Guaporense's certified greats
 

Looking back at my top 100 thread, where I posted a list that I had elaborated in December 2012, I noticed that there were many movies among the 126 movies I listed there that I wouldn't consider top of the line stuff.

Given my state of ignorance relative to cinema (for instance, I have only watched 3 Bresson films, 9 Ozu films and 4 Kobayashi films), over the past 4 months I have watched several movies that I consider superior to many of those movies I listed as my favorites, thus I think that I would make a thread preserving these movies, which I think deserve a full because they managed to touch my soul.

All the movies listed here are unranked and are what I consider to be top of the line stuff: I wouldn't disagree with people putting any these films as their favorites of all time.

Also, all the movies here are those that I have watched relatively recently, so my impressions of these movies are all fresh. Differently from some movies that I listed in my favorites, some of which that I have watched over a decade ago.

So here are movies that I watched recently which I would rate .

Certified films:

1) Day of Wrath (Carl Dreyer), 1943
2) The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck), 2006
3) Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu), 1953
4) Howl's Moving Castle (Hayao Miyazaki), 2004
5) La Jetée (Chris Marker), 1962
6) Eraserhead (David Lynch), 1975
7) Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica), 1948
8) Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal (Kazuhiro Furuhashi), 1999
9) Umberto D (Vittorio De Sica), 1952
10) Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone), 1984
11) City Lights (Charles Chaplin), 1931
12) Evangelion 2.0 (Hideaki Anno), 2009

Day of Wrath (Carl Dreyer), 1943

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...redens_dag.jpg

What an impressive movie. Made in a beautiful black and white cinematography during the German occupation of Denmark in the Second World War, the film reflects the state in which the world had come at the time. Lacking any comedy and slowly paced, it is not a movie for the casual film fan but for those that are serious about cinema this is a must watch.

http://i2.listal.com/image/3548594/6...screenshot.jpg

Some of the scenes have an almost overwhelming dramatic firepower. So great that made watching it a devastating emotional experience. The beauty of what film critics call the compositions is also a factor of note.

http://i2.listal.com/image/2537359/6...screenshot.jpg

The score is also beautiful and heavy, a quality that I greatly admire.

http://i2.listal.com/image/3535662/6...screenshot.jpg

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

Im definitely looking forward to this! You have a great taste in film imo. Nice start with Day of Wrath. Keep up the good work.

The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck), 2006

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...er_anderen.jpg

Made on a tiny budget of 2 million dollars, this film proves that even today to make a great movie one doesn't need that much money. This German movie is one of the most powerful films made about the division of Germany (Berlin Wall, etc) and the whole Cold War.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/...9lives600a.jpg

It features all around impressive performances by the actors involved and is a movie build in on a rich collection of layers of emotional texture. By the time
of the climax I was greatly immersed into the movie.

http://www.berkshirefinearts.com/upl...ers:540848.jpg

These movies about the 20th century, from World War I, to World War II to the Cold War, always have that certain historical magic, specially the ones made by those that were at the center of it.

http://mmimageslarge.moviemail-onlin...-Others-08.JPG

Germany is a country at the center of the 20th century and so the fact that everything happened there gives their historical movies a certain "magic" that I often find lacking in movies made in other countries about the same events.

http://i-cdn.apartmenttherapy.com/ui...-11-other2.jpg

I re-watched this movie yesterday and it was as good as the first time. So I certified this movie a .

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

I can't deny that The Lives Of Others is a quality film and I wanted to like it considering that I like history,dramas and some German films but sadly,I found this one boring.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

Day of Wrath is undoubtedly a great masterwork of Dreyer. Only Passion of Joan of Arc tops it in my book. The Live of Others I find a very powerful movie in particular. Especially the ending that really impressed me.

Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu), 1953

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1glhMBzZcV...o%2BStory2.jpg

This Japanese movie made 8 years after the country's defeat in the Second World War is easily one of the most emotionally exhausting two hours of film I ever watched. A true masterpiece and one of the movies which I wouldn't disagree if were considered the best ever made (a movie that I found significantly superior to Citizen Kane and Vertigo, for instance, other two movies usually considered among the three or four greatest movies ever). This is true top of the line stuff thanks to Ozu's talents.

http://mmimageslarge.moviemail-onlin...ory-5439_3.jpg

This film really feels like real life as nobody else manages to do that as good as Ozu (though Takahata managed to really copy Ozu's style in his anime masterpieces, Grave of the Fireflies and Only Yesterday). All Ozu's movies have that distinctive feeling of real domestic life and Tokyo Story uses that distinctive realism to maximum dramatic effect. Easily one of my top 2 favorite Ozu films, if not the one.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BRHznmR_LI...yo+story_5.png

There isn't anything else that reaches deeper into the soul than Tokyo Story and probably very few other films that manage to equal it.

