Tout Va Bien

I'm wondering if this is a common thought. Even with my enormous knowledge and appreciation of film, I still hold onto some préconceptions when I think of certain types and movements in cinema, that once in a while, discourages me from watching them. Because, honestly, sometimes I'm just looking to tune out and watch something fun like most people.
I wonder if this is a common occurrence?
The french La Nouvelle Vague movement, is one of those pieces of film history that I haven't explored to the fullest. I feel that there is this silly idea in my head that the body of work is inaccessable films made by pretentious film critics.

...And I would be totally wrong.

When reading my "top three..." post, you'll find one of the most famous pieces, "the 400 blows" listed as a huge influence on me. Sometimes I forget that the other films involved with Nouvelle Vague are just as personal and accessible. This is especially true with Godard. Whose display of knowledge with technique is unparalleled, and represented so clearly in is work. His knowledge of different film conventions of storytelling and breaking down those conventions and using that as a part of his storytelling is masterful.

It's fun to watch, and interesting subjects. Godard likes to have fun with film, break the rules he knows so well, and still remains insightful with his commentary.

Tout Va Bien
This is the hilarious poke at the conventions and process of filmmaking I was speaking of. During a strike at a meat factory. A news team husband and wife, hole up with the corporate manager in his office as the employees take over, and make their grievances known with very frank interviews. The film is depicting similar class struggles of that of the french revolution. One of the most common mechanisms used is "breaking the 4th wall", which for people who don't know, the characters break through (figuratively lol) the screen and speak, or are perceived to be speaking, directly to the audience. As seen in the screenshot below, Godard goes so far as to create his set as a cross section, so the audience is forced to see and experience everyone equally.

I was most surprised to find how funny and thoughtful this film was. Wrapping back around to the opening paragraph of my exposition, I found this to be very entertaining. And that was the flip I had while watching it. I went and rented another Godard film the very next day. It was a similar feeling to finding that old band you haven't listened to in a while and once you hear them again there is this flush of emotion, nostalgic but in a new appreciation kinda way.


The opening narration started me off to a good pace. With a discussion of what character beats to use during the making of the film we're about to watch. The movie is scattered with brief moments of film processing. There is an intimacy included, involved with not only the subject matter, but of the filmmaking process overall. And how much the two are blended together with visuals, story, the acting.


The story involves a reporter and her director husband getting involved with covering the struggles of workers striking against their meat factory employers. Throughout you find the relationship struggles involved with the two principals to be almost voyeuristic. With being so surrounded and involved with the events we're brought into, the relationship is taut with a true sense of realism.


The film is very clever. As my viewing partner pointed out (Sarah, an excellent movie watching partner), the interviews conducted of the striking workers are devoid of the questions being asked them, and instead are shown as a kind of monologe with only the answers in succession, as if the interview is being conducted but only hearing one side. It was interesting, funny, clever. And a great way to point out who's outlook we're really paying attention to in the moment. It's one of the most effective "breaking the 4th wall" examples I've seen.




I know this is a very brief overview for something from a master like Godard, but I was filled with so many thoughts from watching this...It was hard to nail it down...I just wanted to get it out there.




A wonderful reintroduction to Nouvelle Vague (The new wave) and I will be watching this one again very soon.

Re watching the classic "Breathless" might also be on the menu.

Top Three Pt.2

As I said in the previous post on the "Top Three" film list...I immediately started thinking of alternates to my "off the cuff" choices. I really feel its important to pay attention to where your mind immediately goes when posed with questions like these. I'm standing by my top three...but these came into my head so quickly, I felt it necessary to evaluate them as well.

Top Three take 2:

1. Chinatown

2. 400 Blows

3. Unforgiven


1.Chinatown

"Chinatown" was the first one to come into my head. I would have swapped this one out for "Taxi Driver".

This film might have one of the most perfect scripts ever written. I know how that sounds...but I've read it on paper...and it's pretty phenomenal writing. With direction from Polanski, whom I feel may be the most skilled director since Hitchcock (yeah...I said it!) you have possibly the best crime noir film of modern cinema.

There is a simple device used in the film, that is obvious when you mention it, but the genius is that you're oblivious to it when watching it happen.

Jake Gittes is in literally every scene of this film. And what that means is,  all the information that is being given, reaches the audience at the same time it reaches our main character. We are learning and figuring out the mystery with Jake in "real time". This allows for a massive amount of intimacy to be created between us and the story.

