2022 Sight & Sound Poll

[oscar jubis]

It's so easy nowadays to access the writings and lectures of Stanley Cavell and have a magnificent adventure in thinking.
His book about the ontology of film is titled "The World Viewed", his melodrama book is titled "Contesting Tears" and his comedy book that has a chapter about "The Awful Truth" is titled "Pursuits of Happiness".
Youtube has an interview of Cavell conducted at UCBerkeley that explains the philosophical perspective on film. It's titled "Conversations with History".
"The Awful Truth" is a comedy about second chances. It is about transcending skepticism about marriage as a preferred location for a pursuit of happiness. I will return to the topic later in this thread since another film in my top 10 all-time is a 21st century example of the same genre.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks for this. I remembered the name but didn't realize how rare it was for a philosopher to write three substantial books about film. I watched some interesting interviews. Unfortunately the work itself seems to lose touch with the experience of filmmaking and film watching in the abstractions and for me at least is not the "adventure in thinking" you find.

[oscar jubis]

Cría Cuervos (Carlos Saura/1976)

Carlos Saura was already an established auteur when he wrote and directed Cría. He won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlinale in 1966 (The Hunt) and 1968 (Peppermint Frappé). He won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1973 (La prima Angélica). Cría Cuervos premiered at Cannes in 1976 and won the Jury Prize. Saura was inspired by 1) “Porque te Vas” a 2-year-old pop song with a peppy beat that contrasts with lyrics about estrangement and loss, 2) Ana Torrent’s performance in Victor Erice’s The Spirit of the Beehive, and 3) His desire to explore the character of a child with murder in mind. Cría Cuervos means “raise ravens” and refers to the proverb: “Raise ravens and they will gouge your eyes”. Cría Cuervos shares with Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon” a concern for the inheritance of fascism. Perhaps the most praiseworthy aspect of the film is how it maintains a delicate balance between 1) scenes set in the recent past, 2) scenes set in the present where sometimes the mise-en-scene exists only in the mind of the 8 year-old Anna (Torrent), and 3) flashforwards set two decades later in which Charlie Chaplin’s daughter Geraldine incarnates the adult Ana looking back at her tumultuous childhood. It’s a movie about the past, present and future of Spain (among other things). Torrent’s performance here is my favorite performance by a child in the history of cinema.