Entering its second year, the Museum of the Moving Image’s First Look series provides a strong, welcome antidote to the generally anemic cinematic landscape that is January. Its eclectic selection of undistributed features and shorts, programmed by Dennis Lim, Rachael Rakes, and David Schwartz, occasions an invigorating mixture of moods and approaches from established as well as emerging directors. It’s indicative of the series’ dedication to distinctive, often divisive cinematic voices that Bruno Dumont’s decidedly non-crowd-pleasing Hors Satan was chosen as the opening night film nearly two years following its Cannes premiere.
Whereas earlier films like Twentynine Palms or Hadewijch pushed the French director’s worldview in new directions, Hors Satan sits solidly in Dumont’s comfort zone, down to the cryptically religious title that links it to his debut, The Life of Jesus. His protagonist is a drifter with a scruffy, narrow face like Pasolini’s proletarian Christ,...
Whereas earlier films like Twentynine Palms or Hadewijch pushed the French director’s worldview in new directions, Hors Satan sits solidly in Dumont’s comfort zone, down to the cryptically religious title that links it to his debut, The Life of Jesus. His protagonist is a drifter with a scruffy, narrow face like Pasolini’s proletarian Christ,...
- 1/11/2013
- by Fernando F. Croce
- MUBI
The New York Times runs two must-reads this weekend. With Jacques Rivette's Céline and Julie Go Boating (1974) opening at Film Forum on Friday, Dennis Lim writes, "It's not just that the film holds up to repeat viewings; its very point is its seemingly infinite repeatability, its mysterious capacity to surprise both first-time viewers and those who know it as well as a magician reciting an incantation." He goes on to consider Céline within the context of Rivette's oeuvre and its lasting impact on filmmakers as diverse as Susan Seidelman and David Lynch.
"Shirley Clarke is one of the great undertold stories of American independent cinema," writes Manohla Dargis at the top of piece on Milestone Films' multi-year project to restore and revive interest in Clarke's work. The Connection (1962) opens Friday at the IFC Center and soon to follow will be theatrical and DVD releases of Robert Frost: A...
"Shirley Clarke is one of the great undertold stories of American independent cinema," writes Manohla Dargis at the top of piece on Milestone Films' multi-year project to restore and revive interest in Clarke's work. The Connection (1962) opens Friday at the IFC Center and soon to follow will be theatrical and DVD releases of Robert Frost: A...
- 4/28/2012
- MUBI
Finishing off strong and on a serious note. After ten days filled with a little over 30 films, I took a week to process before writing this final diary on Berlinale 2012. My last two days at the festival were much less packed yet maybe the most serious ones during this whole time spent in the comfy red seats with moving images. So instead of doing the quick rundown of all the films I watched during these final two days I choose to pick out three that each in their own way deserve a special mention.
Starting off with Davy Chou’s Le Sommeil D’Or (Golden Slumbers). Chou’s thoughtfully constructed documentary pays tribute to the Cambodian cinema of the 1960s and 1970s. A national cinema that started off considerably late and was destroyed just as it started flourishing. A little over 400 Cambodian productions drew crowds to the theaters of Phnom Penh during those golden years,...
Starting off with Davy Chou’s Le Sommeil D’Or (Golden Slumbers). Chou’s thoughtfully constructed documentary pays tribute to the Cambodian cinema of the 1960s and 1970s. A national cinema that started off considerably late and was destroyed just as it started flourishing. A little over 400 Cambodian productions drew crowds to the theaters of Phnom Penh during those golden years,...
- 3/1/2012
- by Merle Fischer
- SoundOnSight
Revision
There'll be more notes and roundups over the next few days, but before tonight's presentation of the Bears, I thought I'd rank the films I managed to see at this year's Berlinale. Note that these are not awards predictions but rather personal preferences, for what they're worth. In order (for the moment):
Outstanding
1. Barbara (Christian Petzold), Competition (see the notes and roundup).
2. Tabu (Miguel Gomes), Competition (notes and roundup).
3. Revision (Philip Scheffner), Forum.
Very Good
4. Bestiaire (Denis Côté), Forum (notes and roundup).
Good
5. Sister (Ursula Meier), Competition.
6. Death Row (Werner Herzog), Berlinale Special.
7. War Witch (Kim Nguyen), Competition.
8. Aujourd'hui (Alain Gomis), Competition.
9. Everybody in Our Family (Radu Jude), Forum.
10. Marina Abramović The Artist Is Present (Matthew Akers), Panorama Dokumente.
11. Golden Slumbers (Davy Chou), Forum.
Just Above The Middle Line
12. Mercy (Matthias Glasner), Competition.
13. Captive (Brillante Mendoza), Competition (notes and roundup).
14. Francine (Brian M Cassidy and Melani Shatzky), Forum.
There'll be more notes and roundups over the next few days, but before tonight's presentation of the Bears, I thought I'd rank the films I managed to see at this year's Berlinale. Note that these are not awards predictions but rather personal preferences, for what they're worth. In order (for the moment):
Outstanding
1. Barbara (Christian Petzold), Competition (see the notes and roundup).
2. Tabu (Miguel Gomes), Competition (notes and roundup).
3. Revision (Philip Scheffner), Forum.
Very Good
4. Bestiaire (Denis Côté), Forum (notes and roundup).
Good
5. Sister (Ursula Meier), Competition.
6. Death Row (Werner Herzog), Berlinale Special.
7. War Witch (Kim Nguyen), Competition.
8. Aujourd'hui (Alain Gomis), Competition.
9. Everybody in Our Family (Radu Jude), Forum.
10. Marina Abramović The Artist Is Present (Matthew Akers), Panorama Dokumente.
11. Golden Slumbers (Davy Chou), Forum.
Just Above The Middle Line
12. Mercy (Matthias Glasner), Competition.
13. Captive (Brillante Mendoza), Competition (notes and roundup).
14. Francine (Brian M Cassidy and Melani Shatzky), Forum.
- 2/19/2012
- MUBI
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