Godard

Started by Duck Sauce, February 01, 2003, 08:29:30 PM

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cron

did you people know he stole the  'only way to criticize a film...' quote from ezra pound?
context, context, context.

JG

Can we expect a criterion release of breathless anytime soon.  if no, why not?  the quality of the DVD i netflixed is lacking. 

Gold Trumpet

Quote from: JimmyGator on November 06, 2005, 04:56:51 PM
Can we expect a criterion release of breathless anytime soon.  if no, why not?  the quality of the DVD i netflixed is lacking. 

I'm surprised Criterion hasn't released it yet. I figured it was a rights issue, but Rialto has confirmed that Criterion does own the rights. Its just a matter of when they can get around to releasing it. Realizing Criterion tries to release a few Godards a year, I'd say sooner than later.

Alethia

if theyre gonna do more godards they should skip breathles and focus on some of his 70's and 80's work

Gold Trumpet

Quote from: eward on November 06, 2005, 07:45:12 PM
if theyre gonna do more godards they should skip breathles and focus on some of his 70's and 80's work

Through Rialto, they still have some 60s work in the near future that will get released. I agree they should evolve to his later work, but there has been no specific conversation yet to say they are making moves to do so. We can only hope.

SoNowThen

Amazon France website has two very exciting new releases this month:

Histoire(s) du Cinema
and a Passion/Nouvelle Vague double pack.

Dunno if either has English subs, but rumor is that Histoire(s) DOES, so I have ordered it. Will find out about the other two and post...
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.

Alethia

im pretty sure the histoire release has subtitles and i too have oredered it

SoNowThen

Hey Assholes -- let's make sure we all keep Vivre Sa Vie on the Deka list this year. If you haven't seen it yet... GO DO IT!!! NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And if you don't like it, watch it again. And love it. Love it. With all your heart.

And while you're at it, watch In Praise Of Love as well...
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.

Gamblour.

So, in my French New Wave class, we have been screening everything from Chabrol, Varda, and Melville to Truffaut and now Godard. We've seen Breathless, My Life to Live, Masculin/Feminin, and 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her.

Breathless is the product of luck, genius, and serendipity. That it works is incredible, and it feels so modern. It could probably play in theaters today and college kids would love it. It's quick and our contemporary, media-absorbed minds can handle the amount of information we're being given. My Life to Live, equally entertaining, but harder to bear. However...

Masculin/Feminin and 2 or 3 Things are absolute bores. 2 or 3 Things is the point where Godard forgets that films have to be watched by audiences and completely indulges in intellectual discourse with those who care. The film is made to be watched, but studied. There's nothing wrong with that, but no one can like it for its innovations, just its ideas. It's not about liking the film (though as Mamet would say, "Grow up"), but I have no interest in what his ideas say. I get it, Godard. You hate capitalism, yet understand one must be a part of it. Masculin/Feminin was a more subtle, intriguing examination of this, not like a sledge hammer to your head like 2 or 3 Things.

In addtion, I watched Pierrot le fou on my own....equally a piece of shit. I couldn't stand watching it. We still have to screen Weekend and Contempt, and I want to watch Alphaville on my own. I'm really excited about these last three, especially Weekend. I mean, a film purportedly about the end of cinema? I love that sort of audacity, not like the boring talking heads films Godard does.
WWPTAD?

w/o horse

Raven haired Linda and her school mate Linnea are studying after school, when their desires take over and they kiss and strip off their clothes. They take turns fingering and licking one another's trimmed pussies on the desks, then fuck each other to intense orgasms with colorful vibrators.

Gamblour.

Nope, but the book mentions him a few times.
WWPTAD?

Gamblour.

Weekend is incredible. The girl describing the sex fantasy, the 9-minute dolly shot of cars, the drummer in the woods, all the carnage, what a crazy fucking film. Where did it get the label "the end of cinema" or is that something Godard has titled it? The themes are as blunt as a sledgehammer to a pig's head, but it's all hilariously violent....capitalist as cannibal and "consumer," automobiles as the bourgeois death machine. The little guerilla hippies at the end reminded me of some sort of militant version of Hair, especially when they're talking to the Ocean. Anyhow, probably my favorite Godard next to Breathless.
WWPTAD?

Alethia

Quote from: Gamblour le flambeur on April 17, 2006, 06:06:43 PM
Where did it get the label "the end of cinema" or is that something Godard has titled it?

at the very end of the movie there are subtitles that say something like "end of story.  end of cinema."

Gamblour.

Ah ok, I figured as much. The film is resonating more and more as the days go on. It was so fucking awesome!
WWPTAD?

Just Withnail

The best part is the editing of the car crash. The car speeds, then: before and after, jumping to and fro between car and wreck, then to rest on the burning car and the woman´s screams. As opposed to the spectacle of showing a proper crash, it makes me uneasy, but then it quickly becomes hilarious; "my hermes handbag!". Of course the hilarity shoots the scene right back into uneasy after a few seconds, as it´s impossible to ignore the carnage it´s combined with. That´s pretty much my feelings on the film in general, as you say "hilariously violent".