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宗方姉妹 [The Munekata Sisters] (1950) -
This may be Hideko Takamine at her cutest. closely followed by Hideko, the Bus Conductress. Based on a bestseller Japanese book from an acclaimed writer, this is one of the more mainstream Ozu films and far from his best, but still a great film by all means. Apart from Takamine, this has Kinuyo Tanaka, Ken Uehara and Chishu Ryu and the story ends on a quite feminist note, if I may say so, therefore reminding something Naruse would make (or Mizoguchi, but only topic-wise, as the style is different).
河内山宗俊 [Priest of Darkness] (1936) -
Not enough Setsuko Hara! She's so cute here, but there's not enough of her, as she only plays a secondary role. The story is based on a very famous kabuki play. Not as good as the other two surviving movies of Sadao Yamanaka (from 22 in total!), but still a great one, proving he was a very progressive director.
Eugénie [Eugenie de Sade] (1975) -
Jesus Franco once again makes a desadian film with a lot of style and no restraint. Obviously a highlight in his filmography full of crap, but not amongst his absolute best neither. It's more than worth it for Soledad Miranda, though.
団鬼六 蛇と鞭 [Snake and Whip] (1986) -
Hana to hebi: kyûkyoku nawa chôkyô [Flower and Snake 5: Rope Magic] (1987) -
In other words, Flower and Snake 4 and 5, which concludes the old series. Now I still have three new Flower and Snake movies to watch, as I've already seen the Zero part.
豚鶏心中 [Pig-Chicken Suicide] (1981) -
This has a girl calling the name of Japanese emperor while masturbating, long sequences of pig butchery (paralyzed then torn open with a knife), a pig-guy and a chicken-guy f*ckups doing weird sh*t. And more. This is obviously inspired by Terayama's films (Emperor Tomato Ketchup in particular) and has the same purple tinting as well as uses really nice songs. Not as great as director's second film Noisy Requiem, but still a great watch.
Le mystère Koumiko [The Koumiko Mystery] (1965) -
The last two, or three lines in this destroyed me. Chris Marker is the greatest of poets once he forgets the political jargon and focuses on poetry.
Le berceau de cristal [The Crystal Cradle] (1976) -
Garrel's second best! When that Ash Ra Tepel soundtrack kicked in I almost fell from my couch. This is simply some faces in orange light, but for some reason it's still a revelatory experience and a contemplative cinema that makes you enter the state of a trance. At one point the whole screen goes blue for split second and the screen jerks only to resume a moment later. It's probably just an artefact coming from the VHS source of the movie and wasn't even intended by the filmmaker himself, but that moment made my heart stop for a moment.
Lost, Lost, Lost (1976) -
The least favourite Mekas from what I've seen. This undeniably has some moments of sheer beauty, but Walden's no commentary and As I Was..'s poetic commentary make this film's narration pale in comparison. Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania seemed more interesting & less forced, too.
In den Tag hinein [The Days Between] (2001) -
A total blast! Proto-Lost in Translation and also a better film with outstanding use of framing and lighting and very genuine love story. I loved how the Japanese dude would go on and on speaking Japanese even though the girl couldn't understand anything (he himself spoke very little Deutsch, too), but still they understood each other quite well.
This may be Hideko Takamine at her cutest. closely followed by Hideko, the Bus Conductress. Based on a bestseller Japanese book from an acclaimed writer, this is one of the more mainstream Ozu films and far from his best, but still a great film by all means. Apart from Takamine, this has Kinuyo Tanaka, Ken Uehara and Chishu Ryu and the story ends on a quite feminist note, if I may say so, therefore reminding something Naruse would make (or Mizoguchi, but only topic-wise, as the style is different).
河内山宗俊 [Priest of Darkness] (1936) -
Not enough Setsuko Hara! She's so cute here, but there's not enough of her, as she only plays a secondary role. The story is based on a very famous kabuki play. Not as good as the other two surviving movies of Sadao Yamanaka (from 22 in total!), but still a great one, proving he was a very progressive director.
Eugénie [Eugenie de Sade] (1975) -
Jesus Franco once again makes a desadian film with a lot of style and no restraint. Obviously a highlight in his filmography full of crap, but not amongst his absolute best neither. It's more than worth it for Soledad Miranda, though.
団鬼六 蛇と鞭 [Snake and Whip] (1986) -
Hana to hebi: kyûkyoku nawa chôkyô [Flower and Snake 5: Rope Magic] (1987) -
In other words, Flower and Snake 4 and 5, which concludes the old series. Now I still have three new Flower and Snake movies to watch, as I've already seen the Zero part.
豚鶏心中 [Pig-Chicken Suicide] (1981) -
This has a girl calling the name of Japanese emperor while masturbating, long sequences of pig butchery (paralyzed then torn open with a knife), a pig-guy and a chicken-guy f*ckups doing weird sh*t. And more. This is obviously inspired by Terayama's films (Emperor Tomato Ketchup in particular) and has the same purple tinting as well as uses really nice songs. Not as great as director's second film Noisy Requiem, but still a great watch.
Le mystère Koumiko [The Koumiko Mystery] (1965) -
The last two, or three lines in this destroyed me. Chris Marker is the greatest of poets once he forgets the political jargon and focuses on poetry.
Le berceau de cristal [The Crystal Cradle] (1976) -
Garrel's second best! When that Ash Ra Tepel soundtrack kicked in I almost fell from my couch. This is simply some faces in orange light, but for some reason it's still a revelatory experience and a contemplative cinema that makes you enter the state of a trance. At one point the whole screen goes blue for split second and the screen jerks only to resume a moment later. It's probably just an artefact coming from the VHS source of the movie and wasn't even intended by the filmmaker himself, but that moment made my heart stop for a moment.
Lost, Lost, Lost (1976) -
The least favourite Mekas from what I've seen. This undeniably has some moments of sheer beauty, but Walden's no commentary and As I Was..'s poetic commentary make this film's narration pale in comparison. Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania seemed more interesting & less forced, too.
In den Tag hinein [The Days Between] (2001) -
A total blast! Proto-Lost in Translation and also a better film with outstanding use of framing and lighting and very genuine love story. I loved how the Japanese dude would go on and on speaking Japanese even though the girl couldn't understand anything (he himself spoke very little Deutsch, too), but still they understood each other quite well.
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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.
Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.
It's my favourite film of 2014 i think.
Took many screenshots:
