Gozu

Directed by Takashi Miike and released in it’s home country of Japan in 2003.

Now, I am a huge fan of Takashi Miike’s work. As disturbing as they are, Ichi The Killer and Visitor Q are two of my utmost favourite movies. They combine dark and crude humour with enamoured violence absolutely wonderfully but this was just a step in the absolute wrong direction.

The film starts out brilliantly and then descends into absurdity and doesn’t let up until the end credits hit you. This really did suck and I was expecting a masterpiece of sorts. It’s Miike so I was expecting something absurd but this takes absurd to a whole new level and then sets a new tone for what is dumb and what is not. I just couldn’t stand this.

That’s weird though, right? I usually love dumb films with surreal shit in it like this, right? Yeah, right… but those films have a point and go somewhere, this one had no point no plot in the final half at all and just descended into stupidity with every passing minute.

I’m really disappointed in this and in Miike. No wonder he’s stopped making Yakuza films.

Melancholia

Directed by Lars Von Trier, filmed in his home country of Denmark and released theatrically, in it’s home countries of Denmark and the USA, in 2011.

I’d already seen this film not too long ago but I felt I needed to see it in the cinema to properly connect with it and while it wasn’t quite the 10/10 I was hoping for, it does hold up very well upon revisiting it.

I think there was more Von Trier could’ve done to help us empathize with Justine in the first part, especially during the wedding even though the last thing we should be doing with an untrustworthy and cheating newly-wed is empathizing with her, but it does bode well during the second part when her depresson kicks in even though by the end of the film we feel more compassion for Claire.

The final sequence is spellbinding in a cinematic setting – I felt like my ears were going to explode it was so loud. Another fine film from Von Trier but it’s no Antichrist.

Metropolis

Directed by Fritz Lang and released in it’s home country of Germany in 1927 – restored almost completely in 2008, the restoration of which was released in 2010.

An absolute revelation. Ahead of it’s time in every aspect of it’s production from it’s – at the time – revolutionary running time to the size of the sets (seemingly only marvelled by D.W. Griffifth’s Intolerance which I am yet to see). The film is astonishing from start to finish and never lets up on that.

The themes of the ever-apparent differences differences between the working class and the upper class, that are even more so relevant today, are laden throughout the entire picture not just the ending – for example the scene just before the heart-machine is destroyed by the lower city, the telephone/video call (which is great foresight by the way) between the foreman and Frederson shows the clear distress between both parties in terms of them even just communicating with one another, this can also be seen in the scene they share near the beginning and it serves as a great precursor for the aforementioned final scene.

The performances from Maria and Rotwang the inventor are both splendid and stood out for me the most – the inventor especially, I loved his eccentricity and thought it was a breath of fresh air in comparison with the rest of the classes in the film, he stood out on his own perfectly from everyone else in the film. I also loved the techniques Lang used in terms of the cinematography, some absolute revolutionary stuff which is pretty much commonplace these days.

A masterpiece that I cannot believe I’ve finally managed to see – and let me tell you the restoration is magnificent. If you haven’t seen this already then you really are missing out.

Favourite Films Of All Time

Ever since I got addicted to cinema I started keeping lists of my favourites along with tallies of films that I’ve seen. I still have a lot of films that I want to see, and a lot of directors I want to explore, but  my favourites list has been pretty stagnant over the past few years. The top ten especially has stuck with essentially the same core. Below is my current top 50 of all time. You can view my Full Top 100 via IMDb. Also you can find other stuff about the films I love via my IMDb Profile.

Last edited: January 4th 2012.

01. Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977)

02. Scum (Alan Clarke, 1979)

03. Gummo (Harmony Korine, 1997)

04. The Cook The Thief His Wife & Her Lover (Peter Greenaway, 1989)

05. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)

06. Sátántangó (Béla Tarr, 1994)

07. The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)

08. Trash Humpers (Harmony Korine, 2010)

09. La Montaña sagrada (Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1973)

10. Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom (Ki-duk Kim, 2003)

11. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

12. Elephant (Alan Clarke, 1989)

13. Carne (Gaspar Noé, 1991)

14. Down By Law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986)

15. Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle (Werner Herzog, 1974)

Click here to read my review for The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser.

16. Dazed And Confused (Richard Linklater, 1993)

Click here to read my review for Dazed And Confused.

17. Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1983)

18. Koroshiya 1 (Takashi Miike, 2001)

19. Naked (Mike Leigh, 1993)

20. Apocalypse Now! (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)

21. Koyaanisqatsi (Godfrey Reggio, 1982)

22. Christine (Alan Clarke, 1987)

Click here to read my review for Christine.

23. Stalker (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1979)

24. Det Sjunde inseglet (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)

25. Kawaita hana (Masahiro Shinoda, 1964)

26. julien donkey-boy (Harmony Korine, 1999)

27. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008)

28. Bad Lieutenant (Abel Ferrara, 1992)

29. Krótki film o zabijaniu  (Krzyzstof Kieslowski, 1988)

30. Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)

Click here to read my review for Metropolis.

