From the regular culprits (Jarmusch & Hal Hartley) to not-so familiar faces (Charlie Ahearn), we take another look at Godard's (POSSIBLE) influence on modern cinema.
Enjoy...
I admire Jean-Luc Godard and I think it's impossible today for anyone making cinema to escape from his influence - Hal Hartley
Masculin Feminin / The Book Of Life
New York Times: Was your own filmmaking influenced by Godard?
Jim Jarmusch: Certainly. “Breathless” was really inspiring to me formally. With that one, he didn’t have enough money to shoot a film with sound. It’s all dubbed after the fact, so he could go out on the street and just shoot in a guerrilla style, which is how I started out. And he used jump-cutting to facilitate the ability to edit something out of whatever he shot.
Masculin Feminin / Permanent Vacation
Masculin Feminin
King Of New York / Contempt
Band Of Outsiders / Cold War
Godard, Fellini and Bergman were my heroes - David Lynch
Vivre Sa Vie / Inland Empire
Vivre Sa Vie / Mister Lonely
Weekend / Synecdoche New York
A Married Woman / The Best Day Of My Life
Contempt / Belle Du Jour / King Of New York
I think the only people who really experienced film are people like Jean-Luc Godard, you know? He really experienced the texture - Claire Denis
Before i even get in to the actual movie, i have to talk about Elisabeth Rohm for a second. JESUS CHRIST @ how good she looks in this movie! Maybe it was all those years of watching her look extra plain & simple on 'Law & Order', but i NEVER expected her to look so attractive in Bernard Rose's 'Kreutzer Sonata': A modern retelling of the famous Tolstoy story, and unofficial sequel to 'Ivans XTC' (another amazing film, also starring Danny Huston, from the last decade that i hadn't seen until the beginning of this year). Seriously, i had no idea Rohm had so many curves and such sex appeal. It isn't common for an actress to make the transition from the censored world of Television (NBC to be exact) to a borderline NC-17 film with numerous raw sex scenes (sometimes involving elements of S&M) and a graphic bloody ending. Luckily she not only looks amazing in the film but she gives an amazing performance as well, so i don't just have to praise her looks. After reading up on this movie and what it entailed, I seriously didn't think she would have it in her. As we all know almost every assistant district attorney on 'Law & Order' is just there to make Sam Waterson look good and play the typical female sidekick role. Rarely is there ever any depth to their characters, so I've never really seen her range as an actress. I'd never even seen her in any actual movies before either, so I didn't know what to expect. I was quite Impressed...
Through out the film Danny Huston imagines his wife (Rohm) cheating on him in these crazily edited, point of view sequences that make her look great
I could go on and on about how great Elisabeth Rohm is in 'Kreutzer Sonata', but Danny Huston is in fact the star. Its interesting to watch him slowly turn in to his father (John Huston, for those of you who don't know), as he gets older. His mannerisms, facial expressions and even the way he's been speaking in films these days all scream John Huston. If you close your eyes and listen to Danny Huston talk in any of the recent films he's acted in, you'd swear you were listening to "Noah Cross" from 'Chinatown'. In fact, Anjelica Huston makes an appearance in 'Kreutzer Sonata' as his sister. I know most people are use to Huston playing supporting roles or extra long cameos (children of men, the constant gardener, birth, marie antoinette, etc.), but if you think he cant carry a movie, you're crazy. He proved this in the highly underrated and barely seen 'Ivans XTC'. He can play a menacing villain (the proposition), a well meaning "good guy" (silver city) or a complex character that you like then come to hate in 'Kreutzer Sonata'. In the film, he plays a philanthropist who falls in love with a concert pianist (Rohm), and slowly grows jealous that she might be cheating on him with one of her violinist friends (even though she really isn't). He makes up these scenarios in his head about her having sex with another man and he eventually starts to believe them. The film follows their relationship from when they first meet, through marriage, children and eventually their bloody "divorce". 'Kreutzer Sonata' isn't just simply a modern re-telling of a classic story. Its also a disguised comment on the American family and shows the deterioration of a marriage (similar to films like 'Faces', 'Blue Valentine' and 'Flannel Pajamas'). When our couple starts out together, Rohm makes it clear that because of her career as a pianist she doesn't want children. But by accident Huston doesn't pull out in time and she gets pregnant. They eventually have a 2nd child and by that point she gives up her piano playing which causes a major problem in their marriage. Rohm also starts to sense that Huston thinks she's cheating on him (which, once again, she's not) causing even more tension in their marriage. As the film progresses, leading up to the explosive ending, the editing becomes more chaotic and jumpy.
