Doncs des de la secció de cinema us ho posem molt fàcil! Us convidem a la conferència “Dogma’95: el cinema danès contemporani” que es durà a terme a la Biblioteca el proper DIMARTS 1 DE DESEMBRE, a les 18:30 hores.

Les cultures eslaves i nòrdiques són les cultures convidades durant el mes de desembre a la Biblioteca (dins el projecte “12 mesos, 12 cultures”). Des de la secció de cinema us convidem a apropar-vos-hi d’una manera diferent: a través del cinema. Per a fer-ho hem convidat, una vegada més, a José Carlos Suárez. És doctor en Història de l’Art per la Universitat de Barcelona, professor titular de la Facultat de Lletres de la URV on imparteix assignatures d’art del S.XX i història del cinema, des del 1993 és director de la Unitat d’Investigació del cinema de la Facultat de Lletres, i des del 1999 director de l’Aula de Cinema. La seva labor d’investigació es centra, per una banda en l’art contemporani, i per l’altra, en la història del cinema, fonamentalment, en el nostre país.

DOGMA95 neix a Copenhaguen la primavera de l’any 1995. Entre els directors que signen el manifest originari s’hi troben  Lars Von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg i Soren Kragh-Jakobsen. El moviment es presenta com un acte de rebel·lió enfront les noves tendències del cinema, apostant per un conjunt de requeriments molt especials: la càmera s’ha de sostenir amb la mà, no hi pot haver llum ni so afegits, tampoc trucatges i filtres… entre altres. De tot plegat, del moviment, les pel·lícules i els seus directors, en parlarem el promer dimarts. US HI ESPEREM! L’entrada és LLIURE!

A la biblioteca disposem de llibres i pel·lícules relacionades amb aquest moviment. Per si voleu començar a donar-hi un cop d’ull, aquí els teniu:

PEL·LÍCULES

LLIBRES

Didn’t notice the almost three hours in the chair, which is high praise. I was entertained for most of it, and although I was in and out of Suspension of Disbelief, I liked it.

I think the movie has a lot more to recommended than to detract. Makeup: unbelieveable (the good way). Visual / computer effects are spotty, but occasionally spot-on. Cate Blanchett was FABULOUS.

I don’t know how you put so much work into a single film; it’s overdone, it looks pretty, and has enough heart before the end to make up for pacing / plot hiccups at the end. The effort everyone put into the film is evident, and works.

I have reservations, but I enjoyed the movie, which I say about too few movies. There’s nothing wrong with a movie being entertaining, and if the movie aims to be entertaning and succeeds, it’s by definition good.

I suppose I will lose my film snob membership card for saying I liked it, but it’s not like the movie’s flaws aren’t apparent; they don’t matter if you buy into it. It’s a fable anyway, so you’ve got no reason to nitpick consistency or plausibility.

Cate Blanchett can act. That’s really her as a dying old woman. SPOT ON. Sucking breath, clutching hands, stretched neck … dude.

That was her dancing too! Dude. Scary. Did she make a deal with the devil? How can someone be so good at their job?

I appreciated the shout out to New Orleans by setting the flash forward around Katrina, but maybe it didn’t quite work. The New Orleans accents (especially Mr NOLA Brad Pitt’s) went in and out, which distracted me because why would their accents drift if the whole movie was overdubbed? Wasn’t it recorded in a couple days in a studio? BTW, I hate the ADR / Foley sound for _everything_. Dogma95 made some good contributions, and it’s films like this that get me back on the bandwagon.

Since we saw this the day after The Reader, perhaps we were primed to enjoy an enjoyable movie. Anyway, liked it for the entertainment value; did I mention Cate Blanchett was great?

Los idiotas, o Idioterne de  Lars Von Trier (y me presento)

Me uno a este blog invitada por el JP, que es mi primo hermano,  y bueno, ustedes no me conocen pero le conocen a él, así que sirva eso como presentación…el JP y yo somos parecidos en cosas, solo fijarse en que a la misma vez que el creaba este blog yo andaba liada con lo mismo, lista de películas “importantes” que hay que ver despues de morirse uno…una de las que me parecen fundamentales es esta que les quería comentar, Los idiotas del director danes Lars Von Trier, que pertence al movimiento DOGMA (movimiento super interesante para quién quiera profundizar en él). Esta película por cosas que pasan no la vi en su momento, y la bajé hace un par de semanas.

