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.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-27T01:12:00.000-07:00

From Jean Cocteau's "The Testament of Orpheus", 1960.

"Anyone who does not give up all he has cannot be my disciple"

2008-10-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

From Philip Gröning's "Into Great Silence", 2005

"After that there was an earthquake

but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

After that came a fire,

but the Lord was not in the fire.

After the fire came a gentle whisper."

-- 1 Kings 19, 11-13

Heroes and Villains #1

2008-10-01T14:42:00.000-07:00

From William Klein's stupefying "Mr. Freedom", 1969.

Mr. Freedom

Red Chinaman

Tonight On the Little Screen #3

2008-09-30T02:34:00.000-07:00

From Robert Wise's "The Day the Earth Stood Still", 1951.

"This is a movie about hats."

2008-09-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

From Joel and Ethan Coen's "Miller's Crossing", 1990

The title quote is from director of photography Barry Sonnenfeld.

Noirism #2: More Shadow Grids

2008-09-26T00:56:00.000-07:00

From Alfred Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt", 1943.

Unlike the impossible shadows in "Laura", Hitchcock's shadows are cast by objects visible to the viewer and are more texturally varied.

Symmetrical Composition in "Miller's Crossing".

2008-09-24T00:42:00.000-07:00

From Joel and Ethan Coen's "Miller's Crossing", 1990.

Orpheus Descending; Killers #4

2008-09-03T00:41:00.000-07:00

From Marcel Camus' "Black Orpheus", 1959.

The rings of hell.

Death appears at the window.

In the Woods, Late At Night

2008-08-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

From Charles Laughton's "The Night of the Hunter", 1955

and F.W. Murnau's "Sunrise", 1927.

While watching "The Night of the Hunter" recently this shot reminded me of Sunrise.

Orphans #2

2008-08-27T12:17:00.000-07:00

From Clair Denis' "The Intruder", 2004,

and Larisa Shepitko's "The Ascent", 1977.

Chasing the cars that carry their parents away.

The Living Dead

2008-08-23T00:27:00.000-07:00

From Michael Haneke's "The Seventh Continent", 1989.

"Objects exist and if one pays more attention to them than to people, it is precisely because they exist more than the people. Dead objects are still alive. Living people are often already dead." —Jean Luc Godard

Ascension

2008-08-20T02:22:00.000-07:00

From Larisa Shepitko's "The Ascent", 1977.

Masterly. One of the best Russian films I've seen from any era, outside of Tarkovsky.

Anatoli Solonitsyn, Andrei Tarkovsky's favorite actor.

Essential Films #3: The Heart of the World

2008-08-13T01:28:00.000-07:00

In celebration of just having seen Guy Maddin's hilarious and exuberant mock-autobiographical (a my-opic?) "My Winnipeg" I've decided now is the appropriate time to feature his most ecstatic film.

Guy Maddin's "The Heart of the World" was one of a number of 'Preludes' commissioned for the Toronto International Film Festival in celebration of their 25th anniversary in 2000. The five-minute film was shot over five days in a disused steel factory in Winnipeg. The talented Deco Dawson is credited as Co-camera and Micromontage Editor.

The Old Dark House

2008-08-11T12:35:00.000-07:00

From Robert Wise's inspired "The Haunting", 1963.

Dialogue from "The Bad and the Beautiful":

Jonathan Shields: Look. Put five men dressed like cats on the screen, what do they look like?

Fred: Like five men dressed like cats.

Jonathan Shields: When an audience pays to see a picture like this, what are they paying for?

Fred: To get the pants scared off of 'em.

Jonathan Shields: And what scares the human race more than any other single thing?

Fred: The dark!

Jonathan Shields: Of course. And why? Because the dark has a life of its own. In the dark, all sorts of things come alive.

Fred: Suppose... suppose we never do show the cat men. Is that what you're thinking.

Jonathan Shields: Exactly.

Fred: No cat men!

---------------------------

Robert Wise directed "The Curse of the Cat People" in 1944.

Orphans

2008-08-10T01:21:00.001-07:00

From Réné Clément's "Forbidden Games", 1952,

and Charles Laughton's "Night of the Hunter", 1955.

Shadows and Fog

2008-08-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

From "Bambi", 1942.

Bambi opens quietly with a slow pan across the forest in the morning, lullingly drawing the viewer into the space of the film. This is a world far outside of the human world. The artists give only enough detail to suggest nature, leaving something for the viewer's imagination.

The next two shots appear later in the film.

This shot is motionless, appearing on screen for about a second and a half. It's pretty, but also a little odd as the grass seems to be bowing in the wind.

The shot reminds me of Sam Kieth's illustrations in The Maxx, though I can't seem to find a good one online to post here.

A Brief Moment In "Late Spring"

2008-07-27T01:03:00.000-07:00

From Yasujiro Ozu's "Late Spring", 1949.

Ozu's images are very concise, avoiding the sort of techniques that would muddle the image—a dissolve, a fade, a moving camera—which is why this quiet, perfect film posed a bit of a challenge to my fetishistic urge to extract the type of near-abstract frames I've pasted all over this blog. Here is what I found: a spare image of a train as it emerges from a tunnel.

"The 39 Steps": Essential Films #2, Killers #3

2008-07-25T12:34:00.000-07:00

Alfred Hitchcock, 1935

The assassin.

Hitchcock's Cynicism.

2008-07-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

From Alfred Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps", 1935.

A businessman holds up an artifact; there is demand for brassieres and profit must be made so we shall sell brassieres. At the same time, under the guise of commerce, he and his companion will winkingly indulge in a little titillation. The man's wry expression typifies Hitchcock's attitude toward sex in his films. He knows that the salivating hordes want innuendo, that a glimpse of stocking will increase the box office gross, so he will provide it but at an arm's length. He would never be so base as to actually be aroused by it (wink). The viewer is doubly manipulated: Hitchcock satisfies our appetite for sex while simultaneously flattering us by letting us in on the joke.

Marilyn Connects

2008-07-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

From Fritz Lang's "Clash By Night", 1952.

"Costumes Are Witchery and Brine"

2008-07-19T13:26:00.000-07:00

This is not a film, more an interactive web installation, but I'd like to draw your attention to it anyway.

Jason Nelson's Evil Hypnotizing Robots.

The Pianist

2008-07-18T14:08:00.000-07:00

From William Klein's "Mr. Freedom", 1969.

Serge Gainsbourg does his best Adrien Brody.

Inner "Outer Space"

2008-07-17T17:50:00.000-07:00

Eleven consecutive frames from the forty-third second of Peter Tscherkassky's "Outer Space", 1999.

This monumental ten-minute film begins with the coruscating image of a house at night, an effect created using a contact printer; Tscherkassky illuminates different portions of the same "found" footage image in each frame. The resulting stroboscopic montage is beautiful and ominous, disjointed and unsettling.

An archetypal horror image: the exterior of the victim's house from the perspective of an unknown, presumably malicious force lurking in the darkness. The house is brightly lit—all the better to be seen from the shadows. The interior of the house is also dark, its inhabitants unaware and vulnerable. The refracted image of the facade hints at the ensuing sublimation of the female resident.

These frames pass before the eye in just under half a second.

"Outer Space": Essential Films #1

2008-07-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

Peter Tscherkassky, 1999.

This short can be found on Other Cinema's compilation DVD "Experiments In Terror".

Tonight On the Little Screen #2

2008-07-15T00:37:00.000-07:00

A positive review of Sergei Paradjanov's "The Legend of Suram Fortress", 1984.

The Suram Fortress repeatedly collapses in spite of the dogged efforts of the Georgian people. A fortune teller is consulted and offers a prophesy: in order for the fortress to stand, the son of the princess must be walled up inside the building.

Paradjanov constructs the narrative from symmetrical tableaux, straight-on look-into-the-camera close-ups, densely populated wide-angle spectacles, and Mellies-style special effects.

"Atlantic City": Killers #2

2008-07-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

Louis Malle, 1980.

Robert Joy's peaceful expression suggests a minimal acquaintanceship with the condition of being stabbed in the chest.

