Michelangelo Antonioni 1912-2007

from guardian unlimited:

"Michelangelo Antonioni, one of the most innovative and distinctive film-makers of the 20th century, has died at the age of 94. The Italian director died at his home in Rome on Monday evening, less than 24 hours after the death of Ingmar Bergman - that other great giant of European art-house cinema.

"Alongside his near contemporary Federico Fellini, Antonioni signalled a break with the "neorealist" style that flourished in Italy at the end of the second world war. In contrast to the working class parables of Vittorio De Sica and Roberto Rossellini, his films were cool and stylised, traditionally focusing on the experiences of an alienated bourgeoisie. Antonioni made his film debut with Cronaca di un amore in 1950. International success followed with the release of his classic L'Avventura in 1960."

Ingmar Bergman 1918-2007

from msn.com:

Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, an iconoclastic filmmaker widely regarded as one of the great masters of modern cinema, died Monday, the president of his foundation said. He was 89.

"It's an unbelievable loss for Sweden, but even more so internationally," Astrid Soderbergh Widding, president of The Ingmar Bergman Foundation, which administers the directors' archives, told The Associated Press.

Bergman died at his home in Faro, Sweden, Swedish news agency TT said, citing his daughter Eva Bergman. A cause of death was not immediately available.

"The Seventh Seal," released in 1957, riveted critics and audiences. An allegorical tale of the medieval Black Plague years, it contains one of cinema's most famous scenes — a knight playing chess with the shrouded figure of Death.

"I was terribly scared of death," Bergman said of his state of mind when making the film, which was nominated for an Academy Award in the best picture category.

MOVIE CHANGED- 7.29.07- Sansho the Bailiff (Sansho Dayu)

As you know (if you read this blog), I have trouble getting one of my short films on time. So I decided to pick another film I want to pick-- Sansho the Bailiff (aka Sansho Dayu). I'll postpone the four short films for my next pick.


"When an idealistic governor disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife and children left to fend for themselves and eventually wrenched apart by vicious slave traders. Under Kenji Mizoguchi’s dazzling direction, this classic Japanese story became one of cinema’s greatest masterpieces, a monumental, empathetic expression of human resilience in the face of evil." (from the DVD back cover)

"On its French release in 1960, Sansho the Bailiff was ranked by Cahiers du cinéma as the best film of the year, topping such classics as Breathless, L'avventura, and Psycho. Critics were struck by the film's gorgeous photography, elegant camerawork, and exotic settings and by Kenji Mizoguchi's signature use of imagery that quietly evokes a spiritual transcendence above the suffering of the material world. Unlike Akira Kurosawa's frequent use of close-ups and fast-paced editing, Mizoguchi, here as elsewhere, keeps his camera distant and his takes long, resulting in a contemplative style in which the characters' suffering and pain seem vivid, yet small compared with the immutability of the landscape." (allmovie.com)

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi (Japan)
Year: 1954
Length: 124 minutes

8 pm, Joe's place.

P.S.
I don't know how to fix the fucked up fonts on this post. Sorry, I tried.

7.29.2007- Four Selected Short Films

They are not exactly short- all four are approximately in the 30-minute range. These films are not related, but you can probably see some subtle connections between them. Truffaut and Rohmer are both part of the French New Wave. Wong's films are heavely influenced by the New Wave. Surrealist Teshigahara shakes off his usually experimental style in Ako, with a hint of New Wave influence. I have only watched one out of the four (Antoine and Collette).

Antoine and Collette (from the film Love at 20, by Francois Truffaut). The second installments of the Antoine Doinel series by Francois Truffaut follows the 17-year-old Antoine's awkward romantic pursuit of Collette.

The Bakery Girl of Monceau (by director Eric Rohmer). A young university student is initially attracted to a girl he sees on the street. While searching for her over several days, he makes frequent stops to a bakery. When he finally finds the girl and arranges a date, it conflicts with the date he has made with the bakery salesgirl. (from allmovie.com)

Ako- White Morning (by director Hiroshi Teshigahara and writer Kobo Abe). A sixteen-year-old working in a bread factory, as its protagonist, White Morning is a cinema verité-style portrayal of what it was like being young in the sixties (Japan). Based around sketches of Ako’s days off spent with her boyfriend, White Morning is a collage of daily work in the factory and young Ako’s comments on her life.

The Hand (from the film Eros, by director Wong Kar-Wai). A young dressmaker's assistant finds it difficult to control his desire when he is sent to the home of a beautiful and refined prostitute, for a fitting. (from allmovie.com)

A quick poll for a potential pick

I may or may not pick this film, but I am curious to who all has seen the 1984 Disney film Tron with Jeff Bridges? It's the first feature-length film to incorporate CGI, and one of my favorite movies.

Just curious!

7/15 - He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

He/She Loves Me, He/She Loves Me Not or effeuiller la marguerite (in French) is a game of French origin, in which one person seeks to determine whether the object of his or her affection returns that affection or not.

Director: Laetitia Colombani
Release Date: March 27 2002 (France)
Running Time: 92 minutes


He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not stars Audrey Tautou as Angelique, a woman in love with a married cardiologist. From two very different perspectives, a romance is revealed which charts the relationship between Angelique, a young French student, and Loic, the married doctor. Though Angelique attempts to get Loic to leave his wife and run away with her to Florence, Loic sees Angelique's "love" in quite a different light.


The film will be showing this Sunday at 5115 Jackson St #2 at 8 p.m. sharp. Good food and ice cold beverages will be provided. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns. See you then!

Edward Yang 1947- 2007

Edward Yang, whose movie "Yi Yi" was picked by Rory on movie night, died on Friday June 29. He was 59 years old.

Yang was an engineer before he started making movies. According to Yahoo! News, Yang once said in an interview, "On my 30th birthday, I suddenly said to myself, 'Damn, I'm getting old!' I realized that I had to change my life. I needed to start doing something that I could enjoy and through which I could feel fulfilled."

It is very sad that he died at such a relatively young age. Yi Yi is a phenomenal movie. I also like his 4-hour long epic "A Brighter Summer Day" a lot.

(I'm faster than criterion.com, again)