Se trata de un grupo de personas que se dedican a fingir que son retrasados mentales..si, el argumento es bien simple. Ellos han formado un grupo y tienen su filosofía, algo así como encontrar al idiota que llevas dentro y sacarlo, porque eso te hará librarte de prejuicios y llegar a ser mas puro, o ingenuo, o inocente, o demás weás…

Inevitable que la película nos haga pensar…esta bien lo que hacen? Tienen razón? Lo seríamos capaces de hacer nosotros? LLevamos todos de verdad un idiota dentro, y serviría de algo sacarlo a pasear?

Aparte de eso la película tiene unas cuantas escenas bastante fuertes, y en resumen merece la pena verla. Veanla y nos cuentan, y con eso me despido de mi primer post…

Revisando anoche mi desordenada cinemateca me encontré casualmente –y me alegré mucho porque ya la creía del todo perdida— con la única película del director danés Thomas Vinterberg que no pude ver en el momento de su estreno. Se trata de “Festen, la celebración”, expresión del manifiesto “Dogma95”, presentado en Cannes 98 y firmado por Lars von Triers y por el mismo Vinterberg.

Como todos sabemos, el nuevo movimiento cinematográfico perfiló sus señas de identidad otorgando la máxima importancia al guión y a los actores y dando una menor relevancia a la fotografía y, sobre todo, nada de efectos especiales o cine made in Hollywood. Es decir, entornos absolutamente naturales y filmaciones cámara en mano.

El Dogma 95 tiene (o tuvo), en mi modesta opinión, bastante de publicidad, más que de sentido estético en defensa de la verdad y la pureza en el cine. Sus postulados responden más a un intento de encasillar las estéticas en torno a un titular periodístico que a trastocar la concepción formal del cine, un arte de sombras que se basa exclusivamente en el artificio. Aun así, Festen (Celebración), la película del joven Vinterberg proclamada como Dogma #1 , posee varias virtudes que, en parte, se deben al dogmático decálogo, pero que por otra parte evidencian su inutilidad. Con un guión repleto de lagunas, la cruda historia de una familia con secretos inconfesables está expuesta de tal forma que consigue atenazar los despavoridos corazones de los espectadores.

Es en el plano estético donde más se centra el apostolado de marras y, pese a que consigue la necesaria angustia para este tipo de historias, no deja de ofrecer secuencias en las que no se ve nada, bien por los movimientos de cámara, bien por los inevitables desenfoques. Pese a ello, aun siendo ciertos los reparos vertidos contra el cine de Vintenberg, calificado por algunos de falsamente existencial y limitado a despertar únicamente el estremecimiento o el asombro del espectador (pero no del todo la reflexión), sería injusto no reconocer la enorme importancia de su labor, cuyos frutos han recogido en gran medida otros jóvenes cineastas, especialmente europeos.

La película es loablemente atroz y en determinados aspectos interesante. Pero se presume en su elaboración una confusión entre verdad y sinceridad. Y creo que el cine nunca debe ser verdad artesana, sino sinceridad ante la impostura de los “autores”.

A pesar de estos desiguales factores, diré finalmente que en la película hay imágenes y, bajo ellas, ideas sobre algo que estas imágenes ocultan y que, pese a estar oculto, tiene existencia fílmica.

Mr. Arriflex

Nota añadida.

El renombrado director Thomas Vinterberg pertenece o, tal vez mejor sería decir, perteneció a esa corriente artística que nos deleitó con películas como Los Idiotas de Lars Von Triers o Mifune de Søren Kragh-Jacobsen y directores como los celebrados Juan Pinzas, Jean-Marc Barr o Kristian Levring.

