benjaminguilbert2

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• 
  I recommend you see...

  Diabolique (Les Diaboliques)

  by *

  Among the best thrillers I've seen, "Les Diaboliques" is an excellent guilt-filled mystery bound to satisfy all with its clever, heart-pounding conclusion. I adored every suspenseful minute it offered and I'm confident that you will too.

  CineNatoning

  From the writers of "Vertigo"!

  posted 6 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Bright Star

  by Sancar

  Romance & Desire
  
  In The Portrait of a Lady, several critics disliked the opening credit sequence, or 'prologue', of contemporary teenage Australian girls discussing the thrill of their first kiss and their romantic aspirations for future relationships. (29) Their open and frank tone was considered to be at odds with Isabel's repressed desire, and the 20th century setting unsettled purist fans of the period film. (30) But this opening preface is in fact the key to Campion's interpretation of James' novel; it illuminates her own fascination with Isabel's journey from stubborn independence, to entrapment, through to self-awareness. The girls' voice-overs narrate instances of feminine desire: the ?exquisite? moment before a kiss as a head comes towards you, the excitement of another body in contact with your own, the ?mirror? that is to be found in a lifelong partner. Early in the film, Campion visualises Isabel's sexual desires in a fantasy sequence, (31) when Isabel imagines her three suitors lying in bed with her, kissing and caressing her face and body, or looking on with desire. Campion is explicit about Isabel's desire for this physical contact. Hence, the significance of her first 'real-life' kiss that we see ? as opposed to her fantasies ? when Osmond declares his love for her in the shadowy depths of the catacombs. Despite the marriage proposal of Lord Warburton and the persistence of her American suitor Caspar Goodwood, up to this point we have not witnessed a kiss between Isabel and these men. The combined effect of the fantasy sequence and the prologue's voicing of feminine desire is to invest Osmond's kiss with a life-changing force. Isabel's desire for Osmond's touch ? which remains present throughout even their most brutal confrontations ? is the catalyst for a startling reversal, in a woman who claimed she would ?probably never marry?. Whereas The Piano stages the liberation that comes from a woman's desires, The Portrait of a Lady reveals the dangers of that desire, the seduction that leads to entrapment in a loveless marriage. In this sense, it has been described as an ?anti-romance? and a reverse narrative of the erotic journey to fulfilment undertaken by Ada in The Piano. (32)
  
  It is worth recalling Campion's sceptical and cautionary portrayal of romance in An Angel at my Table, when the romantic longings of Janet are stirred by the attentions of an American history professor, Bernard (William Brandt), holidaying in Ibiza. We witness Janet's discovery of her sexual desire and erotic self-expression, most openly when she swims naked before Bernard, shedding the shyness and self-consciousness we have come to associate with her. But no sooner has Janet glimpsed a new, more confident self through her first sexual relationship, when Bernard declares he is returning to America, dismissing their relationship as simply 'a holiday romance'. Janet is crushed, and the specifically female perils of sexual desire are demonstrated in her discovery that she is pregnant, followed by a traumatic miscarriage. The lesson learnt is that romance is risky, and that sex distracts Janet from her 'real' purpose, her writing. (33)
  
  Campion's fascination with the darker side of romance is demonstrated by her declared passion for the Gothic literature of the Brontës. (34) Her films suggest she is acutely aware of the risks of romance, the dangers of desire, (35) for women in patriarchal society: while Ada is successful in achieving romantic union with Baines (Harvey Keitel) in The Piano, it comes at significant cost ? the loss of a finger and two attempts at rape by her jealous husband. Indeed, we can assume Ada has already discovered the 'costs' of romance in raising Flora (Anna Paquin) without Flora's father.
  
  
  PJ (Harvey Keitel) and Ruth (Kate Winslet)
  
  In Campion's two contemporary films, Sweetie and Holy Smoke, the seductive pitfalls of romance give way to the considerably unromantic negotiations of sex. In Sweetie, Kay and Louis's (Tom Lycos) courtship may initially appear 'romantic' in its abandonment of logic to the forces of fate and destiny, but the film spends little time on their romance, preferring instead to chart the slow disintegration of their relationship into frigid frustration, typified by Louis's suggestion over pizza that they make appointments to have sex (needless to say, this approach is unsuccessful). (36) In Holy Smoke, sex becomes a bargaining chip between Ruth and PJ. Perceiving the weakness at the heart of his machismo, Ruth seduces PJ in an attempt to reverse the power structure implicit in her position as a cult follower in need of 'de-programming'. Their first sexual encounter is successful in arousing PJ's emotions, thereby rendering him vulnerable, while leaving Ruth unsatisfied by PJ's perfunctory love-making. In contrast, their second sexual encounter, with PJ on his knees underneath Ruth's skirt, suggests a weakening in Ruth's resolve, as the camera focuses on her ecstatic pleasure. This lowering of her defences through sexual satisfaction allows PJ to convince Ruth that she has been cruel, but instead of Ruth falling in love with PJ, she becomes disgusted at her own manipulations of him and she flees the hut. Now PJ assumes the feminised, pathetic position of delirious lover. (37) Campion is merciless in her depiction of a lovesick PJ, stumbling across the desert in a red dress and lipstick, finally collapsing and hallucinating images of Ruth as an Indian goddess. 'Romance' never looked so ridiculous, nor have its power relations been so cruelly exposed.
  