31. Werckmeister harmóniàk (Béla Tarr & Ágnes Hranitzky, 2001)

32. Road (Alan Clarke, 1987)

Click here to read my review for Road.

33. Le Doulos (Jean-Pierre Melville, 1962)

34. The Last Movie (Dennis Hopper, 1971)

Click here to read my review for The Last Movie.

35. Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1975)

36. Ex Drummer (Koen Mortier, 2007)

37. Control (Anton Corbijn, 2007)

38. Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992)

39. A torinói ló (Béla Tarr & Agnes Hrantizky, 2011)

Click here to read my review for The Turin Horse.

40. The Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin, 1925)

41. Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai (Jim Jarmusch, 1999)

42. Stroszek (Werner Herzog, 1977)

43. Ivanovo detstvo (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1962)

44. Pierrot le Fou (Jean-Luc Godard, 1965)

45. The Long Good Friday (John Mackenzie, 1980)

Click here to read my review for The Long Good Friday.

46. Inland Empire (David Lynch, 2006)

47. Le notti di Cabiria (Federico Fellini, 1957)

48. Smultronstället (Ingmar Bergman, 1957)

49. Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse (Fritz Lang, 1933)

50. Une femme est une femme (Jean-Luc Godard, 1961)

 

The Enigma Of Kaspar Hauser

Directed by Werner Herzog and released in it’s home country of Germany in 1974.

This film did nothing short of blow me away. Absolutely splendid film, directed with absolute precision by Werner Herzog and acted out by the incredible Bruno S. After seeing Bruno in Stroszek I was wondering if he could better that performance, and now I know.

The cinematography here is just marvellous. The dream sequences (even though there are very few) add elements of surrealism to this incredibly surreal drama about a man who was imprisoned for 30 or so years by his father and then abandoned in a nearby town when his father was financially incapable of looking after him any more.

The story follows Kasper Hauser as the community he has been thrust upon tries to integrate him into society – as well as helping him to talk, walk, read and write among a heap of other things.

The beauty of Bruno S.’s performance really pulls you into the film. And the ending, I won’t even go into it I just urge everyone to see this as soon as possible. Easily in my top 15 of all time.

The Turin Horse

Directed by Béla Tarr & Agnes Hrantizky and released in it’s home country of Hungary in 2011.

The Turin Horse is a film that works off the story of one of Nietzche’s final encounters where he supposedly wrapped his arms around a horse crying. Of the story, Tarr asks “What happened to the horse?” – and thus The Turin Horse was born.

The film takes place at the turn-of-the-century and recreating that kind of atmosphere is hard but Tarr manages to do it magnificently, creating sets and buildings out of stone and wood especially for the film.

Originally devised in the late 80s and postponed and delayed by various people for various reasons, it stands out on it’s own from any of Tarr’s previous works for two reasons. The first is that it’s Tarr’s last and for most that will be a sign of defeat for cinema – I feel the same way – but for some it will pass them by without even noticing. The second is the visceral performances from the two central characters. Father and daughter. An hour into the film they are met by a visitor spouting Nietzche-like philosophies but is cast out by the father calling it horse manure. The only other appearances come from a group of gypsies and the narration by Tarr himself.

The film follows the daily life of the father and daughter as they sleep, eat, dress and look after their ailing horse who’s health slowly deteriorates as the film progresses. Tarr’s trademark, uncomprimising 10-15 minute single shots, either entice the viewer or make them incredibly uncomfortable and it’s no different here than in Satan’s Tango or Damnation. The cinematography is always the utmost magnificent thing about any of his films and it is absolutely splendid here – bear in mind the film contains a minimal 30 takes. It remains among the best of any Tarr film even managing to overcome the odds set by the beautiful Werckmeister Harmonies. Not to mention the incredible score which is laden throughout the entire piece – the main motif is haunting and will undoubtedly be stuck in my mind for days. Where the score isn’t the harsh sound of gale force winds fly through the frame. The wind sets the perfect tone for the center of the movie where we come to terms with the similarity of this families’ day to day lives.

As the film comes to a close the routines work their way back into the film and you’re left wondering how anyone can even stomach it any longer. The characters are heavily undeveloped but the way their routine and daily life is presented one can only express sympathy for their plight and watch as their story unfolds either to their benefit or to their dismay. Tarr has obviously done this on purpose – leaving the human aspect of this film to the very end and sacrificing it for the feelings of the titular animal which serves as the center of this, Béla Tarr’s last masterpiece.

While the opening 20 minutes contain no dialogue bar the opening naration, the ending is an incredible parallel as the final 15 minutes are played out in complete darkness, ending with Tarr’s narration – followed by an ending to be remembered for a long long time to come.

Films like this remind you how powerful cinema really can be.

A premature death for cinema.
Or is it? Only time will tell.