Blind Buying Truffaut...

Started by SoNowThen, June 16, 2003, 01:04:17 PM

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SHAFTR

#15
June 17, 2003, 01:26:07 AM
My problem with European New Wave films is I watch them..and I am entertained but not amazed, and than I return them.  After this, the film has already planted a seed inside me and within a few weeks, I just have to see the film again b/c I have enjoyed it more.  It is as if I need a few weeks for them to sink in.
"Talking shit about a pretty sunset
Blanketing opinions that i'll probably regret soon"

bonanzataz

#16
June 17, 2003, 12:18:28 PM
same here. i really want to watch jules et jim and breathless again...
The corpses all hang headless and limp bodies with no surprises and the blood drains down like devil's rain we'll bathe tonight I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls Demon I am and face I peel to see your skin turned inside out, 'cause gotta have you on my wall gotta have you on my wall, 'cause I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls collect the heads of little girls and put 'em on my wall hack the heads off little girls and put 'em on my wall I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls

SoNowThen

#17
June 17, 2003, 12:29:22 PM
Quote from: SHAFTRMy problem with European New Wave films is I watch them..and I am entertained but not amazed, and than I return them.  After this, the film has already planted a seed inside me and within a few weeks, I just have to see the film again b/c I have enjoyed it more.  It is as if I need a few weeks for them to sink in.

Yeah, that's a pretty good description of how I feel. I fucking love almost all the new wave films, but it always takes at least 2 viewings. I could barely finish Alphaville when I first saw it, but on second watch I was giggling like a schoolgirl the whole time, just at the fact that I was enjoying it so much. Now, when I think of that movie, I get a huge smile across my face at how much I love it.

The only exception so far has been Shoot The Piano Player, which I have given a couple chances, and just never enjoyed.
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.

Duck Sauce

#18
June 17, 2003, 12:38:59 PM
Ive seen Shoot the Piano Player twice and each time is less enjoyable than the first

Vivian Darkbloom

#19
July 07, 2003, 11:58:06 AM
It has nothing to do with both Jules&Jim and Shoot the piano player. In fact, it has almost nothing to do with his other movies. I mean, besides the fact that you can see practically every book he loved (especially Jules&Jim which gets burned a lot of times in the movie...), this is not really a Truffaut film for many of his fans. I'm not one of them and while I recognize that this movie has a really slow pace and is kind of almost dull at times, I really enjoy it each time I see it for so many reasons that I might not have the time to explain them all.

You just have to ask yourself WHY you hated Jules&Jim.
Was it because of the actors ? (In that case, don't buy the movie because the hero is portrayed by Oskar Werner who also played Jules in...).
Was it because of the fact that the movie looked moe like litterature to real cinema to you (Again, one of the aspects that pepople dislike about this one...)
Otherwise, you might just give it a try. (And by the way, Roeg's cinematography is gorgeous as always... Any of you seen his "Eureka" ? i'd like to know if it's worth buying since I loved "Don't look now" and "walkabout' and this movie is due to be released in France at the end of the month...)

modage

#20
July 07, 2003, 11:10:41 PM
i hated julesetjim because i hated the characeters.  i didnt see any reason for these two guys to be endlessly pursuing this woman.  she was a bitch.  they didnt set up any of the characters for you to be sympathetic with, so therefore, i couldnt identify with them and i hated what they were doing. i also thought the story jumped around in such a fashion through time, it was hard to follow where emotionally these characters were even supposed to be.  althought it may have been influential as far as the cutting and the freeze framing, i felt it lacked drama to tell an interesting story.  (or rather, something i want to watch.)
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Ghostboy

#21
August 18, 2004, 12:53:08 AM
I watched Two English Girls tonight, and man, it's great! It doesn't have that wonderful in-your-face sucker punch effect that Truffaut's first three films did, but it really was a rather masterful reversal/expansion of the whole Jules And Jim scenario, and it went to places psychologically that I didn't anticipate.

One thing I noticed about it was the narration, which, if my memory serves correct, is the same in many Truffaut films -- the rapid, stacatto male voice that sounds like it's reading passages from a novel. It's always annoyed me somewhat, but at the same time I appreciate what's being said, for the narration is certainly well written. And the style in which its read may in fact be best -- it gets the point across and doesn't really draw too much unnecessary attention to itself (unless you start talking about it like I am right now). So anyway, I was wondering...would his films be better without that narration? There wasn't much that it took care of as far as exposition; it mainly was used for interior monologue. But isn't it better to show than to tell, and don't his images and actors tell an awful lot? It's something that warrants further thinking (and re-watching) for me.

Bethie

#22
August 18, 2004, 02:20:22 AM
I have only seen Day For Night and Stolen Kisses and I enjoyed both. I watched the Truffaut trailers that were included on the Stolen Kisses DVD-Jules and Jim, Two English Girls, Soft Skin, Bed and Board, and Love on the Run are now on my Netflix list.
who likes movies anyway

modage

#23
August 21, 2004, 07:31:24 PM
funny, actually i was just talking with someone about disliking Jules et Jim and saying that i've seen so many fucking movies since i watched that, ill bet if i watched it now i'd probably like it.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

Alethia

#24
August 21, 2004, 08:47:32 PM
give it another shot

tpfkabi

#25
August 22, 2004, 12:52:56 AM
it was said earlier in the thread and even realized by me on a few occasions - French New Wave films seem to have more resonance the second time you view them. i don't know what it is exactly. maybe it's because of their odd structures. the first time you watch it you don't know what to expect at all (i was this way with PDL) and it throws you. then the endings are usually anti-climatic in a way........you usually don't want the ending they have, so it leaves an odd taste in your mouth.........but upon repeated viewings, since you know what happens, you don't linger on it and you appreciate the movie as it is and not as you want it to be. you kind of appreciate the journey and don't focus so much on the destination.
I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away.
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