Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban and Cary Guffey. It tells the story of Roy Neary, an Indiana electrical lineman, whose life changes after he has an encounter with an unidentified flying object. However, the United States government is also aware of the UFOs as is a team of international scientific researchers.

Close Encounters was a long-cherished project for Spielberg. In late 1973, he developed a deal with Columbia Pictures for a science fiction film. Though Spielberg receives sole credit for the script, he was assisted by Paul Schrader, John Hill, David Giler, Hal Barwood, Matthew Robbins and Jerry Belson, all of whom contributed to the screenplay in varying degrees.

The title is derived from astronomer/ufologist J. Allen Hynek’s classification of close encounters with aliens, in which the third kind denotes human observations of actual aliens or “animate beings”.

Filming began in May 1976. Douglas Trumbull served as the visual effects supervisor, while Carlo Rambaldi designed the aliens. Close Encounters was released in November 1977 and was a critical and financial success. The film was reissued in 1980 as Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Special Edition, which featured additional scenes. A third cut of the film was released to home video (and later DVD) in 1998. The film received numerous awards and nominations at the 50th Academy Awards, 32nd British Academy Film Awards, the Saturn Awards and has been widely acclaimed by the American Film Institute. In December 2007 it was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in National Film Registry.

Si può uscire dalla crisi se si è perso tutto? Spogliarsi come nella pellicola sui disoccupati di Sheffield non basta più. Ci vuole il servizio completo. Un’altra storia intorno alla famiglia Usa, aggrappata a un filo, molto particolare.

C’era una volta Full Monty, il film rivelazione di Peter Cattaneso, anno 1997, nato come produzione a basso costo, premiato da 4 nomination e un Oscar, ma soprattutto diventato un fenomeno di costume. Raccontava la storia di sei disoccupati inglesi, che nella triste Sheffield, cercavano di uscire dalla crisi più nera. Per far fronte a problemi economici e alla sensazione d’inutilità e frustrazione, tentavano un po’ goffamente l’impresa di allestire uno spettacolo di spogliarello maschile. Chi non ricorda i sei proletari folgorati dallo streap tease, che improvvisano in fila per il sussidio un provino sulle note di Hot Stuff di Donna Summer?

Hung, la serie tv che va in onda stasera su SkyUno è il nuovo Full Monty, ma stavolta si è soli, e non basta spogliarsi. Per affrontare la crisi in età adulta ci vuole il “servizio completo”.

Protagonista di Hung è un uomo maturo, divorziato, in rotta con il lavoro e con sé stesso. Per la precisione, Ray Dracker (interpretato da Thomas Jane) è un’ex-promessa del basket abbandonato dalla moglie, senza una casa, che ha perso l’affidamento dei figli, ed è insoddisfatto del proprio lavoro che consiste nel fare sottopagato l’allenatore di una squadra di college a Detroit. Un disperato quindi, ma Ray è anche bello e superdotato, appunto hung, parola col doppio significato di appeso, come Ray rispetto alla sua vita.

Il sottotitolo recita «It’s hard to make an indecent living»: è difficile condurre una vita indecente. E infatti la vita di Ray è un bollettino di guerra. C’è poco da ridere se si pensa a un insegnante di ginnastica in bancarotta che si dà alla prostituzione, ma ci si prova. Ray finisce nel più classico dei corsi motivazionali che promettono il successo e l’affermazione professionale in tempi rapidi, «Tira fuori l’imprenditore che c’è in te» recita il panel. Una suggestione che si rivela efficace, anche grazie a una sua ex Tanya (Jane Adams), incontrata allo stesso seminario. E proprio Tanya che gli aveva rimproverato di avere più cm che neuroni, sarà la sua manager.
Anche nelle note stampa, la svolta viene descritta con un linguaggio che ricorda lo storytelling aggressivo e deciso dei manager che leggono Sun Tzu: «Ray resolves to take advantage of his greatest asset, in hopes of changing his fortunes in a big way».

Hung viene prodotto dalla Hbo, che già con Six feet under e i Soprano ha affrontato la crisi della famiglia americana e dei suoi pilastri. Hung sembra il rovescio della libertà di Sex and the city e chissà se ripeterà lo stesso epocale successo. Per ora la serie in Usa è andata molto bene. «Una serie tv con le palle» ha scritto Mattia Nicoletti sul sito Moob, uno degli osservatori più interessanti sulle serie tv: «la storia di un uomo al limite costretto a compiere gesti che non avrebbe mai compiuto per rimanere a galla e attaccato anche se per un filo alla famiglia». Una storia di sopravvivenza e di cambiamento «nell’Obama post Madoff», quando i talenti tradizionali non funzionano più.

