makes me sad is that none of my close friends even remotely share in this passion.
My childhood involved being brainwashed by Disney propaganda — so any one of their films!
An honourable mention for The Little Mermaid because I had a huge crush on Prince Eric. He’s one of the only dark-haired male characters in their films. I have to say I’m still angry at him for being such an idiot, but I guess I can forgive him since he was technically spellbound…
Wow, you’ve seen so many of Sembène’s works, Blue! That’s wonderful, and I have to say I’m rather jealous — how did you come across them all!? To me, although I’m beyond intrigued and curious in terms of African cinema, it will always remain that elusive and out-of-reach area for me due to availability. I’ve only just recently come across some more of Sembène’s works, in addition to a few by Cissé, Sissako and Mambéty as mentioned by previous posters.
On a random note, I find that it’s interesting the coined term of ‘Nollywood’ has come out of Nigerian cinema.
Quality, price and my desire to see the film — all based on impulse. Unfortunately, tuition fees make me poor these days, so I don’t have much leeway when it comes to price. Desire to see the film usually rates high for those rare foreign titles, but that in turn usually means compromised quality. So yes, a happy balance of the three, if such a balance ever existed.
Ahhh, Marko’s making me feel like such a slacker… I should really be thesis-writing this month. Blah. :(
If Friday the 10th is out, then I’d personally prefer Saturday the 11th… and if not the 11th, then I’ll try to make it to whichever day the majority chooses, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to.
Fellini – La Strada
Bergman – Cries and Whispers
Kurosawa – Ran
Truffaut – The 400 Blows
Renoir – Rules of the Game
Fassbinder – Berlin Alexanderplatz
Herzog – Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Godard – Contempt
Antonioni – L’Avventura
Bresson – Au hasard Balthazar
Hitchcock – Vertigo
Buñuel – Viridiana
Lang – Metropolis
Tarkovsky – Andrei Rublev
Mizoguchi – Sansho the Bailiff
De Sica – Bicycle Thieves
Rivette – Celine and Julie Go Boating
Wenders – Wings of Desire
Rohmer – Claire’s Knee
Melville – Army of Shadows
Kubrick – A Clockwork Orange
I understand how you feel Qwertie. My parents aren’t very supportive either. None of my friends are really interested in anything outside of the mainstream… and I have since been labelled “pretentious” as well. :(
Zhang Yimou I believe started out as a cinematographer (Chen Kaige’s Yellow Earth), and this shows in his own films with his eye for colour. I agree with you in that for me, Raise the Red Lantern and To Live are probably his best films, with the first being my absolute favourite by him. I have mixed feelings about some of his later wuxia films, although I’ll admit that they were beautiful to watch.
His earlier films also have the addition of social critique, bringing to the screen less glamorous, yet realistic stories from the countryside about peasant life, such as with The Story of Qiu Ju and Not One Less. Plus, his pairing with actress Gong Li was truly one of a kind. Overall, I agree with Josh in that his earlier works were his masterpieces. I don’t think I had the issue of the films ending rather abruptly though… I can understand why you felt that way about Shanghai Triad, but I think I preferred where he ended the film. If you’re interested in Zhang’s films, you may want to look into Chen Kaige and Tian Zhuangzhuang’s films as well (his fellow graduates), if you haven’t already.
I’m like Blue in that I was born in China and I’m familiar with the convention of surname first. I can understand why it would be confusing for others. It’s also hard to differentiate between surname and given name as Chinese characters when in their pinyin form can seem to be a candidate for either. I just noticed on the Auteurs that it lists Hou Hsiao-hsien as “Hsiao-hsien Hou” and Tsai Ming-liang as “Ming-liang Tsai” under the favourite auteurs list when you add them… However, it conforms with the surname first rule for Jia and Wong… I guess there’s even a discrepancy on the site.
Ju Dou is another great one that I forgot to mention earlier. Think beautiful cinematography with dyed fabrics! It’s true what Blue said, his earlier films labelled him somewhat as a dissident in the eyes of the government due to their subject matter. It provided for some great social commentary though.
@Jason: Tian’s The Blue Kite is actually still banned in China I believe due to its portrayal of the government at the time and led to the blacklisting of the director. Although Springtime in a Small Town is a good film, I urge you to seek out the 1948 original by Fei Mu (named Spring in a Small Town) as Kenji recommended. Having seen the original first, needless to say I’m rather biased toward it.
