Movies Serious Movie Discussion

Hagazussa (2017)
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A dread-laden tale of supernatural horror and pyschosis in 15th century Austria. This was an extremely uncomfortable, oppressive watch from start to finish. With little in the way of narrative, the film makes efficient use of mood and tone to convey it’s harrowing story of childhood trauma, sexual abuse, supersition and evil. Much of the film is deliberately ambiguous as it explores the overlapping connections between the psychological disturbances of our protagonist Albrun, social isolation and beliefs in witchcraft. Mostly pretty interesting and, as I say, an extremely tense watch.

I have seen it compared to Eggers The Witch (2015). There are some surface level similarities in that both are slow-burn horror films about witchcraft set in the past, but really they are not all that similar. For a start, compared to Hagazussa Eggers film moves at a positively rapid pace. This one is even more firmly entrenched within arthouse and experimental cinema than that (of course not that that makes it a better film necessarily). In addition, while The Witch also deals with Tomasin’s perspective and ultimately how the events impact her, it is more broadly focused on the inherent tensions of the Puritan world-view and the way in which this leads to a breakdown of the family unit. Hagazussa on the other hand is totally bound up with Albrun’s warped and damaged perspective. Of course, there are still a couple of comparisons to be made in terms of the thematic content, but I would simply chalk these up to them both dealing with the same subject matter. Certainly the success of The Witch might have played a part in helping get this funded though.

Worth a go if you like artsier, slow films. One that I imagine would certainly frustrate a lot of people but a very promising debut for me.
 
Lancelot du Lac (1974)
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The opening scene sets the tone: Two unidentifiable armoured knights are locked in combat. One disarms the other. He proceeds to decapitate his opponent. We are then provided with a prolonged shot of this headless corpse spurting with blood.

I say it sets the tone but this is strictly in terms of the films morality, not its content. The first couple of minutes have some similar scenes. One knight is stabbed in the groin while another has his skull caved in. It is very deliberately stylised violence and the blood flows freely. More than anything the sheer anonymity is emphasised. Clad in their armour it is nearly impossible to tell who is killing and who is being killed. The violence thus is shown as utterly senseless, indifferent slaughter. However, until the very end, the opening two minutes is nearly all the action we get. Clearly then, this is a Bresson-ian take on the Arthurian Legend of the Holy Grail, not an action film.

After the first minute or so of killing and pillaging we are presented with a title card which sardonically states that "after a series of fantastic adventures..." Lancelot and the other heroes of the round table where unsuccessful in their attempts to find the Holy Grail and have returned home. In this version the quest for the grail is over practically before the film even starts. Beginning with this failure, the film instead focuses on the downfall of Arthur kingdom as a result of the love triangle between King Arthur, Princess Guinevere and Lancelot, as well as the squabbles and feuds between the surviving knights.

Bresson's telling of this famous tale is completely stripped down to it's bare bones. There is no magic or elements of fantasy. Instead of glory and chivalry, we are presented with pride and avarice, with arrogance and bravado. These knights are only in it for themselves. Looking for the Holy Grail they have lost God in the process. Lancelot is a man struggling "against a death worse than death", fighting a losing battle against his own temptations. In this respect he is more akin to the alienated protagonists of other Bresson films than to the Lancelot of typical Arthurian Legend.

All of this told in Bresson's typically precise, economic style - expressionless actors, unusual emphasis, slow takes and a prevalence of non-diagetic sound - which only serves to undercut the legendary aspects of this story. Really fascinating film. My first colour Bresson in fact.
 
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too lazy to go too in-depth about my thoughts on it, but has anyone seen Long Day’s Journey into Night (Bi Gan, 2019)? still have a fat list of movies on my 2019 watchlist, but so far this one has been my favorite. i’ve watched it four times since getting the bluray last month. Bi Gan is clearly influenced by Tarkovsky & Long Day’s Journey into Night is rife w/ direct references to his work (but still maintains a personal vision that can be attributed Bi Gan), so any Tarkovsky fans should be checking this one out asap. it’s basically a neo-noir juiced up on Tarkovsky roids. then there’s the final hour of the film which is one of the most special things i’ve seen in film in a long while. couldn’t recommend it enough.

i also have to give a quick recommendation to Monos (Alejandro Landes, 2019). blind bought this one because there were some screenshots posted on a fb group i’m in & thought they looked interesting, so figured why not? it was well worth that purchase. shit, the cinematography alone made the purchase worth it because it’s fucking superb.