Tudo caminhava para uma ótima sessão. Cinema parcialmente vazio, brigas por lugares amenizadas, até que alguém levanta antes do ínicio da sessão e esbraveja – “Pessoal a repescagem desse ano só ocorrerá na Cinemateca e no Cinesesc, precisamos nos mobilizar! Vamos mandar um e-mail para a organização!” Ao que a mulher ao meu lado incomodada com tal situação retruca – “Não vou fazer isso com o Leon Cakoff que faz um trabalho maravilhoso trazendo tantas obras para nós.” A discussão precedeu uma produção pela qual nutria imensa curiosidade. A Ressurreição de Adam do diretor Paul Schrader fora um dos filmes mais comentados pela crítica que pontuava uma abordagem pouco comum de um tema tão adaptado pelo cinema – o Holocausto.

Adam (Jeff Goldblum) é um sujeito que caminha entre a genialidade e  a loucura, como forma de tratamento o personagem é encaminhado a um sanatório com outros pacientes que possuem algo em comum, todos ainda sofrem com as consequências do Holocausto. Aos poucos conhecemos a trajetória de Adam , comediante de grande prestígio em uma Alemanha prestes a ser dominada pelo regime nazista. As memórias de Adam são inseridas no decorrer do filme como flashbacks ou inserções longas que revelarão a ruína do personagem, sua família será desintegrada pelos campos de extermínio e a humilhação será extrema, visto que Adam ficará sob aprisionamento do Comandante Klein (Willem Dafoe).

Klein destitui o caráter humano de Adam o transformando em animal de estimação, situação que em diversas passagens volta a mente de nosso personagem, atormentado pelo passado. Adam é um sujeito mítico, permeado por certa magia e que parece prever tudo que o cerca. Será dessa forma que descobrirá algo no sanatório que causará grande intriga. Preso em um dos quartos, existe uma criança com comportamento animalesco. Tal personagem próxima ao Garoto Selvagem de François Truffaut transformará o ambiente. Inicialmente rejeitada por Adam é nela que ele encontrará a ressurreição necessária para superar seus piores traumas.

A proximidade entre Adam e o Garoto Selvagem transformará a vida de ambos, já que o comportamento canino da criança lembra toda a humilhação sofrida pelo personagem no campo de concentração. Nesse momento Schrader desenvolve 3 núcleos narrativos que formam uma teia ao redor de Adam, muito bem interpretado por Jeff Goldblum. Entretanto falta uma certa força ao filme que tem pontos altos e baixos durante toda a narrativa, destaque para as cenas entre Adam e a enfermeira do sanatório, momento cômico em que ele destila seu poder de sedução sobre uma personagem ninfomaníaca.

Infelizmente uma cabeça enorme privou meu olhar da parte técnica da obra. Tive o azar de sentar algumas fileiras atrás de um sujeito que tinha o corpo do Gustavo Borges e a cabeça do Selton Melo, fato que atrapalhou o acompanhamento das legendas digitais. Infelizmente ainda existem aqueles que acham que estão sozinhos nessa existência. Diversas pessoas acompanharam o filme de pé por conta de um cabeção. Eis um azar que ocorre algumas vezes na jornada cinematográfica. Futuramente voltarei a ver o filme, obra mediana que criativamente desenvolve um tema tão delicado na história da humanidade.

Convenção e Instabilidade

Num ano em que pelos menos dois grandes filmes abordam, em menor ou maior medida, questões judaicas, ambos de maneira pouco convencional – o humor ácido em O Que Resta do Tempo e a vingança contra o Terceiro Reich em Bastardos Inglórios – a aproximação escolhida por Paul Schrader em seu novo filme parece a princípio convencional.

Contudo, não é este o ponto de análise mais importante de A Ressurreição de Adam, ainda que funcione como uma porta de entrada.

Pois, Schrader faz um filme fundado nos efeitos de experiências traumáticas. Seu cenário é interessante por natureza: uma clínica de reabilitação – ou ainda, um manicômio – para refugiados do Holocausto que desenvolveram patologia referente ao trauma de suas vidas. Estamos no terreno da psicologia e efeitos traumáticos.

O roteiro potencializa esse jogo entre o passado e o presente a fim de destrinchar uma experiência psicológica, transitando através de flashbacks pela vida de Adam durante o período da Alemanha nazista, como uma tentativa de complementar seu comportamento presente. Há, portanto, a idéia de juntar peças e mover a narrativa a partir do estado psicológico de Adam, um personagem instável cuja alegria de vida é sombra daquela que tinha antes do campo de concentração.

Esta instabilidade se reflete no ritmo Ressurreição…, porém, esta é de natureza diferente: como a história se mantem apenas no domínio dos efeitos psicológicos, Schrader busca com sua câmera complicar o jogo, revezando-se entre momentos estéticos mais convencionais e naturalistas de câmera estável com outros de câmera na mão e instabilidade. Portanto, tenta refletir o protagonista, mas o faz com uma oposição simplista entre estabilidade/instabilidade da câmera o que, mais que espelhar o comportamento e sensações de Adam, revela uma maneira de olhar este universo que não se arrisca para além do díptico trauma-efeitos.

Ressurreição… se mostra, então, um filme de ritmo desigual e momentos de grande força (quando a câmera, menos que tentar significar, busca realçar as intenções do Adam de Jeff Goldblum) seguidos de momentos ralos. Sobretudo, um filme carente de grandes imagens ou encenação mais interessante e complexa. A bala do canhão de Schrader é apenas o jogo de perde-e-ganha de Adam com seus fantasmas do passado, o que deixa tudo preso no domínio trauma-efeito.

Assim, A Ressurreição de Adam é um filme de sensibilidade engessada, inconstante, fechado a voos audaciosos.

A Ressurreição de Adam (Adam Resurrected, 2008), dir. Paul Schrader

Glancing through our readings the last few weeks, ruminating on the many concepts we’ve discussed in search of a topic, it occurred to me that although Citizen Kane doesn’t follow a quintessential noir theme, it almost-perfectly coincides with the seven noir stylistics outlined by Paul Shrader in his Notes on Film Noir.

He names seven definining stylistic elements, providing a perfect structure for our blog post.

(1)

“The majority of scenes are lit for night.”

Although the journalist’s investigation in Citizen Kane takes place over the course of a week, and the flashbacks cover the course of many decades, the overall look of the film is dark, and many scenes take place in the dark for no narrative reason. For example, think of the picnic that Kane forces Susan Alexander to go on. We have two brief shots of all the cars driving out during the daylight, but then we cut to the night when we see the actual events of the picnic (a cut that goes along with the amusingly appropriate lyrics, “It can’t be love”).

The scenes in the newspaper offices (both “past” and “present,” Kane’s and his investigators’) are often similarly dark, as are Susan Alexander’s opera performances, and the little restaurant in which the journalist meets with her.

Here, for example, we see Kane in his opera box after the end of one of Susan Alexander’s performances. Although the house lights have gone up and everyone is clapping, the shadows are stern as if the pervasive darkness present during her performance hasn’t left yet. It all contributes to a feeling that “if the lights were all suddenly flipped on, the characters would shriek and shrink from the scene like Count Dracula at sunrise.”

(2)

“As in German expressionism, oblique and vertical lines are preferred to horizontal.”

The lighting in Citizen Kane is very expressionist in general– just consider the scenes in which the “present” journalists talk amongst themselves, an image that is among the most defining of the movie.

However, the expressionism also also, quite evidently, tied to a preference for oblique lines. However, although lighting is sometimes used to create these lines, it is more common for the architecture of the set to do so. Consider the two images below; the first is from Citizen Kane, the second from Chinatown.

The light crisscrosses Kane in much the same way as it does J.J. Gittes in Chinatown, but the similarity in feel stems, in my opinion, primarily from the oblique lines of the ceiling in the first, which mirror the oblique lines of light in the second. Although the movie as a whole does not give the impression of “windows… cut out with a penknife,” we still get a strong feeling of unreality and oppression from the composition of the space, as can be seen in all of the following shots.

(3)

“The actors and setting are often given equal lighting emphasis.”

More importantly, “[an actor's] face is often blacked out by shadow as he speaks.” We never see clearly the faces of any of the journalists who investigate Kane’s story after his death. None of them! They are thus often featured in the most fantastically-lit and expressionist scenes, such as the one to the left (note the oblique lines again, this time created with light as is typical.) However, even in less extraordinary scenes, such as the final scene, in which the whole journalistic team wanders through Kane’s warehouse of antiques, the light and the camera conspire to conceal their faces from us.

Due to the difference in subject matter, this doesn’t give so much of an impression that the characters are insignificant compared to the ciy and that “there is nothing the protagonists can do; the city will outlast and negate even their best efforts;” however, it does contribute to the impression that the journalists’ search is futile and that Kane’s “true” identity and story will never be known to them, and in fact that such a thing is impossible to define in the first place. They are indistinguishable, not from the dark city that is the typical theme of noir, but of the lack of identity that is the particular theme of Citizen Kane.

(4)

“Compositional tension is often preferred to physical action.”

This is the stylistic element that first got me thinking of Citizen Kane in terms of noir. Throughout the movie, composition is used to show interpersonal relationships, often as the only means of doing so. For example, consider Kane at the breakfast table with his first wife. At the beginning of their marriage, they are close:

But after their marriage has deteriorated, they are distant from each other, and the newspaper has come between them:

(Notice, also, the increased effect of the oblique lighting and architecture, and the way that they are given equal lighting emphasis as their surroundings.)

