Billy Wilder

Started by i/o, April 30, 2003, 03:00:06 AM

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i/o

Kind of new to this site...

Couldn't find any subject for Billy Wilder, so here you go.

He has to be my favorite director, I have never found another director who could tackle pretty much every film genre and come up with a great film more often than not.
"Mime is money"

(kelvin)

For me, his best film is definitely "The Apartment". It has everything Billy Wilder always represented for me: it is, of course, funny, but there are also some tragic elements in it, not to foget Wilder's cynicism. (I just love his well-known aphorisms)
"Sunset Boulevard" is as well a brilliant film, I liked Erich von Stroheim in the role of the butler a lot. Has anyone read Cameron Crowe's book/interview with Wilder? Remarkable.

i/o

I can't agree with you more. The Apartment really does someting to me, it has something that I can't explain. The film is not one sided, it does not tell you who is bad and who is good. There really is no such thing as bad and good in the film.
Double Indemnity can do somewhat the same in a different way.

It's all about characters.
"Mime is money"

dufresne

i have a very special place in my heart for Double Indemnity.
There are shadows in life, baby.

MacGuffin

Along with those talked about, I have to also mention "The Lost Weekend". What a fascinating character study about the struggles of alcoholism. "Stalag 17" is one of the best war prison camp movies, dealing more with suspicion, mystery and intrigue than action.

And "Some Like It Hot," "The Fortune Cookie" and "The Seven Year Itch" are some of the best comedies ever.
"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

modage

love love love billy wilder.  even his lesser works are still just so watchable!  nobody mentioned IRMA LA DOUCE which nobody usually does, but is really entertaining and i really love.  reteaming of lemmon and maclaine doesnt live up to the classic dramedy of the apt, but is a pretty wacky wilder movie nonetheless and really fun. with a great comic performance by lemmon and a great parisian setting.  cool andre previn score too.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

modage

ive seen...
-DOUBLE INDEMNITY
-SUNSET BOULEVARD
-SABRINA
-THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH
-LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON
-SOME LIKE IT HOT
-THE APARTMENT
-IRMA LA DOUCE
-FORTUNE COOKIE
-AVANTI!


and currently have One Two Three and The Front Page sitting here from the library about to watch.  plan on Netflixing Stalag 17, The Lost Weekend, Witness For The Prosecution sometime soon. (although i plan on seeing all the wilder catalog), any other suggestions?


on a side note:  i found a vinyl copy of the Andre Previn IRMA LA DOUCE score from 1963 unscratched for a dollar at a thrift store today and am now transferring to cd.   pretty nifty.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

godardian

I've liked or loved everything I've ever seen of Wilder's. Embarrassingly limited:

-The Lost Weekend

-Witness for the Prosecution

-Stalag 17

-The Apartment

-Sunset Boulevard

-The Fortune Cookie (a friend gave it to me for Christmas, and it was probably one of the best presents I got). It was this one that left me most unsurprised that the French New Wave directors were so into Wilder.

I really want to see One, Two, Three... When I saw the clip in Martin Scorsese's Personal Journey, it looked right up my alley. Anyone seen it??
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

mina aphrodosia

one, two, three is his best! when he did it, nobody understood the homour...but today it´s just funny, funny, genius!! wilder, my love!
Let´s be happy that we´re alive

modage

just watched One, Two, Three.  it was pretty damn wacky!  a lot of early 60s political humor (East and West Berlin, Soviet Union, communism, nazis, etc.)  it was pretty good.  It was actually the first James Cagney movie ive seen.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

godardian

Quote from: themodernage02just watched One, Two, Three.  it was pretty damn wacky!  a lot of early 60s political humor (East and West Berlin, Soviet Union, communism, nazis, etc.)  it was pretty good.  It was actually the first James Cagney movie ive seen.

Did you watch it on DVD? VHS? TV?? I'm sort of waiting for the DVD.

I wonder which Wilder film I should see next...? I suppose it will have to be Some Like it Hot. That's the one I'm most ashamed never to have seen.
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

modage

umm vhs, from the library. but the transfer is pretty good.  cleaned up.  but it seemed to be a bit cropped, so it will be nice to see the widescreen.  yeah go with Some Like It Hot.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

mina aphrodosia

i watched it in television, here in germany it´s shown almost every week. does an dvd exist?
Let´s be happy that we´re alive

modage

was reading an interview book with WILDER today where he said some of his favorite American Films ever made were...

BILLY WILDERS TOP 5 AMERICAN PICTURES
-THE INFORMER
-THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI
-THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES
-THE GODFATHER PART II
-THE MALTESE FALCON

(he also mentioned Grand Illusion as being one of his favorites, but thats not american, obviously).
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

ksmc

Billy Wilder is probably my favorite filmmaker, and The Apartment is quite possibly my all time favorite film. Also excellent are: Stalag 17, The Seven Year Itch, The Lost Weekend, Witness for the Prosecution, Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, Love in the Afternoon, and The Spirit of St. Louis. Oh yeah, how could I forget Some Like it Hot?
"Smokey, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules."