Fifth Reel: Torontario and the Crashing Waves of the French 60's
"It's silly, but I love you. I wanted to see you, to see if I'd want to see you."
- Michel Poiccard, Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
I'm in love, everybody. I truly am. This is the same feeling I got when I saw Angela Lansbury at the Tonys; the same feeling I got when I discovered I'd won an award immediately before watching Blade Runner in my Film Studies class; the same feeling I got when I first entered the building the film department resides in; the same feeling I got when I went to my very first Thursday night screening. It's arguably... no, it's not arguable... it IS the most beautiful feeling on the planet.
Who am I in love with, may you ask? Who is it I'm cheating on the cinematic world with?
The answer is French New Wave. Yes, of course this was from European Cinema. Particularly the love is for Jean-Luc Godard. Seriously, everything he stands for, everything he's ever done in his films... it's practically the exact same sort of thing I want to do! Everything I've seen/read about his films is freaking AWESOME! I squee just thinking about it. What confuses me the most, though, is how long it took for me to figure this out. It's not like the man was unknown to me at all - two particular grad students I know love him, one in particular raving about the above film which I simply thought at the time was "Hm, cool," and yet I was completely oblivious to all of that? What is up with my brain, man, who turned out all the lights? Either way, although I was unable to watch dear Breathless, I was able to look up the quotes on IMDb (anyone else noticing their loading problems lately?), and HOW DID I MISS THE AWESOMENESS OF THIS FILM? IT'S AMAZING!
... Eh hem. Anyway.
So I was in Torontario over the weekend. Went on the subway just like we wanted to, went to the ROM and saw the dinosaur exhibit just like we wanted to, had loving dressed-up dinner there just like we wanted to (there in a Torontonian restaurant, not there in the ROM), and we saw our dear friend Atlas... which was the main thing we wanted to do! So it was all rather luffly.
Also saw another film for European Cinema... obviously it's from French New Wave. One of the most famous besides Breathless, Hiroshima Mon Amour. Also a beautiful film but not in the Godard way... actually a lot more poetic and more along the lines of Wong-ish romance than Godard-ish romance, though as usual there's overlaps. Needless to say Monday has been a surprisingly beautiful day.
I'm aware this is remarkably short for a journal entry, but that's solely because I need sleep. Have a French test to study for and a Canadian Cinema debate to prepare for (hence the lack of screening for that specific course), so more sleepy time is needed. Hope everyone's having a luffly, beautiful life.
- Michel Poiccard, Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
I'm in love, everybody. I truly am. This is the same feeling I got when I saw Angela Lansbury at the Tonys; the same feeling I got when I discovered I'd won an award immediately before watching Blade Runner in my Film Studies class; the same feeling I got when I first entered the building the film department resides in; the same feeling I got when I went to my very first Thursday night screening. It's arguably... no, it's not arguable... it IS the most beautiful feeling on the planet.
Who am I in love with, may you ask? Who is it I'm cheating on the cinematic world with?
The answer is French New Wave. Yes, of course this was from European Cinema. Particularly the love is for Jean-Luc Godard. Seriously, everything he stands for, everything he's ever done in his films... it's practically the exact same sort of thing I want to do! Everything I've seen/read about his films is freaking AWESOME! I squee just thinking about it. What confuses me the most, though, is how long it took for me to figure this out. It's not like the man was unknown to me at all - two particular grad students I know love him, one in particular raving about the above film which I simply thought at the time was "Hm, cool," and yet I was completely oblivious to all of that? What is up with my brain, man, who turned out all the lights? Either way, although I was unable to watch dear Breathless, I was able to look up the quotes on IMDb (anyone else noticing their loading problems lately?), and HOW DID I MISS THE AWESOMENESS OF THIS FILM? IT'S AMAZING!
... Eh hem. Anyway.
So I was in Torontario over the weekend. Went on the subway just like we wanted to, went to the ROM and saw the dinosaur exhibit just like we wanted to, had loving dressed-up dinner there just like we wanted to (there in a Torontonian restaurant, not there in the ROM), and we saw our dear friend Atlas... which was the main thing we wanted to do! So it was all rather luffly.
Also saw another film for European Cinema... obviously it's from French New Wave. One of the most famous besides Breathless, Hiroshima Mon Amour. Also a beautiful film but not in the Godard way... actually a lot more poetic and more along the lines of Wong-ish romance than Godard-ish romance, though as usual there's overlaps. Needless to say Monday has been a surprisingly beautiful day.
I'm aware this is remarkably short for a journal entry, but that's solely because I need sleep. Have a French test to study for and a Canadian Cinema debate to prepare for (hence the lack of screening for that specific course), so more sleepy time is needed. Hope everyone's having a luffly, beautiful life.