Most emblematic of this element, to me, is the scene in which Kane insists that Susan Alexander will continue to sing opera. Susan is sitting on the ground, surrounded by newspapers, while Kane is standing. In the shot/reverse-shot sequence, Susan is always shot with the camera above, looking down, and Kane is shot with the camera below, looking up. When Susan begins to insist that she is done singing, she rises to her knees, claiming a little more space and height in the shot. At the moment when Kane shouts that she will continue to sing, he moves closer to the camera, growing larger in his frame. When we cut back to Susan Alexander, his shadow moves to cover her entirely, and she cowers and becomes smaller. The scene ends and the narrative moves on, the argument resolved by nothing but a change in composition.

(Watch from 1:15 to 2:10 to see the sequence discussed.)

(5)

“There seems to be an almost Freudian attachment to water.”

Of the connections between Citizen Kane and noir style, this is one of the weakest. Water and rain are certainly present in the film, but they don’t have the pervasiveness and importance that they find in more traditional noir. As such, for the most part, there is little to say here. However, I will posit that the following scene, in which we meet “present-day” Susan Alexander for the first time, could out-noir almost anything:

(6)

“There is a love of romantic narration.”

The story of Kane’s life is told through the flashbacks of those who knew him, making far more use than usual of voiceover narration. Jedediah Leland, in particular, tended to editorialize the stories he told, trying to explain why Kane did the things he did, but in a way that conveyed “an irretrievable past, a predetermined fate, and an all-enveloping hopelessness.”

Consider the video cited for stylistic #4; it begins with Leland, an old man, talking to the journalist. Immediately before we watch Kane bully his wife into continuing to sing against her wishes, Leland tells us, “He was always trying to prove something. That whole thing about Susie being an opera singer, that was trying to prove something. You know what the headline was the day before the election? Candidate Kane found in love nest with quote, “singer,” un-quote. He was gonna take the quotes off the singer.” When the next scene begins, then, we already know how it’s going to end and why it’s going to unfold that way.

Or, consider this earlier scene, in which Leland begins narrating before the image of Kane and his wife Emily has fully finished fading away.

The camera pulls away from Kane and Emily, revealing the distance between them, and the journalist asks, “Wasn’t he ever in love with her?” Leland answers, “He married for love. Love. That’s why he did everything.” Only then does the image of Kane and his wife fully fade away, as Leland continues to narrate: “That’s why he went into politics. It seems we weren’t enough; he wanted all them voters to love him, too. That’s all he really wanted out of life, was love. That’s Charlie’s story: how he lost it.”

Leland, like the others, directly tells us Charles Kane’s story, and it’s a story whose sad ending is already known. Even if the narrative of the story is not the most noir of plots, the narration is most definitely noir.

(7)

“A complex chronological order is frequently used to reinforce the feelings of hopelessness and lost time.”

When a film begins with the death of its titular character, you’re almost guaranteed a complex chronological order and a feeling of hopelessness, in the sense that nothing can change the ending of the story. Citizen Kane comes back to certain events, such as the day he lost the election, or the night Susan Alexander left him, again and again, revealing more of the hopelessness of the situation each time. The significance of the snowglobe, for example, seen at the beginning of the movie (which is the end of his life) is explained all out of order– we don’t see him pick it up until near the end of the movie, when Kane’s butler tells the story of the night Susan Alexander left (which is, incidentally, not even the first time we hear that particular story).

It’s difficult to cite examples when describing the overall structure of a film, so instead I will cite Shrader: doesn’t this sound exactly like Citizen Kane? It “use[s] a convoluted time sequence to immerse the viewer in a time-disoriented but highly stylized world.” That, to me, is Kane in a nutshell.

(conclusion)

Overall, I expect that people can poke holes in the idea of Citizen Kane as a noir. However, even if Citizen Kane is not a noir film, I feel it is safe to say that Orson Welles is a noir director. Kane is only his first film, and 1941 is early for the noir genre, and yet it already demonstrates a strong preference for noir style. As film noir and Welles himself become more established, he creates much more typically noir films, such as The Stranger (1946), The Lady from Shanghai (1947), and Touch of Evil (1958). It is no surprise, then, so see so much of the style of the noir present in Citizen Kane.

This is a belated post. So before I continue with my Miss Earth blogs, I’d like to give way to the winners of the recently-concluded Cinemanila International Film Festival 2009. The Awards Night was held last October 23 at the NBC Tent in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. The four major awards (Grand Prize Lino Brocka Award, Grand Jury Prize, Best Actor and Best Actress) were distributed one apiece to four entries and they are as follows:

Grand Prize Lino Brocka Award
HUNGER from the United Kingdom

Grand Jury Prize
TULPAN from Germany/Poland/Kazakhstan/Russia/Switzerland

Best Actor
Alfredo Castro for the movie “Tony Manero” (Brazil/Chile)

Best Actress
Tsilla Chelton for the movie “Pandora’s Box” (Turkey/France/Germany)

The other awardees are:

SEA (Southeast Asia) Competition
Best SEA Film: Talentime (Malaysia)

Special Mention – SEA Film: Woman on Fire Looks for Water (Malaysia/South Korea)
Best SEA Short Film: Focal Point (Malaysia)

Young Cinema in Competition
Best Short Film: To Siomai Love (Remton Siega Zuasola) – Philippines

Ishmael Bernal Most Outstanding Young Filipino Filmmaker: Remton Siega Zuasola

Digital Lokal
Lino Brocka Grand Jury Prize: Biyaheng Lupa

Lino Brocka Grand Prize: Anacbanua

Lifetime Achievement Award: Paul Schrader

Indie Spirit Award: Lav Diaz

Congratulations to all the winners!!!

