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Thread: the LAST FILM YOU'VE SEEN thread

  1. #871
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    Soeurs fâchées, Les: Yes, I liked it too; glad that you picked it up. I also think that it's distributable.

    Je rentre à la maison: A graceful effort from an honorable filmmaker. Its final moments are heartbreaking to say the least.

    Looking forward to your thoughts on Tropical Malady and the rest.

  2. #872
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    One could say lots about Tropical Malady but there's not much I can add to the enthusiastic discussions that have taken place elsewhere. It made a good impression, especially the second "spirit" half, but in several days since I watched it it has faded rapidly. I don't think Weerasethakul is going to be one of my personal favorite filmmakers. The relationship between Keng and Tong is sweet and coy--over time it becomes sweet and cloying. I think the Asians who commented custom might make the younger one acquiesce, without really being gay, could be accurate. Especially if he is poor, he might hope to gain some benefit from the older soldier's interrest, and his familiy might approve for that reason. This exists in some societies. Everyone is smiling in this segment. From the commentary, the director has had this approach before. There's something Utopian about it. It's also quite sexless unless you think a guy putting his head in another guy's lap or licking his hand is a form of sex. I was very impressed with the pursuit of the tiger. The acoustical aspect was unusually rich and I thought the editing was excellent in this part. Certainly an original piece of work but except for the second half it doesn't try to do anything difficult. I watched it twice and watched most of the commentary version too. The outtakes were valuable because they showed Weerasetakul isn't seduced by his own cleverness. He cut out some nifty, impressive shots or scenes, because they would probably have said too much or been too obvious, mostly from the second half. Some of the subtitles aren't very easy to read. This would be better to see in a theater on a large screen: its whole value comes through its rich visual and auditory world. Luckiliy I do have a great sound system.

  3. #873
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    arsaib, Isn't there a Rendezvous with French Cinema this year? If so when is it coming? I only see 35th New Directors/ New Films
    March 22 through April 2, 2006 listed on the Lincoln Center Film Society site.

  4. #874
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    Matthieu Kassovitz: La Haine/Hate (1995) UK DVD ordered from Ireland.

    This vérité-style depiction of disaffected youth from the Paris ghetto cités or banlieues, super-relevant after the events of last November, is a classic now, won major prizes at the time, yet isn't available on US DVD. Black and white. With Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé and Saïd Taghmaoui. Vinz (Cassel) expresses the cités' anger and explosive energy; Saïd has a con-man charm, and Hubert has the peacemaker impulse. Together they make a vivid little inter-racial band, Jew, Arab, and black. The Hate in the air comes from the general situation, but specifically one of their mates' being in hospital fighting for his life after a police beating. The action has a desultory quality that makes it seem to drag at times and Cassel's one-note macho posturing can become tiresome. This is like a Bicycle Thief with nothing to hunt for. It has also come to seem relatively tame after things like Seule contre tous and Irréversible. Nonetheless La Haine can really soar at times, as in the final sequence where the guys get high on a Paris rooftop, and "turn off" the Eiffel Tower, but don't wait to see. The billboard message they keep passing, LE MONDE EST À VOUS/THE WORLD IS YOURS is too ironic for words. The ending still feels pretty powerful, Gaspar Noë or no. Contrast: Kechiche's Games of Love and Chance/L'Esquive, last year's French best film choice, which enters the banlieue not as source of statistics but for social comedy.

  5. #875
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    Originally posted by Chris Knipp
    arsaib, Isn't there a Rendezvous with French Cinema this year? If so when is it coming? I only see 35th New Directors/ New Films March 22 through April 2, 2006 listed on the Lincoln Center Film Society site.
    Rendezvous usually starts during the second week of March, and it is an annual event. They'll probably release the schedule in a couple of weeks. Right now a Catalan series is going on which will be followed by Film Comment Selects. Any plans?

  6. #876
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    WILD SIDE (2005)

    While discussing his provocative new feature Wild Side, French filmmaker Sébastien Lifshitz (Come Undone [2000]) recently stated that "I’m drawn to impenetrable characters that operate outside the usual norms. I truly love fringe dwellers and people who don’t fit with fiction’s archetypes." The three main characters in his latest -- Stéphanie (Stéphanie Michelini), a transsexual prostitute; Jamel (Yasmine Belmadi), a bisexual Arab hustler; and Mikhail (Edouard Nikitine), Stephanie’s lover who happens to be an illegal Russian immigrant -- certainly do fit the bill. Early on, Stéphanie is seen living the hard life in Paris with her two men. But the situation changes when she is called by her dying mother to come attend to her. As Stéphanie makes her way towards her rural childhood home, old memories involving her deceased father and sister come flooding in. At this point, Lifshitz, working with the great cinematographer Agnès Godard (most famous for her work with Claire Denis), starts to contrast the dingy realism of his early sequences with poetic, picturesque shots of the French countryside featuring a rollicking young Stéphanie (who was once Pierre). While this allows the director’s artistic sensibilities to thrive, the connection between Stéphanie's past and present remains oblique at best. Ultimately, both Jamel and Mikhail, who were practically lost without the woman, make their way to her for support. Those two also remain "impenetrable" for the most part (the way Lifshitz perhaps wanted them to be) -- they are often seen brooding silently to Jocelyn Pook’s evocative score (a whiff of Patrice Chéreau is hard to miss). What Wild Side establishes quite well, however, are the dynamics of the relationship between the trio. It is also a rare film that refuses to make its characters’ sexuality the main focus. That’s not to say that the film shies away from it (a slow pan of Stephanie’s body is bound to make Catherine Breillat envious), but rather the confrontations are presented in a very practical manner. Liftsitz’s characters may not need others but they do need one another, and that’s the only way they will survive. Wild Side is a film made by and for adults.

    Grade: B
    ______________________

    *The film premiered at the Berlin film festival in 2004 (it won a couple of awards there). It was released in the U.S. in June last year by Wellspring, who've now put it out on DVD.

  7. #877
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    Rendezvous usually starts during the second week of March, and it is an annual event. They'll probably release the schedule in a couple of weeks. Right now a Catalan series is going on which will be followed by Film Comment Selects. Any plans?
    I hope to be there, but can't make plans till I know the dates. I don't see why on their website they don't even mention it. They don't seem to plan ahead very far.

  8. #878
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    José Giovanni: Mon père, il m'a sauvé la vie (My father saved my life) (2001) DVD bought in Paris; no subtitles.

    This is the true story of writer/director Giovanni, who was condemned to death after a scuffle in which several people died in the Forties. Estranged from his gambler father (Bruno Cremer), the son (Vincent Leœur) does not know for many years that it was the father, known mainly as a card shark, who successfullly strugged to get him a commuted sentence. After release from prison Giovanni begins a long career as a writer and filmmaker with a bestselling book about a prison escape attempt called Le trou/The Hole. Mon père was Giovanni's last film; he died in 2004. The movie, dominated by Cremer, has a cold, monolitihic power and is not without some impressive, touching moments, but it is a deadpan conventional historical drama and critics were unimpressed. I found it slow going. On this DVD there is a testimonial from Bertrand Tavernier, interview with Giovanni, and a commentary.

  9. #879
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    What Wild Side establishes quite well, however, are the dynamics of the relationship between the trio. It is also a rare film that refuses to make its characters’ sexuality the main focus.

    I just read the following: Wild Side (France) 2004

    The filmmaker shows a gritty, unpleasant side of life while wanting us to believe underneath it all these seriously damaged people are really quite normal to the extent they have a menage a trois which helps them through life. Quite a fantasy, but unfortunately portrayed here as real look of life on the wild side. In sum, no plot, no truth and no real reason to spend much time here.
    Colige suspectos semper habitos

  10. #880
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    That’s a very interesting comment because it portrays the mindset of most viewers while they’re watching a film like Wild Side. I think in most cases when we see trans/homosexual characters, we have a tendency to assume that they must be damaged in some way, which is exactly what this person has done. In fact, Lifshitz (the director) almost teases us with a few backstories, as if he was trying to make a point. Still, though, I would’ve liked a bit more depth.

    The individuals portrayed here are quite normal (why wouldn’t they be?), but thankfully this isn’t belabored. They’re simply trying to figure out how and where they fit into society. Yet, at the same time, the film doesn’t present itself as a social critique. While its poetic, elliptical nature might make it seem so, it ain’t no "fantasy." A unique film for sure, one which also doesn’t really have a target audience.

    I'd be interested in your comments if you get a chance to watch it.

  11. #881
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    I will put Wild Side on my Netfilx list, though Presque rien/Come Undone left little impression on me. Despite its seriousness, it seemed rather slight.

    Also, arsaib, have you seen Mon père, il m'a sauvé la vie?

  12. #882
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    Jim Hanon: The End of the Spear (2006) In theaters now. But not recommended!

  13. #883
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    Also, arsaib, have you seen Mon père, il m'a sauvé la vie?
    No, I haven't seen this one. Actually, I wasn't even aware of it until you brought it up. Is it worth tracking down?

    None of the mainstream releases from 2006 have attracted my interest so far. Perhaps Tristan + Isolde is agreeable, I'm not sure, but certainly I'm in no hurry to watch it.

  14. #884
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    No point in tracking Mon père down, really, unless the topic interests you. And no good new films in theaters. I saw Tristan and Isolde. It's a pretty couple, that's for sure, and they spent some money on the costumes and sets, but it's just not very interesting, and I don't think it really has that much to do with the original legend either. Now James Franco is out with another movie that sounds like a clinker -- Annapolis, which wasn't even made in Annapolis, but in Pennsylvania, due to a conflict with the Naval Academy over the story, which the Academy now reportedly regrets, since they lost the chance to get some publicity.

  15. #885
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    I think Franco is a pretty good actor -- I liked him in the TV series "Freaks and Geeks" and in one film with De Niro (can't remember the title) -- but he's mostly been relegated to B-grade stuff.

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