2019 was a crazy good year—Long Day’s Journey into Night, Monos, The Lighthouse, Uncut Gems, The Souvenir, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, The Beach Bum, Honeyland, Color Out of Space, Bliss, Midsommer, just to name a handful that i loved. & there are still so many left that i haven’t watched yet, but look promising to me.
 
The Whale God (1962)
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A Japanese riff on that leviathan of classic literature - Moby Dick. While broadly treating the same idea of a deadly obsession with a huge whale, the film (and the book on which it is based) is not a direct adaptation and transposes this theme to a particularly Japanese setting. There is a strong emphasis on traditional fishing culture and customs, lending it an almost ethnographic tone at times.

Set in the Meiji period, the film concerns one village that is terrorised by an immense baleen whale. Possessed with a desire to defeat this monster, the village elder states that whoever manages to kill it will marry his only daughter and take his lands and title. Naturally there are many contentenders, the entire village is seemingly seized by this. However, two men stand out from the rest. Shaki, a young man who has seen his family destroyed by the whale and Kiju, a violent drifter who arrives in the village to claim the prize for himself. Shaki is driven by a compulsive desire for revenge, while Kiju seemingly wants nothing more than material gain and a chance to show how tough he is. Yet despite their differing motivations both men will ultimately meet the same fate in their hunt for the whale. Through this story the film critiques traditional notions of vengeance and samurai bravado.

Much of the middle portions play out more like a melodrama - there are a number of side-plots connected to the main issue of the whale - and I would have been tempted to give the film a slightly lower rating. However, the final sequences where they take on the “whale god” are absolutely brilliantly done. So good!

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The Catch (1983)
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“Are fish more important than humans?”

That’s the question posed by this rough deep-sea drama from Shinji Sômai. The Catch concerns Shunichi, a young coffee-shop owner who longs to be accepted by his girlfriend's disapproving father, a rugged Tuna fisherman. To this end he begs the man to teach him this dangerous trade. Yet this desire to go to sea seems to have as much to do with wanting to prove himself as a man as it does gaining approval to marry...

Through this story the film explores the human cost of this way of life. Tuna fishing is an incredibly tough existence, which breeds tough men. While there is potentially a lot of money to be made, it is hard and subject to the whims of fate. Going off to sea, what do they leave behind on shore? When not off hunting Tuna the fishermen seemingly spend most of their time either sleeping or drinking, in the process either ignoring or abusing the women in their lives. This hyper-masculine world is full of broken relationships. In choosing to try and catch Tuna what does Shunichi let slip through the net? Yet, while clearly in some degree critical of the fisherman, it captures their profession with a mythic intensity which also conveys a sense of their struggle.

Taken as a whole it’s a good film, with a strong emotional power and innovative visual composition. The scenes at sea are especially good. It is quite long at around two hours and 20 mins however, and the narrative really stumbles in places. Could be a bit of a slog at times but overall a very good film which hits harder than I was anticipating.


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Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu (1965)
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Rather dull, for me this was just a formulaic period piece. It deals with the early years of Togukawa Ieyasu (the man who founded the Togukawa Shogunate which lasted from 1600 until 1868). Specifically the film covers his time growing as a political hostage among different clans until his return as Daimyo/Lord of Okazaki as he comes of age around 1560. The film thus places a greater emphasis on the political maneuverings of the time than on large battles. Far from being intriguing I just found this tedious, amounting to little more than people shouting about things in different rooms. The whole thing felt incredibly overwrought and melodramatic, while the films tone as far as Ieyasu himself was basically hagiographic. Apart from a few well-done scenes here and there, just an unfortunately boring film.
 
Útlaginn aka Outlaw: The Saga of Gísli (1981)
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Following on the trails of When The Raven Flies (1984) I discovered this revenge drama from a few years earlier. Budget constraints allowed, it's a similar attempt to present something approaching a realistic depiction of 'viking' age life as opposed to the usual tropes. I thought it was quite successful. To be honest I think I liked this one a lot more. It makes better use of it's dramatic Icelandic setting and I didn't get the same 'campy' vibes from this, the soundtrack and everything felt like a more natural fit. To me it felt more naturalistic, which is interesting as this one is actually a direct adaption of one of the Icelandic sagas.