A arte do cartaz é d'Os Gêmeos. Eu quero um!!

E a 33. Mostra de Internacional de Cinema começou no dia 23 de Outubro e terminará em 05 de Novembro. Na minha pequena cabeça a Mostra Internacional de Cinema serve para ensinar a olhar. Vários olhares de pessoas de nacionalidades diferentes, lançados para diversas facetas do ser humano para te ensinar que no final somos isso mesmo, seres humanos com o poder de resolver problemas de diversos modos.

Infelizmente somos “vítimas” (tentei encontrar uma palavra melhor, mas não consegui) do sonho americano. Nossas salas de cinema quase não tem espaço para o nosso próprio cinema. e não estou querendo dizer que recuso o cinema americano, até gosto. Mas ficar limitado ao olhar deles sobre o mundo é triste.

Chega de falar e vamos a minha “whish list” dessa MostraSP! Ah! Para ver a sinopse do filme e ler sobre os diretores é só ir até o Guia da Mostra. Super bola dentro.

1ª VEZ 16MM (1ª VEZ 16MM) – 2008 – Rui Goulart
RESERVA CULTURAL 1, dia 01/11 às 15:40.
CINE BOMBRIL 1, dia 04/11 às 15:50.

35 DOSES DE RUM (35 SHOTS OF RUM) – 2008 - Clarie Denis
CINEMATECA – SALA PETROBRAS, dia 26/10 às 14:30.
CINE TAM – SALA 3, dia 29/10 às 19:00.

500 DIAS COM ELA (500 DAYS OF SUMMER) – 2009 – Marc Webb
CINEMARK CIDADE JARDIM, dia 26/10 às 21:30.
CINE TAM – SALA 3, dia 31/10 às 19:00.

A BATALHA DOS 3 REINOS (CHI BI) – 2008 – John Woo
CINEMARK CIDADE JARDIM, dia 27/10 às 21:20.
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 1, dia 31/10 às 22:00.
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 4, dia 01/11 às 21:10.
CINEMA DA VILA, dia 04/11 às 19:50.
CINE BOMBRIL 1, dia 05/11 às 19:40.

A FITA BRANCA (DAS WEISSE BAND) – 2009 – Michael Haneke
HSBC BELAS ARTES – SALA 2, dia 31/10 às 18:20.
CINE BOMBRIL 1, dia 01/11 às 20:30.

A INVENÇÃO DA CARNE (LA INVENCION DE LA CARNE) – 2009 – Santiago Loza
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 3, dia 31/10 às 20:40.
RESERVA CULTURAL 1, dia 01/11 às 18:20.
ESPAÇO UNIBANCO POMPÉIA 10, dia 03/11 às 22:00.

A MULHER DO LADO (LA FEMME D’À CÔTÉ) – 1981 – François Truffaut
ESPAÇO UNIBANCO POMPÉIA 10, dia 29/10 às 18:00.
CINESESC, dia 02/11 às 18:50.

A MULHER SEM PIANO (LA MUJER SIN PIANO) – 2009 – Javier Rebollo
CINEMARK – SHOPPING ELDORADO, dia 28/10 às 19:30.
MATILHA CULTURAL, dia 03/11 às 17:20.

A OESTE DE PLUTÃO (À L’OUEST DE PLUTON) – 2009 – Henry Bernadet, Myriam Verreault
CINEMA DA VILA, dia 01/11 às 19:00.
RESERVA CULTURAL 1, dia 02/11 às 14:20.
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 5, dia 03/11 às 19:00.
CINE OLIDO, dia 04/11 às 15:00.

A REBELDE (L´INSURGÉE) – 2009 – Laurent Perreau
CENTRO CULTURAL SÃO PAULO, dia 28/10 às 16:00.
MULTIPLEX MARABÁ  2, dia 30/10 às 14:00.
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 4, dia 01/11 às 15:50.
CINE BOMBRIL 2, dia 05/11 às 20:40.

A RESSURREIÇÃO DE ADAM (ADAM RESURRECTED) – 2008 – Paul Schrader
MULTIPLEX MARABÁ  2, dia 30/10 às 16:00.
CINE BOMBRIL 2, dia 04/11 às 22:00.

