IanWass's comments

I've watched this several times now and still can't determine or cogently argue whether Basquiat was a genius and avant-garde in the truest sense or just criminally overrated.

9 years 6 months ago

Movie comment on Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

Disclaimer: I am in no way qualified to write about this (whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent..)

The problem I have, painting in very broad strokes, with certain commercial American films that take the well-trodden path of criticizing modern middle-to-upper-class suburban life --- territory artists of various mediums have been mining for decades, oftentimes to the point of triteness --- is they feel compelled to bludgeon you over the head to try to make you feel something. It's existential ennui (and/or: malaise/weltschmerz/angst/despair) with a hammer. That's not to say a perfectly placed Philip Glass-esque song or a melodramatic cut-shot to a character visibly, unequivocally unraveling or grand dramatic missteps toward profundity (what up, Sam Mendes?) aren't effective --- but these techniques can obviously cheapen the experience and feel contrived. That’s why a show like Mad Men, in its peak moments, is superior to the aforementioned sub-genre of films --- it requires some patience, sure, but at least it mostly goes light on the bludgeoning.

But that isn't to say the opposite, or however one would classify the subtler stuff that requires a higher attention to detail, (e.g. Ozu) is necessarily more effective. While I admire Ozu greatly from the few films of his I’ve seen –- they simply haven’t connected thus far. I'm cognizant of the overwhelming-politeness-and-adherence-to-ritual-in-the-face-of-despair mentality of Japanese culture (in that era, at least) his films depict. I can see the sadness behind Noriko’s eyes in Late Spring as she must countenance unfavorable outcomes with an unwavering, almost painted-on smile --- and while this faux-bonhomie is somewhat chilling, the overall disingenuousness of the “grin and bear it” charade undermines any chance at a real visceral connection (again, simply for me personally). Maybe this is because we Midwesterners, repression embodied, often wear our emotions on our face -- eyes downcast --- that whole sad Scandinavian stereotype. This is why Bergman is the preeminent authority in (accurate) existential sadness: his scenes always feel true and --- when he intends to --- he doesn’t sacrifice emotional intimacy or authenticity for histrionics (e.g. think Ingrid Thulin’s famous monologue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0L1Y-wL9x4 in Winter Light rather than the crucifix violation in Cries and Whispers).

And so Jeanne Dielman basically had (or rather needed) the effect of the frog boiling in water metaphor, where a false emotional moment, an overreach, represents the jumping-out point --- and not boiling at all is the exact moment when the hypnotic becomes the tedious and the viewer is no longer engrossed. Really that’s Chantel Akerman’s (and Delphine Seyrigs’) great talent in the film: incrementally turning up the degree level with almost scientific precision and care so the viewer doesn’t realize they're being cooked at all; managing a voyeuristic look into the monotonous, soul-crushing autopilot of daily routine in modern society we’re all acutely aware of --- which could very easily drift into banality and languish/underwhelm if treated with too delicate or overly-methodical hands --- or, with brash, less meticulous handling --- over-accentuate/sell the clearly poignant moments and feel inauthentic.

tl;dr This is a classic. Yay feminism. Yay women directors. It's hard being a human. It's really hard being a woman. It's remarkably hard being a mother, particularly a single mother. Go hug your mom. Or caregiver.

9 years 9 months ago

Movie comment on Vertigo

IanWass

Saw this a second time (on the big screen) and it dropped almost fifty spots on my "favorites" list -- granted, there are no established unified criteria for determining the rankings of said list. Initially, I was so caught up in the cinematography, the music, the style, the twist (and ending), and Jimmy Stewart's unsettling possessiveness, objectification, ill-treatment, etc. of Judy/Madeleine (as a self-reflexive mirror of Hitchcock's own well-documented behavior toward women/actresses) that I overlooked some of the film's deficiencies. Maybe this was only meant to be seen once?

10 years 6 months ago