I haven’t seen much from Latin America at all (but I’ve been wanting to for some time now), and most of the titles that I am familiar with and would have listed have already been mentioned… I did however also like:
Vidas Secas/Barren Lives – Nelson Pereira dos Santos Terra em Transe/Earth Entranced – Glauber Rocha Ensayo de un Crimen/The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz – Luis Buñuel
… and a short: Las Hurdes/Land Without Bread – Luis Buñuel
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles – Chantal Akerman The House is Black – Forough Farrokhzad Daisies – Věra Chytilová Meshes of the Afternoon – Maya Deren The Ascent – Larisa Shepitko La Pointe Courte – Agnès Varda Sugar Cane Alley – Euzhan Palcy The Holy Girl – Lucrecia Martel Story of the Weeping Camel – Byambasuren Davaa The Piano – Jane Campion The Night Porter – Liliana Cavani Hidden Half – Tahmineh Milani Germany, Pale Mother – Helma Sanders-Brahms
We can amend our lists, right? I know I’m omitting some I should be including…
Favourite film of the decade (so far)? about 3 years ago
In the Mood for Love.
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Vancouverites Unite about 3 years ago
Sorry to intrude on your conversation, but… I’m from Vancouver! Well, at least I’m currently residing there (or rather, here) for grad school… I’ve been wanting to meet fellow (international) cinema lovers for a while now in this city. Seeing as how I’m in science, suffice it to say that opportunities to discuss cinema don’t often arise for me unfortunately.
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Movies That Should Be In the Criterion Collection about 3 years ago
- Apu trilogy, or any other of Ray’s films (Charulata, Days and Nights in the Forest)
- Brighter Summer Day (Yang)
- Memories of Underdevelopment (Alea)
- Cloud-Capped Star (Ghatak)
- early films of Hou Hsiao-hsien (City of Sadness, Time to Live and a Time to Die)
- Where Is the Friend’s Home? (Kiarostami)
- Vivre sa Vie (Godard)
- Celine and Julie Go Boating (Rivette)
- Black God, White Devil (Rocha)
That’s all I can think of for the moment…
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Vancouverites Unite almost 3 years ago
Josh: Really? :( I’m glad there’s such a thread then!
You guys all seem to be quite film-savvy. Do any of you study film? Or did it develop from a mere interest? I’ve just somewhat recently become more serious (or I guess I should say passionate since it’s turning into a borderline obsession) about cinema and definitely have a lot to learn and see still. I have yet to actually go to the Cinematheque or the Vancity Theatre! I should probably be focusing on my studies a bit more, but blah, too much science is never fun.
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Who is the BEST critic in the business right now? almost 3 years ago
I second the post above. Jonathan Rosenbaum has some rare selections that rightfully deserve more recognition/exposure.
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Vancouverites Unite almost 3 years ago
Harry: Relocate to Canada — specifically to Vancouver! It’s fun up north. :) (I wasn’t a fan of the last winter here though… It reminded me of Ontario, except with minimal snow removal…)
Speaking of meeting, have you guys met up before? If anyone is planning on going to any future international cinema retrospecs or whatnot, can I be notified? I’m really out of the loop when it comes to these things. I’d love to go too if my schedule permits it — especially if it’s focusing on works by an international director which I admire.
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Where are you from? almost 3 years ago
Originally from Ontario, but now in Vancouver.
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surrealmoviez.info almost 3 years ago
I love the site! There are definitely many great rare and obscure films available on that site that are hard to come by elsewhere. Plus, the community is friendly and people are helpful with requests as well! I’m a huge fan of international cinema and quite a few of the titles I wanted to see don’t have proper North American releases (I live in Canada) or were out of print so the site has helped me overcome some of those issues.
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Vancouverites Unite almost 3 years ago
Oh, I want to go Rashômon too! That would be a great film to see on the big screen. When is it? Early July? Someone will have to remind me closer to the date… I’ve been rather absent-minded and forgetful these days…
Marko, I would love that. I wish I had the resources to host something like that, but unfortunately I don’t either. I solely rely on my 12" laptop to watch DVDs, which is a sad sight… I recently joined the Vancouver International Cinema group on Meetup.com because I was itching to meet other cinema lovers, but I haven’t been able to make it to one of their meetings yet. They meet up about once a week, usually on Sundays or Mondays I think, either at someone’s house or a theatre to watch films together and discuss them afterwards. I think their choices are more directed at some of the newer releases though (not that that’s bad in any way).
I didn’t go to the screening for Amarcord, but I have to say it’s one of my favourite Fellini films.
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Vancouverites Unite almost 3 years ago
Thanks for the link Adam! I need to bookmark this so I don’t forget… Any of those dates/times would probably work for me (as of now anyway), so I guess whichever the majority decides!