And what a story...political upheaval, city corruption, a good guy with a bad reputation, a severely damaged leading lady with a big secret, falls for the somewhat damaged savior...I mean...come on...if you like crime noir done right...this is the last word.

"Forget about it, Jake. It's Chinatown." Best last line of a movie ever. (ooohhhh, I feel a new list coming soon)

2. The 400 Blows

I saw this at a very impressionable age. I sometimes feel I get my own sense of disillusionment and wanderlust from seeing this film really young (12-13yrs old)
This is probably one of if not the best "first time out" for a director. Truffaut used what most first time directors forget to use...their own experiences.

When starting out with writing a film, or directing, I feel it's a valuable asset to use one's own life as the basis for the story. It's so familiar that you understand the story like the back of your hand, and can focus more on technique, style, collaboration, because you will never lose sight of where the story should go.

I used this for my first short film. And I can say that, at least visually and tonally, I got exactly what I wanted. With that under my belt, it created the confidence I have now to use my personal emotions and experiences towards stories that aren't so much directly about myself. And the tree starts to grow. I have the 400 Blows to thank for believing in this method of discovery in filmmaking.

The "troubled" boy story who is not only poorly cared for and taught, but highly enigmatic and resourceful. But he lacks the knowledge to recognize the consequences of his actions before he actually does them.  He is thrown into an adult world, expected to act as such, before he acquires the knowledge of life needed to do so.

It's beautifully honest filmmaking, very personal. The last haunting shot, creates a melancholy very few films attain over an entire run time...much less one shot.

3. Unforgiven

I've been having some very engaging conversations lately on the subject of "stereotypes".

This film is a beautiful examination of the idea of romanticizing the anti-hero. The thing that separates this from other films with the same idea is that the main character is basically the result of such romanticizing. The Clint Eastwood character is constantly being held up to the stories that others have of him. He uses it to his advantage, but you start to see those stories strip away...and the realities of the what the stories really are. It starts to show something of a truth.

Now this specific film deals with the idea of the cowboy, and the anti-hero stereotype portrayed specifically films specifically. But the idea, the device, can be applied to many different stereotypes in life overall.

The script, is also one of the best ever written. What's common about good scripts is that it's only comprised of what is absolutely necessary to move the story. You notice the lean nature of how things are moving, the smoothness, easiness.

It's almost simple as well as complex. It's a wise film, and shows it's thoughtfulness in a mature and direct manner.

Absolutely stunning work all around.

*"It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. You take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have."

Lincoln

I love my job, because sometimes you come to work and we're showing a secret screening of "Lincoln" and you get to sit and watch (most of) it.

Without having seen the film in its entirety, I just felt I should pass off these thoughts.

No one makes movies like Spielberg. They really are a league of their own. That being said, I'm not always in the mood for this old hollywood style..."fluff"...for lack of a better word.

But the film is epic. Yet intimate at the same time, a very difficult balance to maintain through a 2.5 hour movie.

Just some basics, this film takes place over 1-2 months during the attempt to pass the amendment to the constitution abolishing slavery.

And yes...Daniel Day-Lewis is awesome.

This film had me pretty hard from the opening scene...it's a beauty, acting, color, sets.

It's Spielberg at his very best...from what I saw at least.

;)

Will report more once I sit and watch it in its entirety.

Top Three...

The other day I reconnected with an old film buddy...mentor if you will, or instigator as I like to think of it.

A long time ago when I was just a kid who liked movies...a lot, he pointed me in the direction that lead to my current state of a "cineste" if you will.

During this phone call he asked me the most dreaded and aggravating of questions for a cinephile:

"what are your top three films of all time?"

First...f* you, Joe! Seriously!

Second: why not five? Or ten? Why three? For god's sake, man!

After I moved through my state of frustration and anguish...I really felt the challenge of it, and thinking about it for just a couple mins tops, this is the list I came up with, in no particular order (but if you know me you can probably guess what order)

1. The Thin Red Line

2. Taxi Driver

3. Batman (1989)

I was a little surprised at my choices...especially Taxi Driver...but it was an awesome exercise to have to think of this on the fly. And it really forced me to evaluate what films I hold to high regard and why. There is an incredible amount of processing invested in creating a list like this. And almost immediately I started running through alternates.
I started thinking of my choices in terms of what I took into account with each one. Personal connection?, visual and artistic merit?, writing? Are all things I felt needed to be balanced and represented in my choices. In delving into this thought process I came to the realization of how ridiculous "top # films" lists are...and how inherently different any "top #" list is from one individual to another. I mean, sure, you could get professionals together and run through the films with a fine tooth comb, but really, all artistic value is perceived subjectively anyway...that's part of the beauty of film (and other art forms) is that there is no one right choice for a "top list"...