A VIDA EM BLOCO (BLOQUES) – 2008 – Alfredo Hueck, Carlos Caridad
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 2, dia 28/10 às 19:20.
CINEMATECA – SALA BNDES, dia 30/10 às 18:30.

A VIDA ÍNTIMA DE PIPPA LEE (THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE) – 2009 – Rebecca Miller
CINE TAM – SALA 3, dia 27/10 às 21:00.
MULTIPLEX MARABÁ  2, dia 29/10 às 19:30.

ABRAÇOS PARTIDOS (LOS ABRAZOS ROTOS) – 2009 – Pedro Almodóvar
RESERVA CULTURAL 1, dia 30/10 às 18:20.

ADAM (ADAM) – 2009 – Max Mayer
CINEMARK CIDADE JARDIM, dia 28/10 às 19:00.
CINE TAM – SALA 3, dia 29/10 às 21:00.
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 1, dia 30/10 às 14:10.

ALEXANDRE, O ÚLTIMO (ALEXANDER THE LAST) – 2009 – Joe Swanberg
CINE TAM – SALA 3, dia 30/10 às 21:10.

AMANHÃ AO AMANHECER (DEMAIN, DÈS L’AUBE) – 2009 – Denis Dercourt
FAAP, dia 27/10 às 15:00.
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 1, dia 29/10 às 13:50.
ESPAÇO UNIBANCO POMPÉIA 10, dia 02/11 às 20:10.

AQUILES E A TARTARUGA (AKIRESU TO KAME) – 2008 – Takeshi Kitano
FAAP, dia 29/10 às 13:00.
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 3, dia 31/10 às 22:40.
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 2, dia 01/11 às 17:40.
CINEMA DA VILA, dia 02/11 às 19:20.
CINEMARK – SHOPPING ELDORADO, dia 03/11 às 22:00.

BRILHO DE UMA PAIXÃO (BRIGHT STAR) – 2009 – Jane Campion
ESPAÇO UNIBANCO 3, dia 28/10 às 15:40.
MULTIPLEX MARABÁ  2, dia 30/10 às 20:00.
CINEMARK CIDADE JARDIM, dia 31/10 às 19:00.
CINEMA DA VILA, dia 05/11 às 17:40.

CAMAS DESFEITAS (UNMADE BEDS) – 2009 – Alexis dos Santos
CINEMATECA – SALA BNDES, dia 29/10 às 19:00.
ESPAÇO UNIBANCO POMPÉIA 10, dia 30/10 às 16:20.
CENTRO CULTURAL SÃO PAULO, dia 31/10 às 18:00.
ESPAÇO UNIBANCO 3, dia 01/11 às 16:50.
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 1, dia 02/11 às 16:00.

CARMO (CARMO) – 2008 – Murilo Pasta
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 3, dia 31/10 às 18:20.
RESERVA CULTURAL 1, dia 01/11 às 20:00.
ESPAÇO UNIBANCO POMPÉIA 10, dia 02/11 às 18:10.
ESPAÇO UNIBANCO POMPÉIA 2, dia 03/11 às 14:00.

ELA, UMA CHINESA (SHE, A CHINESE) – 2009 – Xiaolu Guo
MULTIPLEX MARABÁ  2, dia 27/10 às 17:50.
CINE BOMBRIL 2, dia 30/10 às 21:40.
CINE OLIDO, dia 05/11 às 15:00.

ENFERMARIA NÚMERO 6 (WARD NUMBER 6) – 2009 – Karen Chakhnazarov
HSBC BELAS ARTES – SALA 2, dia 01/11 às 15:50.
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 2, dia 02/11 às 13:30.
ESPAÇO UNIBANCO 3, dia 04/11 às 13:30.
CINEMATECA – SALA PETROBRAS, dia 05/11 às 17:00.

ERVAS DANINHAS (LES HERBES FOLLES) – 2009 – Alain Resnais
CINEMARK – SHOPPING ELDORADO, dia 29/10 às 21:40.

EU MATEI MINHA MÃE (J’AI TUÉ MA MÈRE) – 2009 – Xavier Dolan
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 3, dia 27/10 às 22:10.
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 5, dia 28/10 às 22:20.
RESERVA CULTURAL 1, dia 30/10 às 13:50.
MULTIPLEX MARABÁ  2, dia 31/10 às 19:40.

FISH TANK (FISH TANK) – 2009 – Andrea Arnold
ESPAÇO UNIBANCO 3, dia 30/10 às 23:10.
CINE TAM – SALA 3, dia 03/11 às 21:00.
ESPAÇO UNIBANCO POMPÉIA 2, dia 04/11 às 19:50.
ESPAÇO UNIBANCO POMPÉIA 10, dia 05/11 às 18:10.

