VCR-chaeology

Three Views of a Ladder

2009-08-25T01:11:00.000-07:00

Stanley Kramer's "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T", 1953.

Heroes and Villains #2

2009-07-19T11:19:00.000-07:00

"Ghostbusters", Ivan Reitman, 1984.

Despite the violent protestations of the malignant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, the Ghostbusters heroically join together and form one super-penis to fight evil.

One, two, get her.

Le Deuxième Souffle

2009-07-17T14:30:00.000-07:00

Jean-Pierre Melville, 1966.

In the first three shots of the film, Melville sleekly and with great economy presents the protagonists, their motivation, the obstacles, the locale, and their relation to one another in space.

Shot One:

Here are our heros. It is late at night and they are attempting to move unseen. The walls form very clean surfaces and draw the eye in the direction of the first man's gaze.

Shot Two

Here we see what he is looking at. More clean lines, another wall and a spotlight establish they are in a prison—they are about to escape. Our eyes are already trained on the upper right portion of the screen at the spotlight. Now the the corners of the walls draw our eyes downward.

Shot Three

While we are already prepared to look down, the bird's-eye view of the prison guards must be from the point of view of the prisoners. The guards are looking back to the left of the screen, presumably toward the spotlight, which places us in the same location as the prisoners, giving us a clear indication who we are to identify with.

The scene is nearly silent and the efficiency of the camera work and editing are mirrored by the prisoners' quiet exit (or vice versa).

Killers #8

2009-07-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le Deuxième Souffle", 1966.

Haynes Does Fellini

2009-07-03T02:01:00.000-07:00

Todd Haynes' brilliant "I'm Not There", 2007.

Captioned with stills from Fellini's 1963 masterpiece, "8½ ".

Haynes

Fellini

Haynes

Fellini

Haynes

Fellini

Killers #7

2009-07-01T00:48:00.000-07:00

Anthony Mann's "T-Men", 1947.

The hitman emerges slowly from the blackness. It's the best shot of the film and it happens about two minutes in.

Liz Taylor

2009-06-29T01:23:00.000-07:00

A pair from George Stevens' "A Place In the Sun", 1951.

The Fish Stays In the Picture

2009-06-27T00:02:00.000-07:00

A couple more from Nagisa Oshima's "Empire of Passion", 1978.

Oshima wryly sticks dead animals in the foreground. Something is rotten in this house.

Empire Of Passion

2009-06-25T01:04:00.000-07:00

Nagisa Oshima, 1978

A married woman has an affair with a younger man, the man grows jealous and convinces her to murder her husband, the husband haunts them and things end poorly. The tired story is not treated particularly originally here but the sets always look great and the colors are vivid and interesting. Next time I'll watch Taboo instead.

Three Views of a Railing

2009-06-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

Nagisa Oshima's "Empire of Passion", 1978.

All the same room, different color schemes.

Boris Karloff

2009-06-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

"The Mummy", Karl Freund, 1932.

As far as I can tell, the only reason to see this film.

Hangmen Also Die

2009-06-09T18:08:00.000-07:00

Great title.

Fritz Lang, 1943.

Killers #6

2009-02-10T02:48:00.001-08:00

From Abraham Polonsky's "Force of Evil", 1949.

Another Neat Dissolve

2009-01-11T01:13:00.000-08:00

From Max Ophuls' "The Earrings of Madame de…", 1953

Like Preminger in "River of No Return" , Ophuls uses fire to connect two shots during a dissolve, though without the feeble metaphor.

The sentry is cold.

As the image dissolves we begin to see a fire.

The sentry turns and hunches over as though to warm himself over the General's fire.

Seamless Transition in "The Earrings of Madame de…"

2009-01-09T14:33:00.000-08:00

Max Ophuls, 1953

After a long tracking shot of Louise (Danielle Darrieux) and Fabrizio (Vittorio De Sica) dancing at a ball, Ophuls fades to a shot of this painting and more dancing on a later night. He employs a clever technique to maintain kinesis.

Here, the painting.

Darrieux steps in from the right of the camera, De Sica from the left.

They meet in the center of the frame .

Here they continue twirling as though they had been embracing before the shot began.