...well...maybe a Uwe Boll film would be considered a "wrong" choice for a top list...cause seriously...fuck that guy.

So lets talk about my "off the cuff" list.

1. The Thin Red Line

It's no secret that I adore this film. Also featured on this blog is an analysis of my favorite sequence in the entire movie. Funny enough...it also happens to be the most read post on this blog...hmmmm

This choice I feel, represents the all of what I'm talking about. All the elements I look for in a film, the elements I, personally, find to be the most attractive and revered in an art form, are beautifully represented here. There is a poetic, tragic, and complex design of emotions, philosophies, and ideas included in this film. They dance...fluidly...and without restriction.

Einstein suggested a method in which a movie should be made. "The method has nothing to do with following a protagonist around but rather is a succession of images juxtaposed so that the contrast between these images moves the story forward in the mind of the audience."
-On Directing, David Mamet

This suggestion is on perfect display in The Thin Red Line. I think Malick must have read the same quote Mamet included in his book. Because he illustrates the method exactly. And it's a beautiful thing to witness, and a method of movie making that I firmly believe in.


*It should also be mentioned for those MA student types, that yes, this method also started with the Neo-realists, and continued with the french new-wave...probably, and obviously, originally made famous by "Breathless"...but that's another post.

2. Taxi Driver

There is a boldness that runs through the films of the late 1960's-mid 1970's. It was argued in the phone call mentioned above, that this boldness continued into the early 80's. I don't disagree with that but the "bulk" was specifically late 60's-mid-late-70's. By the time the 80's rolled around the boldness had definitely thinned.

This is the time period of "The Godfather", "Dog Day Afternoon", "Network", and "Straw Dogs".

In that time there was this film..."Taxi Driver". I love the fact that this film, displays without filters, a pure decent into insanity....but is that what's really happening? Or is it rather an individual poking holes through the cultural and social indecencies and projections that have been passed off as "proper" behavior, and the decent as it were is rather an awakening?

It's a complex story that shows a ferocity of film making that the great Scorsese used to have in spades.

I appreciate the boldness. The style, the grit. It all seems like a real New York story. The honesty of it is I think what draws people in to Travis Bickles almost spiritual dilemma. You believe him. You believe in his journey. The examples of the emotional corruption inherent in all people, being shown to Travis over and over again, can only bring us further into his world. It creates a reality that becomes our reality.

As a studio made independent film, a rare risk in these times, there are amazing ideas and performances
that elevate this film to an example of social art.

3. BATMAN (1989)

Batman will always be in my top three because of the overwhelming personal connection I have to it. I also think its a damn cool movie, but the personal vastly outweighs the "technical" if you will.

A lot of people believe "Edward Scissorhands" to be Tim Burton's love letter to the type of tragic horror films from his youth. With the inclusion of the small casting of Vincent Price, it's hard to argue that fact. But I would attempt to argue that "BATMAN" is in fact much more the love letter to old Hollywood magic than "Edward" ever will be.

*it should be noted that as an "original" Tim Burton fan, I feel "Edward Scissorhands" is his best film by far...yes even more so than "Ed Wood"...ahhhh!!!! Getting off track!


The pure scope of the film, with what I feel is the most theatrical set built for a film since...I dunno..."Spartacus", it shows a level of production and love of building a "world" that severely lacks in these modern computer created worlds.
It was a risk taking prospect, and you can see the risk in the style and story. And maybe thats just what I miss about movies now, and why I love this movie so much. To take such a risk with higher budget, blockbuster type movies, is something that is too far and few between. The new Batman movies did it a bit. But the risks that those films took, were made safe by the fact that this film already laid the ground work for its success.

It's also wonderfully romantic, sweeping, funny, scary. Prince music, a badass car, practical effects...I could go on and on....
It's my "Casablanca".


...To come, is my alternate top list that I came up with immediately after the above phone conversation.