  The themes of madness, ambiguity and desire are central to Campion's films. Her work has generated an extensive body of critical discussion, which is all the more remarkable when one considers she has released only five feature films to date. Campion is a director who inspired critical comment and analysis even before she made her first feature. (38) At the time of writing, Campion's current project is an adaptation of Susanna Moore's novel In The Cut (1995), due for US release in January 2003. Starring Meg Ryan and produced by Nicole Kidman, the film's plot deals with ?murder, sadism and sex?. (39) As a story that continues Campion's uncompromising exploration of female erotic empowerment and masochistic desire, (40) In The Cut may well again inspire debate and controversy.
  
  My thanks to Dr Jeanette Hoorn and Alan Hopgood for their constructive comments on an earlier version of this article.

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!

  posted 18 days ago
• 
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  In the Cut

  by Sancar

  Ambiguity
  
  The essence of Jane Campion's films lies in ambiguity, in the opening up of narrative possibilities. Sue Gillett captures this perfectly when she notes that Campion's films are frequently concerned with what is unseen or unsaid. (25) This very openness of meaning lends power to the themes and issues (un)expressed, where the audience is left to interpret the information they are given ? or the lack of it. Campion is not interested in telling her audience what to think or how to respond. Indeed, the ambiguity in Campion's films is the catalyst for the critical debate her work inspires.
  
  There is much about Sweetie's past that is unseen or unsaid. A key example of this ambiguity is the bathroom scene in Sweetie, where Kay pauses outside the bathroom door, left ajar, and sees Sweetie washing her father in the bath. As Sweetie 'accidentally' drops the soap, she playfully fishes around in the water near her father's groin, humming occasionally as she does so. Campion then cuts to a shot of Kay in bed, pulling up the sheets and blanket close to her chin, staring tensely at the ceiling. Throughout there is a subtle but ominous undertone on the soundtrack. The scene is less than 30 seconds, but its presentation is so haunting that it casts a shadow over the remainder of the narrative, especially in the subsequent scenes between Sweetie and her father, Gordon (Jon Darling). While this is the only scene of intimate physical contact between Sweetie and Gordon, the implication of an incestuous relationship is supported by Gordon's indulgence of Sweetie's unrealistic career ambitions and his fear of upsetting her.
  
  Campion again employs ambiguity to suggest an incestuous relationship in The Portrait of a Lady. When Isabel first meets Gilbert Osmond (John Malkovich), his teenage daughter Pansy (Valentina Cervi) sits on his lap. Twice Campion shows a close-up of Osmond's hands stroking Pansy's, creating a sense of uneasiness in this display of intimacy. While no further evidence of an improper relationship between father and daughter is offered, these shots further arouse our suspicions about Osmond (after we have witnessed his scheming with Madame Merle [Barbara Hershey]) and establish the excessive control he exerts over Pansy, and her fearful obedience to him.
  
  
  Isabel Archer (Nicole Kidman) in
  The Portrait of a Lady
  
  The concept of ambiguity is a key feature of art cinema discourse, and part of what defines Campion's films within these terms. Critics and audiences puzzled over the unanswered questions at the heart of The Piano's narrative: why does Ada refuse to speak? who is the father of Flora? why did Ada's father send her away? what to make of the film's conclusion that contrasts an image of domestic 'bliss' with that of Ada suspended at the bottom of the ocean, tied forever to her piano? (26) Like Sweetie, there is much about Ada's past that is unspoken and the occasional insight offered by the film ? such as Flora's tales of her opera-singing father ? are clearly marked as unreliable. The inscrutability of character motivation was the subject of intense critical discussion with regards to Isabel in The Portrait of a Lady: what exactly is it that Isabel wants? The ambiguous nature of Isabel's desire is expressed in the openness of the film's ending, as Isabel appears literally frozen on the threshold between escape with Caspar Goodwood (Viggo Mortensen) and retreat to the oppressive sphere of the domestic: what is Isabel's final decision? (27) The startling beauty of this final image ? Nicole Kidman's pale face and unruly red hair framed against the frost-covered glass panes of the mansion's door ? heightens the audacity of this unresolved narrative moment with which Campion concludes her film.
  