Howl's Moving Castle (Hayao Miyazaki), 2004

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ydcJNm8lnj...ing-Castle.jpg

One of the two or three most gorgeous animated film ever made, Howl's Moving Castle is worth watching just for it's images but combined with the other elements it is also one of the few movies that I could certify a full .

http://maggiestiefvater.com/wp-conte...08650_640w.jpg

Miyazaki is an artist without equals in his field of animation both in technical terms (his films show the best depiction of flowing motion in animation IMO) and in more general terms. Nobody else manages to equal his immersive quality, which makes his films so touching.

http://cdn.blu-raydefinition.com/wor...stle-BD_03.jpg

The plot in this movie is not told in a linear fashion, which makes it less accessible than Miyazaki's other movies, some critics even said that it was "a mess" and gave the movie mediocre scores (such as Roger Ebert review, who said it was one of Miyazaki's worst movies), but after watching it three time I still loved it. Miyazaki said that stories don't need to be told in a linear fashion and here he told one in a very experimental fashion. Incredibly, the film still made over 22 billion yen on the Japanese box office, making it one of the biggest blockbusters in Japanese history.

http://img25.wallpapercasa.com/uploa...82b58da704.jpg

Also note how pseudo-European in visual style are some Ghibli movies, Howl's Moving Castle is set in a land that looked like it came out from a RPG computer game set in pseudo-19th century Germany with some retro-science fiction elements.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

Can we just all take a moment to recognize how awesome a name the director of The Lives of Others has?

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

How many times in how many different threads are you going to talk about your love of Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli?

We get it. Really. We do.

So, perhaps you should focus on movies that you haven't talked about a million times already. Just a suggestion.

La Jetée (Chris Marker), 1962

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...tee_Poster.jpg

Running at only 28 minutes, La Jetée is possibly my favorite short film. A true work of art, this is a film that consists of a sequence of photographs with a narration.

http://www.electricsheepmagazine.co....jetee-orly.jpg

It is a movie without any flaw or defect in it's sublime 28 minutes. Considered one of the greatest science fiction movies of all time and I agree.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...d/La_jetee.jpg

It is also a wonder of low budget cinema, Marker didn't film it because he didn't have a camera and as result the movie probably came out as a superior work of art that way.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2063/...39eaccd9fe.jpg

The also excellent Gillian film, 12 Monkeys is based on the ideas developed first on La Jetée, though the original is an even greater film.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

La Jetee is wonderful. It's almost funny how a short moving picture features less than a minute (maybe less than 30 seconds) of actual moving images and still works better than most other short films.

Eraserhead (David Lynch), 1975

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ad_poster.jpeg

Among of the most horrifying and beautiful movies I ever watched, Eraserhead is a true work of art.

http://alienationmentale.files.wordp...head_still.jpg

Very few movies left an impression as deep on me than Eraserhead.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P7mYEXfJ1l...ily_dinner.jpg

It features one of the ugliest creatures ever depicted on film, the protagonist's "baby", a very strange looking creature that looks like an oversized fetus:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_P7mYEXfJ1l...rhead_baby.jpg

And many very strange things:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_P7mYEXfJ1l..._in_planet.jpg

Overall, an extremely impressive movie and one that I give a certified .

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

I watched La Jetee the other week and agree with you about it's brilliance. The few seconds where we see the woman's face (eyes) move are pure magic. Eraserhead I have ready to watch and I really must soon, been meaning to for ages as a massive Lynch fan, I'm sure I'll love it.

By the way I reckon in the first post you should link to the posts in this thread, build up a list/index ;)

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

While I like Vertigo better, Tokyo Story is by far a better movie. The simple fact that in can accomplish so much with so little is a testament to the talent in front of and behind the camera.

Also do not watch Eraserhead in a dark room in the middle of the damn night. Too creepy!