The story concerns Gisli, a man who is forced to go on the run after being honour-bound to kill his brother-in-law in retribution for the murder of his other brother-in-law. If that sounds like it could be a bit complicated, it actually is. Despite there only being a few characters they all seem to be related some way. It's a little tricky to follow initially, especially because half the men look the same with big gruff beards. Perhaps it presupposes a degree of familiarity with the saga, but in any case you get the hang of it as things develop. Through this tangled web of relationships and marriages the story unveils the effects of this need for vengeance and killing. In doing so it explores the inherent tragedy of this violent Medieval culture with it's codes of family honour.

The opening portions are somewhat limp as the film tries to set this up , but once Gisli goes on the run things start to heat up and become more interesting as he tries desperately to survive. In the original saga (as I read after), he is on the run in the wilderness for thirteen years before finally being tracked down. Naturally the film compresses this timescale, but it still does a reasonable job of showing the toil it has on him. By the end Hisli is a weary, ragged man. Overall, just a solid story told in a solid fashion.

Seen this one @europe1 ?
 
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Revenge (1964)
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Another excellent jidaigeki film. This one is in a similar vein to Kobayashi's Harakiri (1962), providing a thorough deconstruction of the myths and tropes of Bushidō and Samurai honour. As I am going through a few of these I notices that there seems to have been a trend in 60s Japanese cinema towards this violent, nihilistic style of historical film. This is known as zankoku jidaigeki , or cruel jidaigeki. Naturally this fits with broader trends too, there is obviously a comparison to be made between these films and Revisionist Westerns for instance. Tadashi Imai has an earlier film which also fits the this sub-genre - Bushido: Cruel Code of the Samurai (1963).

Returning to this film however, I liked Revenge a lot. Really striking black-and-white visual composition (another commonality with a lot of these 60s samurai films), with great use of angles. Set in the early 18th century it has a wonderfully tight narrative structure concerning, funnily enough, revenge. A low-ranking samurai (the 'second son of a second son' as it were) has a brief argument with a more distinguished officer who insults him. This slight leads the two men to an illegal duel in which the officer is killed. The film then explores how this single incident spirals out of all proportion as a consequence of senseless ideals of so-called samurai honour. At one point during the film the lowly samurai is dubbed a madman by the clan leaders in a bid to avoid paying the fines associated with an illegal duel. Yet Imai seems to suggest that it is really this entire, corrupt culture of the samurai nobility which is insane. There was an element of class-consciousness in this one which was interesting.

Really liked this one, not that heavy on action but there are some really good swordfighting scenes as well.
 
Legend of the Mountain (1979)
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"Real, but like a dream. What could be better?"

Actually at a bit of a loss as to what to say about this one. An overwhelming, beautiful and confusing experience. This is actually the first Chinese film I have watched (unless I am forgetting something), and the style is just so different to what I am used to. The use of music to generate emotion is just so incredible, especially when paired with chains of beautiful imagery. The use of nature is just wonderful. It did drag in a few places towards the end, or simply perplex me, but it's amazing how fast the first hour moves. And despite being over three hours long in total it manages to carry you along with it's strange, poetic language.
 
Elephant (1989)
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A harrowing portrait of The Troubles as anonymous, indifferent slaughter. With no characters, no story, no plot or even any context, Elephant presents us with murder in the abstract. There is no green or red, white and blue, simply murder, murder and murder. A series of random moments in which we do not know who is killing who or why. As the film continues an excruciating repetition develops in which footsteps or hands in pockets come to signify the possibility of something else...

This short experimental film is honestly one of the very best about the conflict out there. A dulling rhythm of horror which captures the violence better than most conventional films.
 
Man, this pandemic has totally fucked my schedule/workflow up (I know it's done a lot worse than that to a lot more people - I'm just talking about my tiny little world over here). The mega post that is incoming with all of the movies that I've (re)watched ahead of the upcoming new teaching term will be intense, but since I have no idea when I will actually be able to make that post, I just wanted to throw this out: @Rimbaud82, do you have a blog? If you don't, you really should. I've thought this for a while but it occurred to me again coming in here today. Your posts aren't too intense that they'd turn away "casual" film fans but they're deep enough that they wouldn't turn away "hardcore" film fans either. It's the perfect equation. Plus, you even take the time to post cool pictures. What you're doing in here is perfect for a blog, especially since a blog would be something that you could control and preserve, whereas on Sherdog all the write-ups that you've put the time in to post could disappear with one forum move (which happened with my old Classic Film 101 threads and which I was reminded of with this most recent forum migration).

