donniedarkos 2013 self challenge

I've heard that Malle's Le Feu Follet (several English titles, not sure which one should I choose, so I post the original one) is a good movie. I haven't seen anything by Malle yet, but I've got 4 of his films on my to-watch list.

Stalker is a perfect movie for a start. The Mirror is like the most difficult of him, but it might be okay as number two.

I've seen only one movie by Terry Gilliam. It was 12 Monkeys. I want to see Brazil and I've heard that The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a good film too.

12 Monkeys is good but I don't like Brazil(it has a lot of similarities with George Orwell's book "1984").I would recommend to see Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas from Gilliam.

The Mirror might also be his most accomplished film.

I don't know how representative it is of his body of work (not very, I suspect) but My Dinner with Andre is well worth a watch. One of those that will hit everyone in drastically different ways. The rest of his filmography I still have to see. There's Au revoir les enfants, of course and I've heard good things about Vanya on 42nd Street.

I love every single Malle movie I've seen.

You've been lied to.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

Andrei Tarkovsky
The Sacrifice
Andrei Rublev - These get ignored because they're long and confusing, but they're my favorite Tarkovsky films for sure.

Alain Resnais

Hiroshima, Mon Amour - I don't have words to describe how beautiful a film this is. Just watch it.

I could spend the next day explaining why you should watch every Godard film, but then you would probably hate me, and Godard.

Week 1- Louis Malle


Works that I saw:
Crackers
Viva Maria!
Elevator to The Gallows Arthouse Rating:

Crackers is the first Louis Malle film I've seen, and I must say it's a very weak start. Even though it's one of his later works. I don't give a .5 star rating often, I hold it almost as sacredly as I hold a perfect 5 star rating. This deserved it though. The whole atmosphere and how the movie was made felt cheap. It didn't take any risks other than going half racist here and there. Not sure if it was meant to be satirical or not. It was possibly the blandest most usual film I've seen.

Viva Maria! actually started off as an interesting film. The whole way through the makeup and costume were phenomenal. The first half was enjoyable enough for almost anyone. Other than an unrealistic scene where a woman shoots herself, and there's no blood. Then the second half was just outrageous. Such stupidity displayed on that screen, that was meant to be taken seriously. It's one of those films that you're grandmother would be watching on PBS. It became absolute crap. It was unrealistic too, I mean during scenes of war all the enemy soldiers were klutzes who would conveniently ruin it all last second. Hardly any blood, and the least realistic depiction of a revolution I've seen. Then the closing scene was so ridiculous I had to laugh, but at the same time I was cheeped out.

Elevator To The Gallows is the only truly acclaimed work of Malle that I've seen. While it was unique, following two criminal couples with baggage in France, it wasn't particularly good. For one everything felt to coincidental, everything happened at the wrong time, or right time depending on how you viewed the film. I was viewing it rooting against the protagonists. All four of them, I was cheering for the police. Therefore the ending actually did bring some joy to me. I doubt this is how Malle intended to deliver the film though. I also felt like the female performances were amateur. The men did alright, but the woman didn't seem convincing at all. I feel like my rating is a tad rough, but honestly I didn't catch the hype. I'm not saying it's overrated, just not of value to me. I will say though, some scenes looked gorgeous.

In conclusion I'm not sure how much more of Louis I'll be watching. The only one that still on my radar is, My Dinner with Andre. This is because I enjoy dialectically rich films, and simple ones. Other than I'm not sure I'll be watching to many more of his films.

Next Week: Nicolas Roeg

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You should have started with Atlantic City.

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
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Looking forward to your views on Nicolas Roeg's work. Do you know what films of his you'll be watching?

On a side note, I was literally going to recommend him after I read your reviews on Malle.

I'm also curious to see what you pick to watch from Roeg and what you think of it. There's some interesting stuff to choose from.

I'm surprised you didn't like Elevator to the Gallows. It's Malle's feature debut and it is also the best work of his I've seen. try to see Le feu follet, or Au revoir les enfants if you like simple but powerful and honest drama films. It's not his fault you chose to see two of his lesser works.

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And the Lord said unto John, "Come forth and receive eternal life." But John came fifth and won a toaster.

For Roeg I'm tackling Bad Timing, Eureka, and The Man Who Fell to Earth

It'll be interesting. I really like The Man Who Fell To Earth. Bad Timing sorts 'em out. I think you either like it or hate it, but I don't know anyone who loves it. Not sure I'd want to. It's been 20+ years since I saw Eureka and I can't remember anything about it, but I wouldn't hold that against it.

Personally, I'd put Walkabout head and shoulders above anything else he's done and I'd recommend Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse to anyone who loves film and/or Apocalypse Now.

Looking forward to it.

There's some more accessible Malle films. Damage is an entertaining potboiler and Vanya on 42nd Street is just lovely.

Surely the obvious Roeg one is Don't Look Now? It was voted top of a BFI poll I think

Future directors (though I imagine you've watched some of their films already): Vincente Minelli, Billy Wilder, David Lean and Jean Renoir. For controversial films, Michael Winterbottom and Lars Von Trier.

Big fan of Lars Von Trier. So far Europa and Medea have been my favorite. Dogville being my least favorite. It redeems itself at the end, but the stage play with chalk divisions is a bit too kitschy for me.

I've seen three Von Trier works I believe. Europa, Melancholia, and Antichrist. I only liked Antichrist. For your other directors recommended most of them were already on my to watch list.

I figured. Pretty hard to ignore those in my opinion. My feeling is if you ignore Hiroshima, Mon Amour, you should be taken out to pasture.