I had plans to make a thread of the same kind as this one for my certain + movies, but I think I'll wait another two years, when I have some more film experience for that.

I will certainly use this topic to watch some top movies that I overlooked in the past!

Everyone knows it was a premature baby, not a creature. That might explain why it looks like an oversized fetus.................................

Isn't a premature baby a creature?

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

...

no.

it's a human.

Humans are creatures.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

Judging by that picture, and the last one, Eraserhead looks like the kind of film that would probably make me go insane.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

Eraserhead is a dark comedy at its core.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

Well, at least you've got The Lives Of Others on here. :)

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

Eraserhead is brilliant. Completely insane. And darkly comedic.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

It will take some time until a drop another movie there, In four months and many viewings before I managed to watch those six movies, I expect it will take a few weeks to add another movie there.

Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica), 1948

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../20/Ladri3.jpg

Vittorio De Sica's neorealist masterpiece is one of the best examples of minimalist elegance. One of the movies that not only earn a full rating but also define the meaning of a movie.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0cUKP3O7Lb...600/bike+2.jpg

Emotionally crushing, this movie may lack the subtlety of Tokyo Story instead working as a sledgehammer.

http://www.organicmechanic.org/scratch/ladri1.jpg

I noticed the great influence of Italian neorealism on Ghibli's anime movies, specially the most realistic ones. Grave of the Fireflies, for instance, is very, very similar to Bicycle Thieves.Though Bicycle Thieves isn't as tragic as Grave of the Fireflies, it packs emotional power of the same order of magnitude.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZzJu5HFJzD...cleThieves.jpg

The soundtrack is also great, very tragic in tone. While the black and white cinematography is top of the line, specially in the restored version that I have watched.

http://elladrondebicicletas.files.wo...e-thieves2.png

Also, given it's simplicity, this is a very accessible movie. The British Film Institute even put this film into their list of the top 10 greatest films for children under 14.

Sandy vagina much? Did you not see the prior three films he covered?

All films here are those that I watched recently which I though deserved a .

I re-watched Howl's Moving Castle again recently and I though it deserves a , so I put it into this thread.

There are 3 movies here which I had already put into my top 100 favorites: Tokyo Story, Howl's Moving Castle & The Lives of Others. That's because I re-watched these movies the last week.

Bite me.

My point is that he already has a 50 Best Animations Thread and a reviews thread specifically for Studio Ghibli Films, both of which feature Howl's Moving Castle. Not to mention the various other individual posts in other threads. If he really wants us to know about the movies he loves, he ought to quit writing up the same movies over and over again and feature only the ones he hasn't already mentioned ad nauseum.

And my point is one film out of 6-7 that bugs you doesn't give you the authority to hijack the thread with moaning. You don't like Guaporense, we get it. We REALLY DO.

Anyhoozen, Gua, have you seen any other de Sica films? He's a pretty dreary guy but has a couple comedies worth checking out.

I made a suggestion. You're the one that hijacked the thread by responding to a post that was directed at Guaporense, not at you.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

Bicycle Thieves is very good although I've seen it only once and I remember it being very depressing.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

Bicycle Thieves is a very depressing movie. But one that I enjoyed quite a bit. I was impressed by the use of non professional actors.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

The actors used in bicycle thieves were from the same social class that they were trying to portray, which gave the performances a great deal of authenticity.

Bicycle Thieves was the first movie from him that I have watched. I certainly plan to watch his others.

I know it was a brilliant move!

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

Thanks for your rating and recommendation of The Lives of Others. Although I've known about this film, I'd never got around to watching it till now.

I agree it's an excellent movie, one which portrays the tragic human toll that occurs under totalitarian regimes. Not the obvious brutality, but the destruction that eats away inside people - their hearts, their spirits, their creativity. It is set in East Germany, but the same story could well have been told in any number of countries at various times.

It is a subtle, honest movie, and in no way melodramatic. It builds its tempo slowly but surely, till it hits with the force of any great thriller. And like any insightful portrayal of these kinds of situations, it blurs the lines between good and evil.

Be sure to check out Umberto D. I think both movies are great, but Umbero D. is one of my personal favorites.