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(Figured I'd sign off by dipping into @europe1's gif stash ;))
 
Man, this pandemic has totally fucked my schedule/workflow up (I know it's done a lot worse than that to a lot more people - I'm just talking about my tiny little world over here). The mega post that is incoming with all of the movies that I've (re)watched ahead of the upcoming new teaching term will be intense, but since I have no idea when I will actually be able to make that post,

Eagerly awaiting

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I just wanted to throw this out: @Rimbaud82, do you have a blog? If you don't, you really should. I've thought this for a while but it occurred to me again coming in here today. Your posts aren't too intense that they'd turn away "casual" film fans but they're deep enough that they wouldn't turn away "hardcore" film fans either. It's the perfect equation. Plus, you even take the time to post cool pictures. What you're doing in here is perfect for a blog, especially since a blog would be something that you could control and preserve, whereas on Sherdog all the write-ups that you've put the time in to post could disappear with one forum move (which happened with my old Classic Film 101 threads and which I was reminded of with this most recent forum migration).

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(Figured I'd sign off by dipping into @europe1's gif stash ;))

I do not, not sure my posts are long enough for a blog. I did think about it for a while before, I'd need to stretch the posts out to make it worthwhile I think. But I have started keeping a Letterboxd account as well, so at least they are preserved somewhere else.
 
No, or the Vainglory of Command (1990)
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Very clever film which depicts a series of military defeats from Portuguese history, interweaving these episodes through a frame narrative set in the last days of Portugal's Angolan colony in 1974. An officer (and a historian by training) occupies his soldiers with these stories - ranging from ancient history to the 16th century - as they travel through the Angolan countryside.

This is the first film of Manoel de Oliveira that I have seen. It has a really striking style which somehow seems to be both realistic and yet also incredibly theatrical at the same time. Particularly in the historical sequences which ‘interrupt’ the more naturalistic Angolan narrative. These look reasonably authentic and realistic in terms of the costumes and so on. They are also quite epic in scope with loads of extras being used. But they also feel faintly ridiculous. The battles themselves, or rather at least the combat, often looks absolutely laughable, like some low budget stage-play with two actors swinging swords together and so on. Soldiers are killed with cannon-fire that looks more like someone throwing a painted tennis ball at them. However, this seemed to be deliberate. It’s as if de Oliveira is highlighting the absurdity of Portuguese military ambition over the years and the vanity of these leaders. There is one sequence in the middle which portrays a mythological version of Vasco de Gama’s discoveries as described in a Portuguese epic poem. This one ramps the campiness up to the max and it was a bit much for me, but I don’t suppose I will forget it in a hurry either.

In between these different episodes from Portuguese history the soldiers debate about the merits or otherwise of colonialism and patriotism, their own purpose in Angola. They discuss the girlfriends or family they have left behind. Led by their officer-cum-history teacher they philosophize with one another about the march of time and the legacies of the past, and of civilization vs territorial conquest. These discussions act as a kind of connective tissue between the historical events depicted. Indeed, this narrative of Portuguese history (starting with Viriathus’ resistance to the Roman Empire in the 2nd Century BC) seems inexorably to have led to this last gasp of Portuguese colonialism in Angola in1974. As if controlled by some vast, unknowable force. The narrative structure of the film thus causes these events to take on a kind of historical simultaneity, culminating in the film's tragic ending. “War is cruel” we are told...

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That's the one good thing about this Corona awfulness, lots of time to watch films <45>

Think this is the first evening I haven't watched a film since the lockdown.
 
Eagerly awaiting

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I do not, not sure my posts are long enough for a blog. I did think about it for a while before, I'd need to stretch the posts out to make it worthwhile I think. But I have started keeping a Letterboxd account as well, so at least they are preserved somewhere else.
what’s your letterboxd? you can respond here or pm me if you want. i wanna follow your ass
<{shaqs}>
 
Don't think I have ever seen any Iranian films.

I honestly thought this was a joke at first but then hearing you say that about Chinese films I was like

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This is actually the first Chinese film I have watched

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Damit Rimbaud82!

1: You haven't seen any Chinese films before this!?

2: Legend of the Mountain is a Taiwanese film! You STILL haven't seen any Chinese films!<45>

Legend of the Mountain (1979)
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"Real, but like a dream. What could be better?"

