Thursday, June 8, 2023

THE SCHOOL OF CHANTAL AKERMAN - JOANNA HOGG: PART TWO

Hotel Monterey / Où en êtes-vous

 

Chantal Akerman enthusiast and Pinnland Empire favorite; Joanna Hogg released a wonderful short film earlier this year (Où en êtes-vous) that went a little under the radar (I wouldn't have known about had it not been for my friend, filmmaker & Pinnland Empire supporter; Carlo).

I noticed Hogg pulled some imagery from the films of Chantal Akerman. Normally I’d say these shots are pretty banal, but given Hogg’s love of Akerman (click here to read my previous entry), I’d say these comparisons aren’t a coincidence…

La Bas / Où en êtes-vous

No Home Movie / Où en êtes-vous

D'est /
Où en êtes-vous

Toute Une Nuit /
Où en êtes-vous

Portrait Of A Young Girl At The End Of The 1960s In Brussels /
Où en êtes-vous

Hotel Monterey /
Où en êtes-vous

Hotel Monterey /
Où en êtes-vous



Sunday, June 4, 2023

MASTER GARDENER



If you’re familiar with Paul Schrader’s films then you know to expect an homage to Bresson at some point (Pickpocket & Diary Of Country Priest to be specific). There’s also usually a continuation of his own regular themes (the lonely dude writing in his journal, odd race relations, weird redemption arcs, etc). Master Gardener is no exception. This is essentially Paul Schrader trying to play some of his greatest hits with slightly different instruments…

Taxi Driver /
Master Gardener

Taxi Driver /
Master Gardener

First Reformed /
Master Gardener

Taxi Driver /
Master Gardener

First Reformed /
Master Gardener


The movie that was most important to me was Pickpocket, because when I saw that in 1969 it made me realise that there was a connection between a religious upbringing and my profane presence and there was a connection to style, and out of that came the book Transcendental Style. It almost made me realise that there was actually a place for me in filmmaking, I was a critic and I didn’t think there was, but then I saw this movie about a guy who writes in a journal and goes out and steals stuff and I thought, I can make something like that. Then three years later I wrote Taxi Driver - Paul Schrader, hotcorn.com

Pickpocket /
Master Gardener

Pickpocket /
Master Gardener


Diary Of A Country Priest /
Master Gardener


While the imagery in Master Gardener draws heavily from Robert Bresson, the deeper plot does not. This is very much a Paul Schrader story. A former nazi extremist (Narvel) living under a new identity as a gardener is given the task of mentoring his boss’ biracial grandniece (Maya). Maybe Schrader thought having a “full” Black woman would be a bit too much on the nose so he made the Maya character half Black and half White to play up the internal racial complexity?
Narvel’s relationship with Maya goes from mentor to father figure to…somethin’ else (the relationship between Narvel & Maya is almost an updated reworking of Travis & Betsy from Taxi Driver right down to the climactic shootout).


If you’ve followed my blog for the last few years then you know one of my biggest pet peeves with movies these days is that they seem to be made with nothing but twitter discourse in mind (inside jokes/threads that only twitter regulars would understand, naive & uninformed views on representation, pandering to some political/social view, etc). Master Gardener does all these things but I’m not totally mad it this time because it goes beneath the surface of the basic twitter/online discourse that so many of today’s movies play in to. Part of me wishes I didn’t watch the trailer for this because it kind of lays the entire movie out and did everything I predicted it was going to do. Schrader touches on everything from the weird interracial attraction certain specific women of color have towards certain specific white men to the folks that try to justify said attraction.

Now…to be clear - this movie is a mess. It isn’t good but I didn’t feel like my time was wasted watching it if that makes sense (this was first thing I’ve seen in the theater in six months). No matter how much this movie tries to push the redemption angle, Narvel is a terrible human being who doesn’t deserve forgiveness. But that’s just me. I love Paul Schrader but part of me feels like he didn’t have a realistic Black audience in mind when making Master Gardener. This is a wet dream for contrarians or people who like to push the “well…it’s complicated” narrative (it isn’t that complicated to me)..
I’m sure Master Gardener will be the cause of some interesting think-pieces from both intelligent/thoughtful movie lovers with nuance and knee-jerk idiots that move strictly off of emotion.

