Andrei Tarkovsky

Started by rustinglass, April 30, 2003, 03:35:22 PM

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Seraphim

Kusturica- the Yugoslav director?

Yes, I've seen one or two of his films.

Black Cat, White Cat being the first (of that I'm sure), about the second I'm not sure.... :)

Why that question, if I my ask?

Do you see any comparisons with Tarkovsky's work, for instance?
Or is it something I said... :wink:
Seraphim's magic words:
Dutch
Dead Can Dance/ Cocteau Twins
Literature
European/ Art Cinema:
Tarkovsky, Bresson, Fellini, Angelopoulos

Seraphim

Ahum.....

I'm talking to Underground...  :roll:

I see.... :-D

I can't remember having seen that film... :oops:
(And I say: I can;t remember it...) :lol:

AND you also see Zerkalo as (maybe) Tarkovsky's most beautiful peace of art work. Great thing!
Seraphim's magic words:
Dutch
Dead Can Dance/ Cocteau Twins
Literature
European/ Art Cinema:
Tarkovsky, Bresson, Fellini, Angelopoulos

rustinglass

I don't think you've seen underground, otherwise I believe you would remember it.
I think you should add emir kusturica to your directors-to-explore list. I'd say he has three main influences to his work: fellini, renoir and tarkovsky (imo, maybe i'm way off). his films are to me the funniest and at the same time the most tragic, of course you seem to have only seen black cat white cat, which is his exception, and my favourite comedy of all time.
I think you'll find his films to be equally if not more beatiful than tarkovsky's work.
"In Serbia a lot of people hate me because they want to westernise, not understanding that the western world is bipolar, with very good things and very bad things. Since they don't have experience of the west, they even believe that western shit is pie."
-Emir Kusturica

Seraphim

Underground,
I haven't seen Underground, but I've put that on my to-see list.

I don't think I will like that more than tarkovsky's work, which is really highly magnificent to me.

Yeah, Black Cat, White Cat looked like Fellini's world, but Tarkovsky-influences? Hmm, not so much in that film, as I remember. Maybe in Underground (let's hope so).

I've seen some other Yugoslavian films, as well as some work from Poland (try Edi!) and Rumania.

I stll have to see Stalker, by the way.
Seraphim's magic words:
Dutch
Dead Can Dance/ Cocteau Twins
Literature
European/ Art Cinema:
Tarkovsky, Bresson, Fellini, Angelopoulos

Seraphim

I recently saw Mother and Son (Mat i Syn) from Alexander Sokurov.

HIGHLY recommended to fans of Tarkovsky, Bergman, etcetera!!!

Slowest camera-movements ever, maybe. Superb intensity, highly transcendental...
Mat is Syn

By the way:
in about a few weeks you can buy two films of Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr, which I think are recommended also to fans of the heavier stuff. Brought to you by Artificial Eye!

Check out Werckmeister Harmoniak and Karhozat (damnation)!!!
Werckmeister harmóniák
Kárhozat

2-Disc SetArtificial Eye

Tarkovsky-fans, grab them!
Seraphim's magic words:
Dutch
Dead Can Dance/ Cocteau Twins
Literature
European/ Art Cinema:
Tarkovsky, Bresson, Fellini, Angelopoulos

SoNowThen

I seem to hear decent things about the current r1 version of Stalker (the 2 disc one).

Has anybody seen it (or does anybody own it), that can give me any idea whether or not it's worth buying (not for the movie -- I already know I like it -- but for dvd quality)?
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

Stefen

I watched the mirror on painkillers right after surgery. What a crazy experience. It just isn't the same when i try to watch it again. Solaris rocks also. I didn't mind the Soderbergh remake, I had fun with it. And the actress that played Gordon (Viola Davis??) was awesome. I became a big fan of hers after watching it.
Falling in love is the greatest joy in life. Followed closely by sneaking into a gated community late at night and firing a gun into the air.

godardian

Quote from: StefenI watched the mirror on painkillers right after surgery. What a crazy experience. It just isn't the same when i try to watch it again. Solaris rocks also. I didn't mind the Soderbergh remake, I had fun with it. And the actress that played Gordon (Viola Davis??) was awesome. I became a big fan of hers after watching it.

You catch her in Far from Heaven?

My favorite Tarkovsky is The Sacrifice. It was also his last film.
""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.

SoNowThen

I went out and got Stalker on ebay fer pretty cheap. Yay. Hope it's good condition, w/ mono soundtrack.