Actually at a bit of a loss as to what to say about this one. An overwhelming, beautiful and confusing experience. This is actually the first Chinese film I have watched (unless I am forgetting something), and the style is just so different to what I am used to. The use of music to generate emotion is just so incredible, especially when paired with chains of beautiful imagery. The use of nature is just wonderful. It did drag in a few places towards the end, or simply perplex me, but it's amazing how fast the first hour moves. And despite being over three hours long in total it manages to carry you along with it's strange, poetic language.

This same director (King Hu) made another movie called Raining in the Mountains. I've seen both. Here is me trying to figure out which one was which.

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The dude liked mountains, okay?

I certainly agree with the "beautiful and confusing" part. Since that is all I can remember. And that weird hand-drum that the chick was using.

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Wasn't there one point in this movie where the protagonist is stumbling through the hinterlands and then suddenly runs into a scene depicting Chinese hell? It's that time when some dude is dragged in front of a magistrate and said magistrates bodyguards has the heads of animals. Anyway, it comes straight out of nowhere and is really damn bewildering. Or was this Raining in the Mountain? Godamn Mountain movies. Anways, gotta hand it to the Chinese for depicting hell as an imperial bureaucracy. It's very perceptive of them.

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Also, this weird-eyed guy seems to be in every single goddamn King Hu movie ever created. Keep a lookout for him if you explore the dude's oeuvre further.

Seen this one @europe1 ?

<{cruzshake}>

Took me a while to figure out though.

Lord Tokugawa Ieyasu (1965)

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Like with the previous mentions, a lot of digging needed to be had to figure out if I had seen this or not. I don't think that I have. But eventually, you'll just realize that there are a ton of J-movies out there about dudes sitting in rooms shouting politics at one-another and they'll all blend together like a maelstrom.

Japanese cinema sure has its downsides, I tell ya.

It is an weird combination of gritty historical realism and 1980s camp. In some respects it is certainly a lot more authentic than other viking films and breaks a lot of the silly tropes you often find (horned helmets, skulls and the like). I believe a lot of the props and costumes were recreations of actual artifacts based on the directors research.

Two things I'd mention.

1: The gritty Spaghetti esthetic works wonders for authenticity. These people truly have faces that you'd consider weather-bitten, gruff and coarse. You get the impression that they've spent lives of violence on the high seas. Unlike other cinematic Viking ventures, which are just to damn clean and posh. The direction really understood that there was a similar dynamic going on between old Hollywood Westerns/Spaghettis as there was to Viking films in this regard.

2: I really like the way the house-gods (idols) were depicted in this movie. They're crude-looking yet still objects of awe and veneration. I think that Raven Flies better understands the way religion interacts with normalcy in this period as oppose to many other non-Christian historical movies, we're you're kinda getting the impression that they're praying to Catholic saints all of the time but with the names switched around. Superstitions run deep and are part of society, like with the funeral armour.

Yet on the other hand we have an Irish fella running around killing people with throwing knives like some kind of ninja.

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whereas on Sherdog all the write-ups that you've put the time in to post could disappear with one forum move (which happened with my old Classic Film 101 threads

Luckily, we've lost nothing on this server mov...

WAIT

BULLITT WHERE IS THE SEARCH FUNCTION!?

THE SEARCH BAR IS MISSING BULLITT!

I CAN'T SEARCH FOR WHAT I WROTE ABOUT LEGENDS OF THE MOUNTAIN 4 YEARS AGO IN THESE THREADS!<45>
 
I honestly thought this was a joke at first but then hearing you say that about Chinese films I was like

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Afraid I was deadly serious lol.

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Damit Rimbaud82!

1: You haven't seen any Chinese films before this!?

Afraid not lol. I always had this stereotype in my mind of the whole like people jumping from trees doing weird martial arts stuff in my head. I am no kung-fu fan lol. But this one sounded so interesting I gave it a go, mainly because I am interested in buddhism... of course there is actually a scene even in this one, with some sort of ghost leaping and jumping from trees :lol:

2: Legend of the Mountain is a Taiwanese film! You STILL haven't seen any Chinese films!<45>

Well I know that lol, culturally Chinese then. Because technically.......

Well we won't get into that haha.

This same director (King Hu) made another movie called Raining in the Mountains. I've seen both. Here is me trying to figure out which one was which.

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The dude liked mountains, okay?

This happened to me earlier literally. I got Legend of the Mountain from Masters of Cinema, was browsing through and seen Raining in the Mountain. So King Hu...monks...mountains...released 1979...is this the same film? Was honestly confused for a second. Even the blu ray covers look similar.

I certainly agree with the "beautiful and confusing" part. Since that is all I can remember. And that weird hand-drum that the chick was using.

