Tuesday, August 30, 2011

THE SCHOOL OF TARKOVSKY PART 2

Even though I got some great feedback on my original "School Of Tarkovsky" blog entry, it looks like i missed a few really great comparisons. So I decided to make a sequel! Some of these are great (the silent light/nostalghia comparison), while some may seem like a stretch to you (taxi driver/the mirror). 

Anyway, here's part 2...

Andrei Rublev (Tarkovsky)
The New World (Terrence Malick)

Nostalghia (Tarkovsky)
Silent Light (Carols Reygadas)

Highway scene from Solaris (Tarkovsky)
Carre Blanc (Jean-Baptiste Leonetti)

The Mirror (Tarkovsky)
The Tree Of Life (Malick)

The Mirror
The Tree Of Life

The Mirror
Taxi Driver (Scorsese)

Sacrifice (Tarkovsky)
True Stories (David Byrne)

Stalker (Tarkovsky)

The Intruder (Claire Denis)
If you've seen 'The Intruder' then I'm sure you're aware that its very Tarkovsky-esque (the landscapes, the surreal plot, the music, etc) with many similar shots from Stalker.

Some of Tarkovsky's influence still cant be conveyed through comparing images side by side. Some films just have that unique "feel" or atmosphere that screams out "Tarkovsky". Look at this first video, which is a sequence from Tarkovsky's 'Stalker' (1979), then look at the clips below it from Von Trier's 'Element Of Crime' (1984) & Alexander Sokurov's 'The Lonely Voice Of Man' (1987) and tell me the film making styles aren't similar. No real identical shots, but its clear these directors have studied Andrie Tarkovsky's work. 

Next, look at this sequence from Tarkovsky's 'Nostaghia' (1982), and then look at the video clip from Von Trier's 'Image Relief' (1983) below.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

TIME OF THE WOLF: MICHAEL HANEKE'S REALISTIC LOOK AT A POST-APOCALYPTIC WORLD

With an earthquake and a hurricane on the horizon all in the same week, I cant help but think the end is near (relax, I'm just joking...kinda). I'm in somewhat of a post apocalyptic mood right now and naturally I've started thinking about my favorite films that relate to how I'm feeling. 'Mad Max' may be the standard for "post-apocalyptic" films, but there's other great ones out there that deal with the same basic subject. Outside of 'The Road', there haven't been too many good post-apocalyptic films in the "indie" or foreign/"art house" world. I would have never guessed that Michael Haneke, a director i cant help but think has Tarkovsky's same opinion on how; "films should not be entertainment", would've taken a stab at a "genre film". When 'Time Of The Wolf' was released (2002/3), Michael Haneke was no stranger to bleakness. In fact, he kinda embraced it. That seemed to be his "thing". His first film, 'The Seventh Continent', was about a family that commits suicide to escape the monotony of everyday life. And his second & third films; 'Benny's Video' (a film about a boy who kills a girl and videotapes it...just because) and '71 Fragments...' (a film that ends with a college student snapping and shooting up a bank full of people), which made up his "emotional glaciation trilogy", were just as bleak. 'Time Of The Wolf' had the same vibe as all of his previous work, but at least in this one there was a bit of an "escape" or a slight hint of entertainment in the plot: "what if the world was coming to an end?" If you're a fan of 'The Road' then this should be required viewing as these 2 works go hand in hand. Both films center around a family trying to survive after an unexplained disaster turns the world in to a wasteland. But instead of biker gangs wearing feathers & face paint battling Mel Gibson, Haneke gives us a more "realistic" (or depressing) look at what the world would really be like if there was an apocalypse or a major disaster...

IMAGES FROM TIME OF THE WOLF:
these images pretty much convey the overall vibe of the film. Instead of dead bodies and skulls laying around everywhere (like you would probably see in a "studio" film) Haneke paints a more bleak picture as to how the world would look (although at one point in the movie our main characters do come across a large pile of dead bodies)

When we watch stuff like 'Mad Max' or even 'Children Of Men', the subject matter is actually quite serious when you think about it (lol yes, even Mad Max), but we look at those films as fun entertainment (and of course there's no problem with that). However with 'Time Of The Wolf', Michael Haneke kinda steps in as the "party pooper"/"debbie downer" and goes; "guys, a post-apocalyptic world would not be fun or entertaining at all. In fact, watch my movie..."
From the very beginning of the film Haneke makes it very clear where this movie is headed. At the start, we see our family/main characters (led by regular Haneke actor Isabelle Hupert) headed to their country home with supplies to hide out from the this mysterious "apocalypse". At the start of the movie we don't realize how serious things are. But that ends pretty quickly. When the family arrives at their home, a squatter family has already taken it over and in the first 5 minutes of the film, the father of the main family is killed by the father of the squatter family. So right off the back "the man", the character we always expect to lead and be in control of things, has been killed off leaving the mother (Hupert) to look after her family. And unlike other recent films that place a female lead in a tough situation, forcing her to become strong, Hupert stays pretty weak and fragile through out the entire film, and its really her daughter (Eva) that takes control and becomes the backbone of the family in these tough times.

