Criterion Film Club: Suggestions and General Discussion

[ando]

Well, if anything, the random picks inspire otherwise overlooked gems. Satyajit Ray's (of Henrik Ibsen's) Enemy for me. Thanks.

[Mr Sausage]

Loves of a Blonde it is.

[domino harvey]

[Mr Sausage]

Here you are, five more randomly generated titles. Vote away. You have until this time Monday. Collusion, strategy, conspiracy, and questionable decision making are both advised and encouraged. Just like in real elections!

[Drucker]

Alright I voted for A Nous La Liberte. I tried watching a Clair film 2 years ago but was distracted, and since reading up on him more, I have no idea why it didn't grab me immediately. I've been eager to watch this film. I do hope it wins.

[Mr Sausage]

Wings of Desire for me. Unless someone gives me a good reason why not, anyway.

[domino harvey]

My vote goes to Martha Graham, though unsure why the whole DVD is an option

[swo17]

We had some discussion about this earlier and determined that for releases like this (a single spine number where the featured films do not have their own page on Criterion's website) it would just be the whole release that's eligible for voting. If people want there to be a chance for discussion of individual films from sets like these, they'll have to handpick them when they're asked to curate a round of film club.

[Drucker]

Can anyone who wants to discuss Martha express why they want to talk about it? I feel like the documentary round we had was a bit of a bust. I don't know much about the films, but is there going to be content worth discussing? Or are these just nice films to look at?

[matrixschmatrix]

I've seen two of the three, and I think they'll be tricky to discuss in terms of themselves, possibly- though no more so than Wings of Desire- but there's a huge well of stuff for Martha Graham, Aaron Copland, modern dance as a form, the relationship of dance to film, and all kinds of things that would be fair game.

(Also, I think the relative failure of the Docs list may have been due to absentee moderation on one very specific member's part )

[swo17]

I think Drucker was just referring to how Antonio Gaudí took a little while for the discussion to get rolling and wasn't that well liked by some commenters.

I for one am curious to see how people here might architecture about dance.

[domino harvey]

I think if part of the goal of these exercises is to get members to watch overlooked titles, Martha Graham is the obvious choice. What discussion comes is variable, sure, but isn't it always?

[Mr Sausage]

I don't know anything about dance and I doubt my ability to talk about the Martha Graham films, but I'll give it a real go if they're picked. It'll really get me outside my comfort zone, at least.

[warren oates]

I voted for the Martha Graham films for the same reason as domino -- I'd never watch these otherwise. The Antonioni and Wenders films are brilliant and beautiful but they've also been thoroughly discussed here and elsewhere. And Wings of Desire, like Paris, Texas also isn't the sort of film I feel like dissecting in this way.

[domino harvey]

I've seen the whole Graham disc, by the way-- but I do think people coming to modern dance from a fresh perspective could indeed generate some entertaining responses if nothing else

[warren oates]

I might be persuaded to change my vote to À nous la liberté, especially if other films appear to be winning, as I seem to recall reading something by David Mamet about how great it is.

[Drucker]

Carl Dreyer also praises Clair's early French work (I'd certainly love to see some of his silents), so I'm very intrigued. He has a chapter in his book of his essays where he is dismayed that Clair is considered a dependable, "reliable" (some other synonym I can't think of now) and utilitarian filmmaker rather than an artist. He claims the man's early works are a testament to his artistry that got lost when he got to America, more or less it seems.

[Lemmy Caution]

I voted for Martha since I just picked up the set a month ago and haven't touched it yet. And a discussion of the films seems the best way to get started with it.

Been quite some time since I saw the Clair, which I recall liking.

I once put on Wings of Desire watched a little over 5 minutes and was completely not in the mood for it, and never got back to it. Fairly rare that I start and don't watch a film.

I'd be interested in any of those 3 really. Though the Clair might be hard to unearth.

[zedz]

I voted for Martha too, just because I like the idea of forcing people to watch this disc.

As for discussion, I think there's plenty to get our teeth into, from the dances themselves to the way in which they're presented (and, from there, into the whole aesthetics of representing dance on film). I think it could also be interesting to talk about the idea of these kind of compilations as 'Criterion Collection' products. It's something that the BFI, for example, does all the time, and extremely well, but this disc is really an outlier for Criterion.

[warren oates]

Time for that hold out L'avventura voter to admit defeat and help break the tie.

[swo17]

Not to mention all of those holdout À nous la liberté and Wings of Desire voters!

[Mr Sausage]

Martha Graham it is!

[domino harvey]

[Mr Sausage]

Dom, I know you've mentioned you have a background in dance, so any chance we can count on your expertise to guide those of us who won't really know what we're looking at?

[domino harvey]

Yes, I know I haven't always delivered on promises to participate in these discussions, but I'll do my best to answer any questions and help guide the viewings of those who'd like such input