The camera resumes tracking along with them.

Had Ophuls faded from a shot of the dancing couple to another shot of dancing the image would have been cluttered. A tracking shot where the camera met up with the couple to its left or right would have lost some kinetic tension; dancing into a motionless frame from the side would have had the same effect. Here it is as if the camera moves backward between their heads—they seem to materialize in the center of the frame already in progress.

A Few More From "The Forsaken Land"

2009-01-06T13:54:00.000-08:00

Vimukthi Jayasundara, 2006.

This may be the only Sri Lankan film I've seen. Elliptically edited and nearly silent, "The Forsaken Land" brings to mind Taiwanese filmmaker Tsai Ming-Liang, of whom I'm a great fan, or even Lucretia Martel's excellent "La Cienaga". Jayasundara's quiet assurance with his material promises exciting things for the future.

The Films of Joseph Cornell: Part Three

2009-01-04T14:03:00.000-08:00

"Jacks Dream", "1930-1970".

Cornell lived for most of his life with his mother and his brother Robert in Flushing, Queens. He was devoted to caring for Robert who was disabled by cerebral palsy. Filmmaker and Cornell Scholar Jeanne Liotta has suggested that Robert enjoyed watching films and that perhaps Cornell would take the footage and reorder it to keep it fresh for his brother.

The Films of Joseph Cornell: Part Two

2009-01-02T11:50:00.000-08:00

"Thimble Theater", 1930-1970.

The Films of Joseph Cornell

2008-12-31T13:44:00.000-08:00

"The Children's Jury", 1938.

Best know for his remarkable boxes, Joseph Cornell was a pioneer of the found-footage cinema. His 1936 film, "Rose Hobart", is arguably the first collage film.

The Love That Dare Not Show It's Face

2008-12-29T16:08:00.000-08:00

From Alfred Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes", 1938.

Caldicott and Charters (Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford) are traveling together from the fictional resort town Mandrika to Manchester, their sole apparent concern to get back in time for a cricket match. Clearly intended to be a gay couple, Hitchcock nevertheless must disguise their sexuality, if only marginally.

In the above images the pair have been sequestered in a single room ostensibly because the hotel is full and and can't spare two. However, Caldicott is shirtless and Charters' pants are momentarily visible hanging behind the conspiritorially grinning maid. Charters shields Caldicott's bare chest with a protective arm.

Searching for Miss Froy, Iris knocks on all the cabin doors. Here she interrupts a man using the bathroom, an understandable mistake as the door looks no different from the others. This man is never seen again.

Charters sees Iris coming and knocks on the door.

Caldicott appears with a towel. This is the bathroom door.

Charters suggests they hide in the bathroom.

After Iris passes they sneak out only to be discovered. Caldicott looks sheepish after being found exiting their water closet tryst.

Here Caldicott and Charters appear to be walking arm in arm.

"The Lady Vanishes"

2008-12-26T22:59:00.001-08:00

Alfred Hitchcock, 1938.

Iris wakes from a nap to find her friend Miss Froy has disappeared. No one seems to remember seeing Froy. While this idea is potentially eerie, we see many of the characters admitting to one another that they'd seen the woman but wish to avoid trouble and so remain silent, thus voiding any possible tension over Iris's sanity. This is an unfortunate choice that has been remedied in remakes such as the failed Jodi Foster vehicle "Flight Plan" or Hitchcock's own "Into Thin Air" . While I recently enjoyed "The 39 Steps" and "Shadow Of A Doubt", this film had little to recommend itself. Other features include silly plotting, an abundance of medium range head-and-shoulders shots and a hackneyed ending. I did enjoy the model towns and watching the scenery pass by through the train windows.

Hands in "The Forsaken Land"

2008-11-19T02:07:00.000-08:00

Vimukthi Jayasundara, 2006

An Old Man Obliterated By The Wind

2008-11-14T02:04:00.000-08:00

24 Consecutive Frames From F.W. Murnau's "Sunrise", 1927.

Killers #5

2008-10-31T16:41:00.000-07:00

From William Wyler's "The Letter", 1940.

"Damnation": Essential Films #4

2008-10-29T00:21:00.000-07:00

Béla Tarr, 1988.