Eventually, Hupert, her 2 children and a stray kid surviving on his own are taken in by a group of survivors, led by a man who abuses his power mostly due to the fact that he's the only person with a gun. And like any Haneke film, we see the ugly side of human beings (even more so in a film like 'Time Of The Wolf', which is essentially about survival and doing what you have to do in order to survive).

the squatter family from the beginning of the film that kills Hupert's husband. Later on in the film we see these characters  again


Like any other Haneke film, we see a lot of the same elements that he explores in all his other works which you can read about here (PINNLAND EMPIRE: THE CINEMA OF MICHAEL HANEKE). A quick spurt of violence which surprises us and makes us pay attention (like cache, funny games and benny's video), nods to the film making styles of some of his favorite directors (Bresson & Tarkovsky), great performances from his child actors, and a not so happy ending.

A random observation on the subway...

As I stated on facebook the other day...
 And to prove to you I'm not making this up...
See? I've seen this SAME EXACT layout so far in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan. Walking past this is like going; "Yayyyyyy" (at the Drive poster, obviously), then seconds later you go; "oh god dammit, no!" (at the straw dogs remake poster).  It isn't right to have these 2 movies advertised so close to each other. Its such a mindfuck.

Thursday, August 25, 2011

MOVIE-INSPIRED MUSIC VIDEOS PART 1

In the era of music channels that barely play music videos, youtube & vimeo have kinda turned in to the new MTV & VH1. There have been tons of great/original videos in the last 10-15 years. And some of my favorites just so happen to be inspired by some really great & unexpected films ('last year at marienbad', 'audition', 'alphaville', etc). Sometimes i wonder if people realize what movies some of these music videos are referencing. There's been some recent obvious ones like Kanye's Stronger video (Akira), but there's some other good ones out there that people aren't mentioning. So we're gonna take a look at some of my favorites...

'A WOMAN IS A WOMAN' / 'MAPS' (YEAH YEAH YEAHS)
I don't really listen to the Yeah Yeah Yeah's but i often find myself coming back to this music video quite often because of its obvious nod to my favorite scene in Godard's 'A Woman Is A Woman'...

A Woman Is A Woman (1961)

Maps - Yeah Yeah Yeah's (2003)

A Woman Is A Woman

Maps

A Woman Is A Woman

Maps





'KILLER OF SHEEP' / 'BELHAVEN MERIDIAN' (SHABAZZ PALACES)
Just when i thought i couldn't possibly like this new musical discovery any more, they go and reference one of my favorite movies; Charles Burnett's 'Killer Of Sheep'. These last few years have been great for Burnett's feature film debut. It was finally put out on DVD by Milestone. Got a long run at the IFC Center and found a new audience in the form of hip-hop fans thanks to this video and Mos Def's last album cover...
Killer Of Sheep (1977)
Mos Def - 'The Ecstatic' album cover

Killer Of Sheep (1977)

Belhaven Meridian - Shabazz Palaces







'LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD' / 'TO THE END' (BLUR)
Once again, here's another band i don't listen too, but 'Last Year At Marienbad' is one of my favorites...

Last Year At Marienbad (1961)

To The End - Blur (1994)

Last Year At Marienbad

To The End


'CHILDREN OF MEN' / 'DRUMROLL' (POS)
And just like the Killer Of Sheep video, here's an artist that I'm a huge fan of (POS) remaking a recent favorite of mine (children of men)...

Children Of Men (2006)

Drumroll -POS (2009)



'DANGER DIABOLIK' / BODY MOVIN' (BEASTIE BOYS)
On the flip side, here's a great music video remaking a movie I'm not a huge a fan of, although i recognize its cult status (sorry, but I just cant get in to Danger Diabolik's intentional cheesiness). 

Danger Diabloik (1968)



Body Movin - Beastie Boys (1998)



Danger Diabolik



Body Movin


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