  Ambiguity in Campion's films is not limited to her characters; it extends to critical analysis of her own directorial project. For reviewers of Holy Smoke, the film's uneven tone ? lurching between comedy and drama ? resulted in the obscuring of the film's intentions: to explore or exploit alternative belief systems? To praise or parody Ruth's pursuit of spiritual enlightenment? Dana Polan's close analysis of the film reveals the source of this confusion. Campion employs the kitsch stylings of 1970s pop culture to great comic effect in her portrayal of PJ Waters and her sense of humour is unforgiving in the presentation of Ruth's family, particularly her sister-in-law Yvonne (Sophie Lee). But, as Polan observes, ?moments of spirituality and vision [such as Ruth's conversion scene] are also treated in terms of a style that resonates with tackiness, and this contributes to the film's undecidability of tone.? (28)
  
  The theme of ambiguity demonstrates the central role of discussion and debate in the reception of Campion's films. One of the most contested topics of discussion is her treatment of heterosexual relationships.

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!

  posted 18 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Holy Smoke!

  by Sancar

  Significantly, Sweetie (Genevieve Lemon) is the only one of Campion's heroines who dies at the end of the film. She is also considered, by most writers, to be the only one of these women who is truly 'mad'. (15) Without providing 'evidence' from the film to support the following labels, Sweetie has been described variously as ?insane?, (16) ?mentally disturbed?, (17) ?obviously unbalanced?, (18) ?mentally ill?, (19) ?genuinely mad? and ?nuts?. (20) This is a curious assumption as it is based on scant evidence within the diegesis: Sweetie is never diagnosed with a mental illness and we do not see her receiving psychiatric treatment. This veiled, inferential representation of madness in Sweetie is linked to another theme in Campion's films: ambiguity (discussed below). By way of example, consider the first time we meet Sweetie, when she arrives unexpectedly at her sister Kay's house, looking both dishevelled and flamboyant with her heavy eye-make up, well-worn bra and lace cuffs, in contrast with the neurotic, uptight Kay (Karen Colston). The dialogue throughout this scene is ambiguous, inviting us to read Sweetie as mentally ill. Kay confronts Sweetie: ?what are you doing here? You know you're not allowed?. Sweetie has already been presented as socially unconventional in her manner of breaking into Kay's house and proceeding to trash the bedroom with her junkie boyfriend Bob (Michael Lake). Kay then challenges Sweetie: ?you've stopped taking your medication, haven't you?? to which Sweetie replies in a suitably 'spaced-out' tone ?yeah, well Bob and I are really gonna walk through some doors, Kay, we're really getting it together?.
  
  It is characteristic of Campion's style that this is the only time Sweetie's illness is discussed, and we are never informed as to what the medication is for. Nevertheless, as the film progresses, Sweetie seems to us more and more 'mad'. By the time the family returns from a trip to the outback, Sweetie is so incensed at being left behind that she refuses to speak to them. Instead, she growls and whimpers like a dog, and even tries to bite her father's hand. Like Ada in The Piano, who also refuses to speak, Sweetie's nonverbal communication is a rejection of the symbolic order of language, and the aggressive nature of this rejection of the Law of the Father is visualised in Sweetie's attempted assault on her father's hand. Sweetie's barking like a dog can be read in two ways: as a sign of protest ? the renunciation of the patriarchal order of language ? or as a sign of madness, as Kay indicates with her threat to Sweetie: ?you'll end up in a damn home?. Sweetie's childlike inability to care for herself ? the house is a mess and she hasn't been eating ? also suggests her 'madness' or mental instability.
  
  Sweetie's refusal to conform to patriarchal law is taken to fatal extremes. In her final scene, she is naked and covered with black paint, shouting obscenities at her father from her ?princess castle?, her tree-house from childhood. Kay's phobia about trees proves prophetic when Sweetie falls to her death from the castle. (21) The tragic outcome of Sweetie's rebellion underscores the potential problems, noted by some feminists, in reclaiming madness as protest. (22) For these critics, madness represents an impasse, a request for help, a position of powerlessness and vulnerability that only serves to reinforce patriarchy's self-appointed role as moderator and guardian of female behaviour. (23) As Mary Russo observes, ?hysterics and madwomen generally have ended up in the attic or the asylum, their gestures of pain and defiance having served only to put them out of circulation.? (24) However, it is the very expression of these ?gestures of pain and defiance? that marks Campion's films as powerful texts for feminist analysis.