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From the plot description I was expecting something like a Chinese Kwaidan but it was totally wild. I hadn't got a clue for much of the film.

Wasn't there one point in this movie where the protagonist is stumbling through the hinterlands and then suddenly runs into a scene depicting Chinese hell? It's that time when some dude is dragged in front of a magistrate and said magistrates bodyguards has the heads of animals. Anyway, it comes straight out of nowhere and is really damn bewildering. Or was this Raining in the Mountain? Godamn Mountain movies. Anways, gotta hand it to the Chinese for depicting hell as an imperial bureaucracy. It's very perceptive of them.

This does not sound familiar. But it was three hours long and very many strange things happened so who knows lol.

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Also, this weird-eyed guy seems to be in every single goddamn King Hu movie ever created. Keep a lookout for him if you explore the dude's oeuvre further.

Think I will check out Raining in the Mountain definitely, maybe some of his 60s stuff.

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Like with the previous mentions, a lot of digging needed to be had to figure out if I had seen this or not. I don't think that I have. But eventually, you'll just realize that there are a ton of J-movies out there about dudes sitting in rooms shouting politics at one-another and they'll all blend together like a maelstrom.

Makes sense, this was like the J-movie version if shitty European historical epics like Cromwell (1970). But in a way glad I watched it, makes you appreciate the great ones all the more.

Two things I'd mention.

1: The gritty Spaghetti esthetic works wonders for authenticity. These people truly have faces that you'd consider weather-bitten, gruff and coarse. You get the impression that they've spent lives of violence on the high seas. Unlike other cinematic Viking ventures, which are just to damn clean and posh. The direction really understood that there was a similar dynamic going on between old Hollywood Westerns/Spaghettis as there was to Viking films in this regard.

Definitely they looked like they had been toiling away on a frozen, desolate, isolated rock for years. Definitely fit the aesthetic a lot.

2: I really like the way the house-gods (idols) were depicted in this movie. They're crude-looking yet still objects of awe and veneration. I think that Raven Flies better understands the way religion interacts with normalcy in this period as oppose to many other non-Christian historical movies, we're you're kinda getting the impression that they're praying to Catholic saints all of the time but with the names switched around. Superstitions run deep and are part of society, like with the funeral armour.

Yeah good point. I even like how when his wife touts on Gest to save his son, he didnt actually think "oh maybe I was wrong", its just "cheers Odin, what a clever trick you helped me lay". They run very deep as you say.


Haha I was not as keen on it myself. Certainly it was not something you see everyday! Good film on the whole though don't get me wrong.
 
The Whale God (1962)
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A Japanese riff on that leviathan of classic literature - Moby Dick. While broadly treating the same idea of a deadly obsession with a huge whale, the film (and the book on which it is based) is not a direct adaptation and transposes this theme to a particularly Japanese setting. There is a strong emphasis on traditional fishing culture and customs, lending it an almost ethnographic tone at times.

Set in the Meiji period, the film concerns one village that is terrorised by an immense baleen whale. Possessed with a desire to defeat this monster, the village elder states that whoever manages to kill it will marry his only daughter and take his lands and title. Naturally there are many contentenders, the entire village is seemingly seized by this. However, two men stand out from the rest. Shaki, a young man who has seen his family destroyed by the whale and Kiju, a violent drifter who arrives in the village to claim the prize for himself. Shaki is driven by a compulsive desire for revenge, while Kiju seemingly wants nothing more than material gain and a chance to show how tough he is. Yet despite their differing motivations both men will ultimately meet the same fate in their hunt for the whale. Through this story the film critiques traditional notions of vengeance and samurai bravado.

Much of the middle portions play out more like a melodrama - there are a number of side-plots connected to the main issue of the whale - and I would have been tempted to give the film a slightly lower rating. However, the final sequences where they take on the “whale god” are absolutely brilliantly done. So good!