Vinterberg (1969) realizó sus estudios en la Escuela Nacional de Cine de Dinamarca y ha recibido numerosos premios en festivales internacionales por sus cortometrajes El último asalto (nominado al Oscar) y Los chicos que andaban hacia atrás.
Su debut como director de largometrajes fue con Héroes, película premiada en Rouen y Madrid. Sin embargo, sería Celebración, su segundo largometraje, el que le enmarcaría definitivamente dentro del movimiento Dogma, del que posteriormente se alejaría.

Anoche El miércoles de la semana pasada los Chanantes nos dejaron éste Testimonio de Lars Von Trier; un director admirable a veces y hostiable otras (las más). Enjoy!

Unos que no explotan demasiado a los directores de cine son los de Muchachada Nui (y eso que los hay muy muy frikis). Sólo han hecho éste y el de Tim Burton; pero los dos muy divertidos. Una pena; me pongo cachondo de imaginar el de Kubrick.

In this episode of Tell Me You Love Me, Carolyn thinks that she is pregnant. We discover why John is so important to May and Arthur. Dave and Katie continue with therapy and make some progress. Jaime examines her life.

Not being able to conceive is hard on Palek and Carolyn. It’s hard each time that Carolyn takes a pregnancy test and finds out that she isn’t pregnant. May and Arthur discuss John. Dave and Katie get some ideas from May to improve their life as a couple.

As always, I found that the latest episode of Tell Me You Love Me was pretty good. I really enjoy the way that this show isn’t about actions or things, but about people, which rarely happens in American television. The show is also pretty roughcut and raw, which I like as well. It’s made me want to watch some Pedro Almodovar movies again. I recommend this show.

Warning: Spoilers ahead and mature written content.

* * * * *

Carolyn is thanking Palek for agreeing to the artificial insemination.

Dave leaves for the therapy session, even though he said that he wouldn’t do it anymore. Katie tripped coming into the office. Dr. Foster takes the bull by the horn. They talk about the lack of sexuality in their marriage. She tells them to put a lock on their bedroom door. She says to spend a little time each day in their bed by themselves. Dave doesn’t really want to and considers it dumb. In the evening, Katie is surprised to see that Dave picked up a lock at the hardware store.

Palek and Carolyn are having their artificial insemination procedure. The doctor is reticent to tell them their chances to conceive. The procedure took a total of 2 minutes. Later, Palek is shopping and looking at a kid.

Jaime overhears a friend arguing about keys with her ex. Jaime is friends with Carolyn’s sister. Jaime hits on the ex and they decide to have drinks together. At the bar, they make out. They go back to her place for coffee. Jaime is talking with Anya’s ex about their relationships. Jaime says that she stopped playing sports in high school when she started having sex. He is about to leave, but they end up half naked on her sofa. Jaime stops him before they have sex.

The next morning, Palek and Carolyn get frisky. It’s a beautifully shot scene, with a camera suspended on the ceiling.

Arthur and May are moving their bed. They talk about John. May cheated with John on Arthur. May cancelled on the dinner date she had with John.

Dave and Katie are having a quiet night. Katie falls asleep on the sofa and Dave goes to bed by himself. Dave has installed the lock and uses it when he masturbates right before falling asleep. Katie wakes up later and goes to bed. She finds the door locked. Dave mumbles something about the door not being level. Katie is upset that he let her sleep. She wanted to have some time alone with Dave.

Kiss me…
Katie to Dave.

They both get a little frisky in the bedroom. They make out. It looks like they were pretending. They stop. Katie says that it never used to be so hard.

The next day, Carolyn is examining her breasts for tenderness. It’s an early sign of pregnancy. Carolyn thinks she is preggers. Palek looks concerned. Palek visits his mom. His mom tells him that she is going to sell the house. His mom says that Carolyn doesn’t like when he spends much time with her. There are some unaddressed issues. Palek tells his mom that his dad called him again. His parents are divorced. Palek hasn’t seen his dad in over 3 years. I don’t think Carolyn is pregnant. She has Palek get her a bunch of pregnancy tests. After a bunch of negatives, Carolyn says that she can’t do it anymore. Having a child or taking the tests?