Thursday, June 1, 2023

THE SCHOOL OF OZU: AKI KAURISMAKI *UPDATED*


My brother forced me to visit the film institute where I saw TOKYO STORY. After that I gave up my dreams about literature. I began my search for a red kettle - Aki Kaurismaki, Talking With Ozu

Floating Weeds / 
Shadows In Paradise


At first glance Aki Kaurismaki comes off like an unofficial student from the school of Bresson. Both filmmakers have a very deadpan and sometimes harsh look at humanity. They’ve both even adapted the works of Dostoevsky.But when you dig a little deeper in to the filmography of Kaurismaki you’ll see a lot of beauty just beneath the surface. His films have a decent amount of “soul” when you get past the dry performances and monotone deliveries.
These qualities comes from his immense admiration for Yasujiro Ozu. Kaurismaki has never tried to hide his influences. He always makes a point to namedrop Ozu as a source of inspiration.

Below you’ll find a collection of visual comparisons between the films of Ozu & Kaurismaki (all Kaurismaki feature films are represented) to show the impact that the legendary Japanese filmmaker has on the Finnish aueter.

Enjoy…


I refuse to go to my grave until I have proved to myself that I’ll never reach your level, Mr. Ozu - Aki Kaurismaki, Talking With Ozu

Dragnet Girl / 
I Hired A Contract Killer

Dragnet Girl / I Hired A Contract Killer

Dragnet Girl / 
I Hired A Contract Killer


What moves me in Ozu's work above all else is his humanity, his honesty, his rectitude - Aki Kaurismaki

Floating Weeds / 
Shadows In Paradise

Floating Weeds / 
Shadows In Paradise

Floating Weeds / 
Shadows In Paradise



If I go to lonely island with only one film it would still be Tokyo Story -
Aki Kaurismaki, 

Tokyo Story / 
Le Harve

Floating Weeds / 
Le Harve

Floating Weeds / 
Le Harve

Floating Weeds / 
Le Harve


What I respect most is that Ozu never needed to use murder or violence to tell everything that’s essential about human life - Aki Kaurismaki, Talking With Ozu

Equinox Flower/  Shadows In Paradise

Floating Weeds / 
I Hired A Contract Killer

An Autumn Afternoon / 
Le Harve

Tokyo Story / Shadows In Paradise

Tokyo Story / Shadows In Paradise

Tokyo Story / Shadows In Paradise

Tokyo Story / The Man Without A Past

Tokyo Story / The Man Without A Past

Tokyo Story / The Man Without A Past

Woman Of Tokyo / I Hired A Contract Killer

Early Summer / I Hired A Contract Killer

Early Summer / I Hired A Contract Killer

Early Summer / I Hired A Contract Killer

Floating Weeds / Le Havre

Good Morning/ Shadows In Paradise 

Passing Fancy / 
Le Havre

The Only Son / 
The Man Without A Past

Good Morning / The Man Without A Past

Good Morning / Shadows In Paradise

Late Spring / Shadows In Paradise

Late Autumn / The Other Side Of Hope

Late Autumn / Shadows In Paradise

Late Spring / 
Calimari Union


Late Spring / 
Calimari Union

Early Summer /
Take Care Of Your Scarf Tatiana

Floating Weeds / 
Drifting Clouds

An Autumn Afternoon / 
The Other Side Of Hope

The Only Son / The Match Factory Girl

The Only Son / Ariel

An Autumn Afternon /
La Vie De Boheme

Tokyo Story /
Lights In The Dusk

Good Morning /
Leningrad Cowboys Meet Moses 

An Autumn Afternoon /
Leningrad Cowboys Go America

Dragnet Girl / Dirty Hands

Floating Weeds /
Hamlet Goes Business

Floating Weeds / Drifting Clouds

Floating Weeds /
I Hired A Contract Killer

Good Morning /
Juha
An Autumn Afternoon /
Lights In The Dusk

Floating Weeds / Le Havre

Early Summer /
Calimari Union

Good Morning /
Hamlet Goes Business

Dragnet Girl /
Hamlet Goes Business


Woman Of Tokyo /
Fallen Leaves

Woman Of Tokyo /
Lights In The Dusk

End Of Summer /
Calamari Union

End Of Summer /
The Other Side Of Hope



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