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I wonder if that is what this scene is based on:

 
Ok, this is going to be Part I of my mega post. Part II will be me going through all of the movies that I've watched of late. That will have to wait. For now, Part I will be me going through all of the movies that you all have been watching - and by "you all" I mean mainly Rimbaud :D

Last night I watched Vampyr (1932)

This will always be a special movie for me. For starters, this was the first silent movie I ever saw ("silent" should be in quotes but whatever). Added to which, it was the first Turner Classic Movies broadcast I ever watched. I vividly remember being in the guest room at my uncle's place in California during a family trip. With the time difference, California programs were coming on two hours earlier than I was accustomed to, which meant that the late-night TCM broadcast of "Silent Sunday Nights" was early enough for me to see it. Well, that night, the feature just so happened to be Vampyr, and I just so happened to turn on the TV right as Robert Osborne was introducing the film. I stayed up and watched the whole thing and was riveted. From a cinematic standpoint, I think that The Passion of Joan of Arc is Dreyer's masterpiece, but Vampyr will always be my favorite. Such a spooky atmosphere. The Universal horror movies of the day are classics for a reason, but nothing before Val Lewton could even approach the atmosphere Dreyer created in that film IMO.

According to Dreyer he "wanted to create a waking dream on screen and show that horror is not to be found in the things around us but in our own subconscious." I would say he was successful....

I was also going to describe Vampyr as Lynchian, but with this quote, that would be kind of redundant ;)

The Lighthouse (2019) [...] I suspect @Bullitt68 will not be/was not a fan

Still haven't seen this, even though some of my students in one of my classes last year raved about it. To be honest, it's one of those films that I would be absolutely ecstatic to see just based on the trailer, yet, because I know who/where it came from, is a film that I am less than enthused about. Those warring impulses are the reason that I will be slow in getting around to it, but I will for sure eventually check it out.

Hour of the Wolf (1968)

Seeing this for the first time so close to my first mind-blowingly awe-inspiring viewing of Persona really cut it off at the knees. I hated Hour of the Wolf after my first viewing, and even as my memory of the film itself faded over time, my memory of my reaction to it was always very clear in my mind, so I avoided a rewatch for years. Not until last fall, when I rewatched it after getting the Bergman Criterion collection, did I finally give it a second chance. And boy was I glad that I did, because I honestly sort of low-key love it now. Like you say, it's far from Bergman's best, but at the same time it has moments where Bergman is doing what he does best. I love the way that he gets into Max von Sydow's head, but even more than Bergman himself, serious credit needs to be given to von Sydow, who turns in arguably his best performance in a Bergman film behind The Magician (which is itself another under-the-radar Bergman film with an underrated performance from von Sydow), and Sven Nykvist, who did some of his best work here, especially in that extended finale, which I legit love.

Can't say I remember this one very well but... I dunno I remember thinking that Hour of the Wolf was kinda crappy.

Give it another shot and you might be like me and end up liking it a lot more the second time around.

But hey, at least it isn't Dreams or Summer With Monica ;)
Dreams (Women's Dreams in Swedish) is just a mediocre drama where what you see is what you get. Nothing special. Summer with Monica is one of those movies where the main conceit of the movie is easily figured out very early on and then you're just waiting for the prophecy to be fulfilled as it goes through the motions. Plus it has a lot of illogical plot-points. At one time, some random yokel just shows up and starts thrashing the protagonists' boat and then they have to fight him! Why is never explained and it occurs out of nowhere. And this is on the Swedish Riviera, a real fancy place, not in some backwater hillbilly country. It was kinda bizarre to see it happen in a Bergman flick.<45> Icky and superficial old people are hard to work as an antagonist, I suppose.

I agree with you on Dreams - nothing special, just makes contact with the ball - but it sounds like I would rate Summer with Monika higher than you. Granted, it's no Summer Interlude, which might've become my favorite pre-The Seventh Seal Bergman film, but it's significantly better than Dreams IMO. As for that scene with the fight, wasn't that guy one of her flings from her neighborhood? A jealous schmo she moved on from who took his frustration out on her new guy instead of her?

Rosemary's Baby (1968)

One of the all-time great horror movies. I've actually been on a horror movie kick myself recently, but I've only been watching from Halloween on. It's been forever since I've seen Rosemary's Baby, but I've always regarded it as one of the top five horror movies along with The Shining, Psycho, Scream, and The Omen. I'd be curious to know where I'd rank it now.

It also has one of my favorite lines, that subtly-not-so-subtle insult from that one dude at their party who sees her all skinny, pale, with her hideous short hair cut and just tells her straight up that she looks like a stick of chalk :oops::eek::D

Possession (1981)

Old school SMD'er @aquamanpunch recommended this to me back in the day, or maybe I had to watch it for a movie challenge pick. I can't remember the specifics anymore. But I watched it, and it was one of the most hilariously bad movies I've ever seen. I can't find my original post about it (for all I know it was in one of the SMD threads lost in the previous forum purge), but in searching for it I was reminded that I've actually seen it twice!

