MoFo Movie Club April: Cries and Whispers

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I never said that to be fair. However, a 2.5 rarely denotes more than appreciation. Which is fine by me, I imagine Yoda feels the same way based on his interest while discussing it, but I don't want to turn this convo away from the podcast just yet. Lucas citing hell is peculiar, if I think of Dante's ascent from hell, which was colder than most readers expected, and more difficult, but with the goal of getting to the other side and all that. Concerning that element, the ending is very curious (one pro of nonlinear editing), and it has to be a positive message, but I haven't decided exactly what it is for me yet...



Finished here. It's been fun.
I was originally referring to Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, an obvious sequel to Cries and Whispers.
Get out of here Guap, you're drunk.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
I'll admit that I prefer Bergman's late '50s/early '60s work to C&W or Persona for that matter, but those two definitely seem more personal. Bergman's film previous to C&W, The Touch with Elliott Gould, is in color but I don't recall it being used in any ways particularly striking.



Loved the cast guys. I saw this film for the first time last year and loved it. I liked what you guys said about the best movies leave you knowing there is more to mine from them. I love that feeling but only if there is plenty I take away as well. C&W fits in that category.
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I downloaded it. Once I get more used to seeing more good Ingmar Bergman starter films like Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal, then I will watch C&W so I can hear Yoda and Daniel M thoughts on the movie.



Yeah, the plan is definitely to do this at least a few more times and see how it goes. But a lot of it depends on you guys! Because the big idea here is to get people excited about Movie Club, taking turns on the podcast if all goes well, etc. Good way to do more podcasts and do more Movie Clubs.

That said, yeah, the timing gave us a really unusual film to kick things off with.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Regardless of raul's giving it a 1 (I think), it's well-worth discussing. It received 5 Oscar nominations (Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Costume Design), winning for Sven Nykvist's cinematography. And it's '70s.



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Regardless of raul's giving it a 1 (I think), it's well-worth discussing. It received 5 Oscar nominations (Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Costume Design), winning for Sven Nykvist's cinematography. And it's '70s.
I did, but I tend to overreact on first watch.



I downloaded it. Once I get more used to seeing more good Ingmar Bergman starter films like Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal, then I will watch C&W so I can hear Yoda and Daniel M thoughts on the movie.
C&W was only my second Bergman and I loved it. Made me want to watch more which I definitely will. I am a pretty mainstream movie watcher as well so it is not like art house
naturally appeals to me. I am certain that there is tons to glean from the film and lots of symbolism that I will probably never grasp. At the center of it all is the relationship of these four women though, which in my mind makes it very accessible. I guess what I am saying is dont wait. Dig in.



I did, but I tend to overreact on first watch.
And boy, is Cries and Whispers an easy film to overreact to, too! Very extreme. Very stark. My mouth hung open more than once, I think.

I alluded to this earlier, but I'm never sure what to say about a film that has such stark goals, and achieves them. I have to admire its superficial success in generating a feeling, but I don't know what obligation there is, if any, to allow this to trump whether or not the feeling it induces is one I particularly enjoy. It's a pretty fine line; some films evoke despair and I find them beautiful for it. Others just make me feel crappy in a way that I don't find redeeming at all, and I struggle to find a clear reason as to why some work and others don't.



In reaction to that, I personally am familiar with a few families that are almost as estranged (not to mention my mother and I), and I'm sure Bergman didn't just write this thinking of merely eliciting a dark emotion, otherwise he wouldn't have ended it as he did, for I still consider that a very positive ending. There really could be, as everyone has sort of said, several things to glean off that alone, what are familial relationships to you, can you force love, so on. It's pretty easy to take extreme films the wrong way simply because so many of them are superficial, I think the reason you might be looking for is in the details, as it is wont to be, since the details (even the ones we touched upon) reveal much more involvement in the crafting of the story as a film. It's a whole other discussion whether or not one gives a **** about that and just wants something easier to deal with, which I don't think is the case on the whole, but it helps more to focus in on what and why for the sequences of uncomfortability, that's where there will be a clearer discussion.



That's a good point: it might seem surreal to someone who isn't estranged from any part of their family, but to someone who is there are probably some deep emotional truths there.

That carries with it similar problems, though, about how to judge something that accomplishes a goal that doesn't really speak to you, and that messy dichotomy (which some people, admittedly, think shouldn't exist) between how objectively impressive you find something and how much you actually personally admire or enjoy it.

I'm also extremely torn on filmmakers who make films ostensibly for themselves. That's a stark way to put it, but with someone like Bergman, I get the impression that he's just working through this stuff, as we discussed a bit on the podcast. Which is fine, and can produce some really interesting art, but sometimes feels like a cinematic convulsion. I just need to get this OUT. Less for the viewer than for himself. Again, not the worst thing in the world, but I tend to take the opposite posture towards art and its enjoyment. I feel like that kind of inwardly focused art is going to connect deeply with those people who happen to feel the same thing, and alienate everyone else to some degree.



It's a fantastic movie i like its idea and gonna to download it now