Re: Movie Thread: Grab Some Popcorn, Enjoy The Show
Criterion Collection movies watched this past week:
Here Is Your Life or Här har du ditt live, Jan Troell (1966)
Very good Swedish coming of age film set in the early part of the 20th century in working class northern Sweden. Elements of class struggle, sexual exploration, and familial separation are explored through the meanderings of a young teen boy who progresses into manhood. Nicely shot on location.
The Pornographers or Erogoto****achi yori Jinruigaku nyūmon, Shohei Imamura (1966)
Not so much about pornography as the efforts of the protagonist in the film to understand himself, his own sexual identity, and those who control his life in the midst of the post-war economic upheaval. The Japanese title of the film actual translates: An introduction to anthropology through the pornographers.
Patriotism or Yūkoku, Yukio Mishima (1966)
A short film depicting "seppuku" in relation to what transpired after an actual event the
Ni Ni Roku Incident of Feb. 1936. Both actors, as husband and wife, enact suicide on camera. Pretty dramatic to say the least.
Mishima himself committed seppuku in 1970 after a failed coup attempt.
Pearls of the Czech New Wave, Eclipse Series 32 (2012) *
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Pearls of the Deep, various directors (1966)
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Daisies or
Sedmikrásky, Věra Chytilová (1966)
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A Report on the Party and Guests, Jan Němec (1966)
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Return of the Prodigal Son, Evald Schorm (1967)
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Capricious Summer or Rozmarné léto, Jiří Menzel (1968)
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The Joke or Žert, Jaromil Jireš (1969)
These are pretty powerful allergorical and oppositional films made during the Prague Spring. So, many of them deal with the struggle against ideological repression. Really enjoyed them.
The Joke is based on Milan Kundera's book of the same name and is a very good look into the psychology and functioning of individuals under party influence and manipulation.