Dave and Katie are at their son’s softball game. Jaime turns up to see Anja’s ex. She came to play softball. The ex goes home after the game even though Jaime hits on him again. She is giving him mixed signals. She wants to hook up with him, but he tells her that she isn’t over her ex and he isn’t over his.

Palek is working on Carolyn’s sister’s place. He takes the time to call his dad at the site to tell his dad’s machine that he doesn’t want to talk with him.

* * * * *

Relevant Posts

• Tell Me You Love Me S01E01
• Tell Me You Love Me S01E02
• Tell Me You Love Me S01E03
• Tell Me You Love Me S01E04

A Japanese Pokka drink that I like.

Palek learns something new about Carolyn and he isn’t thrilled about this. Carolyn has a tendency to keep things to herself and not share them with Palek. Dave finally goes to a therapy session. It isn’t a roaring success, but at least he came and some progress was made.

Jamie isn’t doing so well. She finally realizes that her relationship with Hugo is probably over and clings to the thought of that. She also starts therapy with Dr. Foster and we learn a few new things about her.

Two of our couples meet. Dave and Palek meet at a construction site one which Palek is the architect. Dave comes by to show him a few proposals. I really enjoyed this episode. It’s too bad that HBO shows have such a short season, but hopefully the show will get renewed for next year. I still believe that it’s very close to Dogme 95 shooting. I was sure that Jamie and Hugo would resolve their differences, but it looks like they are truly separated. Their wedding was canceled and they are no longer living together.

Warning: Spoilers ahead and mature written content.

* * * * *

Carolyn is at a pharmacy. She buys some pregnancy tests and immediately tests herself in the bathroom there. She looks worried. She freaks out and rips the tissue holder off from the wall.

Dave tells Katie that he will meet her at the therapy session. Katie is surprised. Dr. Foster is happy to see Dave at counseling. She asks him why he came. He can’t express it into words. Dr. Foster asks about their anniversary. She implies that she wants to know about their sex life, but they avoid the subject. They talk about the anniversary present that Dave got for Katie. It’s the purple Teddy that their daughter picked out. Dave confronts Katie about her behavior in an incident. She was disappointed in him and said “But what?” repeatedly. He freaks out at having to explain his lack of desire. He says that the whole routing is just draining with the kids and all.

Jamie finds Hugo at his job. Hugo tells her that he felt that they were on drugs the whole time that they were together. He says that he is in detox and feels right. He thinks that they are doing the right thing. Jamie doesn’t agree. She says that she loves him and wants to be with him.

Jamie is getting a tattoo. She has trouble adapting to her new situation. She has sex with one of the other sous-chefs.

Carolyn meets Palek at his site. She tells him that she took the pregnancy test and that she isn’t pregnant. Carolyn confesses that she got an abortion years ago. She thinks that it might have messed with her plumbing. Palek is shocked to find this out.

Katie has Isabelle checked out by her family doctor. Isabelle started her period. She’s 12. The doctor tells her that the average age for periods has dropped from 14 to 12 and will continue to drop. There are too many environmental estrogens, in milk, meat and other foods.

Carolyn goes to her therapy session with Dr. Foster. Palek is late and stuck at work. She tells May about the abortion. She tells her that Palek is ignoring her calls. She demonstrates it.

Palek buys a suit while Carolyn meets the guy who got her pregnant.

Katie cleans out her kitchen and tries to remove the environmental hormones.

Palek meets Dave. He is a rep for a company and is bringing some proposals to him. Later Dave and Katie talk in their bed.

Jamie meets Nick at the restaurant.

Palek comes home. Carolyn tells Palek that she wants to get artificially inseminated.

Jamie starts therapy sessions with Dr. Foster. She says that she was in therapy when she was younger. The result of the earlier therapy was that she defines herself by sex. Jamie tells May that she left Hugo because he couldn’t promise that he would not be with anybody else. May asks her if she is comfortable with monogamy. Has she ever been monogamous? Jamie says no. Immediately, a few minutes into the session, we get to the core of the problem with Jamie.

As she starts speaking with Dr. Foster, I understood the title. Tell me you love me, tell me about love. Talk about love with Foster.

