Last night I watched Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Dreamers," and I LOVED it. I'm not very up on my cinematic chops, but this one really inspired and educated me, and it's not even close to the real deal. It was a compelling depiction of politics and culture in France in 1968 (and really great sex scenes!), centering around the student-led protests and riots that ensued following the dismissal of Henri Langlois from the Cinémathèque Française at Palais de Chaillot.
As I watched the movie, I came to wholly understand the fascination that cinema holds for so many. I related so well to the teenagers' fascination with referencing obscure lines and actions from movies like "Queen Christina" or other classic films. Their games intrigued me the way I am intrigued when someone references an old hillbilly artist, or mentions someone like Goree Carter. Also appearing were Jean-Pierre Kalfon and Jean-Pierre Léaud, who in the movie delivered forceful speeches to the collected students, as they had actually done in 1968.
The soundtrack was great too; good 1960s rock and roll...not as Americans worshipped it but as Europeans worshipped it. Most independent American films depicting this era would not use so obvious an icon as Janis Joplin, but in a French film it makes complete sense.
Watching the extra features on this also educated me to the dawning of the French New Wave of cinema. I've always been sort of drawn to the look and feel of France in the 1960s, but I've never known where to start as far as movies go.
All of a sudden, I find myself obsessed with learning all I can about this artistic movement. So today, I learned and formulated a plan. Here is how I am going to educate myself:
As far as films go, I'm going to start with Truffaut--likely "Jules and Jim".
In addition, I will get Godard's "Breathless" and will see if I can find a copy of "Pierrot Le Fou".
Oh, and then Agnès Vardas I already have in my Netflix queue with "Cleo from 5 to 7".
Something from Rohmer, but I'm not sure where to start with that.
I just know I'm going to love Jacques Demy, so I'll watch the first thing I can find by him.
After that, we'll see where I'm led.
I'm also going to read some of the criticisms from Andre Bazin, and also see(somewhat less related to this) the documentary on Frank Gehry.
I plan to watch more by Nicholas Ray, Howard Hawks (I've seen quite a few of his, naturally, but there are many more I have been reticent to pick up for some reason), a few more by Orson Welles (why have I never seen "Casino Royale?").
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment