John Cole
04-30-2003, 02:09 AM
After spending most of the past few days working, I grabbed a few DVDs from the library at school and bought another.
First: I watched Ebert's commentary on Citizen Kane, which, although a bit repetitive at times--did he really have to mention that the lower right hand corner of the frame is the spot reserved for the character that "remembers" Kane so often?--certainly contributes to understanding many of Welles' and Greg Toland's innovations. Ebert's obvious enthusiasm for the film comes across quite well.
Next, I watched two animated films, Shrek and Monsters, Inc, both of which are enjoyable, albeit a bit too predictable, but lack some of the magic that the best animated films have. Or, maybe it's just me who has lost some of the magic. Nevertheless, if you haven't seen them, both are well worth renting, if only for the allusions and in-jokes. Highlight for me was John Cale's rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" in Shreck.
Finally, the last, Andrei Tarkovsky's The Mirror is a movie to watch again and again, if only to begin to figure out what's happening. A little experience with Tarkovsky might help, and I'm afraid many viewers will become frustrated with Tarkovsky's disjointed, non-chronological narrative style.
Tarkovsky's somewhat autobiographical film encompasses the social, political, and personal, and includes readings of his father's poetry, along with Pushkin's remarkable passage on how Russia saved Christianity and exiled itself from the rest of the world simultaneously. Tarkovsky's narrative skips from the 1930s to the '40s to the 60s. One actress plays both the narrator's wife and mother, and we only see the narrator as a child and a twelve year old; however, at the end of the film, we do see the narrator's body on his deathbed. Tarkovsky uses both color and black and white scenes and intersperses documentary footage throughout the film, including the bombing of Spain in the Thirties and the Chinese demonstration at Damansky (sp?) Island in the '60s.
Of course, given the film's title, mirrors are a dominant metaphor in the film, but also watch for the number of shots that use corridors, window frames, and doorways. The film is filled with brilliant images throughout, which express the film's sense of loss, longing, and escape.
The Mirror is a very powerful film, one of the world's masterpieces, which both demands and deserves repeated viewings.
(One word of caution: according to some sources, the DVD is inadequately translated, and you may need to read more about the film. One small example: the narrator's mother rushes to work to correct what she thinks is a proofreading mistake--she believes "shralin" (sh*t) has been substituted for Stalin--but when she whispers the mistake to a coworker, we don't know what the mistake is. Criterion needs to get ahold of this film.)
John
First: I watched Ebert's commentary on Citizen Kane, which, although a bit repetitive at times--did he really have to mention that the lower right hand corner of the frame is the spot reserved for the character that "remembers" Kane so often?--certainly contributes to understanding many of Welles' and Greg Toland's innovations. Ebert's obvious enthusiasm for the film comes across quite well.
Next, I watched two animated films, Shrek and Monsters, Inc, both of which are enjoyable, albeit a bit too predictable, but lack some of the magic that the best animated films have. Or, maybe it's just me who has lost some of the magic. Nevertheless, if you haven't seen them, both are well worth renting, if only for the allusions and in-jokes. Highlight for me was John Cale's rendition of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" in Shreck.
Finally, the last, Andrei Tarkovsky's The Mirror is a movie to watch again and again, if only to begin to figure out what's happening. A little experience with Tarkovsky might help, and I'm afraid many viewers will become frustrated with Tarkovsky's disjointed, non-chronological narrative style.
Tarkovsky's somewhat autobiographical film encompasses the social, political, and personal, and includes readings of his father's poetry, along with Pushkin's remarkable passage on how Russia saved Christianity and exiled itself from the rest of the world simultaneously. Tarkovsky's narrative skips from the 1930s to the '40s to the 60s. One actress plays both the narrator's wife and mother, and we only see the narrator as a child and a twelve year old; however, at the end of the film, we do see the narrator's body on his deathbed. Tarkovsky uses both color and black and white scenes and intersperses documentary footage throughout the film, including the bombing of Spain in the Thirties and the Chinese demonstration at Damansky (sp?) Island in the '60s.
Of course, given the film's title, mirrors are a dominant metaphor in the film, but also watch for the number of shots that use corridors, window frames, and doorways. The film is filled with brilliant images throughout, which express the film's sense of loss, longing, and escape.
The Mirror is a very powerful film, one of the world's masterpieces, which both demands and deserves repeated viewings.
(One word of caution: according to some sources, the DVD is inadequately translated, and you may need to read more about the film. One small example: the narrator's mother rushes to work to correct what she thinks is a proofreading mistake--she believes "shralin" (sh*t) has been substituted for Stalin--but when she whispers the mistake to a coworker, we don't know what the mistake is. Criterion needs to get ahold of this film.)
John