* * * * *

Relevant Links

• Tell Me You Love Me wiki page
• Chicago Tribune analyzes the recent problems with HBO

* * * * *

Relevant Posts

• Tell Me You Love Me S01E01
• Tell Me You Love Me S01E02
• Tell Me You Love Me S01E03

The tanks of the jelly fish in Ocean Park, Hong Kong.

Jamie is freaking out because she can’t find Hugo. He will not return her calls or any form of communication. David and Katie celebrate their anniversary in a strange fashion. Carolyn and Palek confront their issues in front of their friends. There is more mystery around this John person and Dr. Foster.

The show continues it’s Dogma style narration in between the four couples in various stages of their relationships. It seems that not a lot of time passes between the shows, so it could be imagined that actually a week passes in reality between the shows, and we catch up on this phantom week each time we watch the show. It’s a really interesting way to tell a story.

There is a definite feel of a lack of an established framework to the storyline. There is no way of knowing the names of the characters and other details before watching a few episodes. Even then, the only way I knew was from reading the press releases. This sort of mystery and gap makes Tell Me You Love Me tantalizing. For some reason it also reminds of me Pedro Almodovar’s films. Maybe it’s the way that the show centers on relationships and maybe it’s just the way that the show brutally starts without any intros and ends with the title of the show, taking up most of the screen.

Warning: Spoilers ahead and mature written content.

* * * * *

Palek is masturbating to get his sperm tested. Carolyn is talking dirty to him to talk him through him. Palek is waiting for his test results. His results are great and Carolyn is surprised.

Dave is talking to his colleague about his upcoming anniversary. Katie is in therapy with Dr. Foster. Katie is surprised to learn that May has been married for 43 years. They end up talking about the awkwardness in her marriage about sex.

Jamie is still getting settled in her new place. A friend comes by and they smoke up. They are talking about Hugo. Jamie misses him.

Dave and Katie are at one of their friend’s birthday party. They get news from one of their friends that they are getting divorced. A girlfriend tells her that she is spending too much time with her kids. She needs more couple time with Dave. One of them notices that Katie isn’t happy.

Arthur comes home and talks with May about John. Arthur talked about May with John. Arthur wants her to see him.

Jamie is phoning up old acquaintances she hasn’t called in a long while to hook up.

Dave is shopping for Katie. His daughter points out some lingerie, but this makes Dave feel awkward. He decides to buy it.

Jamie is meeting her friend and her boyfriend for drinks. They are all over each other and making her uncomfortable. They talk about monogamy and marriage, which is against Jamie’s values.

Carolyn and Palek go to a games night at their friend’s place. Palek makes the mistake about talking about their plans to have kids with their friends. Carolyn airs their dirty laundry to their friends. She tells them that they have been trying for over a year. Palek is psyched that his sperm is OK.

Dave is having his anniversary dinner with his family, instead of only with his wife. Their daughter Isabella wants Katie to open the gift at the restaurant. Dave makes a point to mention it that Isabella picked the lingerie, which is kind of strange.

Carolyn and Palek are arguing in the car.

Jamie tries to have sex, but it doesn’t work. They talk about her failed relationship with Hugo. Jamie calls Hugo again, but gets his voicemail.

Carolyn and Palek continue the argument at home. Palek wants some time alone. Carolyn tries to force herself onto Palek, in the end they make up. I think that instead of trying to procreate, they are actually making love for the first time in a while.

Jamie is freaking out in a bar with her best friend. She wants to find Hugo, but he isn’t replying to any of her SMS, emails and IMs.

Dave gets TiVo from his wife, he is happy. Katie asks if she can return the lingerie.

Any show that has got some Hooverphonic is da bomb!

Palek and Carolyn talk in bet after their intense sex. Palek wonders what will happen if they will not get pregnant.

Dave and Katie have a heart to heart about their marriage. He can’t put it into words.

* * * * *

Relevant Links

• Tell Me You Love Me wiki page
• Chicago Tribune analyzes the recent problems with HBO

* * * * *

Relevant Posts

• Tell Me You Love Me S01E01
• Tell Me You Love Me S01E02