"Blind Shaft": Killers #1

2008-07-13T00:35:00.001-07:00

An early scene from Yang Li's "Blind Shaft", 2003.

Two partners will murder a fellow worker, pass it off as accidental and extort hush money from the owner of the mine.

Of the two, I find this shot more chilling for the man's casualness as he cracks his victim's skull.

Here the expression on the other conspirator's face reminds me of Goya. For example:

Goya's "Hobgoblins".

Take a few minutes and be humbled by Goya's Caprichos.

"Belle De Jour": Feet of unbridled/bridled lust.

2008-07-10T01:50:00.000-07:00

Luis Bunuel, 1967.

Severine spends her afternoons working in a brothel as "Belle De Jour", not for money but to be treated as a sex object. Marcel is a thief who will avail himself of her services and become possessive and jealous.

A few details: Severine's shoes have become a prop for her sexual role-play, a carry-over from her "real life" role as the prudish wife of a businessman. The enormous cosmetic buckles fallaciously imply chastity while her rigid legs are submissive without consenting—she maintains the fantasy of virginity seized by a lustful brute, the latter role Marcel gleefully, albeit unwittingly, accepts. Only one of Marcel's shoes has been removed, as though while taking his shoes off he had become impatient and pounced on Severine. His stocking foot curls possessively around Severine's calf, appearing dominant while the symbolic hole in his wrinkled sock reveals his weakness, his vulnerability, his instability. In the end Severine will wield the power, denying Marcel's love and leaving him to lash out violently and impotently.

Brief Encounter

2008-07-07T13:03:00.001-07:00

From Louis Malle's "Atlantic City", 1980.

Wallace Shawn's decanting technique suggests a lack of research for his role. Click the picture to enlarge.

The Ox-Bow Incident

2008-07-05T17:10:00.000-07:00

William Wellman, 1942

Continued "Sleeping Beauty" adulation.

2008-07-04T17:27:00.000-07:00

This frame is buried among the images of lightning and green flames during Maleficent's final transformation.

Three Views of Maleficent's Castle

2008-07-03T23:11:00.000-07:00

The "Sleeping Beauty" obsession continues unabashedly.

No need to pretend. There will be more.

Water Hazard

2008-06-30T15:16:00.000-07:00

More from Otto Preminger's "River of No Return"

The indians swim through rapids toward the raft intent on killing the heroes.

Mitchum dispatches one but the other manages to board the raft and appears to lunge for Monroe's throat.

A moment later we see that it was not her throat he was after but her blouse, which he rips off. It seems that once aboard the raft--or perhaps all along--his thoughts turn to rape. So single minded is he that he fails to make even the most rudimentary attempt to prevent Mitchum from hurling him into the water.

Preminger demonstrates both the Indian's sub-human savagery and Marilyn Monroe's cleavage.

Fire in "River of No Return"

2008-06-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

In "River of No Return" Otto Preminger uses another dissolve as a foreshadowing device. By this point in the film there has been nothing but animosity between the two leads.

After a brief dip in the rapids, Marilyn Monroe must be relieved of her wet clothes and wrapped in a blanket. Robert Mitchum aids circulation in her calves.

The intimacy of the moment sets something stirring between them. Something hot.

Monroe's come-hither gaze, Mitchum's tender (actually rather claw-like) caress: the flames of passion are fully ignited.

Unmistakably a fire.

Noirism

2008-06-27T22:58:00.000-07:00

Horizontal shadows, a hallmark of film noir, in two scenes from Otto Preminger's "Laura".

Here the blinds are down in broad daylight. There are mini-blind shadows on the wall of the next room at a different angle, indicating a second light source--the sun plus one?

In this scene the artifice is so obvious it borders parody. The shadows cover the entire rear wall virtually from floor to ceiling yet do not touch the actors. The source of the light is to the left of the frame where, as we know from other shots of the room, there is a wall--the only windows are behind the camera's point of view.

A Couple of Trivial Images From "Belle De Jour"

2008-06-25T23:39:00.000-07:00

Luis Bunuel regards his actor.

"Breathless" quote.