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!

  posted 18 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  An Angel at My Table

  by Sancar

  Debate, perhaps even controversy, has characterised the reception of Campion's films since the premiere of her first feature Sweetie at Cannes in 1989, where it was greeted with boos and hisses. (6) Sweetie has since been reclaimed as a hallmark of Campion's iconoclastic style, with its black humour, striking visual design (in terms of colour and shot composition) and its penetrating look at dysfunctional suburban family life. Campion's eagerly awaited follow-up to The Piano, her 1996 adaptation of Henry James' novel The Portrait of a Lady (written in 1881), drew criticism for its modernising impulses and liberal treatment of James' classic text, and for the coldness of its characters despite the sumptuous Italian locations and art direction. (7) Yet the film was highly praised for the supporting performances of Martin Donovan (as Ralph Touchett) and Barbara Hershey (as Madame Merle), with Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Hershey as Best Supporting Actress (1997). Despite an engaging performance from Kate Winslet, the Miramax-funded Holy Smoke (1999) was unable to recapture The Piano's success at the box office. The film was criticised for an uneven script that relied heavily on the stereotype of the grotesque, suburban family of the quirky Aussie comedy, which by 1999 ? some ten years after Sweetie and following on from a backlash against films such as Welcome to Woop Woop (Stephan Elliott, 1997) and Hotel De Love (Craig Rosenberg, 1996) ? was starting to wear thin with the locals and had lost its novelty for the international audience. (8) Even Campion's early short films ? despite being selected for Cannes in 1986, where she won the Palme d'Or for best short film for Peel (1982) ? were unappreciated at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) where she made them. (9) Campion's only film to avoid such controversy and debate has been her prize-winning adaptation of Janet Frame's three-volume autobiography To the Is-land (1982), An Angel at my Table (1984) and The Envoy from Mirror City (1985). Originally made as a television mini-series, in three parts like Frame's autobiography, An Angel at my Table (1990) was later released theatrically as a 155 minute feature. This adaptation, also scripted by Laura Jones who adapted The Portrait of a Lady, had fewer problems in terms of the inclusion or exclusion of information from the original source ? partly due to the luxury of three episodes ? and it featured a modest visual style to suit its televisual medium. Nevertheless, while Campion consciously avoided the striking framings of composition and colour that characterised Sweetie and her short films, (10) An Angel at my Table has a strong visual sense in its broad vistas of the New Zealand landscape and its evocation of Janet's private world.

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!

  posted 18 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Sweetie

  by Sancar

  Jane Campion is Australasia's leading auteur director. As recipient of the Palme d'Or (1993), the Silver Lion (1990) and an Academy Award (1994), she is also one of the most successful female directors in the world. (1) These statements are not made innocently. They are intended to draw attention to issues of nationality, of auteurism and art cinema, and of gender. In relation to these issues, Jane Campion is the subject of extensive critical discussion. The Piano (1993) ? her most successful film, both critically and commercially ? was the catalyst for debates about what constitutes 'national cinema' and 'women's cinema'. In the case of the former, the genesis of the film and the mix of creative personnel involved proved problematic: the film was funded by a French company, Ciby 2000; the script ? developed with Australian government funding through the Australian Film Commission ? was set in New Zealand; the director was New Zealand-born but Australian-trained; it was produced by an Australian (Jan Chapman); the stars were two Americans (Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel) and one New Zealander (Anna Paquin); and it was filmed on location using a New Zealand crew and local extras. (2) In discussions focusing on the nature of The Piano as 'women's cinema', some praised the film for its exploration of female desire and sensibility, while others criticised it for aestheticising female masochism and presenting a universalising view of femininity at the expense of New Zealand's indigenous population. (3) The Piano also exemplified the changes in art cinema during the 1990s, with the rise of the 'crossover' film. (4) It powerfully demonstrated the potential for art cinema to cross over into mainstream awareness and commercial success, with its unprecedented box office takings and several Oscar nominations (winning Best Original Screenplay for Campion, Best Actress for Holly Hunter and Best Supporting Actress for Anna Paquin). (5)

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!

  posted 18 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Easy Rider

  by Sancar

  Laszlo Kovacs, a Hungarian cinematographer who fell in love with the American landscape on a cross-country bus ride and then used light, shadow and imagination to give visual shape to seminal films like ?Easy Rider,? died on Sunday at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. He was 74.
  
  Adrees Latif/Reuters, 2002
  
  Laszlo Kovacs
  Enlarge This Image
  
  Columbia Pictures
  
  In films like ?Easy Rider? (1969), Laszlo Kovacs blended a love of landscape with an innovative filming style.
  
  His death was announced by the International Cinematographers Guild. James Chressanthis, a cinematographer who is preparing a documentary on Mr. Kovacs and his friend and fellow cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, said that the cause was not known but that Mr. Kovacs had earlier had cancer.
  
  Mr. Kovacs came along in the 1960s when the old studio system was sputtering and a new independent cinema was rising. Filmmakers emerged from film schools and work on B movies to challenge traditional themes and techniques and create what has been called ?the new Hollywood,? or ?the American new wave.?
  
