Thanks, Michael. After you see the film, please l...

2007-12-25T17:41:00.000-05:00

Thanks, Michael. After you see the film, please let us know how it struck you.

Dan, preparing for the Cine Latino sidebar at the ...

2007-12-23T16:58:00.000-05:00

Dan, preparing for the Cine Latino sidebar at the Palm Springs International, I am grateful for your comments in defense of Solitary Fragments. Said defense, with Harry's insights folded in as well, have made Solitary Fragments high on my list of films to catch at PSIFF. Enthusiasm remains much more convincing to me than disdain, no matter how critically nuanced.

I could see the accusation of excessive/clumsy "ps...

2007-12-21T08:47:00.000-05:00

I could see the accusation of excessive/clumsy "pseudo-minimalism" in Marc Recha's Dies d'agost, which I failed to understand.
Rosales' and Aguilera's film only show the imperfections of a debut carreer, but I wouldn't say their styles are fundamentally corrupted by lack of personality, or lazy appropriation.

I'm not dismissing Polyvision because it's too narrative. I'm just

This is by far the most comments that one of my bl...

2007-12-20T11:06:00.000-05:00

This is by far the most comments that one of my blog posts has drawn!

I think that the characterizations in La Soledad are worked out in the script and playing, and are not just a result of the movie's general tone. For instance, the young divorcee's ability to cope with change and adverse circumstances is commented upon by other characters; and the script opposes her to a

Dan, Harry,Thanks for allowing me to go on... I wi...

2007-12-19T06:59:00.000-05:00

Dan, Harry,
Thanks for allowing me to go on... I will try to be brief insofar as my limited command of English allows me.
First, to clear some things up from the beginning: I do not find any real (good or bad) resemblance between Bresson and any of these much overpraised Spanish films which I happen to find either poorer than they could or simply very bad. The filiation has been

"Better" and "more" are relative/subjective words,...

2007-12-18T16:05:00.000-05:00

"Better" and "more" are relative/subjective words, that wouldn't mean the same thing for me, so even if we agree on the terms, we will not agree on what they mean. If I say "less is more", cutting out all the unecessary mannerism and overstated narrative elements helps cinema to get rid of the distraction and focus on the essential and show it more and better. I don't find it useless at all. As a

Miguel - you don't have to end the discussion for ...

2007-12-17T12:54:00.000-05:00

Miguel - you don't have to end the discussion for my sake - I find it interesting.

As I mentioned, I'm not sure that I completely understand or appreciate Rosales's rather obtrusive visual concept in La Soledad, so I'm not in a position to mount a good defense of it. The argument you make - that the purpose of cinema is for us to see better and more - is one that I can appreciate

Dan, Harry,I promise to end this discussion. Only ...

2007-12-17T04:07:00.000-05:00

Dan, Harry,
I promise to end this discussion. Only to clear a couple of points (not the one you cleared already on your own, Harry).
On a general basis, I'd wonder which could be the interest or merit of disorienting or puzzling the viewer and sending your gaze right and left of a wide screen not to see anything more, but (at best) the same thing from another, indifferent or useless,

Miguel - though I liked La Soledad a lot, I confes...

2007-12-15T10:54:00.000-05:00

Miguel - though I liked La Soledad a lot, I confess that I felt a little unsure about that split-screen technique. In particular, I wasn't sure that I wouldn't have liked the film as much without it, and wondered how necessary it was. But the images do carry a charge, even if it's hard for me to understand how they work. Their most obvious characteristic, that they almost always destroy

Miguel,I realize you probably mentionned Lars von ...

2007-12-15T10:35:00.000-05:00

Miguel,
I realize you probably mentionned Lars von Trier and Iñarritu as other examples of "hacks", and not in comparison to the films we talk about here. Sorry for the confusion.

I was going to say that I prefered La Influencia t...

2007-12-14T15:00:00.000-05:00

I was going to say that I prefered La Influencia to La Soledad (which is a bit more conventional in threading basic flat-mate conflicts, and divorce pathos), and that I found very interesting the experimental use of the long-take split screen in the latter (to cover two simultaneous angles of the same scene, sure it could be done better but I think there is something new to explore

I'm afraid I'm getting very boring, but I think so...

2007-12-14T07:49:00.000-05:00

I'm afraid I'm getting very boring, but I think some filmmakers which take this or that from Bresson or Dreyer, Tarkovskií or Antonioni, never mind, and tell people they do what they really don't, end up making films like Aguilera's - sorry, another in much the same vein -, which, effectively, Tuttle is quite right there, have much less to do with either of the former directors than with

Harry - I too have the feeling that Bresson felt t...

2007-12-13T16:01:00.000-05:00

Harry - I too have the feeling that Bresson felt that he was blazing a trail that the rest of cinema should follow. I don't think it's blasphemous to follow him, and I don't even think that the results of following him will necessarily be bad; but I think his ideas about cinema were quirky, and don't make sense to me as generalized theory.

Thanks for the tip on Aguilera - he hadn't been

This is an interesting discussion on post-Bresson ...

2007-12-13T15:27:00.000-05:00

This is an interesting discussion on post-Bresson minimalism. But I wonder if it's fair to compare young filmmakers (who make films far less ambitious) to a top master. Honor de Cavalleria is maybe the less compromising and still is far from Bresson's mastery, it comes out as an exercice of style rather than the invention of a new universe.
It's also unfair to isolate Bresson as an

Miguel - in the case of my films, the direct influ...

