Jeri
Jacquin
Currently
in a four-disc set from photographer/writer/director Mark Cousins and Music Box
Films comes the most astounding look at the history of film, who is a part of
that history and how filmmaking has changed the world with THE COMPLETE STORY
OF FILM.
Narrated
by Cousins, the viewer is taken back into time and place to discover the hidden
secrets of filmmaking. What is in this review is a tiny fraction of what these
discs invite the viewer to know and experience.
The
first disc includes Chapter One - 1895-1918: The World Discovers a New Art
Form, Chapter 2 – 1918: The Triumph of American Film and the First of its
Rebels, Chapter Three – 1918: The Great Rebel Filmmakers Around the World, Chapter
Four – 1930s: The Great American Movie Genres and the Brilliance of European
Film, and Chapter Five – 1939-1952: The Devastation of War and a New
Movie Language.
Thomas
Edison “a dark room where light matters” and W.K.L. Dickson begin to think about
how to make pictures and take them into world of movement but it only allowed
one person at a time to look at what was created inside a box. Louie &
August Lumier create a projector and films and in December 1895, the Lumier
brothers bring ARRIVAL OF A TRAIN AT LA CIOTAT (1896).
From
George Melles A TRIP TO THE MOON with special effects, to the first female
director in Alice Le Blanche, to Albert Smith and Ehoch J. Rector with his 63
mm wide-screen, cinema begins to expand as the imagination of what could be
heightens. Edwin Stanton Porter creates editing as Buster Keaton explores using
double exposure, Charles Pathe creates parallel editing and Charles La Bargy
creates reverse angle shots as films can no longer be contained in a box.
Movie
stars come into focus with Florence Lawrence in the 1909 film THOSE AWFUL HATS
becomes the most recognizable woman and is instantly famous. She is followed by
Gloria Swanson in STAGE STRUCK in 1925. Scandinavia brings their own brand of
film famous in 1910 with Benjamin Christensen’s THE MYSTERIOUS X and the
masterful film HAXAN. Viktor Sjostrom brings INGEBORG HOLM and years later THE
PHANTOM CARRIAGE.
Studios
are now being built and the 1906 film THE STORY OF THE KELLY GANG brings
Charles Tait as director and Cecil B. DeMille films THE SQUAW MAN, Alice Guy’s
1912 film FALLING LEAVES, Louis Weber’s film SUSPENSE in 1913. D.W. Griffith
had a range of films from THE HOUSE WITH CLOSED SHUTTERS in 1910, WAY DOWN EAST
in 1921, ORPHANS OF THE STORM in 1921, the classic 1915 BIRTH OF A NATION and
the three and a half hour 1916 film INTOLERANCE. Japan contribution is the 1921
SOULS ON THE ROAD from director Minora Murata. In twenty years, films have now
exploded from nickelodeons to film houses.
Investment
money comes in from east coast bankers as Paramount, MGM, Warner Bros. Studios
are built and sound stages grow as Hollywood becomes a production line cranking
out film after film. Costuming, makeup, engineers, dollies, new cameras and the
list goes on as to what is needed. Films begin to have themes of love, action
and adventure as well as the most popular thing today – comedy.
Buster
Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd would pave that road, and even become
directors in order to get what they wanted on film. Keaton directs THE
CAMERAMAN, ONE WEEK, SHERLOCK JR., THREE AGES, and THE GENERAL. Chaplain would
direct LIMELIGHT, CITY LIGHTS, the iconic THE KID and, my personal favorite the
1941 THE GREAT DICTATOR. Harold Lloyd put himself in such adoring films as LUKE’S
MOVIE MUDDLE, NEVER WEAKEN and SAFTEY LAST.
Documentaries
begin with the film NANOCK OF THE NORTH from director Robert J. Flaherty.
Director Erich von Stroheim’s 1919 film BLIND HUSBANDS and 1924 film GREED.
King Vldor film THE CROWD has seven endings. Emotionalism comes to film with
director Carl Theoder Deyer’s 1928 film THE PASSION OF JOAN OF ARC or his 1919
film THE PRESIDENT.
In
disc-two, the director explores the years through Chapter 6: 1953-1957: The
Swollen Story: World Cinema Bursting at the Seams, Chapter 7: 1957-1964: The
Shock of the New: Modern Filmmaking in Western Europe, Chapter 8: 1965-1969:
The New Waves Sweep Around the World, Chapter 9: 1967-1979: New American
Cinema, and Chapter 10: 1969-1979: Radical Directors in the 70s Make
State of the Nation Movies.
Melodrama
brings the 1950’s in with wide-screen and color as James Dean show emotions
that are out of control. Egypt starts as director Youssef Chahine brings the
1958 film CAIRO STATION. India also understands the feeling of Chahine, director
Guru Dutt brings the 1959 great Indian film PAPER FLOWERS. Realism with 1936’s
SANT TUKARAM directed by Vishnupant Govind Damle. In Calcutta, director
Satyajit Ray brings the 1955 film PANTHER PANCHALI and changes the view of
Indian film forever.
China
also brings its culture to cinema. TWO STAGE SISTER directed by Xie Jin, along
with director Akira Kurosawa films IKIRU, STRAY DOGS, SEVEN SAMURAI and THRONE
OF BLOOD. In Latin America, there films are on the rise. The 1955 Brazilian
film RIO 40 DEGREES from director Nelson Pereira dos Santos returns to the
screen with his neo-realism. In Mexico, the film DONA BARBARA, LA PERLA and LOS
OLVIDADOS.
America
is idealized in filmmaking, the 1955 film ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS from director
Douglas Sirk is a prime example. David Helpern brings the 1975 film I’M A
STRANGER HERE MYSELF as well as directors Nicholas Ray’s, Kenneth Anger, Delbert
Mann’s, Elia Kazan’s film ON THE WATERFRONT in 1954. The 1948 RED RIVER film
shows that methods between John Wayne and the sensitive man Montgomery Clift as
directed by Howard Hawkins.
That
ideal is shown with James Dean in the 1955 Nicholas Ray directed REBEL WITHOUT
A CAUSE. Orson Wells, Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, and John Ford are making
masterpieces. Wells directs the 1958 TOUCH OF EVIL, Ford directs the 1956 film
THE SEARCHERS, Hitchcock brings the 1958 film VERTIGO and the Hawks directed
1959 film RIO BRAVO.
British
films keep their feelings under cover, so to speak, led by director David Lean
with the 1946 classic GREAT EXPECTATIONS and LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. The 1953 film
O DREAMLAND from director Lindsay Anderson. France gives the world Brigit
Bardot in the 1956 film …AND GOD CREATED WOMAN directed by Roger Vadim as well
as directors Ingmar Bergman, Robert Bresson, Jacques Tati and Federico Fellini.
Bresson
saw life as a prison and he made four films with that philosophy. PICKPOCKET is
his 1959 film and 1966’s AU HASARD BALTHAZAR. Jacques Tati brings MR. HULOT’S
HOLIDAY and MON ONCLE. Fellini’s film derives from the circus directing
FELLINI’S CASANOVA, THE NIGHTS OF CABIRIA, and 8½ in 1963. The French new wave directors have arrived, Agnes
Varda begins the waters in the 1962 film CLEO FROM 5 TO 7, Alain Resnais,
Francois Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard and his 1960 film A BOUT DE SOUFFLE with
close ups and UNE FEMME MARIEE in 1964.
Italy
brought new excitement to their cinema, Pier Paolo Pasolini brings his 1961
film ACCATTONE and THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW (1964). Sergio Leone
took another direction as in the 1964 western A FIST FULL OF DOLLARS using the
Italian created Techni-scope and written with Bertolucci, their film ONCE UPON
A TIME IN THE WEST in 1968 becomes epic. Luchino Visconti brings the 1954 film
SENSO and the 1954 film ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS. Michelangelo Antonioni sees the
world a bit more abstractly as in his 1954 film L’ECLISSE or the 1975 film THE
PASSENGER. In Spain, Marco Ferreri is pushing the limits with the 1960 film THE
WHEELCHAIR.
Director
Pedro Almodovar, in 1984, also pushes dysfunction with WHAT HAVE I DONE TO
DESERVE THIS? In 1961, director Luis Bunuel’s film VIRIDIANA also pushes
mockery. In Sweden, director Vilgot Sjoman and his 1967 film I AM CURIOUS
(YELLOW) uses politics as fantasy.
New
wave gets a gut punch beginning with the 1973 film LA MAMAN ET LA PUTAIN
directed by Jean Estache. In Poland, director Andrej Wajda’s 1958 ASHES AND
DIAMONDS and TWO MEN AND A WARDROBE directed by Roman Polanski along with the
1962 film KNIFE IN THE WATER and THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS.
In
Czechoslovakia, animation and puppetry could be seen in the 1966 film THE HAND
directed by Jiri Trnka. Milos Forman in 1967 creates THE FIREMAN’S BALL, Vera
Chytilova film DAISIES, and Hungary’s director Milos Jancso creates his 1968
film THE RED AND THE WHITE. The Soviet Union, filmmakers push to create films with
Chris Marker in 2000 with UNE JOURNEE D’ANDREI ARSENEVITCH or ANDREI RUBLEV, Andrei
Tarkovsky’s film THE MIRROR or STALKER and NOSTALGHIA show his ability with the
long shot, to tell the story.
Sergei
Parajanov created the 1965 film SHADOWS OF OUR FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS gives angles
from up and down using foreground widely. Japan in the 60’s had an angry tone,
director Nagisa Oshima brought the 1969 film BOY, IN THE REALM OF SENSES, director
Shohei Imamura’s film THE INSECT WOMAN and the 1970’s NIPPON SENGOSHI – MADAMU
ONBORO NO SEIKATSU.
India
of the 1960s include Ritwik Ghatak 1958 film AJANTRIK, 1960 THE CLOUD-CAPPED
STAR, and 1975 with JUKTI, TAKKO AAR GAPPO. Director Mani Kaul brings landscape
to the 1970 film USKI ROTI. Brazil offering was Glauber Rocha’s 1964 film BLACK
GOD, WHITE DEVIL. Cuba’s cinema produces director Mikhail Kalatozov’s 1964 I AM
CUBA.
In
Iran, director Forugh Farrokhzad’s 1963 film THE HOUSE IS BLACK is about a
leper colony as she films in black and white. Senegal brings the film BLACK
GIRL directed by Ousamane Sembene. England brought films in the 60s such as
Karel Reisz 1960s film SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING, director Ken Loach
and the film KES and Richard Lester film A HARD DAY’S NIGHT.
Ending
in America radical voices are coming through film. Director Robert Drew’s 1960
documentary PRIMARY, John Cassavetes’s film SHADOWS does the same, and Alfred
Hitchcock classic PSYCHO. Directors Jorgen Leth brings 66 SCENES FROM AMERICA, Mike
Nichols WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOLF?, Haskell Wexler’s MEDIUM COOL, director
Dennis Hopper with EASY RIDER, and Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 iconic 2001: A SPACE
ODYSSEY.
Now,
the 70s satire comes to film with Buck Henry who wrote the script for THE
GRADUATE in 1967 and the 1970 film CATCH 22 both directed by Mike Nichols and director
Robert Altman’s MASH came out the same year and. Director Milos Forman comes to
America to make the 1975 stunning film ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST.
Referring
to these directors as “dissident filmmakers”, the honors go to Dennis Hopper with
THE LAST MOVIE, Altman’s McCABE AND MRS. MILLER, Francis Ford Coppola brings THE
CONVERSATION and Martin Scorsese’s MEAN STREETS and the breathtaking 1976 film
TAXI DRIVER and RAGING BULL again with Robert DeNiro. Paul Schrader arrives in
1980 with AMERICAN GIGOLO and 1992’s LIGHT SLEEPER.
Charles
Burnett made KILLER OF SHEEP in 1977, director Woody Allen brings ANNIE HALL
and MANHATTAN the same year. Peter Bogdanovich with the film THE LAST PICTURE
SHOW, Sam Peckinpah’s THE WILD BUNCH and 1973’s PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID.
Also, Terrence Malick’s BADLANDS and DAYS OF HEAVEN. Director Bob Fosse directs
the 1972’s CABARET, Francis Ford Coppola’s THE GODFATHER and director Roman
Polanski’s CHINATOWN.
The
70s also rings in the radical directors as the world of cinema begins to ask
questions. Rainer Werner Fassbinder shows FOX AND HIS FRIENDS, THE BITTER TEARS
OF PETRA VON KANT and in 1974’s FEAR EATS THE SOUL. Wim Wenders brings ALICE IN
THE CITIES. Women decided they wanted to tell their point of view as director
Margarethe von Trotta is show in 1978’s THE SECOND AWAKENING OF CHRISTA KLAGES.
Italy
is also dealing with a war past look for identity as director Pier Paolo
Pasolini brings ARABIAN NIGHTS, Bernardo Bertolucci is next with THE SPIDER’S
STRATAGEM and THE CONFORMIST in 1970. In British films, Ken Russell directs
WOMEN IN LOVE and Nicolas Roeg directing PERFORMANCE. Roeg also shows his 1971
Australian film WALKABOUT, Peter Weir’s film PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK and Gillian
Armstrong’s MY BRILLIANT CAREER.
Japan
films tried to reshape the country as director Noriaki Tsuchimoto brings the
1971 documentary MINAMATA, THE VICTIMS AND THEIR WORLD and Kazuo Hara’s film
THE EMPEROR’S NAKED ARMY MARCHES ON. In
Africa, Assia Djebar directs LA NOUBA DES FEMMES DU MONT CHENOUA and LA NOUBA.
Ousmane Sembe’s XALA remove colonialism, Djibril Dio Mambety brings two films
with the 1970 film BADOU BOY and HYENAS, and female director Safi Faye’s
PEASANT LETTER and KADDU BEYKAT, and Haile Gerima’s 1976 film HARVEST: 3,000
YEARS.
Kurdish
filmmaker Yilmaz Guney makes the 1970 film HOPE followed by the film YOL. In
Chile, directors Patricio Guzman film THE BATTLE OF CHILE and Alejandro
Jodorowsky’s THE HOLY MOUNTAIN hit theatres.
Innovation
and pop-culture comes in the 70’s and it is world-wide. Hong Kong’s Sir Run Run
Shaw brought its own studios where their own films were made. Director King Hu
filmed A TOUCH OF ZEN and Robert Clouse 1975 hit ENTER THE DRAGON. Also, 1986s
A BETTER TOMORROW directed by John Woo and Woo-ping Yuen’s film THE IRON
MONKEY. Tsui Hark having directed 44 films shows his work in the 1991 film ONCE
UPON A TIME IN CHINA and DRAGON’S INN.
India
grew and created epics larger than anything Hollywood could do. Director Gulzar
brings the beauty to the film MAUSAM, Prakash Mehra’s ZANJEER and Ramesh
Sippy’s 1975 SHOLAY. Arab filmmakers take on THE MESSAGE from director
Moustapha Akkad in 1976 and Youssef Chahine releases the 1972 THE SPARROW.
In
America, the era of the block-buster had arrived. Beginning with director
William Friedkin’s 1973 horror THE EXORCIST, Steven Spielberg’s 1975 JAWS, CLOSE
ENCOUNTER OF THE THIRD KIND and the 1993 film JURASSIC PARK. Then the smash
from a galaxy far, far away - George Lucas lands with the 1997 film STAR WARS.
In
disc-three, Chapter 11: The 1970s and Onwards: Innovation in Popular Culture
Around the World, Chapter 12: The 1980s: Moviemaking and Protest Around the
World, Chapter 13: 1990-1998: The Last Days of Celluloid, Before the Coming of
Digital, Chapter 14: The 1990s: The First Days of Digital: Reality Losing its
Realness in American and Australia, and Chapter 15: 2000 Onwards: Film
Moves Full Circle and the Future of Movies.
This
section speaks about truth to power beginning with China and a rebirth of film.
Tian Zhuangzhuang came alive directing his 1988 film THE HORSE THIEF and Chen
Kaige’s film YELLOW EARTH. Two of my favorite films of all time come from
director Zhang Yimou and the 1991 film RAISE THE RED LANTERN and 2004’s HOUSE
OF FLYING DAGGERS.
The
Soviet Union told stories about things that were not to be talked about.
Director Tengiz Abuladze’s 1984 film REPENTANCE, Elem Klimov’s 1985 film COME
AND SEE and director Kira Muratova’s 1971 LONG GOODBYES. Polish director
Krysztof Kieslowlski brings the 1988 story A SHORT FILM ABOUT KILLING. African
films move toward a different storytelling like director Gaston Kabore 1982’s
film WEND KUNNI and YEELEN from director Souleymane Cisse.
In
the United States, on the big screen FLASHDANCE in 1983 from director Adrian
Lyne, Tony Scott’s skyward offering of TOP GUN, David Lynch gives two films THE
ELEPHANT MAN and BLUE VELVET in 1986. Spike Lee also emerges with DO THE RIGHT
THING.