  Production moved from the studios to the streets, and the new breed used small crews, lightweight equipment and innovative means of coping with low budgets. Improvisation was both artistic goal and hard necessity. In ?Easy Rider? (1969), Mr. Kovacs used a 1968 Chevrolet convertible as his camera car, making the platform for his camera from a piece of plywood on the trunk held in place by a sandbag.
  
  In that movie, he wanted to portray something hopeful after the fiery demise of the character played by Peter Fonda. A rising helicopter delivered a panoramic view of the horizon, but only after Mr. Kovacs balanced a camera on one skid and counterweights on the other to keep the helicopter from tipping over.
  
  In ?Five Easy Pieces? (1970), Mr. Kovacs memorably matched the color of Susan Anspach?s blue eyes and the sky. In another scene, he shot Ms. Anspach and then let his camera drift elsewhere; she scurried behind the camera and he arrived back at her face, giving the illusion that the shot had gone all the way around the room.
  
  His tricks included using flashing lights and other techniques to create the impression of psychedelic hallucinations. His goal was to let the environment make statements about the characters. He intended for the foggy islands of the Pacific Northwest to explain the tight little family in ?Five Easy Pieces.?
  
  Most of his major works are clustered at the start of the 1970s, including ?That Cold Day in the Park? (1969), Robert Altman?s third feature as a director, and ?The King of Marvin Gardens? (1972), which, like ?Five Easy Pieces,? was directed by Bob Rafelson. He did six pictures with the director Peter Bogdanovich, including ?Targets? (1968), ?What?s Up, Doc?? (1972) and ?Paper Moon? (1973).
  
  His range grew wider, with credits including Martin Scorsese?s movies ?New York, New York? (1977) and ?The Last Waltz? (1978) and Hal Ashby?s ?Shampoo? (1975). Other movies included ?Ghost Busters? (1984) and ?My Best Friend?s Wedding? (1997).
  
  Mr. Kovacs was born on May 14, 1933, in Cece, a farming village about 60 miles west of Budapest. During the Nazi occupation, he distributed flyers for the propaganda movies shown each week in a school auditorium. His pay was a free seat, and he was fascinated by the flickering images.
  
  In 1945, he was accepted into the Academy of Drama and Film Art in Budapest, where students watched Western films surreptitiously. He was swept off his feet by ?Citizen Kane,? saying it ?changed my visual vocabulary.?
  
  In the uprising against the Communist regime in 1956, he and Mr. Zsigmond shot 30,000 feet of film at great risk to themselves. They escaped with the film, and some of it eventually became part of a documentary a few years later.
  
  They both bounced among odd jobs. Around 1957, Mr. Kovacs, who had arrived in the United States speaking no English, moved from New Jersey to Seattle, taking the memorable bus ride that found echoes later in ?Easy Rider.? In 1959, he took another bus to Los Angeles, where he reunited with Mr. Zsigmond.
  
  Mr. Kovacs did movies like ?The Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill? (1966), often working with the B movie producer Roger Corman. After he shot eight biker movies in one year, Dennis Hopper asked him to do another. Mr. Kovacs?s reluctance to repeat himself vanished after Mr. Hopper acted out the script. ?Easy Rider,? with a budget of $340,000, was a sensation at Cannes and made $60 million.
  
  Mr. Kovacs is survived by his wife, Audrey, and his daughters Julianna and Nadia.
  
  He prided himself on spontaneity. He and the other crew members had no preconceived idea where they would shoot the classic scene in ?Five Easy Pieces? in which Jack Nicholson orders a chicken salad sandwich without the chicken salad just to get the toast he wants.
  
  ?Approaching the freeway, we saw a little rise, and there was the cafe,? he said in an interview with American Cinematographer magazine in 2005. ?I think we shot that scene in two hours, and then we moved on.?

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!

  posted 27 days ago
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  Yes

  by Sancar

  It's not just any illicit affair, this passionate liaison between an Irish American married woman (Joan Allen) and a Lebanese surgeon (Simon Abkarian), who are both living in London. In Sally Potter's "Yes," their relationship becomes the jagged interface between two clashing worlds, cultures, genders and personalities in the post-9/11 universe.

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!

  posted 28 days ago
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  I recommend you see...

  The Man Who Cried

  by Sancar

  A nutty fairy tale about a displaced Jewish girl who must find her place in a hostile and often surreal world. 1927, rural Russia: Little Fegele (Claudia Lander-Duke) adores her father (Oleg Yankovskiy), a cantor, and is bereft when he leaves their small town to find his fortune in America. Soon after, Fegele's grandmother hears rumors of an impending pogrom and tries to send the child to join her father. Instead, Fegele winds up alone in England, where her name is changed to Suzie. Taken in by a foster family, the withdrawn child scarcely speaks but communicates through her lovely singing voice. Years pass, and the adult Suzie (Christina Ricci) still burns with the desire to find her father in America, to which end she joins a traveling cabaret troupe. That takes her to Paris, where she meets flamboyant Russian showgirl Lola (Cate Blanchett), also an expatriate. The worldly Lola, who cultivates a flighty image but lives by the practical motto "Never look back; always go forward," takes Suzie under her wing, finding her a job at the opera and sharing tips for getting ahead. Lola sets her sights on the opera's self-centered Italian star, Dante (John Turturro), while Suzie falls for a Romany horse trainer named Cesar (Johnny Depp). Suzie feels a deep kinship with the perpetually homeless gypsies, but when Paris falls to the Nazis she's forced again to flee. It's astonishing to watch English filmmaker Sally Potter suggest lavish production values with impoverished means. Her WWII saga, which suggests the German occupation of Paris with little more than the amplified sound of marching feet, and the destruction of a luxury liner with an explosion in the ship's swimming pool, stands in stark contrast to the absurdly over-budgeted spectacle of PEARL HARBOR, which opened in the US on the same day.

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!
  
  Re-watched by strong advice of ANA. Music is fascinating.

  posted 28 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Orlando

  by Sancar

  Notes on the Adaptation of the Book Orlando by Sally Potter
  
  My task with the adaptation of Virginia Woolf?s book for the screen was to find a way of remaining true to the spirit of the book and to Virginia Woolf?s intentions, whilst being ruthless with changing the book in any way necessary to make it work cinematically.
  
  It would have been a disservice to Virginia Woolf to remain slavish to the letter of the book, for just as she was always a writer who engaged with writing and the form of the novel, similarly the film needed to engage with the energy of cinema. And although the book was already a distillation of 400 years of English history (albeit an imagined view of that history, told with a liberal amount of poetic license), the film needed to distill even further.
  
  The most immediate changes were structural. The storyline was simplified?any events which did not significantly further Orlando?s story were dropped.
  
  The narrative also needed to be driven. Whereas the novel could withstand abstraction and arbitrariness (such as Orlando?s change of sex) cinema is more pragmatic. There had to be reasons?however flimsy?to propel us along a journey based itself on a kind of suspension of disbelief.
  
  Thus Queen Elizabeth bestows Orlando?s long life upon him ("Do not fade, do not wither, do not grow old . . .") whereas in the book it remains unexplained. And Orlando?s change of sex in the film is the result of his having reached a crisis point?a crisis of masculine identity. On the battlefield he looks death and destruction in the face and faces the challenge of kill or be killed. It is Orlando?s unwillingness to conform to what is expected of him as a man that leads?within the logic of the film?to his change of sex. Later, of course, as a woman, Orlando finds that she cannot conform to what is expected of her as a female either, and makes a series of choices which leave her, unlike in the book, without marriage or property?and with a daughter, not a son.
  
  These latter changes seemed to me entirely consistent with Virginia Woolf?s views in her other works on the condition of women?s lives (especially A Room of One?s Own) and crisply logical within the framework set up in the earlier part of the story.
  
  Orlando is at its heart a story of loss?the loss of time as it passes?a meditation on the impermanence of love, power, and politics. I simply carried that logic through to include Orlando?s loss of property and status in the 20th century. Whilst the loss of property in the story is a symptom of the second class status of women, there is also an aspect which is worthy of celebration: the loss of privilege and status based on an outdated English class system.
  
  Orlando was of course originally written as a spoof biography of Vita Sackville-West. Where the book holds most tightly to apparent biographical facts it occasionally loses its power as a story (such as Orlando?s "keeping" the house at the end of the book?which was a way for Virginia Woolf to restore the lost Knole to Vita Sackville-West).
  
  I tried to restore Orlando on film to a view more consistently detached and bitingly ironic in its view of the English class system and the colonial attitudes arising from it.
  
  At the same time I needed to ensure that Orlando was a loveable character. The clue was to highlight Orlando?s essential innocence. He happens to have been born into a class, a place and time, and is shaped by it?but as the essential human being remains; the patterns of behaviour and attitude are transformed.
  
  Other obvious changes from the book include dialogue (and poems) which have been invented from sometimes slender clues on the page?and Orlando?s words and looks to the camera which were intended as an equivalent both of Virginia Woolf?s direct addresses to her readers and to try to convert Virginia Woolf?s literary wit into cinematic humor at which people could laugh out loud.
  
  Finally, the ending of the film needed to be brought into the present in order to remain true to Virginia Woolf?s use of real-time at the end of the novel (where the story finishes just as she puts down her pen to finish the book). Coming up to the present day meant acknowledging some key events of the 20th century--the two world wars, the electronic revolution?the contraction of space through time reinvented by speed. But the film ends somewhere between heaven and earth in a place of ecstatic communion with the present moment.

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!

  posted 28 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Map of the Human Heart

  by Sancar

  When a 1920s biplane carrying British explorer Walter Russell lands near Eskimos in the arctic, Russell befriends young Avik, a Euro-Eskimo boy suffering from tuberculosis. He flies Avik to a Catholic hospital in Montreal where the boy meets Albertine, a kindred-soul and playmate, also of mixed parentage. Under the strict tutelage and watchful eye of Sister Baeauville, the two forge a friendship that evolves into puppy love. Although they share everything, young Albertine, a half Native-American half French-Canadian child learns racial self-hatred from Sister Baeauville who tells her she "doesn't have to be a savage." After ten years of separation the lovers meet again. Albertine is a beautiful WAAF photo analyst now betrothed to Walter. Handsome Avik is an English fighter pilot. Their love is rekindled, but will they ever be reunited?

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!

  posted 31 days ago
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  nuthin2bedone

  nice page , nice movies ! are you a professional ?

  posted 35 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  My Blueberry Nights

  by Sancar

  Jeremy (Jude Law) runs a cafe in New York City. Elizabeth (Norah Jones) finds out from him that her boyfriend has dined in the cafe with another woman. Elizabeth is angry and leaves him; she gives her keys to Jeremy, in case her ex-boyfriend comes to collect them. Elizabeth returns to the cafe several times, and she and Jeremy become close.
  
  Elizabeth (going by the name of Lizzie) travels by bus to Memphis, Tennessee. She takes two jobs, in a cafe and in a bar, to save money to buy a car. She sends postcards to Jeremy without revealing where she lives or works. Jeremy tries to find out by calling all the restaurants in the area, but fails.
  
  One night at the bar she encounters local policeman Arnie (David Strathairn) grieving about the fact that his wife Sue Lynne (Rachel Weisz) has left him. He confides in her that he has tried to quit drinking many times. After drunkenly threatening Sue Lynne with his gun, he crashes his car into a post and dies. Lizzie comforts Sue Lynne, and the next day Sue Lynne leaves town, giving Lizzie a large tip to put towards her car.
  
  Elizabeth (now going by the name Beth) gets another waitress job, this time in a casino. It is here we are introduced to Leslie (Natalie Portman), a poker player. Beth lends Leslie her savings for gambling after Leslie promises to either win the game, or give Beth her car. Leslie ends up giving Beth her car, saying she lost the game. Beth agrees to give Leslie a ride to Las Vegas, where her father lives, so he can lend her the money to start gambling again. She gets a call, answered by Beth, from the hospital to inform her that her father is dying. Leslie does not believe it, she thinks it is a trick to make her visit him. They go to the hospital anyway, and at Leslie's request Beth goes inside alone to check. Beth finds out Leslie's father had died the night before. Leslie wants to keep the car because it was really her fathers, and confesses that she has lied about losing the game. She pays Elizabeth the money she had originally promised, and Beth buys a car.
  
  Elizabeth returns to New York to find her ex-boyfriend's apartment for rent. She crosses the street to the cafe, and discovers Jeremy has been waiting for her, and has a space reserved for her at the counter. They talk, and it is discovered that they actually have feelings for each other.
  
  Director of IMPOSSIBLE LOVE STORIES. Touching souls FREE, but no physical intercourse PLS.
  
  P.S for Lady BOND : Cassandra Wilson, Norah Jones, Ry Cooder are some of my favorites.

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!

  posted 48 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Silent Light (Stellet Licht)

  by Sancar

  The most exceptional among the latter was Carlos Reygadas' Stellet Licht (Silent Light). The film features ? in exquisite slow shots of the Mexican countryside, replete with golden wheat and wide blue skies ? a family man who falls in love with another woman. He is wracked with pain about his decision to be both committed to his wife and passionately in love ? his guilt exacerbated by the fact that he is a Mennonite ? and yet he goes through with the affair.
  
  INFO:
  The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after Menno Simons (1496?1561), though his teachings were a relatively minor influence on the group. As one of the historic peace churches, Mennonites are committed to nonviolence, nonviolent resistance/reconciliation, and pacifism.
  
  There are about 1.5 million Mennonites worldwide as of 2006.[1] Mennonite congregations worldwide embody the full scope of Mennonite practice from old fashioned 'plain' people to those who are indistinguishable in dress and appearance from the general population. The largest population of Mennonites is in the United States and Democratic Republic of Congo, but Mennonites can also be found in tight-knit communities in at least 51 countries on six continents or scattered amongst the populace of those countries.
  
  Mennonites have an international distinction among Christian denominations in disaster relief and place a strong theological emphasis on voluntary service. Mennonite Disaster Service,[2] based in North America, provides both immediate and long-term responses to hurricanes, floods, and other disasters. Mennonite Central Committee provides disaster relief around the world alongside their long-term international development programs. Other programs offer a variety of relief efforts and services throughout the world.
  