2007-12-13T11:00:00.000-05:00

Miguel - in the case of my films, the direct influence came mostly from Rohmer. As for indirect influence, that's anyone's guess....

I've always felt that Bresson had a personal, quirky aversion to anything about human beings related to performance and projection. The normal amount of drama that everyone incorporates into their interface with the world registers on him as theatrical

Hi, Dan!Sorry to fully disagree about Rosales, rea...

2007-12-13T09:54:00.000-05:00

Hi, Dan!
Sorry to fully disagree about Rosales, really overblown and overrated here (and elsewhere). If you did not get that it's because I try not to be insulting, nor too negative about well-intentioned, hopeful newcomers like Javier Rebollo, Rafa Cortés and several others I could name, which have a hard life to bear if they stay out of commercialism. The trouble is that they are prone to

Hello, Miguel! Like all national film series at t...

2007-12-11T11:40:00.000-05:00

Hello, Miguel! Like all national film series at the Walter Reade and MOMA, Spanish Cinema Now is full of bad, obvious films. I think these series are proven moneymakers for those venues, and are not aimed at cinephiles. But it's fun to scout around and try to find the ambitious works.

I couldn't tell from your post whether you think Recha and Rosales are overrated. I haven't yet had

I certainly would not want to disappoint anyone, b...

2007-12-11T10:22:00.000-05:00

I certainly would not want to disappoint anyone, but I feel I should warn you that this Walter Reade selection is far from representing what is best in poor Spanish cinema, bad as its current shape might be. Most of the program I would not stand to watch again, and many would fill up my list of the year's worst, at least if only taking into account those ambitious enough (or rather, pretentious

La Soledad is unashamedly arty and really impressi...

2007-12-10T21:48:00.000-05:00

La Soledad is unashamedly arty and really impressive. It's truly shocking at times, and yet one comes away thinking about the sun and breeze on the patios of shady apartments. It's playing again on Thursday, Dec. 13 at 3 pm and Friday, Dec. 14 at 9:15 pm.

Thanks for those links, Dan!

2007-12-05T16:13:00.000-05:00

Thanks for those links, Dan!

P.S. to Girish - I wrote a little bit about silent...

2007-12-05T15:56:00.000-05:00

P.S. to Girish - I wrote a little bit about silent movie accompaniment in these a_film_by posts: 16210, 16263, 43048.

Girish - every time I see a silent movie in a thea...

2007-12-05T14:58:00.000-05:00

Girish - every time I see a silent movie in a theater, I think about writing an antisocial blog post on the subject - then I lie down until the feeling goes away.... I'll look for your post.

"But I must admit that I have a fairly big problem...

2007-12-05T11:40:00.000-05:00

"But I must admit that I have a fairly big problem with silent movie accompaniment in general."

Dan, you took the words out of my mouth. Coincidentally, I'm at work on a biggish post on this subject for the next week or two. Perhaps we (and others) can chat more about this interesting topic then.

Battling Butler is so awesome. But I must admit t...

2007-12-05T10:44:00.000-05:00

Battling Butler is so awesome. But I must admit that I have a fairly big problem with silent movie accompaniment in general. I keep telling myself that I need to start watching silent movies on DVD, where I can turn off the volume and watch in silence; but then I forget and go to the theater again....

I bought that 5 movie pass for this festival. 53 W...

2007-12-05T04:10:00.000-05:00

I bought that 5 movie pass for this festival. 53 Winter Days (13th), Contestant (14th), Barcelona (A Map) (14th), Education of Fairies (18th), and Seven Billards Tables (21st).

I've really been into Walter Reade of lately. In the last week I went to see The Iron Horse and Battling Butler-but I am very upset that I won't be able to make the Clara Bow double feature, but I can't get off

Comments on Thanks for the Use of the Hall - Archive: Spanish Cinema Now: Walter Reade, December 7-27, 2...

Thanks, Michael. After you see the film, please l...

Dan, preparing for the Cine Latino sidebar at the ...

I could see the accusation of excessive/clumsy "ps...

This is by far the most comments that one of my bl...

Dan, Harry,Thanks for allowing me to go on... I wi...

"Better" and "more" are relative/subjective words,...

Miguel - you don't have to end the discussion for ...

Dan, Harry,I promise to end this discussion. Only ...

Miguel - though I liked La Soledad a lot, I confes...

Miguel,I realize you probably mentionned Lars von ...

I was going to say that I prefered La Influencia t...

I'm afraid I'm getting very boring, but I think so...

Harry - I too have the feeling that Bresson felt t...

This is an interesting discussion on post-Bresson ...

Miguel - in the case of my films, the direct influ...

Hi, Dan!Sorry to fully disagree about Rosales, rea...

Hello, Miguel! Like all national film series at t...

I certainly would not want to disappoint anyone, b...

La Soledad is unashamedly arty and really impressi...

Thanks for those links, Dan!

P.S. to Girish - I wrote a little bit about silent...

Girish - every time I see a silent movie in a thea...

"But I must admit that I have a fairly big problem...

Battling Butler is so awesome. But I must admit t...

I bought that 5 movie pass for this festival. 53 W...