O FANTÁSTICO SR. RAPOSO (FANTASTIC MR. FOX) – 2009 – Wes Anderson
ESPAÇO UNIBANCO 3, dia 30/10 às 19:30.

OS INFELIZES (DE HELAASHEID DER DINGEN) – 2009 – Felix van Groeningen
HSBC BELAS ARTES – SALA 2, dia 02/11 às 16:10.
CINE BOMBRIL 1, dia 04/11 às 23:10.
MIS  MUSEU DA IMAGEM E DO SOM, dia 05/11 às 14:00.

PLASTIC CITY – CIDADE DE PLÁSTICO (PLASTIC CITY) – 2009 – Yu Lik Wai
UNIBANCO ARTEPLEX 1, dia 30/10 às 22:50.
CINEMATECA – SALA BNDES, dia 31/10 às 21:00.
CINEMARK – SHOPPING ELDORADO, dia 01/11 às 21:30.

SEDE DE SANGUE (BAKJWI) – 2009 – Park Chon-Wook
CINEMARK CIDADE JARDIM, dia 30/10 às 20:50.
ESPAÇO UNIBANCO 3, dia 03/11 às 21:00.

VÍCIO FRENÉTICO (BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS) – 2009 – Werner Herzog
ESPAÇO UNIBANCO POMPÉIA 2, dia 27/10 às 19:40.

Só quero saber onde achar tempo para assistir todos =~

Last night, as part of the World Cinema Section in the on-going 11th CineManila International Film Festival, I saw Paul Schrader’s film “Adam Resurrected”—a type of film I haven’t seen for quite a time; a film I watched with awe—beautiful, gripping, with stunning performances by Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe…; of the likes of Tin Drum but a film I appreciated better. The revelatory technique kept me in suspense from the beginning of the film…until it ends. I had seen quite a few films tackling the Nazi days but Schrader’s choice of subject and treatment was so unusual you’d really journey in with the main character Adam Stein—in his past and present. With him you’d feel the pain, his psychological pain. With him you’d understand more what most of the Jewish who suffered from the Nazi hands went through. I have read some stupid remarks about it on the internet but I think the person who commented it [from Germany] is just in denial of their past or simply mediocre in appreciation of this type of movie which I would say employed magic realism.

For me, Adam Resurrected is a masterpiece…it is great cinema. A film everybody should see.

“Adam Resurrected” follows the story of Adam Stein, a charismatic patient at a mental institution for Holocaust survivors in Israel, 1961. He reads minds and confounds his doctors, lead by Nathan Gross. Before the war, in Berlin, Adam was an entertainer–cabaret impresario, circus owner, magician, musician–loved by audiences and Nazis alike until he finds himself in a concentration camp, confronted by Commandant Klein. Adam survives the camp by becoming the Commandant’s “dog”, entertaining him while his wife and daughter are sent off to die. Years later we find him at the Institute. One day, Adam smells something, hears a sound. “Who brought a dog in here?” he asks Gross…[from IMDB] The rest of the story should be seen however not told.

Paul Schrader is in Manila right now to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from CineManila for the body of works he had contributed as writer, director, as total filmmaker.

Hardcore.

Director: Paul Schrader.

Guión: Paul Schrader.

Intérpretes: George C. Scott, Peter Boyle, Season Hubley, Ilah Davis, Gary Graham, Paul Marin.

Música: Jack Nitzsche.

Fotografía: Michael Chapman.

EEUU. 1979. 110 minutos.

Descenso a los infiernos

  Tras su prometedor debut en la dirección con Blue Collar (y la confección de libretos tan genuinos y brillantes como el de Taxi Driver), Paul Schrader se metió, sospecho que de cabeza, en el proyecto que nos ocupa, producido por su amigo de quinta John Milius y escrito y dirigido por él mismo, y que narra una tortuosa historia en la que un hombre de una pequeña localidad del Midwest norteamericano, ultraconservador (practicante de una opción calvinista que tiene mucho de integrista) pierde a su hija cuando ésta viaja con su instituto a California y desaparece, siendo descubierta su pista por un detective en el mundillo de la industria del porno, y dando lugar a un viaje del padre a aquel terreno tan hostil para su alma para recuperar a la joven.

¿Autobiografía?

No es ningún secreto que Schrader, antes de iniciarse en el cine (con el apoyo de su hermano Leonard), pertenecía a una comunidad y familia de arraigadas convicciones religiosas y ultraconservadoras –imagino que semejantes a las que conciernen a Jake, el protagonista que tan bien encarna George C. Scott-, y que por tanto su viaje a Los Angeles y sus inicios en el mundo del cine debieron tener un punto traumático, o catárquico desde un punto de vista emocional. Es por ello bastante evidente que esta lóbrega, atribulada y esquinada historia de un hombre de fe intachable metiéndose en los entresijos del turbio submundo del porno duro y aprendiendo dolorosas lecciones de vida (las que conciernen a la hija que en realidad no conocía) tiene mucho de autobiografía (si quieren, a ambos lados del espejo: como el padre que aprende a buscarse la vida en el mismísimo infierno, o como la hija que huye a cualquier precio de una educación castrante).

Subjetividad

Hardcore es un filme en las antípodas de lo que se puede considerar atractivo según la ligereza y afán estético vacuo de los cánones visuales actuales, porque su hiperrealismo, y la hechura y turbiedad de lo que la narración contiene merece muchos más arrestos de los que en pleno siglo XXI Hollywood se atreve siquiera a imaginar. Schrader no tiene, en el momento de realización de esta Hardcore, un estilo depurado, pero sí que su realización apunta a su esencia discursiva: planos descriptivos conjugados con primeros planos de la perenne tribulación de Scott, y una narración seca, sobria, para ir abriendo esas auténticas puertas del abismo que  afronta el protagonista, y que culminan siempre con explícitos, desgajados instantes de una violencia muy cruda (cuando Jake golpea con una lámpara al actor porno, la muerte del gángster Retán). Lo más apasionante de esa puesta en escena es su afán de obligar al espectador a sufrir en las propias carnes del protagonista (y del guionista), al igual que lo más fascinante de esta película es su escabrosa temática, el horror que palpita, más allá de las imágenes, en los sentimientos, el poso de sinceras frustraciones que en el fondo refleja este mediato autorretrato. Y todo ello servido desde una trama bien hilvanada, con personajes secundarios cuyo atractivo reside precisamente en la información subjetiva que aportan, su idiosincrasia pasada por el tamiz de la mirada de Jake (la prostituta Niki, el cuñado de Jake, el detective privado).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079271/

http://www.adherents.com/people/ps/Paul_Schrader.html

http://blogcritics.org/video/article/these-films-sleep-well-hardcore-1979/

http://cinevistaramascope.blogspot.com/2007/07/man-im-big-dick-blaque.html

http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9400EEDF1331E432A2575AC0A9649C946890D6CF

http://www.metalasylum.com/ragingbull/movies/hardcore.html

Todas las imágenes pertenecen a sus autores

Famous Hollywood screenplay writer Paul Schrader is already working on Ra.1,a desi superhero film for Shah Rukh and now The news has it that Mushtaq Shiekh has convinced Shahrukh to give the nod for his another script Xtrme City.

Bollywood Baadshah Shahrukh Khan is going to work with him and news is like true just need to be materialized.

It is reported that Paul, who has done films like Taxi Driver and American Gigolo, has tied up with Mushtaq Shiekh and Anubhav Sinha to make a USD10 million-budgeted film titled Xtrme City, which is based Mumbai underworld.

the project. He had earlier written screenplay for Shahrukh’s films like Om Shanti Om and Billu, and is working on Ra 1. Paul said that he is looking forward to make a film with Shiekh, which would be accessible and meaningful to both Indian and American cultures

MP3 Download

iTunes Link

This week on An Alan Smithee Podcast we roll up our sleeves and git-r-dun Paul Schrader style with Blue Collar, his directorial debut after becoming a household name writing Taxi Driver. The leads are one part household name, one part Hollywood name and one part b-actor on the verge of breakout. Richard Pryor was in his prime and does a dramatic turn while still being funny. Harvey Keitel was still riding high on the Martin Scorcese train but was about to disappear for ten years. Yaphet Kotto had a bunch of blaxploitation movie credit before Roots but it looks like he’ll always be remembered as the black guy in Alien. He’s in this too – and he’s awesome.

Schrader’s direction was probably never better after this, and his first time success is all the more impressive considering the accounts that his three leads hated each other’s guts. This is a very underappreciated movie, especially since Richard Pryor rapidly began his descent into lame movie mediocrity almost immediately after this unheralded serio-comic performance. Things kind of fall apart at the end but this odd mix of crime story, comedy and drama shows a ton of best effort from every talent involved.

To say The Hand is not the worst killer hand movie ever made is a backhanded compliment. You’ve got to hand it to Oliver Stone for having a career after this sophomore writing-directing effort (his debut was the even more forgotten Seizure.) Michael Caine is always handy for starring in crappy movies when he needs a new garage and gives Stone a performance just unpleasant enough to match the paranoid, misogynist and mean-spirited screenplay he wrote for him. Stone even gets hands-on and has himself killed in a cameo at one point. There’s more than a handful of things to talk about as we manhandle this rightfully neglected piece of shoddy handiwork.

Also, someone should have lent Stone a hand directing the “scary” scenes. They’re none too handsome.

NEXT WEEK: HARLEY DAVIDSON AND THE MARLBORO MAN (1991, SIMON WINCER) & BLOWUP (1966, MICHAELANGELO ANTONIONI)