Recently saw Mirror and Nostalghia. Mirror, though I couldn't barely follow any of it, had a profound effect on me. Truly a haunting, amazing movie. Will need to be watched and rewatched. Nostalghia, okay, didn't love it. Loved a few parts individually.

Anyway, I was reading some stuff on Tarkovsky on this other website. They had lots of great articles. Two things in particular were very interesting to me:

Repeatedly during my work I have encountered actors that never completely dared trust my conception of the role. They have for some reason not been able to avoid interfering, as they considered my approach to be unprofessional. In such cases I have considered them to be unprofessional actors, and I still do. My opinion is actually that a professional actor easily and naturally, without any noticeably effort, at any turn ought to be able to receive and accept any instruction, and to be spontaneous in his individual reactions within every improvised situation.

***


I don't believe that there exists any form of art film that can be understood by everyone. Consequently, it is almost impossible to make a film that works for everyone watching it, and if it did it wouldn't be a work of art at all. Irregardless, a work of Art is never accepted without objections.

A director like Spielberg has an enormous audience and earns enormous sums and everybody is happy about that, but he is no artist and his films are not art. If I made films like him — and I don't believe I can — I would die from sheer terror. Art is as a mountain: there is a peak and surrounding it there are foothills. What exists at the summit cannot by definition be understood by everyone.
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

godardian

You really have to see The Sacrifice. It's a perfection of the style of Nostalghia- really, it's the the single most perfect example of Tarkovsky's style- and it's more far-reaching. And with cinematography by Sven Nykvist! This was one of a small handful of films in my life that caught me at the time and place to feel like a complete, radical revelation (Safe and Husbands and Wives being up there in that category, too). I love all of Tarkovsky, but this is the one, for me.
""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.

SoNowThen

Yeah, I've got it requested at the library.

Next up is probably Solaris, which I'll be bb-ing. If I love it, then Andrei Rublev..
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

godardian

Quote from: SoNowThenYeah, I've got it requested at the library.

Next up is probably Solaris, which I'll be bb-ing. If I love it, then Andrei Rublev..

I actually think Rublev is slightly better than Solaris, but they're both wondrous and unique. You can't really go wrong either way. Solaris is less medieval-ish, I guess.
""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.

Ordet

A glimpse of the film poet's The Mirror
<---------------------
were spinning

SoNowThen

I've since seen Sacrifice and Andrei Rublev.

Sacrifice I will need to see again, and not on a crap-hole dvd that boosts the brightness and contrast, and makes it look like shitty video.

Godardian, there's a really really really good article on nostalghia.com by the DP, that you should check out.


As to Rublev, I don't even wanna say anything. I'm floored. I will now buy this and watch it once a year to get my head all jumbled up, and my guts ripped out.

But I have to agree with Seraphim -- the Mirror is AT's best.

I still need to see Solaris.
Those who say that the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union was not "real" Marxism also cannot admit that one simple feature of Marxism makes totalitarianism necessary:  the rejection of civil society. Since civil society is the sphere of private activity, its abolition and replacement by political society means that nothing private remains. That is already the essence of totalitarianism; and the moralistic practice of the trendy Left, which regards everything as political and sometimes reveals its hostility to free speech, does nothing to contradict this implication.

When those who hated capital and consumption (and Jews) in the 20th century murdered some hundred million people, and the poster children for the struggle against international capitalism and America are now fanatical Islamic terrorists, this puts recent enthusiasts in an awkward position. Most of them are too dense and shameless to appreciate it, and far too many are taken in by the moralistic and paternalistic rhetoric of the Left.

LostEraser

I agree that The Sacrifice is his best film. In my opinion his films get better as they go along with that and Nostalghia being his two best and then Stalker and Mirror. Though all four of those are some of the best films of all time. If some one twisted my arm and forced me to pick the one single greatest filmmaker who ever lived, I might actually pick him. Either him or Carl Theodor Dreyer (though I of course, wouldn't be basing that on how big of an impact the films themselves had, but rather how much emotion and honesty I think was expressed in them... that is to say, how deep I think the filmmaker went exploring the sense of... oh nevermind. You know what I mean).
Capra tells us that, in effect, love's dreams are only dreams and that they will never quite bear translation into practical forms of relationship and expression. They will never be realized in the world but only in our consciousness and in our most daring and glorious works of art - but that, for Capra, is no reason to abandon love's dreams.
--Ray Carney, American Vision: The Films Of Frank Capra