06.08.2012
Last week, the “Fim kLib” viewed the Murnau film made in 1927 called “Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans”, considered by cineaste Francois Truffaut to be “the most beautiful film ever made”, “le plus beau film du monde”. The film was indeed beautiful. It is an allegory, at one level, with a woman in very high heels being “the call of the city”, seducing a countryside peasant with her wolf-whistle to abandon the society and the culture (or even lack thereof) of the countryside. Yet, the film is complex, showing part of the “call of the city” (in the sense of “the call of the wild”) is harmless, the city being something one can visit without, as it were, abandoning everything else. With masterpiece scenes of barbers, photographers, trams, a fancy fair, and a storm attacking a tiny boat on a wild lake.
Before the film started, in honour of silent movies, a member, Rada Kistnasamy, had downloaded the bit of Mr. Bean from Danny Boyle’s Opening Ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics, where Mr. Bean is seen playing in the London Symphony Orchestra, and dreaming of winning (by cheating, naturally for him) in a dream Olympics. In the Film Club, there was also discussion of Danny Boyle’s use of the working class “pageant” form of art, for his ceremony, and using cinema as the basis for the show, not as an add-in. He also, a member said, gave “history” back to art. One of the destructive aspects of the last 30 years of neo-liberal ideology, has been the relegation of a feeling for history to the past. Obviously an understanding of the flow of history is a pre-requisite for revolutionary change in modern society. So, if you can “ban” it, you can help ensure the status quo reigns on.
To get an idea of the films we have viewed and discussed in our Film Club, we, the collective that make up the Film Club, are pasting a list below. First is the name of the film, then the director’s name, the year the film was made, and then somewhat vaguely, the lieu/language/tradition it is part of. Anyone who wants to join, just contact LALIT members for details.
All About My Mother - Almodovar (1999) - Spanish
Ashes and Diamonds - Josef Waida (1958) - Polish
Avatar - James Cameron (2009) - USA
Bad Education - Almodovar (2004) - Spanish
Battleship Potempkin - Sergei Eisenstein (1925) - Russian
Bicycle Thieves - Vittoria de Sica (1948) - Italian
Bof - Claude Faraldo (1971) - French
Brazilia - Terry Gilliam (1985) - UK
Cabascabo - Oumara Sanda (1969) – Cote d’Ivoire
Celebration, The – Thomas Vinterberg – Denmark (1998)
Chess Players - Satyajit Ray (1977) - Indian
Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941) - USA
Constant Gardener, The - Fernando Mereilles (2005) – Mexico, set Kenya
Cyrano de Bergerac - Jean-Paul Rappeneau (1990) - French
Deer Hunter - Michael Cimino (1979) - USA
Departures (Okuribito) - YÅjirÅ Takita (2009) – Japan
Disgrace – Steve Jacobs (2008) – Australia (set South Africa)
Dor - Nagesh Kukunoor (2006) - India
Earth - Deepa Mehta (1998) - India
Eight and a Half – Frederick Fellini (1963) - Italian
Fire - Deepa Mehta (1996) - India
Flags of our Fathers – Clint Eastwood (2006) - USA
Fountain, The - Darren Aronofsky (2006) - USA
Freeze Die Come to Life - Vitali Kanevsky (1989) Russia
Frida - Julie Taymor (2002) – US-Mexico
Ghare-Baire (Home and the World) - Satyajit Ray (1984) - India
Gold Rush - Charlie Chaplin (1925) - USA
Good Night and Good Luck - George Clooney (2005) - USA
Gran Torino - Clint Eastwood (2008) - USA
Guiletta degli Spiriti (Julietta and her Spirits) - Federico Fellini (1965) - Italy
Home - Yann Arthus - Bertrand (2009) - USA
Hunger - Steve McQueen (2008) - Ireland
In A Better World (Revenge) – Suzanne Beer (2010) Denmark
In Bruges - Martin McDonagh (2008) - Belgium
Incredible Shrinking Man, The – Jack Arnold (1957) - USA
Indonesia's Years of Living Dangerously - Sylvie Le Clezio and Chris Hilton (2002) - Indonesia
Ivan’s Childhood - Andrei Tarkovsky (1962) - Russia
Jal Sagaar (Music Room) - Satyajit Ray (1958) - India
Kagemusha - Kurosawa (1980) – Japan
King’s Speech – Tom Hooper (2010) – Australia set UK
La Commune - Paris 1871 - Peter Watkins (2000), fim Marathon 6 – ertan - France (British Director)
La Dolce Vita - Federico Fellini (1960) - Italy
Ladybird, Ladybird – Ken Loach (1994) - England
La Grande Illusion - Jean Renoir (1937) - France
Lagaan - Aamir Khan (2001) - India
Le Bal - Ettore Scola (1982) - Italy
Le Manda (Mandabi) - Ousmane Sembene (1968) - Senegal
Letters from Iwo Jima – Clint Eastwood (2006) - USA
L’Odeur de la Papaye Verte – Tran Anh Hung (1993) Vietnam
Lola - Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1981) - Philippines
Making of La Commune (Paris 1871) - Peter Watkins (2000) – English - France
Milk - Gus Van Sant (2008) - USA
Modern Times - Charlie Chaplin (1936) USA
Monocled Mutineer, Series (i) to (iv) - Jim O'Brien (1986) - English
My Only Sunshine – Reha Erdem (2008) - Turkey
Notre Musique - Jean-Luc Goddard (2004) - France
Other Peoples’ Lives - Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (2006) - Germany
Passion of Gina Sinozich, The - Sylvie Le Clezio (2006) - Australia
Quemada – Gillo Pontecorvo (1969) – US (set Caribbean)
Ran - Kurosawa (1985) - Japan
Ray - Taylor Hackford (2004) - USA
Reader, The - Stephen Daldry (2009) – Set Germany
Salo – Paolo Pasolini (1975) - Italy
Saragossa Manuscript, The - Wojciech Has (1965)
Slumdog Millionnaire - Danny Boyle (2008) India
Still Life – Jia Zhang Ke (2008) - China
Sunless / Sans Soleil - Chris Marker (1983) - French
Sunrise – A Song of Two Humans by Frederick Wilhelm Murnau (1927)
Talk to Her - Almodovar (2002) - Spanish
Tampopo – Juzo Itami (1985) - Japan
Themroc - Claude Faraldo (1972) - France
Third Man, The - Carol Reed (with Orson Welles) (1949) – USA
Three Colours: Blue - Krzystof Kieslowski (1994) - Poland
Three Colours: White - Krzystof Kieslowski (1993) - Poland
Torment - Ingmar Bergman (1944) - Sweden
Tsotsi - Gavin Hood (2005) – South Africa
Turtles Can Fly - Bahman Ghobadi (2004) - Iran
Underworld - Emir Kusturica (1997) - Serbia
Vera Drake - Mike Leigh (2004) - British
Veridiana - Luis Buñuel (1962) - Spanish
Volver - Almodovar (2006) - Spanish
Water - Deepa Mehta (2005) - India
Wire, The (enn apersi pli zoli seri TV Ameriken dan listwar) - David Simon, Premye seri 2002