Samurai X: Trust & Betrayal (Kazuhiro Furuhashi), 1999

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...al_Blu-ray.jpg

This is an direct to video 120 minutes anime film divided into four 30 minute acts. It is a strong candidate for the best movie ever released direct to video (given that nothing else that I have watched in my life that was released direct to video I would rate remotely near a ).

It a samurai movie, rather similar in spirited to Kurosawa's Samurai epics, but this one is in fact better than most Kurosawa samurai films, such as Yiojimbo and Sanjuro. It is easily the best samurai anime film that I have watched, being vastly superior to other stuff like Ninja Scroll and Sword of the Stranger and easily stands among the best action movies ever made.

The only thing that bugged me a little was the extreme exaggeration of some of the action sequences where a 50 kg kid is shown tearing to pieces dozens of men. But besides that minor problem (which is also a problem that afflicts almost any action movie), this direct to video movie is nearly perfect so I though it deserves to be included here.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

Ohh! Used to watch this on TV when I was a kid but that was like an anime tv show,not a film.I remember that I loved it.

This is a movie based on the same franchise. I also watched episodes of the TV show when I was a kid, but this is much better.

Umberto D (Vittorio De Sica), 1952

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...x-UmbertoD.jpg

Italian Neorealism is pure gold: Another movie that I have watched from the movement, from the great director Vittorio De Sica.

http://www.calgarycinema.org/content...mberto-d-2.jpg

What more I can say? Beautiful black and white cinematography showing Rome in the early 1950's, including shoots of the Pantheon.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ipk1USsA_d.../umberto+d.png

Extremely touching, like Bicycle thieves, possessing that poignant elusive quality that is hard to find in films. A must watch, of course.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lq...8xoto1_400.jpg

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

The last five minutes is extremely moving. The rest is workmanlike neorealism. That's not a knock though.

Films usually aren't extremely moving at each and every minute. I would say that none of the films I listed in this thread are extremely moving at every part, though Tokyo Story and Bicycle Thieves are extremely moving at several parts.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

Bicycle Thieves I enjoyed, but don't think it's great. I'd give it . Looking forward to see Umberto D. Also, watch Rome, Open City for a great neorealism, if you haven't already, of course.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

Great choice with Umberto D., I've been thinking about putting it on my list as well.

You don't say. :)

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

I've been crying all the way throughout The Dust of Time. Can't remember any other films that would move me more than once throughout the duration.

You like the most artsy stuff while Italian neorealism, a genre that lacks great artsy pretensions, doesn't appear to fit your tastes.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

That's not true, as I loved Rome, Open City, which is a movie that started the whole genre!

Well, if I must say what is the closest thing to a movie that moved me at each and every minute I think it is Nausicaa, Miyazaki's post-apocalyptic science fiction epic.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

I think Visconti's Ossessione is considered the beginning of neorealism; at least when I went to school.

Not really seen much you've talked about so far but I certainly back up your love of Lives of Others. In my review I gave it a 4.5 at the time but can have no complaints with anyone giving it a 5. A tremendous movie. :yup:

My review here if you're interested - The Lives of Others review

Never challenge mark on knowledge of film history. :)

Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone), 1984

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...n_America1.jpg

I can't explain why I didn't watch this masterpiece earlier. Without a doubt one of the best movies of the decade. Featuring mindblowing cinematography and one of the best film scores ever.

http://www.stevenbenedict.ie/wp-cont...in-America.png

It is the definition of what I could call "a great film", though one can also understand why the critics loved it so much, given it satisfies all the characteristics of a critically acclaimed film.

http://www.avforums.com/movies/image...8/capture2.jpg

Anyway, this is a strong candidate for the title "best crime film ever made" and it is certainly one of Leone's best films.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

I only saw Once Upon a Time in America last month I think too and I would fully agree that it is a true masterpiece. The character development and various themes, relationships and that make it such a layered and detailed film, it feels like a fairy tale at times which is reflected in the closing shot which I couldn't help but have a huge smile at, like you said the cinematography is beautiful.

It's a shame that Leone was never treated the way he deserved to be whilst he was alive. I'm not sure if you're aware but this film was completely butchered to a two hour long, straightforward linear film without flashbacks and large character development scenes missing, could you imagine watching what you've just seen with half the scenes missing and still truly love it? It's great now that Leone is finally getting the recognition for his work, Martin Scorsese and Leone's family are working hard to get even more previously unused footage licensed to be included in what would of been Leone's own personal cut of the film, if they eventually release it I would definitely love to see it.