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Vancouverites Unite almost 3 years ago
Oh, this is most exciting! I’m glad this is going to happen. :)
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One time Criterion directors that deserve another shot? almost 3 years ago
Yes, (I third?) Edward Yang! When will his brilliant A Brighter Summer Day ever get a proper English DVD release?! :(
I’m also frustrated with the lack of availability of Hou Hsiao-hsien’s early films, but that’s another story… I’d love to see an Eclipse set for them since they definitely deserve some recognition.
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Vancouverites Unite almost 3 years ago
Hrm… Is the date changing to the 4th then?
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Vancouverites Unite almost 3 years ago
I’d prefer 9:15 on the 3rd, but if it isn’t possible for others I can do the 4th.
I just went to the link for Vancity. Tokyo Sonata is playing for the next little while! I don’t know if there are any Japanese cinema fans among you guys, but I’d be interested in watching that…
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Merry Go Round and the joyful delights of Hungarian Cinema almost 3 years ago
This György Féher is very elusive and I’m interested. If anyone knows where I can obtain one of his films, I’d love to be notified… Otherwise I guess I’ll have to keep my fingers cross for some kind of cinematheque screening sometime.
Dan: The poor quality would have to be partially my fault. The copy I had wasn’t great quality to begin with, but converting it to upload onto YT probably made it worse since I’m not the most technology-savvy person out there… Sorry about that. I hope it wasn’t too unbearably painful.
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What Got You Interested in Cinema? almost 3 years ago
I wish I had an inspiring story like most of the people who have posted. For me, it started out just a couple of years ago when I was procrastinating in my first year of undergrad. I didn’t want to study for my physics midterm coming up and decided that I should watch a film instead… I had heard of Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love and have always meant to watch it, and luckily it was checked in at my university library. I subsequently borrowed it and was blown away by everything about the film — the use of colour, the cinematography, the subtle development of the characters and the plot, the direction and the acting — and the score, the beautifully mesmerizing score. I still remember it to be one of my most powerful cinematic viewing experiences and it was the first film to completely redefine the way I thought about cinema and filmmaking. So to this day that specific film, and the filmmaker, still holds cinematic and sentimental attachments to me. It’s also an additional reason why I still view it as probably my favourite film. I guess the moral of the story is that procrastination can sometimes be good in certain instances?
From there the interest increased exponentially and I sought out many canonical classics since I thought I should start with those. This subsequently led to the discovery of less well-known titles and directors over the years, and a greater introduction to the world of international cinema. Before I knew it, I was consumed by cinema — utterly and completely. The only thing that makes me sad is that none of my close friends even remotely share in this passion.
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TOP 5 Childhood Films almost 3 years ago
My childhood involved being brainwashed by Disney propaganda — so any one of their films!
An honourable mention for The Little Mermaid because I had a huge crush on Prince Eric. He’s one of the only dark-haired male characters in their films. I have to say I’m still angry at him for being such an idiot, but I guess I can forgive him since he was technically spellbound…
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Vancouverites Unite almost 3 years ago
I didn’t know there was an age limit for such things… Do I need to become a member at Pacific Cinémathèque to purchase tickets for Rashômon?
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Sembene almost 3 years ago
Wow, you’ve seen so many of Sembène’s works, Blue! That’s wonderful, and I have to say I’m rather jealous — how did you come across them all!? To me, although I’m beyond intrigued and curious in terms of African cinema, it will always remain that elusive and out-of-reach area for me due to availability. I’ve only just recently come across some more of Sembène’s works, in addition to a few by Cissé, Sissako and Mambéty as mentioned by previous posters.
On a random note, I find that it’s interesting the coined term of ‘Nollywood’ has come out of Nigerian cinema.
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How Do You Decide What DVDs You Purchase? almost 3 years ago
Quality, price and my desire to see the film — all based on impulse. Unfortunately, tuition fees make me poor these days, so I don’t have much leeway when it comes to price. Desire to see the film usually rates high for those rare foreign titles, but that in turn usually means compromised quality. So yes, a happy balance of the three, if such a balance ever existed.
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Vancouverites Unite almost 3 years ago
It was awesome finally meeting all you fine fellow Vancouverites. I’m up for the Ozu/Renoir double feature.
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Vancouverites Unite almost 3 years ago
Ahhh, Marko’s making me feel like such a slacker… I should really be thesis-writing this month. Blah. :(
If Friday the 10th is out, then I’d personally prefer Saturday the 11th… and if not the 11th, then I’ll try to make it to whichever day the majority chooses, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to.
