i started a film club

[NEON MERCURY]

but not dune

[Alethia]

but after the ones i listed!  cuz i listed first!  and theyre all better (nothin against him)!

[JG]

so we finally got around to showing our third movie a week or two ago and (against my will) we showed seventh seal.  no one liked it.  and it's not like it's even a movie that i love.  i could think of plenty of bergman that i would show before it but the club advisor suggested this one.  but it's a hard movie for a bunch of high school kids to enjoy.

and the numbers have dwindled, so for next one it's gotta be big.  my club advisor is thinking rashomon, and i say no.  first of all, if we're showing kurosawa, i want to to be the best/my favorite.  second of all, kids are even less likely to come to a movie from any place in asia. 

now, we do wanna keep with theme of one movie per country for a lil while longer. 

i'm a strong advocate of city of god because i think everyone will like it, but it's not exactly a "classic" yet.  i mean to me it is but not world renowned.   so we've already done italy (which i regret showing la strada because it is no longer my favorite fellini (and because i think everyone should see 8 1/2 as many times posssible), we've done france, and sweden (think it woulda been cool to show scenes from a marriage?)...thoughts on what i should know next? 

[Ravi]

and the numbers have dwindled, so for next one it's gotta be big.  my club advisor is thinking rashomon, and i say no.  first of all, if we're showing kurosawa, i want to to be the best/my favorite.  second of all, kids are even less likely to come to a movie from any place in asia.

Rashomon would be interesting to show people that non-linear cinema has been around since before Memento or Pulp Fiction.  Yojimbo would be pretty accessible.  You could make cool flyers with samurai on them.

Surely there are people at your school interested in anime or Asian action films.

[Pubrick]

(think it woulda been cool to show scenes from a marriage?)...

so you think the "kids" won't watch rashomon because it's asian (wtf?), but you think they'd give a shit about a married couple discussing their relationship for 3 hours? answer this question in morse code using a shoe against your head.

[Bethie]

This club sucks.

[matt35mm]

EDIT: Erased a bunch of modern suggestions after reading the whole thread, and realizing that you're going for classic foreign only.

-----------------


Scenes from a Marriage would have been better.  You would have had to work hard to convince people to see a 3 hours Swedish movie, yes, but that movie draws everybody in within the first 20 minutes.  Hell, I saw the 5 hours version and it flew by.  Fanny and Alexander is a popular choice as well.  Ain't nobody would've walked away not loving either movie.

IF you're attracting "kids" who wouldn't come to any Asian movie, then this club is a lost cause.  Asian is the most popular of foreign films, probably, so if they don't like that, they won't like anything with subtitles.  If they wouldn't like Rashomon, then they really wouldn't like any classic foreign movies, it sounds.  If that really is the case, then just go with the more City of God kind of "cool movie" that you could argue would be a classic in your mind, as you were thinking.  You're gonna have to do crowd-pleasers if you want the crowds...

That's why running movie clubs suck, man.  They'll only serve to erode your probably already-dwindling faith in humanity.  We have some movie clubs here, too.  The only ones that attract more than a couple of people show cult movies--anything that's better to see with your pals versus watching it alone.  I think maybe you're picking movies that are better to see alone.

[w/o horse]

The club needs an Almodóvar.  I vote Live Flesh.  Oh fuck high school huh.  The club needs Basquiat.  Oh fuck is it only foreign.  If the focus of the club is something a bit broader than The Usual Titles, the club needs Youth of the Beast.

[JG]

(think it woulda been cool to show scenes from a marriage?)...

so you think the "kids" won't watch rashomon because it's asian (wtf?), but you think they'd give a shit about a married couple discussing their relationship for 3 hours? answer this question in morse code using a shoe against your head.

first of all, i'm not being condescending with the kids things, that's just how we talk around here.  sorry about that.   second of all, the reason i'm wary about showing rashomon is that asian culture is so different from ours, i think it will be harder for them to enjoy.   knowing some of them, they'll be confused and put off by stuff like the girl's eyebrows.  some of them thought seventh seal was "wierd" cause they have a funny language.  based on the their reactions to this point, i think the bigger the culture barrier the harder it is to relate.   

but then again, they didn't understand what was going on in La Strada, so I think this club is a little doomed to begin with.

and the reason why i think scene's from a marriage would've been better than seventh seal cause it's more on the surface and more engaging, if you ask me.  the only problem is the length.

