2003 Rank 'em as you see them

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
How Oscar does it as a therapist, I don't quite know. I don't understand how he finds the time for all that he does.

The time and the money. In the same spirit of disclosure as your post...
After 20 years of full-time work, thrifty and simple living, and prudent investment, I find myself working part-time with flexible hours with a house and no mortgage, and plenty of time for cinema, friends and family. I watch no TV, always eat home-cooked, buy used dvds in mint condition then resell some, attend matinees, drive a jalopy, use public facilities like parks, schools and libraries, and actually, it's my wife who's the penny-pincher. I may increase my work hours in the future as needed, when the kids get a bit older or move out. I hope to always have the time to watch movies and argue with you about them.

That's really smart. Good for you!

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
I look forward to your and others' seeing Buongiorno, notte. I have put off writing about it because nobody here has seen it, and because the context is so complex, and because I've got other things to write about, but I loved it, and it was something that's on a confined enough scale to work well on a monitor--so long as you have a good sound system for the music.

---

Actually, I have seen this film; I thought I mentioned it before to you but maybe not. That's why I said that I was also waiting for others to see it before talking about it. I'm glad you have though; most likely on the DVD you got from Italy, right?

Anyway, I loved it also. It would've made my top ten if it was released here last year. Bellocchio hasn't just simply documented the events, but rather, he has given us his idealistic portrayal through the dreams of the fictional character he has invented. It's certainly a "complex" film as you said. The title comes from an Emily Dickinson poem about the struggle between choosing right and wrong and Bellocchio smartly avoids any didacticism here. He allows the political tragedy to unfold in the confines of a small apartment between a tightly knit "family." I thought Maya Sansa, who was in practically every scene in the film, was a revelation.

I agree with all of that. Yes, it's one of the dvd's I bought in Florence. It does feel intimate, and it's disturbing, yet somehow peaceful. I want to write about it when I can find the time and focus. I was confused about your having seen it--naturally, since hardly anybody here has seen it yet. Is it coming to the US?

Apparently this is the poem (Googled http://plagiarist.com/poetry/6285/):

Good Morning—Midnight
Emily Dickinson
425

Good Morning—Midnight—
I'm coming Home—
Day—got tired of Me—
How could I—of Him?

Sunshine was a sweet place—
I liked to stay—
But Morn—didn't want me—now—
So—Goodnight—Day!

I can look—can't I—
When the East is Red?
The Hills—have a way—then—
That puts the Heart—abroad—

You—are not so fair—Midnight—
I chose—Day—
But—please take a little Girl—
He turned away!

Mysterious and cryptic as some of her poems are.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Chris Knipp
Is it coming to the US?

---

Wellspring acquired the film in March last year and it was scheduled to play at the end of the year but obviously that didn't happen. I hope that they release it shortly.

I see-- thank you. I hope so too.