OUATIA is an unbelievably well crafted movie. I'm very glad to see that you're also a big fan, Guaporense. As you can see on my top ten list, I hold this masterpiece in very high regard.

Great choice! :up:

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

I'm interested to know what you think of the interpretation that says that all the sequences in Once Upon A Time In America from the opium den onwards are dream/visionary sequences in the mind of the Robert de Niro character....

Some films critics called the butchered version the worst movie of the year. Nausicaa was similarly butchered when released in the US market. In the case of Once Upon a Time in America, they buchered it because a 4 hour long movie wouldn't sell, in the case of Nausicaa because a two hour long complex cartoon wouldn't sell.

Me too.

You mean the 1960's scenes? That would make the movie weaker: it was all just a dream. Meh...

That reading did not occur to me either when I first saw it.

Then, after my most recent viewing, I read a bit about the film. This I copied from Wikipedia:



Either way I think it works equally well, and in some ways the dream/vision/hallucination interpretation is more powerful - and also explains something.



I think it is such a well-made movie that either interpretation works equally well. And I like that ambiguity.

In what way?

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

One Upon a Time in America was an excellent film for all the reasons stated above. I also consider it great for the fact that even though it is a 4 hour movie it flows very well and never drags on or feels over long. It feels just right, and cutting the movie down would only damage the film.

In ambiguous terms that is true. Ambiguity nearly always makes a movie more powerful since it combines the dramatic impact of multiple realities together, as if various different things happened.

However, if one interprets the movie as a dream and only a dream, without any ambiguity, I think it becomes a bit weaker.

I read on Wikipedia that Leone originally intended the movie to last for 6 hours and to release it into two 3 hour long movies, like Lord of the Rings, which was filmed continuously and released as 3, 3 hour long movies.

Anyway, I already consider the 4 hour long Once Upon a Time in America as the greatest crime movie I ever watched.

Okay so there is such a thing as over doing it. lol Lord knows what the extra content was supposed to be or if it was even shot.

It was a really good film, but I was sooo annoyed at that ringing phone in the beginning. I also prefer my films not to show people being raped, I think it's in really poor taste. I've turned off films before because of that.

City Lights (Charles Chaplin), 1931

http://www.criticker.com/img/films/p...ity_Lights.jpg

And yet another black and white film to this list. Chaplin was one of the few Hollywood filmmakers who continued to make silent films after most of the industry had already shifted to sound, I think that his films have a certain silent magic that is lost when sound is used.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ZwMqzj2QS1...0/chaplin4.jpg

It is very different from comedies like (another masterpiece) Duck Soup in that it doesn't focus only on laughs but actually tries to touch the heart and succeeds brilliantly. This is a true classic film in the most honorable sense of being a film that transcends the time it was made to become a timeless piece that manages to speak to peoples from different cultures and periods.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RfT-4507vW...ts%2529_03.jpg

To put short, City Lights is the best Chaplin film I have watched and the first time I watched it I rated it as , the second time I watched it I rated it as . It's a must watch.

Once Upon a Time in America has a ton of very offensive scenes. But I am not particularly impressed by that kind of stuff, in fact I find that sort of stuff to be almost silly. Salo: 120 Days of Sodom for me was Salo: 120 minutes of boredom, given that besides the offensive parts it lacks everything else that makes a great movie.

Evangelion 2.0 (Hideaki Anno), 2009

http://www.criticker.com/img/films/p...ou_Can_Not.jpg

Neon Genesis Evangelion is a TV series considered by many to be the holy grail of anime, it was voted the greatest animation of all time in a pool in 2007 involving hundreds of thousands of voters (Nausicaa was the highest voted movie, though, ranked in second) and remains the highest selling TV series of all time in Japan. The series director Hideaki Anno began to remake the series into a four part film series, of which three movies have been already finished. The best one and the only one that I could classify as a movie is the second.

Anno said that his objective in remaking the series is to make it more accessible. The original TV series, despite being an enormously popular cartoon, was a very experimental and complex work, specially the last 10 episodes (specially the last two episodes were extremely experimental), so Anno now seeks to make a less experimental work but capturing the overall tone of the TV series.