Houston's performance is great (as well as his haunting voice-over through out the film). And its difficult to pull that kind of a role off because a lot of it is internal. His character has to try to hide his emotions like jealousy, rage and anxiety when he's around people, but on the inside he's ready to snap (and he does by the end).
This film is pretty recent (2008) but i don't know too many people who've seen it. If you come across the multi-region DVD like i did, i strongly suggest you pick it up. Bernard Rose has yet to make the final film in this Tolstoy trilogy, but after watching Huston's performance in the first 2, i cant wait to see the final film.
IVANS XTC I started the new year off with a movie i didn't even know existed until a few months ago, and it ended up becoming one of my favorites. Maybe its my own ignorance, but i would have never guessed that the director of 'Candyman' (Bernard Rose) was capable of adapting a Tolstoy novel into one of the best films of the last decade. In 'Ivans XTC', Danny Huston plays Ivan Beckman. A hotshot hollywood agent that must come to terms with his morality when he finds out that he has lung cancer (which is apparently in a late stage and cant be stopped). He keeps the news of his cancer a secret, and continues with his drug addicted, fast pace, cliche hollywood lifestyle, which probably played a major role in his deteriorating health.
There's so many great things about this movie, i don't even know where to start. Much like what Robert Altman did with 'The Player', Bernard Rose took a typically shallow character; a sleazy hollywood talent agent, and gave him depth. If 'The Player' represents the glamorous or fairytale side of hollywood, then films like; 'Ivans XTC', 'Ellie Parker' or even 'Mulholland Drive' represent the not-so glamorous side. I would even throw 'Inland Empire' in with those films, but so many people hate that movie (I'm not one of them), i guess i shouldn't mention it, so forget i even said anything. Its very difficult to show realism amongst a fake scene Los Angeles, but these films (especially 'Ivans XTC') truly succeed in doing that. At the end of the day, Ivan Beckman, Ellie Parker & Diane Selwyn (Mulholland Drive) all represent that person who's been chewed up and spit out by hollywood. While being a studio director, Bernard Rose must have either; seen some crazy shit in his time, or he just doesn't like L.A., because this film is pretty much a hate letter to hollywood and the movie business in general.
Danny Huston did an amazing job. You start off hating Ivan Beckman just like any other typical hollywood agent character, but once he realizes he's going to die, you slowly feel bad for him (especially in the last 10-15 minutes of the film). Rarely do you see Huston as a leading man, although he's in a ton of movies. He's played supporting roles in plenty of films like; 'children of men', 'the constant gardener', 'birth' and 'marie antionette', but 'Ivans XTC' shows that he can be a dynamic leading man if given that chance by someone other than Bernard Rose (Huston Also plays the lead role in Rose's 'The Kreutzer Sonata'). In fact, his performance in the film is somewhat reminiscent of his father; John Huston. Even Peter Weller gives a hilarious supporting performance as Ivan's client and fictitious A-list hollywood star; "Don West" (who I'm sure is based on someone or a is an amalgam of celebrities that Bernard Rose has come across in his life).
'Ivans XTC' is one of the earlier digital films like; Bamboozled, Julien-Donkey Boy or Festen. There's also 'Timecode', but that movie wasn't very good. Its pretty cliche to compare a digital, mostly handheld shot movie to the work of John Cassavetes, but unlike a lot of that mumblecore shit ('baghead', 'funny ha ha', 'Hannah Takes The Stairs' and other films that draw praise from "John Cassavetes scholar" Ray Carney) this is one of the somewhat recent films that actually deserves the comparison to cassavetes's work, along with other great digitally shot films i mentioned. The only thing that sucks about 'Ivans XTC', is that its not that easy to come by. There's not even a U.S. dvd available, which makes it difficult for the film to get any attention or exposure. But if you have the capability to watch multi-region dvd's. i highly recommend ordering 'Ivans XTC' on amazon.com.
And I assume most of you have seen Mulholland Drive and The Player (if you haven't, you should), but for those who haven't seen 'Ellie Parker', i highly recommend that as well. It's a nice companion with a film like Mulholland Drive. In fact, its almost like a light-hearted, comedic version of Mulholland Drive. It deals with pretty much the same elements; A struggling young actress in L.A. And, Naomi Watts plays the lead roles in both; Ellie Parker and Mulholland Drive. Also, this digitally shot film is very similar to the look of 'Ivans XTC'. 'Ellie Parker' is nothing amazing or anything like that, but its worth checking out.
