April 2009 – arts & fetters

film: Resnais: Night and Fog (1955)

When it comes to this subject I’m not sure anyone can really say much of anything now. I find myself smeared with the same confusion that I face on a thousand other subjects, when some fact very obvious to me is left to wander away from truth and is entirely out of my control, that’sContinue reading “film: Resnais: Night and Fog (1955)”

spartacus

The moment I recognized this would be a tragedy was during Spartacus’ great final speech to his army, when he tells them that they are better than the Romans, who are fat and surrounded by their slaves. Kubrick immediately cuts to Crassus, the human form of Rome, who is lean, and surrounded by centurions. ByContinue reading “spartacus”

brooks lord of flies

In reading it’s easy to forget a character’s complexion, so that in the novel one can forget that children are children, as they adopt adult tendencies; the film adaptation presents us with no such opportunity. The book is what changed my life–though I don’t deny I was prepared for a change to take place, asContinue reading “brooks lord of flies”

Miller: The Colossus of Maroussi (1941)

I have one of the most remarkably poor memories of anyone I’ve ever met. Perhaps the very worst. What I can handle, though, is something a lot of people have told me is not only strange, but also difficult: I’m generally reading between 20 and 30 books at a time, and I stretch out readingContinue reading “Miller: The Colossus of Maroussi (1941)”

film: Bauer: Умиращия лебед / The Dying Swan (1917)

july 8 07 Despite his short career, Bauer is supposed to rank up there with Griffith and Demille, but his work reminds me much more of Wegener in not only the dark subject matter, but also the emphasis on facial expressions. What this has which the others lack is a profound sense of beauty, theContinue reading “film: Bauer: Умиращия лебед / The Dying Swan (1917)”

Maxwell: The Married Virgin (1918)

Almost immediately this film breaks boundaries of the other films I’ve watched so far–this is more certainly Cinema than anything I’ve seen yet. Many reasons come to mind. The credits, so it introduces the characters one by one, little insights into their personalities, but the method of doing so in this film is different inContinue reading “Maxwell: The Married Virgin (1918)”