Fear and Desire

Started by Weak2ndAct, December 12, 2003, 07:48:06 PM

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Weak2ndAct

Finally caught this.  The copy was a crappy copy-of-a-copy-of-a-copy-etc., but still watchable.  Lots of lofty ideas, a little too forced (Mazursky's 'decent' into madness), a little underdeveloped, but still a sort-of interesting mess-- at least from the standpoint of watching the evolution of a filmmaker.  It has a couple decent moments (the way an ambush is shot/edited), but they were few and far between.  I wanted to turn it off, but forced myself to finish just on principle's sake.

Slick Shoes

I saw it. We probably saw the same bad tape. What video store do you go to?

Anyway, I pretty much agree with everything you said. A lot of it does feel forced.

modage

According to Harry at AICN, Fear and Desire will be getting a DVD releases soon as he has received a review copy.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

ono

Then Stanley's gonna be rolling in his grave, and his beneficiaries rolling to the bank.  Or something.

modage

"In other news - Kubrick's FEAR AND DESIRE is coming to DVD - I just got a preview copy of it today - after SXSW - I'll check it out and let you know how it is. "
http://www.aintitcoolnews.com/display.cgi?id=17194
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

MacGuffin

From Entertainment Weekly - Buried Treasure issue:

Stanley Kubrick
Why his debut Desire went missing.

Stanley Kubrick loathed his 1953 first feature, Fear And Desire, and it's easy to see why. Brimming with stilted hyper-intellectual dialogue, corny overacting, and muddy sound, the $40,000 movie about a marooned platoon in a fictional war hardly fits alongside polished masterpieces like Dr. Strangelove and A Clockwork Orange. "It's sophomoric," says director Paul Mazursky, who played a psycho-rapist soldier in the film. "But even with limited equipment, Stanley" --then just 22-- "had a great eye." Though Desire landed a respected distributor and opened in Rockefeller Center to decent reviews, Kubrick resented its amateurishness and blocked it from being screened. (Bona fide copies do reside in a vault at the George Eastman House in Rochester, N.Y., and at the Library of Congress, but neither place regularly screens them.) "He didn't want it to be shown," says Jan Harlan, Kubrick's longtime associate. "He didn't like it anymore."
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

cine

you gotta stop drinking.. these poems are terrible.

Lord Rocksavage

I just bought two DVD copies of Fear and Desire off eBay.  They haven't been delivered yet but I'll write again about the quality.  I also bought the Stanley Kubrick Collection (1951-1953) which has Fear and Desire on it plus his short films.  All were under thirty dollars.

L.R.

cine

im getting kubrick deja-vu.... im pretty sure you already told us this.

Pubrick

Quote from: Lord RocksavageThey haven't been delivered yet but I'll write again about the quality.
just the once will be fine thanks.
under the paving stones.

Brazoliange

A friend of mine posed a moral thought:

If Kubrick didn't want this to be seen, even if they're re-releasing it should we abstain out of respect for him?

Personally though, I'll be buying a copy.
Long live the New Flesh

ono


Brazoliange

THEY'RE ALL GOING TO LAUGH AT YOU!  :bravo:
Long live the New Flesh

Lord Rocksavage

Yeah, your right.  I posted it once and didn't think it worked so I did it again.  Sorry.

I got in three copies from two different sources and they all look the same.  Contrasty and many generations down.

I have many books on Kubrick and they all say that Fear and Desire was beautifully photographed.  Content is a different story.  I would like to no the story of the transfer to tape.  Was it sanctioned by the owner?  I've seen silent films from the 20s that looked superior.

I sent one copy off to a friend and am keeping the other two.  I am glad I have it.

L.R.

Boutros

Has anyone purchased this DVD? WOndering about quality, reliability, etc.

Thanks
"Death: Nothing escapes me. No one escapes me." - The Seventh Seal