  In the last few decades some Mennonite groups have also become more actively involved with peace and social justice issues, helping to found Christian Peacemaker Teams and Mennonite Conciliation Service.[3]

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!

  posted 50 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Seytan (Satan)

  by Sancar

  The most ridiculous film to tell Metin ERKSAN. He is the most controversial film director in Turkey. He was making films when others try to make out what a camera is. DRY SUMMER (Susuz Yaz), 1964 is in top ten Turkish Cinema. Dry Summer, a village story whose source is the struggle over land and water, is one of the most stunning examples of the clash between good and evil in the Turkish Cinema. Repeating the success he achieved with The Revenge of the Snakes, a Fakir Baykurt adaptation shot in 1962, in Dry Summer, Metin Erksan shows the confrontation between two brothers, Osman and Hasan. Osman surrounds the water that springs from their lands with barriers to prevent the village from using it. Being a good man, Hasan argues that the others should also use the water. Confessing a murder actually committed by his brother, Hasan is convicted and sent to jail. After his release he learns that Osman used deception to take away his wife and marry her. Hasan loses control. In the ensuing fight, he drowns Osman in the water and then clears away the barriers.
  
  One of the best examples of the social realism that first appeared in Turkish Cinema in the early 60's, Dry Summer, due to its success in portraying the sexuality of rural areas and its ingenuity in handling erotic elements, earns a special place in our film history. One should also emphasize that the film marked the rise of Hülya Koçyigit's career.
  
  Metin Erksan worked as a cinema critic in various newspapers and magazines. He graduated from the Department of History of Art in Istanbul University. In 1952, he directed his first film, The Life of Poet Veysel written by Bedri Rahmi Eyuboglu. He directed social realistic films such as Beyond the Nights, The Revenge of the Snakes 1962, Bitter Life and created his own style in his later films such as Dry Summer, Time to Love, 1965 and The Well, 1968. He won the Golden Bear with Dry Summer in Berlin Film Festival in 1964 and became a pioneer in the recognition of Turkish cinema abroad.

  lutar1

  I would like to thank you ANA MARIA who digged the soil and reminded this alonly guy who dedicates all his life for cinema, but ONLY CINEMA, nothing else. Therefore leaved alone, deserted and isolated.

  posted 54 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Middle of the Night

  by Sancar

  The last one Middle of the Night-1959 by Delbert Mann.
  
  Kim's contract with Columbia ended in the early 1960s and suddenly Kim's career went into sharp decline.
  
  There were three reasons for this downturn. Not being tied to a studio contract meant that Kim was not obliged to make movies on a regular basis, and it is significant that after leaving Columbia, Kim made very few films. Second, Kim had to rely on her own judgement in selecting roles, and although she certainly had an independent mind, the evidence suggests that her judgement was poor. Most of all, the James Bond cycle of films replaced traditional movie heroines with a new type of woman: sexually obvious, sexually uninhibited, and the exact opposite of everything Kim Novak represented.
  
  Kim responded by playing obvious and uninhibited women in films like "The Amorous Adventures Of Moll Flanders" and "Kiss Me Stupid", and promptly lost her aloofness and mystery. She also rapidly lost the interest of the general public, and in the mid 1960s she went into semi-retirement.

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!

  posted 55 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Vertigo

  by Sancar

  The second one is VERTIGO-1958 by Alfred Hitchcock.
  
  Kim's reputation has been restored in recent years partly by the re-issue of some of her films on DVD, but mainly because of the re-emergence of "Vertigo" which is now widely regarded as a masterpiece whereas it was dismissed as botchwork when first released. Originally critics sniped at Kim's performance, but now decades later, it is much admired.

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!

  posted 55 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  Picnic

  by Sancar

  A forgetten lady from 1950's. KIM NOVAK. The first one, Picnic-1955 by Joshua Logan.
  
  Throughout the 1950s Kim was a major box office attraction, and her films were commercially successful, although often savaged by the critics.

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!

  posted 55 days ago
• 
  I recommend you see...

  I Timi tis Agapis (The Price of Love)

  by Sancar

  Sry. also the price of Love, 1984, by Tonia MARKETAKI.
  
  In turn of the century Greece, a young girl falls for a dashing young man in their island village, but because the man's family asks for too much of a dowry, the girl's mother refuses to hand off her daughter. Risking shame and estrangement, the girl denies her mother's wishes and runs off with her lover, much to the evil chagrin of the local townsfolk. The film is both a careful analysis of old-world traditions and an indictment on Greece's modern sexist society.
  
  Also Known As: I Timi Tis Agapis
  
  Genres: Drama and Romance
  
  Running Time: 2 hrs. 46 min.
  
  Production Co.: Andromeda Productions, Greek Film Centre, ERT 1
  
  Filming Locations: Corfu, Greece
  
  Produced in: Greece

  lutar1

  Hey, you should really see this!

  posted 56 days ago

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