william turan

[sphinx]

anybody seen this guy's work?  it's absolutely astounding.  i recently caught the trilogy of 'interpositive', 'internegative' and 'intersquall' at the ridge theatre downtown, and i'm looking forward to seeing his new feature 'memory'.

[ono]

I can't find any of these titles, or this guy's name itself, in IMDB.  Perhaps some sort of misspelling?  That, or it's not even in there yet.

[Jeremy Blackman]

Internegative is probably my favorite Turan film so far. Interpositive was good, but it just wasn't as... what's the word... devastating. The scene where Shirley takes her radio to the pawn shop was incredible. Seriously.. I almost cried at the end of that scene. (MINOR SPOILERS!) I just wanted her to run away when the static came out of nowhere. It was like a horror movie within a drama, and then just going back to silence, like a soft petal ripped apart by a lawnmower (and nature moves on). I love how he takes the most simple moment and draws it out into an extended shot. It's like a perfect way to make an artistic statement, and I think more filmmakers should pick up on that.

[RegularKarate]

interpositive', 'internegative' and 'intersquall

I saw the trilogy and it was great... I personally really like how "Intersquall" kind of sums the message up, but really makes you rethink what it was all about.

My copy of Intersquall was so Ultra-bootleg (w/like three kinds of subtitles running and the sound out of sync) that the video screwed up and I missed a part of a scene...

(SPOILERISH)
What was it that that Itok guy was saying about the ranch during the garbage dump scene?  Was it burned down or not?

[Xixax]

This all sounds very David Lynchian.

I am once again slapped in the face with the harsh reality that my knowledge of cinema is neither deep nor wide.

Two bitch slaps in one day. First of all, I learn of the movie "Irreversible" which sounds deliciously perverse, but is unavailable on DVD. Now, I see you guys talking about this dude and if what RK sys is true then I know I'll never be able to see his work. You people are taunting me. Stop it.

I'm about ready to say fuck it and just go buy a ticket to "Legally Blonde 2".

*sigh*

[picolas]

(finally a place to talk about him!) loved PosItive, NegAtive, but uh.. i have to disagree with you RK. SquAll was crap. it compromised everything in PosItive and most of the stuff in NegAtive for this really cheap visual gimmick towards the end (blah blah blah black and white blah) and it seemed like Turan was trying to make me uncomfortable in a bad way. the allinoneshot flood/umbrellas dream sequence in NegAtive is probably his best stuff so far, though. i'll still likely see Memory if i can get it.

(spoilers)The Itok guy was more of a metaphor for the rest of the scene than anything else. If you look at his nametag closely you can see it change after nearly every cut.

[Jeremy Blackman]

(SPOILERISH)
What was it that that Itok guy was saying about the ranch during the garbage dump scene?  Was it burned down or not?

Yeah, it did, but the old lady was inside. But the garbagemen had a successful harvest (I know, I know).

I know what you mean, my copy is kind of messed up too. I'm sure ebay had nothing to do with that.

I personally think Intersquall is a little topheavy with symbolism. (there are probably going to be some minor SPOILERS here) The cheese and crackers / lovemaking scene was a little over the top, especially when he puts the cheese on. It's so bizarre when he intercuts between two scenes like that, but it's genius. I especially like the slow motion scene with the kid jumping on the trampoline, with the birds and everything. Not sure what that means. And (this is why I'm glad Sphinx brought up Turan) we need to figure out the haircut motif thing, and what exactly it means (this is really nagging at me). So, if in Interpositive the boy cut the girl's hair, only to have the situation reversed with the girl cutting the boy's hair towards the end (in the swamp scene)... and  Internegative has the old woman (with the red shoes) cutting the old man's hair, only to have the old man cutting her hair after she's dead... and then repeated again finally in Intersquall with the guy cutting his dog's hair with the razor, and then the dog biting his head at the end (did he actually die? or aren't we supposed to know?)... okay, what is that supposed to mean? Is it like an evolution... adolescent to old person to dog? I don't get that, although it could be simpler than I think.

edit: Picolas, I had no idea about the nametag thing. That explains the scene in the bakery at the beginning.

[modage]

Finally, a place to talk about "Legally Blonde 2"!

[©brad]

I love how he takes the most simple moment and draws it out into an extended shot. It's like a perfect way to make an artistic statement, and I think more filmmakers should pick up on that.

indeed.

interpositive is the only one ive seen thus far, but i dug it. i can't wait to check out the next two of what will no doubt be an excellent trilogy. im gonna avoid reading too much in this thread in fear of spoilers.

one thing i dont get tho, whats up w/ the 15+min. scene in the beginning when that chick is at the hardware store? she goes there and checks out these lawn mowers when;

1. she lives in an apartment
2. there is no grass outside the apartment, therefore she would have no use for a lawn mower.
3. she doesn't seem like the kinda person who would even know how to work like a lawn mower.

plus in this scene turan at one point doesn't cut for like 8 minutes.
its one part i didn't really understand. besides that tho, its all good stuff. i like how turan doesn't feel the need for cinematic masturbation and all the hyper-visual style most new directors r using. he does the long take-let the actors do their thing which is good.

[Ghostboy]

Yeah, this stuff sounds really interesting, and it's driving me crazy that I've never heard of it before. What's the steez, yo?

[Jeremy Blackman]

I wish I could give you a reliable source to buy his movies from, but his stuff is just kind of floating around. It used to be on ebay. There have always been some filmmakers not on imdb, and I guess it figures that his films aren't available on Amazon either (imdb's owner). He has made a lot of shorts (none of which I've seen) that have been floating around Europe, and has only recently scrapped together the funds for the trilogy and "Memory." I'm not going to go into his controversies, but he hasn't exactly been embraced in the mainstream. There's kind of a campaign against him (although most of it may be rumors, and I'm not going to assume anything).

[sphinx]

i think this anti-turan stuff started with his outburst of politics a few years back, which incindentally probably got him the money to start making his movies.  i haven't tried looking for political 'subtext' or whatever in the few times that i've seen his stuff.

[bonanzataz]

so, i went into the city last night with my friend who's just getting settled into an apartment as he's about to begin junior year at NYU's tisch, and he is VERY big on the whole film thing. he'd heard about turan and knew of a theater playing his films and told me that it was kind of like cremaster but focusing more on characters (i never saw cremaster, but i've wanted to). anyway, he brings me to this dumpy theater downtown and all they're playing is the trilogy. i go in, and see interpositive. this movie was incredibly weird. i'm all for cool imagery and long shots, but this was just ridiculous. i like movies with character and plot, this thing seemed to drag on. that 15 minute lawnmower scene was TORTURE! there were parts that were amazing (SPOILER - the gas chamber, ooh! that gave me chills) but as a whole, i really just thought it was a bit self-indulgent and heavy handed. i don't know, maybe i need to see the whole trilogy, but anybody who has seen it, is it even worth it?

[sphinx]

i don't know, maybe i need to see the whole trilogy, but anybody who has seen it, is it even worth it?

all of the movies really function as one, it's almost like a chain reaction how certain scenes pay off in ones from the other two movies.  just watching the people in the background of the hardward store scene with the knowledge of what they do later just cracks me up

[©brad]

This all sounds very David Lynchian.

yea, i guess u got that lynch vibe, but what i dig about him (turan that is) is the sweetness in the movies, almost cameron crowe-ish at times, esp. the scene at the pawn shop, as jb mentioned earlier. david gordon green fans would definitely dig it. (yea im talkin about u ebeaman69er)