France
shines again starting with Luc Besson’s 1985 film SUBWAY and Leos Carax film
LES AMANTS DU PONT NEUF. The 1982 Pedro Almodovar film LABYRINTH OF PASSIONS, Victor
Erice’s THE QUINCE TREE SUN in 1992. In Britain, Stephen Frears offers the 1985
film MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE, Bill Douglas’s film MY CHILDHOOD, GREGORY’S GIRL
from Bill Forsyth, and Terrence Davies 1988 film DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES.
Also,
Peter Greenaway with A ZED AND TWO NOUGHTS in 1986 and Derek Jarman brings THE
LAST OF ENGLAND. Director David Cronenberg shows his starkness with the 1983’s
VIDEODROME, CRASH and Denys Arcand’s 1989 JESUS OF MONTREAL.
Before
digital and the internet, directors are celebrated for the celluloid and the
coming of an end of an era. In Iran, director Samira Makhmalbaf starts with the
film THE APPLE, Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s A MOMENT OF INNOCENCE and Abbas
Kiarostami’s three films WHERE IS THE FRIEND’S HOUSE?, LIFE GOES ON and THROUGH
THE OLIVE TREES in 1994.
Hong
Kong, still in the action movie stance, takes a turn into filming real life
with Wong Kar Wai’s 1970 film DAYS OF BEING WILD and IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE. From
Taiwan is director Hou Hsiao-hsien’s film CITY OF SADNESS and VIVE L’AMOUR in
1994 from Tsai Ming-liang. Japan wants to scare as director Shinya Tsukamoto
shows TETSUO and TATSUO II: Body Hammer in 1992. It would be Hideo Nakata, in
1998, that would show fright with RINGU and Takashi Miike’s AUDITION.
Coopenhagen
gets back to human nature as director Lars Von Trier starts with the 1996 film
BREAKING THE WAVES and DOGVILLE. France shares director Mathieu Kassovitz’s
1995 film LA HAINE, Bruno Dumont’s film L’HUMANITE and in the same year
directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne offer up the 1999 film ROSETTA. Claire
Denis puts her work in the 1999 film BEAU TRAVAIL. Poland has director Dorota
Kedzierzawska’s film CROWS, Viktor Kossakovsky’s WEDNESDAY, Michael Haneke’s FUNNY
GAMES and CODE UNKNOWN.
America
and Australia now come into view. Ridley Scott creates epic digital scenes like
from his 2000 film GLADIATOR or James Cameron’s film TERMINATOR, TERMINATOR 2:
Judgement Day and TITANIC. CGI and animation are now taking control. Steven
Spielberg proved the work with his 1993’s JURASSIC PARK. John Lassiter brought
CGI to life with the 1995 wonderful TOY STORY. The inexpensive 1999 Daniel
Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez fright THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT exploded at the box
office.
Director
Yimou Zhang’s 2004 film HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS shows the epic-ness of CGI as
well. Martin Scorsese keeps it real with GOODFELLAS, Quentin Tarantino offers
up the RESERVOIR DOGS and PULP FICTION. Oliver Stone’s 1994 NATURAL BORN
KILLERS uses color and video for its post modernism. Joe and Ethan Cohn rule
the 90’s starting with MILLER’S CROSSING, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, THE HUDSUCKER PROXY
and 2000’s O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?
Gus
Van Sant brought MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, PSYCHO, ELEPHANT, GERRY, and 2005’s LAST
DAYS. Paul Verhoeven’s ROBOCOP and the guilty pleasure STARSHIP TROOPERS. Jane
Campion lights up with AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE and THE PIANO in 1993. Director Baz
Luhrmann brings largeness to the screen with ROMEO + JULIET and the even larger
is the 2001 MOULIN ROUGE.
Now,
the 21st century makes its grand entrance into cinema with a
returning clash. Documentaries rose as the twin towers fell and director
Michael Moor’s film FARHENHEIT 9/11 and action at the box office with Paul
Greengrass THE BOURNE SUPREMACY. Director Nicolas Philibert’s ETRE ET AVOIR in
2002 and ZIDANE – A PORTRAIT IN THE 21ST CENTURY in 2006.
Andrew
Dominik’s 2007 film THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD
came to the screen with sweeping photography. Nuri Bilge Ceylan offers up
CLIMATES from Turkey, Romania from Christi Puiu with THE DEATH OF MR.
LAZARESCU and Argentina with Lucrecia
Martel’s THE HEADLESS WOMAN. From Mexico, director Carol Reygadas’s releases
BATTLE IN HEAVEN in 2005.
Korea
changes up its features with director Lee Chang-Dong’s 2002 OASIS, Bong
Joon-Ho’s 2003 MEMORIES OF MURDER and the iconic Park Chan-Wook’s 2003 OLDBOY.
Yet the U.S. isn’t done with their stunning work as David Lynch portrays the
Hollywood life in the film MULHOLLAND DR. Darren Aronofsky invites us into
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM. Roy Anderson, from Stockholm blurs the story lines with
2000’s SONGS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR or Roger Avary’s RULES OF ATTRACTION and
James Cameron film AVATAR.
Thailand
tries something different with director Apichatpong Weeresethakul’s TROPICAL
MALADY as does Alexander Sokurov with the 1997 film MOTHER AND SON and RUSSIAN
ARK. Innovation like Michel Gondry’s ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND or
perhaps Christopher Nolan’s 2010 INCEPTION capture movie goers.
The
fourth disc has a fascinating look with A New Generation: Part One –
Extending the Language of Film and Part Two – What Have we Been Digging
For?
Finally,
in this disc set comes the passion and innovation of the stories that come to
film with a new generation. Starting with director Todd Phillips 2019 JOKER and
the animation of directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck in the smash 2013
FROZEN. The dream state can be found in the 2015 Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s
film CEMETARY OF SPLENDOUR. Now the story talks about the language of film.
Jordan
Peele breaks out in the 2019 film US, Olivia Wilde’s 2019 BOOKSMART, the Hindi
2014 film PK, and 2016 Tim Miller’s DEADPOOL, director Nabwana I.G.G’s 2014
CRAZY WORLD take us from horror to comedy. Bruno Dumont brings French comedy to
light in the 2014 film P’TIT QUINQUIN.
Action
films come into play starting with the five-hour long Anurag Kashyap 2012 film
GANGS OF WASSEYPUR, Jonnie To with VENGEANCE, Argentina’s ZAMA directed by
Lucrecia Martl, directors Benny and Josh Safdie show GOOD TIME and George
Miller’s futuristic world in MAD MAX: Fury Road in 2015. Edgar Wright delivers the
hit BABY DRIVER using music into its story, Melina Matsoukas’s BEYONCE:
Lemonade and Steve McQueen’s SMALL AXE: Lovers Rock in 2020 use it as well. In
Bollywood, dance reigns supreme – Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2018 RAM-LEELA.
Bodies
have always been a means for the eyes and some make a subtle point as with
2019’s Lorene Scafaria’s HUSTLERS and Barry Jenkins film MOONLIGHT. Hou
Hsiao-Hsien’s 2005 THREE TIMES, Joao Pedro Rodrigues’s THE ORNOTHOLOGIST, Lucia
Puenzo’s XXY, Alfonso Curon’s 2013 GRAVITY, Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s EVOLUTION,
Rungano Nyoni’s I AM NOT A WITCH, Claire Denis’s 2018 HIGH LIFE and Jeremy
Clapin’s 2019 film I LOST MY BODY also bring body and cinema together.
Horror
in cinema rapidly comes back with an intensity as in Lucia Guadagnino’s film
SUSPIRIA, Australia’s Jennifer Kent’s THE BABADOOK, IT FOLLOWS from David
Robert Mitchell the same year, and Astonia’s film NOVEMBER from director Rainer
Sarnet, and Ari Aster’s MIDSOMMAR brought a new level of what is expected of a
horror film.
Changing
gears into slow cinema with the 2006 Pedro Costa film COLOSSAL YOUTH, Kely
Reichardt’s CERTAIN WOMEN, Lav Diaz’s 2013 NORTE, THE END OF HISTORY, and
2018’s AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL directed by Hu Bo. Documentaries come into
play again as well starting with Hanna Polak’s SOMETHING BETTER TO COME, Waad
Al-Kateab and Edward Watts’ 2019 FOR SAMA, Patricio Guzman’s THE PEARL BUTTON
and Anand Patwardhan’s REASON. Greece brings ATTENBERG from director Athina
Rachel Tsangari and Aleksei German’s three-hour long 2013 film HARD TO BE GOD.
