Random Thoughts

Gertrud. Carl Theodor Dreyer. 1964. ⚅

Oh, wow — a Dreyer movie from 1964? I had no idea he lived that long. Hm… Ah. It’s his final movie.

I’ve seen the fabulous Joan of Arc he did back in the 20s, but not a lot of his later movies.

This is some grade-A bizarre acting. In the opening scene, I started wondering whether they’d filmed everything backwards, and then reversed the direction, but I think probably not. They moth move in a very stylised way, and seem to look off the frame of the camera (for direction?) from time to time, and they talk with deep ennui as if reading from a page.

I love it.

It’s kinda like L’Argent? Like later Nouvelle Vague…

It was not well received by the straights:

From the outset the film divided both critics and audiences. Immediately following the Paris premiere at a Dreyer retrospective where it was booed the film was frequently referred to as a “disaster” in the press; after the Danish premiere the reception became more nuanced but still divided, and the film caused a big debate in Danish media.

[…]

In Esquire Magazine, Dwight Macdonald wrote that “Gertrud is a further reach, beyond mannerism into cinematic poverty and straightforward tedium. He just sets up his camera and photographs people talking to each other.” An article in Cinéma65 wrote that “Dreyer has gone from serenity to senility…Not a film, but a two-hour study of sofas and pianos.”

Hipsters (the people who mattered) loved it:

Jean-Luc Godard rated the film number one in his list of the best films of 1964. As well, Cahiers du cinéma voted it the second-best of 1964, beaten only by Band of Outsiders.

Somehow in my mind, I want to compare this movie to Ingmar Bergman, but it resists all comparison. It’s not like it’s 180 degrees to Bergman, it’s like it’s 360 degrees, but rotated in the fourth dimension. Or… a perpendicular hypercube.

That is, while there are some obvious similarities (the focus on female characters and self-determination, as well as the long, well-composed takes), there isn’t a single frame of this movie that could have come from a Bergman movie.

Still plowing my way through the Benedictine recipes… Between the Sheets (Wondrich’s formula) only uses 1.5cl, though.

Tasty!

This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.

Aguirre, Wrath of God. Werner Herzog. 1972. ⚅

Wow, this is the only Herzog movie on the list… and it’s a Herzog movie I haven’t watched! Amazeballs.

(Not really.)

Anyway, this is so incredibly lush… every scenes seems out of control and fraught with danger. And Klaus Kinski is insane here. (And probably in real life, too.)

It’s just the right mix of ennui and action, but what makes this movie fascinating is the performances and the shots. Everything seems iconic. Of course, it’s mostly Kinski hamming it up for the camera. Well, as hammy as you can get without moving a singly muscle in your face.

This movie is amazeballs.

This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.

A Woman Under the Influence. John Cassavetes. 1974. ⚅

This is the fourth (and highest-rated) Cassavetes movie on the list of Best Movies Ever (Officially).

OK, after watching all these Cassavetes movies, it’s hard not to be charmed by his aesthetic. I think that he’s thinking that he’s showing us actual, real, life, and everything about this movie backs him up on that… except the actors. I’m not thinking of Peter Falk (he’s good), but all the actors here have that look of “yes, I’m totally on a TV show only why is there only one camera?” thing going on. Everybody’s… acting… so much.

Geena Rowlands is, as usual, the exception, and she is totally wonderful. Exceptional, naked performance. We never know whether she’s just… a bit much… or there’s something wrong.

Until we do.

There’s bits in this movie that don’t quite make sense: Why is Nick so angry when he gets home to the children’s party, for instance? I can understand annoyed, but…

It’s a heartbreaking movie.

And, wow, it’s all the family!

I’ve questioned why there’s four Cassavetes movies on this “100 best movies ever” list, but this one is really great, and so striking.

This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.

The Conformist. Bernardo Bertolucci. 1970. ☐

I am not a fan of Bertolucci, so I was happy to see that there’s only one movie by him on the “Best Of” list. And this is movie of his I haven’t seen before, so that’s even better. Perhaps this one will be great!

There’s a whole bunch of impressively well-composed huge shots in here, which shouldn’t surprise me (I mean, The Last Emperor).

[time passes]

I have to admit to not concentrating 100% on this movie (the mayor here just requested that everybody stay at home for the unforeseeable future due to Corona), so I’m probably missing something. But I found this movie more than a bit confusing. I normally love movies that I don’t know where are going, or even what they’re all about… and I have no clue where this is going, and what it’s about (beyond Fascism). But there are scenes in here where I’m genuinely going “er… who… what… er…”

That may be totally my fault! Totally! I should put the laptop away and pay more attention. It’s just a bit… hard… today.

OK, I had to pause the movie for a while: The gummint had a press conference where they announced that all schools and pubs and stuff are closed immediately. And health personnel are now forbidden to leave Norway (out April). I didn’t even know that it was possible to forbid that…

“The most severe measures taken in Norwegian peace-time” I think they said. They’ve even shut down hairdressers!

Eep.

And I’m just sitting here watching movies. Doing my part to keeping us safe.

Anyway!

Back to the movie. The cinematography is great, but I have no idea whether this is a good movie or not. I should re-watch it on a less Corona day? I probably won’t, though.

This blog post is part of the Officially The Best series.