Tonight On the Little Screen

2008-06-24T00:54:00.001-07:00

From Yang Li's "Blind Shaft".

Beams of Light

2008-06-23T00:03:00.001-07:00

From "Sleeping Beauty"

Good Magic: soft pastels, sparkling snow flakes, spontaneously ricocheting, the room is cast in warm blue light.

Evil Magic: sharp, angular, searing white, clearly directed at a target.

During Maleficent's Vision: austere, emphasis on Sleeping Beauty's isolation.

After the Vision: mournful, speckled with trickling white lights.

Gradually the mourners are illuminated resembling a Nativity scene.

Antonio Gaudi's Nativity Scene at the Temple of the Sagrada Familia

Doom Generation

2008-06-22T02:27:00.000-07:00

From the opening credit sequence of Doom Generation. Araki likely intended this footage of a mosh pit under strobe lights to conjure the chaotic, inarticulate violence of the youth culture he would then broadly satirize. In doing so he inadvertently captured a swatch of pretty abstractions.

Note: the film was not very good. I wouldn't recommend it.

Incredible Shrinking Men

2008-06-19T00:22:00.001-07:00

From Pedro Almodovar's "Talk To Her"

Alfred Kubin

Preparation for Willa Harper's Murder

2008-06-18T23:35:00.000-07:00

From Charles Laughton's "Night of the Hunter"

Willa lies flat on her back with her arms crossed over her chest, apparently ready for burial. The mood is eerily calm; Rev. Powell stands with his head bowed as though in prayer or observance of Willa's lamentations. Willa is in a trance, unable to face the knowledge that her husband is a murderer.

As we approach the murder the bedroom becomes a wicked, expressionist chapel with a satanic reverend. The camera has receded from the bed, causing Willa to lose her humanity and become an object. There is nothing outside of the room but darkness in spite of the fact that light appears to be coming in through the window on the left. Perspective is skewed; Rev. Powell towers over the door frame while the ceiling is absurdly high for a modest farmhouse; the vertical wall to the right is shorter than the one to the left. The asymmetrical triangles of light menacingly suggest the switchblade that Rev. Powell will use on his wife.

Waldo Lydecker's Guilty Conscience

2008-06-14T19:23:00.000-07:00

From Otto Preminger's "Laura"

In one of the subtler clues in the murder case, Waldo Lydecker appears to be pursued by a man dressed in black during a dissolve.

Blind Justice

2008-06-13T04:27:00.000-07:00

From Otto Preminger's "Laura".

Throughout his investigation into Laura's murder, Detective Marc McPherson is frequently shown with his eyes in shadow, suggesting impartiality.

"Lustitia" -- Hans Gieng, 1543

The earliest know representation of blind justice.

Fire in Meet Me In St. Louis

2008-06-10T23:54:00.001-07:00

The Kingdom Sleeps

2008-06-07T14:10:00.000-07:00

Stills from Sleeping Beauty.

Paintings from Edward Burne-Jones' Briar Rose Series. 1879-90

Fire in Bambi and Sleeping Beauty

2008-06-07T03:03:00.000-07:00

The burning of the spinning wheels.

Sleeping Beauty and Christianity

2008-06-07T01:44:00.000-07:00

Princess Aurora is visited by the three good fairies who, like wisemen, will each bestow a gift.

The fairies' entrance in a beam of light from the top left corner of the screen.

Fra Angelico -- The Annunciation. 1430-32

Fillipo Lippi -- The Annunciation. 1442

Flora's gift of Beauty.

Maleficent's vision.

Background Abstraction During Bambi's Clash With A Rival Buck

2008-06-02T22:56:00.001-07:00

Background Abstraction During Bambi's Clash With A Rival Buck, Part Two

2008-06-02T15:47:00.000-07:00

The Isolation of the Orphaned Bambi

2008-06-02T15:32:00.001-07:00

The Anonymity of Workers in Dumbo

2008-06-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

The circus hands are transported in a windowless boxcar with no apparent source of light.

Malleable Figures in Dumbo, Part Two

2008-06-02T14:28:00.001-07:00

Malleable Figures in Dumbo

2008-06-02T14:21:00.000-07:00