Surely there are people at your school interested in anime or Asian action films.

Some kid I know actually started an anime club, but there's only like two kids in that.  Again, I think I could do a Kurosawa, but I just don't think Rashomon is the most accesible.

 

This club sucks.

Yes, yes it does. 

Thanks for the help guys. 

[modage]

the problem is you've started with too many difficult films.  if you're selling these kids on this idea that old (foreign) movies are cool you need to ease them into it with stuff you know they will like for one reason or another.  even if it isnt your favorite, because you can save those for later.  also: i'm not sure if there's any discussion but it always helps to have a context for every one of these.  before you watch the film explain a little about the circumstances in which the film was made, its reaction when it was released and any other little tidbits people might find interesting.  even help to 'prepare' (without spoiling) them for a film like 8 1/2 or something by saying 'theres not really much of a story here, its about a director who is having trouble making his next film, but its more about taking away a feeling.' and just that little warning might help put people in the right mindset to take in something different.  after the film you can go a little more in depth to draw parallels to more current films that you know people like and see if they notice where those films were influenced.  also try to explain for people who may not get it just WHY this film is considered so great.  and you should break it up with american films.  theres plenty of old american movies they might not have seen and it'll help the foriegn ones out more when they're sprinkled in instead of forced down throats.  i mean how many of these kids have seen 2001?  try to make it fun for everybody. 

[MacGuffin]

Who wants to joins mod's club?



The first rule of Film Club is you do not talk during the movie.

The second rule of Film Club is you DO NOT Talk During The Movie.

[JG]

I do give an opening before the movie and try and set up the movie in terms of historical context and why it's considered essential.  So far the theme seems to be famous director's first great movie (i think seventh seal is considered bergman's first great one, no?).   i thought la strada was easier than other fellini, and at the time it was my favorite fellini.  400 blows was clearly the right choice, especially considering the response.   and i think we blew it with seventh seal, but that wasn't really my choice. 

i agree mod, i think a few american movies that most probably haven't seen would be good:  2001, maybe a lynch movie.    way more are automatically likely to come.   mod, what foreign films would you consider more accesible? 

[hedwig]

Is there any way you could organize field-trips to movies now playing - or local film forums playing classics - during the school-day?

Tips.
1. Get a teacher's support (obviously). Permission slips and paperwork the whole magilla. Sponsors. Make sure you emphasize the educational foundation of the project, butter these administrators up like a cob of corn, you just gotta.
2. Require post-movie essays, discussions, some other assignment. Somehow link the films in with the curricular subjects, like a historical film followed by an essay or project that could be submitted to History class for credit/extra-credit. That sorta thing.

Sorry to hear the club's goin' shitty.

Eh fuck it all, just show Pulp Fiction. 

[polkablues]

Who wants to joins mod's club?



The first rule of Film Club is you do not talk during the movie.

The second rule of Film Club is you DO NOT Talk During The Movie.

Third rule of Film Club... somebody yells "stop," goes limp, taps out, the film is over. 

Fourth rule, no shirts.

[MacGuffin]

The first rule of Film Club is you do not talk during the movie.

The second rule of Film Club is you DO NOT Talk During The Movie.

Third rule of Film Club... somebody yells "stop," goes limp, taps out, the film is over. 

Fourth rule, no shirts.

Fifth rule, one film at a time, fellas.
Sixth rule, no cell phones.
Seventh rule, films will run as long as they have to.
And the eighth and final rule, if this is your first night at Film Club, you have to bring the popcorn.