Asking
the question ‘what have we been digging for?’ comes into focus starting
with director Leos Carax HOLY MOTORS, 2013’s UNDER THE SKIN from director
Jonathan Glazer, director Joanna Hogg’s THE SOUVENIR, Amin Sidi-Boumediene’s
2019 film ABOUT LEILA, Abbas Kiarostami’s film TEN and Castaing-Taylor and
Verena Paravel brings LEVIATHAN in 2012.
Cell
phones come into play as well as new inventive techniques shown in the 2017
Michael Haneke film HAPPY END, Sean Baker’s film TANGERINE, Jean-Luc Godard’s
GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE, Laurie Anderson’s HEART OF A DOG in 2015, BLACK MIRROR:
Bandersnatch from director David Slade in 2018, Tsai Ming Liang’s STRAY DOGS, I
DON’T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE and 2017’s THE DESERTED done in VR.
Documentary
filmmaker Kirsten Johnson films the CAMERAPERSON, THE LOOK OF SILENCE from
Joshua Oppenheimer in 2014 or with Christine Cynn in THE ACT OF KILLING and in
the same year Slavo Martinov shows PROPAGANDA. Performance capture comes alive
with Matt Reeves’ WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, 2019’s THE IRISHMAN from
Martin Scorsese and DAU DEGENERATION from Ilya Khrzhanovskiy. Using no technology,
Lenny Abrahamson introduces us to the 2014 film FRANK and Laszlo Nemes 2015 SON
OF SAUL.
Now
cinema reveals who we are starting with the 2018 Radu Jude film I DON’T CARE IF
WE GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS BARBARIANS, Jordan Peele’s US and Korean director Bong
Joon-Ho’s PARASITE, Ala Eddine Slim TLAMESS, and Mati Diop comes in the same
year with ATLANTICS. In animation, the 2014 SONG OF THE SEA by Tomm Moore is
flowing and transformative. BLACK PANTHER brought Wakanda from Ryan Coogler and
in the same year BORDER from Ali Abbasi bring ‘paradise lost’. THE FARWELL by
Lulu Wang brings family together, and QUO VADIS, AIDA? from Jasmina Spanic in
2020 (one of my favorites that year).
From
Asia, director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s SHOPLIFTERS, from Russia is Evgenia Ostanina
and Zosya Rodkevich’s WHITE MAMA, Debra Branik’s LEAVE NO TRACE and Alice
Rohrwacher’s HAPPY AS LAZZARO all come in the same year. Rounding out years
2017 -2019 there is A FANTASTIC WOMAN from director Sebastian Lelio, 13th
from Ava Duvernay, SHOP OF THESEUS from Anand Gandhi, PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON
FIRE from Celine Sciamma and COLD WAR from Pawel Pawlikowski.
Incoming
to theatres are more points of view and what cinema is offering us is a frame
by frame look at ourselves and we love every moment of it.
Music
Box Films is the prestigious North American distributor of acclaimed
international, independent, and documentary feature films. Recent releases
include Eric Gravel’s Cesar nominated thrilling social drama FULL TIME and
Rebecca Zlotowski’s OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN. Music Box Films also owns and
operates Music Box Theatre, Chicago’s premier venue for independent and foreign
films. For more of what they have to offer please go to www.musicboxfilms.com
If
you are a filmmaker, a film lover, a student of film, a person who studies film
for pleasure – then this is a must have, absolutely. It is challenging, thought
provoking, informative, enlightening and goes in directions that are stellar
and interesting. Being captivated is sometimes a hard thing to do, but A STORY
OF FILM does it second by second.
I
have always loved film, from my first viewing of BAMBI to the recent film THE
CREATOR, I have witnessed the inventive of storytelling and embraced the good,
bad and ugly of it all. Creator Mark Cousins has now become the voice in my
head regarding film and a new point of view. There have been a few teachers in
my life that have stood out and have followed along my life, Cousins is now
added to that list as the newest teacher who taught an old dog new tricks in a
sense.
To
experience it all in five discs is breathtaking and equally exhausting, but the
kind of exhausting that comes with learning something so fulfilling, that it
will take time to recover from and process it all with joy. This is an 18-hour
master class that is powerful, thoughtful and worthy of a standing ovation.
Prepare
for a stunning master class!
