Re: July 2007 Reading/Watching Recap

Jandy — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 12:11:08 -0000

That's a good way of looking at The Fountain, I think. Really, I think people get too caught up in trying to make films like The Fountain (or David Lynch's films) make ordinary logical sense; trying to understand how every bit fits. I don't think that's always helpful; The Fountain makes sense, and like you say, I think the past and future stories are ways of dealing with death, but it's not cut-and-dried, and you can't understand it the same way you can understand a math problem. It uses a different sort of logic--an emotional, thematic logic rather than a cognitive, narrative logic.

I haven't reviewed Le petit soldat yet. I don't even know what I'm going to say. I didn't really like it very much, and had severe difficulty keeping my attention on it (I even tried watching it twice). I liked certain scenes, but I couldn't get a grip on it as a whole--which may be a reflection of my almost complete lack of knowledge of the Algerian conflict.

Well, I still can't get The Naked Kiss out of my mind, and I saw it months ago. But Shock Corridor just...wasn't shocking. And I wanted it to be. Still, Fuller's definitely got his own sensibility that's unlike anyone else's I've seen, so while you may be right about Godard and the others, I can see why they'd consider him more than just a craftsman. Not sure he fits with Truffaut's original idea of an auteur, but I'm not sure I fully understand his formulation anyway.

Re: Good German, really? I didn't know that. Thanks, I'll have to seek out Zentropa and keep that in mind. Maybe it'll call for a revaluation of Good German, even.

Re: July 2007 Reading/Watching Recap

filmbo — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 11:39:02 -0000

Heya Jandy,

I loved The Fountain as well, very moving. My thoughts on the interconnectedness of the three stories was that storytelling and fantasy was used as a way to come to terms with death, whether it's the fantasy of a fountain of youth or just the act of telling a story in general. So I looked at the his future self as being his way of coping with death when he himself started to die just as the conquistador story was her way of coping with it. It's a strange interpretation and one not many other people seem to agree with, but it did explain his hospital-wear, his bald head, and even at one time (at least I think it existed) a hospital bed in the bubble. I'm curious if that crossed your mind.

Also, did I miss your review of Le Petit Soldat or did it not happen yet? And my thoughts exactly on My Life to Live.

I'll be watching Shock Corridor soon, though I'm not quite sure what to think of Samuel Fuller. I almost wonder if Jean-Luc et al openly praised him to counterbalance their nerdier interests.

Oh, and The Good German is not just an homage to the 1940s, but actually a bit of a conceptual remake of Lars von Trier's Zentropa, pastiche and all.

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Re: July 2007 Reading/Watching Recap

Re: July 2007 Reading/Watching Recap