Can't believe I watched that crazy ass movie, @aquamanpunch. When I was home for the holidays, a friend of mine was over and we watched Conor starch Aldo, and afterwards, I was flipping through the channels and saw Possession on Turner Classic Movies. We watched it until it ended and like every 30 seconds my friend just had to keep asking, "What the fuck is this movie?" I'd already seen it and I still couldn't answer :D

That second viewing with my friend was fun, at least. We were cracking up during that flip out scene. If you want next level fuckedupness that's actually halfway decent, check out God Told Me To from Larry Cohen.

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920)

One of the classics to end all classics. It's never been my favorite from the famed German Expressionist era, but it's a must-see for all hardcore film fans.

Lokis. A Manuscript of Professor Wittembach (1970) "There are more things in Lithuanian forests than are dreamt of in your philosophy..."

Surprised the Lithuanian girl I dated while I was doing my PhD didn't have us watch this, especially since she would call me lokys. She must not have known about this movie - which doesn't say much considering a lot of the movies that you've been posting about of late are movies that I've never heard of, this one included.

Suspiria (1977)

To europe's dismay, I'm sure, I've always hated this movie. It's pretty to look at but the last time I watched it was in an Italian film class like ten years ago, and I think that was my second or third viewing, and it's just not good.

Sam Fullers Pickup on South Street was really good. One of those stories that focused on more sleazy, low-run, criminal protagonists that maintained their gritty edge but actually managed to make them likeable and seem heroic.

That one gets a lot of hype but that's bottom of the Fuller barrel in my book. In fact, in all honesty, I have no use for Fuller after his first three films until he gets to Shock Corridor and The Naked Kiss, but even those are merely half the films that his first three were out of the gate.

Sister of Gion by Kenji Mizoguchi (ie: dude who makes movies about prostitutes) is one of those movies that really stumble in the end. It does achieve some really good dramatics in exploring the lives of exploited women. However... I get the impression that the ending is there to underscore how perilous these women's lives are. That the proverbial rug can just be pulled out from underneath their feet no matter how good or bad they act. However, the actual impact of it all feels more like there is a missing reel somewhere instead of the movie pinpointing how exposed they are.

Ha, I went through Mizoguchi's stuff to prepare for my history of film class last term and yeah, he's definitely the dude who makes movies about prostitutes. I actually really dug Sisters of the Gion, more than Osaka Elegy and even more than his later, more revered The Life of Oharu. Nothing he ever did came close to Sansho the Bailiff, though, including the great but vastly overrated Ugetsu.

We could balance the thread by discussing the complex metaphysics of Stephan Seagal hitting someone with a snooker ball in a sock.

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Will leave that one to @Bullitt68, he probably still hasn't forgiven me for not watching Out For Justice.

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No worries. I get it. You're busy watching bizarre Lithuanian shit that even Lithuanian people have never heard of.

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The Sword of Doom (1966)

And then, as soon as I say that, you bust out this Samurai binge. I don't know what's up with this, but if a Hong Kong martial arts movie binge isn't up next, europe and I are going to be very disappointed. If nothing else, you should check out Fist of Fury. Not only would you get to see Bruce Lee, you'd get to confirm my theory that in addition to the Zatoichi films Bruce had to have been influenced by The Sword of Doom based on his performance in Fist of Fury.

too lazy to go too in-depth about my thoughts on it, but has anyone seen Long Day’s Journey into Night (Bi Gan, 2019)?

You have no idea how excited I was when I thought you were talking about Sidney Lumet's film with Katharine Hepburn or how quickly I went from excited to bummed :(

Luckily, we've lost nothing on this server mov...

WAIT

BULLITT WHERE IS THE SEARCH FUNCTION!?

THE SEARCH BAR IS MISSING BULLITT!

I CAN'T SEARCH FOR WHAT I WROTE ABOUT LEGENDS OF THE MOUNTAIN 4 YEARS AGO IN THESE THREADS!<45>

The search function is not a high priority, but it is a priority. The migration threw up a lot of surprises for the folks doing the migrating and they're leaving the search function until after they shore up more major shit. And that is the extent of my knowledge on the forum migration, a subject that is so far over my head that I can barely even see it :confused:

That said, you could always do what I did to find that Possession post: Search on Google to find the thread you're looking for and then go through it page by page until you find exactly what you're looking for. Low-tech and quite a pain in the ass, but better than nothing ;)
 
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