The 13TH Hall of Fame

Have you checked again since or is it just from memory?

It's a very quick blink-or-you'll-miss-it scene... The image is seen for like half a second.

__________________
/watching movies for mark f/
MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews // Film Diary 2015 // Letterboxd Profile // MovieMeditation's Top 50 Horror

'Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring'



Going into this one blind, I had no real idea what it was about but had a feeling it would be a rather beautiful experience. I wasn't wrong. Ki-Duk Kim manages to transport us to this magical, spiritual, other worldly setting which we never really leave, and in doing so we get this ethereal feeling throughout.

Only when the film had finished did I realize how little dialogue there was in it. It beggars belief that a film-maker can be so in tune with what he attempts to portray on screen that it renders the need for a script almost needless. And even more so that you don't even stop to think why whilst experiencing it.

There were flaws in the "plot". But anybody picking holes in this would miss the entire point of the film. It is a masterful telling of a life cycle type journey that rendered me speechless in some parts. The images on screen (especially in 'Winter') were so profound I was just moved beyond words. I would just urge anyone to see it rather than have it explained to them why it was so beautiful. I certainly can't do the film justice in a few paragraphs.

I can't pretend that I understood every single piece of Buddhist reference, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of it. I know I will revisit this movie for the breathtaking photography alone. An absolutely gorgeous piece of cinema.

Been mad busy for the last 2 weeks but should get the last 4 done over the next 2.

__________________
"I don't want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me" (Frank Costello)

I'm nearly finished my write-up for Maria Braun, but have some errands to run so I won't be able to post it until later today.

Similar to Wings of Desire, the more I write about it, the closer it comes to being an essay. I seem to have that problem when it comes to discussing German films, probably due to writing so many essays about them in University haha.

__________________

I no longer have the DVD, I wish I did so I could check it. If it's a blink-or-you'll-miss-it scene then I might have very well missed it. I wasn't distracted that I remember, but...if I had seen it I'm sure it's something I would have noticed.

Actually I think the movie's plot is better left a mystery as to why Klara says what she says, so in a way if I missed that scene, I'm glad, as it allows for so many possibilities without knowing for sure what motivates Klara.

I'm going to start the 1940's Hof in two weeks, on June 1st, Everyone is welcomed to join

The reason I'm mentioning it here and now, is: I though you guys might appreciate a 'heads up' that the 40s Hof will start soon....just in case you want to watch a bunch more of the 13th Hof movies, so that you don't have a big back log of movies to watch.

Myself I'm done watching the movies for the 13th Hof and will post about Buffalo 66 shortly.

Crap. I better get going again, because I for sure want in for the 40s one.

My pace for this HoF has slowed drastically in comparison to previous HoFs, but I hope to remedy that soon. Hopefully I'll have time to do the other 40s HoF as well, since the first one had a lot of really good films in it and I'm miles away from being able to make a list for the 40s Countdown haha.

Also, I haven't gotten back to my Maria Braun write-up yet since I've been busy on and off all day, and now it's suddenly going for 7pm and I have no idea where the time went haha. My plan was to finish that hours ago and watch Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring this evening, but I might not have time now. We'll see though. And on the plus side, I shouldn't have to run around any more this weekend, which gives me plenty of time to watch films (and then take ages to actually write about them haha).

Buffalo '66 (1998)

In this Hof which was full of great movies, Buffalo 66 was my favorite surprise. I really admire this film and liked everything about it. It's so well put together, and it does everything right. It's smart, it's fresh, it's intelligent, it's very will written with dialogue that sounds so refreshingly natural. It builds a unique world that we get to visit. That world is very familiar and yet different enough to make this intimate look at two dysfunctional, but good people, very interesting.

It was impressive the way Billy responded to the world around him, he's strange yet weirdly likable. Well at first he's not likable, but he does have humanistic qualities that balance his stranger side...and that says a lot about him and the script. He doesn't seem like some movie character, he seems real. The opening scene where he's let out of prison but wants back in to use the bathroom was well done as it gave insight into Billy, I think must of us could relate to his frustration over not finding a bathroom.

I'd never heard of Vincent Gallo before this Hof and I have no idea as to why some people hate the actor. I thought about reading on the internet about him, but didn't. Not that it would matter as he gave one helluva a performance, creating a character that was in many ways like a repressed child. He lashes out, but he means no harm, he just doesn't no any better. I felt for him when he told his story how he had loved only one girl his entire life, and...she didn't even know it, he's lived a sad lonely life and only wants his parents to notice him...but there to engrossed in themselves.

Christiana Ricci, was also very good in this. She too is like a child and her character reminded me of Lolita (1962) I wonder if that's why she was named Layla? She has this baby doll look and even though she's clearly a woman she acts and looks like a young girl, she too is odd, but still likable.

I was totally blown away by the body language that both she and Vincent showed in many of the scenes. Their body positions speaks volumes about the mentality of both characters, this is just one example...Vincent does the 'pulling into himself' body stance through out the movie and it helps make this movie special. Christian too does this pigeon toed leg position in many of the senses, which further adds to her baby doll Lolita person.

The cinematography was gritty and yet focused it was never overly fancy and yet gave us a you-are-there feel. Loved the shooting locations, the run down suburban town, the bowling alley, the parents house and Denny's too.

*I have more to say but my computer is acting weird and I don't want to lose this post, so I'm posting now but will come back and finish it.

Attachments

       

I can always check the DVD out again from the library just to see if I did miss something, but the person that I watched the film with didn't remember seeing anything either.