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Best film by each of these directors almost 3 years ago
Fellini – La Strada
Bergman – Cries and Whispers
Kurosawa – Ran
Truffaut – The 400 Blows
Renoir – Rules of the Game
Fassbinder – Berlin Alexanderplatz
Herzog – Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Godard – Contempt
Antonioni – L’Avventura
Bresson – Au hasard Balthazar
Hitchcock – Vertigo
Buñuel – Viridiana
Lang – Metropolis
Tarkovsky – Andrei Rublev
Mizoguchi – Sansho the Bailiff
De Sica – Bicycle Thieves
Rivette – Celine and Julie Go Boating
Wenders – Wings of Desire
Rohmer – Claire’s Knee
Melville – Army of Shadows
Kubrick – A Clockwork Orange
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What Does Your Family Think Of Your Love of Cinema? almost 3 years ago
I understand how you feel Qwertie. My parents aren’t very supportive either. None of my friends are really interested in anything outside of the mainstream… and I have since been labelled “pretentious” as well. :(
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Yimou Zhang criticism and praise. almost 3 years ago
Zhang Yimou I believe started out as a cinematographer (Chen Kaige’s Yellow Earth), and this shows in his own films with his eye for colour. I agree with you in that for me, Raise the Red Lantern and To Live are probably his best films, with the first being my absolute favourite by him. I have mixed feelings about some of his later wuxia films, although I’ll admit that they were beautiful to watch.
His earlier films also have the addition of social critique, bringing to the screen less glamorous, yet realistic stories from the countryside about peasant life, such as with The Story of Qiu Ju and Not One Less. Plus, his pairing with actress Gong Li was truly one of a kind. Overall, I agree with Josh in that his earlier works were his masterpieces. I don’t think I had the issue of the films ending rather abruptly though… I can understand why you felt that way about Shanghai Triad, but I think I preferred where he ended the film. If you’re interested in Zhang’s films, you may want to look into Chen Kaige and Tian Zhuangzhuang’s films as well (his fellow graduates), if you haven’t already.
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Choose my Criterion! almost 3 years ago
Go Japanese! I noticed that you have a few Kurosawa films and also Ozu’s Tokyo Story. What about Mizoguchi’s Sansho the Bailiff or Ugetsu?
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Yimou Zhang criticism and praise. almost 3 years ago
I’m like Blue in that I was born in China and I’m familiar with the convention of surname first. I can understand why it would be confusing for others. It’s also hard to differentiate between surname and given name as Chinese characters when in their pinyin form can seem to be a candidate for either. I just noticed on the Auteurs that it lists Hou Hsiao-hsien as “Hsiao-hsien Hou” and Tsai Ming-liang as “Ming-liang Tsai” under the favourite auteurs list when you add them… However, it conforms with the surname first rule for Jia and Wong… I guess there’s even a discrepancy on the site.
Ju Dou is another great one that I forgot to mention earlier. Think beautiful cinematography with dyed fabrics! It’s true what Blue said, his earlier films labelled him somewhat as a dissident in the eyes of the government due to their subject matter. It provided for some great social commentary though.
@Jason: Tian’s The Blue Kite is actually still banned in China I believe due to its portrayal of the government at the time and led to the blacklisting of the director. Although Springtime in a Small Town is a good film, I urge you to seek out the 1948 original by Fei Mu (named Spring in a Small Town) as Kenji recommended. Having seen the original first, needless to say I’m rather biased toward it.
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The Autuers; the last 10 years. almost 3 years ago
Wow, great lists. I’m shamefully not very up-to-date in terms of contemporary cinema, but hopefully these directors qualify:
Bahman Ghobadi
Abderrahmane Sissako
Lee Chang-dong
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TOP 10 LATIN AMERICAN CINEMA almost 3 years ago
I haven’t seen much from Latin America at all (but I’ve been wanting to for some time now), and most of the titles that I am familiar with and would have listed have already been mentioned… I did however also like:
Vidas Secas/Barren Lives – Nelson Pereira dos Santos
Terra em Transe/Earth Entranced – Glauber Rocha
Ensayo de un Crimen/The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz – Luis Buñuel
… and a short: Las Hurdes/Land Without Bread – Luis Buñuel
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Poll of the Month, July: Favourite Films by Women almost 3 years ago
Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles – Chantal Akerman
The House is Black – Forough Farrokhzad
Daisies – Věra Chytilová
Meshes of the Afternoon – Maya Deren
The Ascent – Larisa Shepitko
La Pointe Courte – Agnès Varda
Sugar Cane Alley – Euzhan Palcy
The Holy Girl – Lucrecia Martel
Story of the Weeping Camel – Byambasuren Davaa
The Piano – Jane Campion
The Night Porter – Liliana Cavani
Hidden Half – Tahmineh Milani
Germany, Pale Mother – Helma Sanders-Brahms
We can amend our lists, right? I know I’m omitting some I should be including…
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