In my opinion the movie series as it stands can be regarded as less flawed but more corny and lacking the more subtle layers of psychological complexity achieved by the TV series. Still, this movie is impressive in the tension and aggression displayed. Lacking in subtlety it is a extremely muscular piece of film, it was a hell of a ride and Eva 2.0 be the best kaiju (giant monster invades city) movie ever made.

This is also very different from Miyazaki's movies, so if you haven't watched the original TV series or later anime series heavily influenced by Evangelion (such as Madoka), this will be completely different from anything else you have watched.

Apu Trilogy (Satyajit Ray), 1959
http://www.criticker.com/img/films/p...rld_of_Apu.jpg

Ray can be described as the Indian Kurosawa, like Kurosawa his films have a certain timeless feel, as if they existed outside of space and time. As if they could have been made later or earlier than their actual date. This trilogy is similar in it's humanity and tragedy to films like Bicycle Thieves.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SPYL8UC1UC...1955-1959).jpg

One of the things that I loved about this trilogy was the visual poetry combined with exotic Indian folk music. I will never forget the beautiful scenes of Apu's sister playing in the rain and later catching a pneumonia and tragedy followed (sorry for the spoiler :)).

http://timeentertainment.files.wordp...0&h=320&crop=1

Many actors used in the trilogy, specially in the first film, were not professional actors, adding to the realism of these films. Notice also this similarity with the Italian neorealism.

http://www.filmreference.com/images/sjff_01_img0038.jpg

The basic plot is not very complex which makes this trilogy very accessible as well. It's basically the Indian equivalent to the American The Godfather or the Japanese Seven Samurai so anyone should see it.

This is the fourth anime film to show up in this list and for good reason, given that I am exploring that medium very intensively over this year. It's incredible how ignorant of anime are most film critics, Roger Ebert, for instance, has the ludicrously low number of around a dozen reviews of anime films among the 7,000 reviews in his site. And he among those considered to be "favorable" towards anime, though it's not his fault that very few of these movies are shown in US theaters.

PMMM the movie, parts 1 & 2, 2012
http://animediet.net/wp-content/uplo...ie_posters.jpg

Anyway, stopping with my rant, this film is divided into 2 parts but it is a continuous film, more than the Apu trilogy above, which can be understood as three different films, if you watch only one of the two would be like reading half of a 200 page novel. This is a single 240 minute animated movie.

It's the most complex movie I ever watched and maybe the most complex movie ever made (in terms of plot). Though that's natural given it's a full blown novel in form of an 4 hour animated film. It can be described as: 40 minutes of anime cuteness in all it's pink glory and 200 minutes of psychological torture porn. Also, it is extremely fast paced, a normal speed of film narrative would tell the same story in about 7-8 hours. The average length of the takes (taken with an imaginary camera in this case) is about 3-4 seconds, compared to 3 minutes in a Bela Tarr movie. So it requires multiple watches.

http://animediet.net/wp-content/uplo...PM-600x335.png

It's a quite flawed film, more flawed than anything else in my top 50 favorites, but despite these flaws it managed to really blow me away like nothing else I ever watched. It's also an extremely weird mix of science fiction concepts, including even the use of the heat death of the universe (a science fiction concept made popular by Asimov and derived from the second law of thermodynamics) as it's main plot device.

http://animediet.net/wp-content/uplo...st-600x337.png

It's obviously a completely ludicrous film as one can even judge from the posters above still this is an strictly adult film (like GitS) and it's not very easy to be understood even by those used to the storytelling conventions of Japanese cinema and manga.

http://animediet.net/wp-content/uplo...ka_homura.jpeg

I watched it 5 times already over the past weeks and now I concluded it's the best thing I ever watched and by a wide margin, given it has more emotional power than Ikiru, Princess Mononoke and Tokyo Story combined and is as cosmic as 2001: A Space Odyssey. My Neighbor Totoro is certainly more elegant, though.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

been a HUGE chaplin fan since childhood and he always touches the heart with his movies and City Lights is a great example of that

i had watched the trailer for PMMM on youtube and its VERY deceptive as to what this film truly is as you describe it. The trailer played it off as a child-oriented film, but, apparently, it is far from that. . . hmmm

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

It's an extremely brutal film and the trailer you posted on the other thread also is obviously not of a children's film. If you think it is of a children's film I would like you to give some reason why.