That was why I posted two possible ideas that I had in my head regarding what may have happened to her to make her come up with the accusation (I thought it was supposed to be more of a mystery), but when you hear about the photo, it kind of takes that away. Maybe the mystery to it all was better. I don't know.

That sounds like me in every HoF. I watch them and then take forever writing something about them.

I really did expect to have reviews of what has been watched up - at least half of them - by now, but my monitor went. I knew it was slowly dying and it died yesterday afternoon. I was actually just about finished with The Marriage of Maria Braun (I decided to watch it a second time before I wrote about it), and my monitor died. So I had to buy one this afternoon, and I can finally get everything done. I have no more excuses for why I haven't written anything now. So I plan to get what I can posted this weekend.

__________________
I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity - Edgar Allan Poe

Attachments

 

You are great at pointing out things in some of these movies that never would have occurred to me.

Thank you.

I have a degree in German Cultural Studies and an Interdisciplinary Film Studies minor, so I think I'm just trained to look for this stuff. It's perfectly plausible that I'm just reading too far into things though.

I said the wrong thing when I said "never would have occurred to me." More like, never would have had a clue.

I thought that was likely what you meant.

For a lot of films that deal with postwar Germany, you kind of need to have some knowledge of the era in order to understand all the symbolism and analogies, which is why I like to point them out when I see them. Most of the time it's not critical to understanding the film, but I hope that some people might find it interesting.

Due to the classes I took in University, I find it really hard to turn off that kind of thinking while watching German films, which is why my write-ups on those tend to be a little more analytical. I get that most people likely wouldn't see or think that way when watching the films, which is why I'd understand if anyone thought it was a stretch haha.

I think I should've done my write-up for Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and...Spring this morning too, because lately I'm finding it hard to write anything in the afternoon. Not sure what that's about. Maybe I'm getting old?

Attachments

 

__________________
You can call it the art of fighting without fighting.

The Broken Circle Breakdown next. Reading Citizen's invitation to 1940s HoF, I'm gonna have to speed up a bit my watching here.

The Marriage of Maria Braun

I watched this twice for this HoF. The reason for that was because I don’t think I watched it like I should have. Therefore, I didn’t think I could write anything about it until I watched it one more time. You see, it is kind of hard for me to watch a movie on the computer. I become easily distracted for some reason. So I don’t think I gave this film the attention that it deserved. And that is why I watched it a second time.

To start, I have to admit that I didn’t care for the character of Maria Braun at all. I felt a little sorry for her in the beginning, but as the film went on, I liked her less and less, and then I eventually got tired of her. She just seemed odd to me. I don’t even know if “odd” is the right word, but there was just something there that annoyed me. If I am going to be honest with you, I don’t know why I felt this way. I just did. That was a major reason why I decided to re-watch the film. I didn’t know if I missed something with her character, and that I was maybe being unfair towards her, but no, I still didn’t like her. I had much more feeling towards the various men in her life, but then again, I didn’t see anything that appealing in her character for the men to attach themselves to her in any way.

That is not saying that I disliked Hanna Schygulla in here. I thought she was fine. I don’t think Maria is necessarily supposed to be a character to truly be liked (at least I don’t see how it could be possible). And I think Schygulla did a very good job portraying someone that I really had little feeling for. So little that I cared about all of the other characters around her more than Maria herself. Yet, I wanted to see how her story would turn out. I give the credit to Schygulla’s performance for keeping me interested. It was interesting to see the transformation of her character, and the way she evolved. Again, I think credit should be given to Schygulla for essentially being able to portray what seemed almost like a variety of different women inside that one woman in this movie.

I thought everyone was good in here. I think for the small part that he had, Klaus Lowitsch was my favorite. I really appreciated his somewhat low-key performance.

I liked the dark look of the picture. I liked their costumes and the sets. What I didn’t fully understand was the hairstyle and make-up (at least Maria’s). Was there a reason that she looked so “modern”? It just didn’t fit with the era at all. That just seemed so out-of-place. Of course, that also helped to make Maria stand out even more, I suppose. Maybe that was even the intention.

I know I have said about different films that I have seen parts of it before because it may look familiar to me, but I have no idea when I may have seen it. I had that with this film, too. And the exact moment that was incredibly familiar to me was

I remember that moment vividly, but I swear I have never seen this movie. Isn’t that just so strange?

One thing I am curious about was her age. It is just a minor thing. But did they ever say her age? I am asking because her mother said something about Maria being a “tender” age. But Schygulla looked far too old from the very beginning to be described as being a “tender” age. So, I was just wondering if anyone knew what age she was supposed to be.

As for something else that I questioned


Anyway, a very good film that I suppose I may not have seen otherwise.

The Quiet Earth

I am not the biggest fan of a lot of science fiction. There is some that I really like, but generally speaking, I am not crazy about it. So I was hesitant going into this one.

It took a little too long to start. I didn’t want it to drag on like it did. I don’t know why filmmakers insist on doing that with any film. I just wanted the story to get going. I much prefer that with any film. If they want the story to drag, OK, but please engage me in the story before they do so.

This movie reminded me of another one, but I couldn’t even begin to tell you which one it was that I am thinking of.

I didn’t care for the female character at all. I really, really didn’t. I thought the story would’ve been a little better if it had just been those two men. And I think it could’ve worked quite well. Of course, you have to have a woman in the story – if nothing else but to repopulate the earth! I would think at a time like that, sex is going to be your last concern. But I am not a character in a movie. So what do I know!

The movie was OK, though. I wouldn’t say I disliked it. Just some parts of it were pointless to me (basically what was mentioned in the above paragraph).