Of course, I imagine it's because the characters wear very ludicrous costumes and have hyper cute designs so if you cannot take that seriously you cannot watch it.

Also, there is a thing called "moe anime". Moe anime is cute anime for adults (because, well, adults can like cute stuff, you know?), Madoka pretends to be moe during the first 40 minutes. However, it never pretends to be a children's movie.

These two for instance are all strictly adult anime series (the target audience for the series below are men between the ages of 20 and 40):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsIlun9-f9Q (from the same studio that made PMMM, but it's not as good)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnd1wSIyN-g

These series usually air in Japan after midnight and some feature sexual content (though not those three listed above). Madoka pretends to be something of the same genre.

Violent anime like Akira, NGE, etc, are for teenagers, cute anime like K-ON! is for adults. Adults usually lose interested in violence for it's own sake that most teenagers have.

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

Wow, five times in a few weeks and it is 4 hours long! This movie really made an impact on yah dude. Glad to see you found a new movie you love!

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

Yeah. It's hardcore stuff: I can almost cry just by thinking about it.

But it was always supposed to be powerful.

Actually you not only answered the Why I got that impression but you also provided an excellent description and perfect rebuttal.
The cute clothing, little girls talking very fast is something I do mistakingly relate to children anime, forgetting how much of that is featured in hentai and having no knowledge of "moe anime" is my only explanation for my faux pas.
Always had trouble watching torture anime; along with most hentai, seeing the girls expressing pain and shame during sex all the time :(

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

I like the juxtaposition of cute characters and serious adult themes or violence in anime. Maybe I'll watch it, but I have so many films to watch and so little time it's not highly probable.

I like K-On!, but Kon is better :yup:

But okay seriously, on the moe/cute stuff. I'll bring another example of anime for adults in Japan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nan212PrGq4

Yes, seriously. Guaporense is right about the "culture of cute" in Japan, but other than that what defines the demographics of a show is merely the origin of its base material. Chi's sweet home for instance is based on a manga that was published on a seinen (for adult males) magazine, therefore it is classified as seinen.

Same for K-On!, Hidamari Sketch and many similar shows. They are based on seinen manga and therefore aimed for adults. However in the case of K-On! for example the adaptation managed to reach a wider audience than expected; it created a female fanbase too that the manga didn't have.

So while they serve for classifying stuff, I wouldn't give too much credit to this system. There are many exceptions and observations to be made in each case.

Madoka Magica is a very different case. As well as being anime original and therefore not having a preassigned label, the series at least (and I assume the movies) is aimed for adults simply because it's a psychological and violent show. The characters are cute-looking actually not due to this intention of attracting the audience with cuteness, but because the genre they are dealing with and deconstructing involves these kinds of designs. I don't believe this series appeals to cute, in fact it uses this as a tool to generate some radically different feelings.

The best stuff of it's genre usually transcends it's target demographic. K-On can be regarded as the most popular series of this moe genre.

Well, I think that an adaptation of an adult novel would be classified as an adult film, in the same way an adaptation of an adult manga would be classified as an adult series.

Exactly. It can be seem as a deconstruction of the whole moe genre that became popular in recent years. But it has it's moe moments during the beginnings of the movie.

It's interesting to see the ratings distribution of the film in the IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2194724/...?ref_=tt_ov_rt

It's average is an impressive 8.5, though it might fall as soon as more people vote (there are only 57 votes as of today). Note that there was one woman aged between 30-44 who voted for 1, she probably showed that stuff to her kids. :D

This guy liked the movie though he never watched serious anime before:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2205948/...?ref_=tt_ov_rt

Re: Guaporense's certified greats
 

cool, thank you so much guap and jal for the info regarding moe AND more in depth of PMMM. My knowledge of anime is pretty limited such as cowboy bebop, appleseed and the like and going back to akira and its always great to learn more :)

(double post)

Note: this is not a very violent film it is, however, an astonishing cruel film. It's psychological torture where the main characters are torn apart emotionally. Physical violence is rather limited and it can be said to be an "horror" film in some way but not a traditional horror film (more like Cronenberg and Lynch's work).

As a 4 hour film it might be a very difficult if you don't have enough time. I watched it because I had a lot of free time, I wouldn't have risked it if I didn't have anything else to do and wasn't bored.