(no subject)
the day started with the following sms, "boys, boys, boys... slapping each other again!", and it ended with guy maddin himself introducing a delightful pairing - "blood money" followed by the "day of wrath".
it is always a pleasure to see him speak in person - he lights up and starts gesticulating, bubbling about cinema and his personal life, spicing it up with stories - soon enough his hands are flying, he is smirking and the audience is taken, enchanted. much like his writing, he is full of exclamation marks, detours, lengthy run-in sentences and exaggerations. this is the way cinema writing should be - a wild bumpy ride with fiery eyes and sweaty palms; its passion should be contagious.
i have only heard of "blood money" before, this was my first viewing (and on a large screen!). pre-code hollywood at its best - a fantastic ink-dripping-on-the-bedsheets opening, a seedy underworld in between (complete with cross-dressing bar patrons), and biting-your-nails finale with klepto- nymphomaniac masochist starlet asking for a thorough thrashing. note the double-layered dialog, and some pretty damn cool editing/visual details.
of course the main course was dreyer on a big screen - in this case dvd version pales in comparison (cue flashbacks to brainwashed festival in boston - who used it as visuals?). the witch is mesmerizing, the board-like stiffness of the old man, the shadows, the intricate sound, the long takes and the final confession. boisterous lutheran comedy, as maddin called it. sexy, sensual, ambiguous, easily elevated to the symbolic/fable-like quality, lending itself to many readings.
but returning to maddin - "brand..." is still firmly implanted in my visual memory - it is amazing the range of emotions it brought up; delicate, touching, beautiful and also lurid, seedy, slapstick - a truly filling joyous experience. the live component was just that - an addition of something that reacts to the film and the audience, adding a dimension of chance, craft, show - really one should experience that as a whole, then go back and just view the movie as it is - those two are different, and should be viewed as such.
it is always a pleasure to see him speak in person - he lights up and starts gesticulating, bubbling about cinema and his personal life, spicing it up with stories - soon enough his hands are flying, he is smirking and the audience is taken, enchanted. much like his writing, he is full of exclamation marks, detours, lengthy run-in sentences and exaggerations. this is the way cinema writing should be - a wild bumpy ride with fiery eyes and sweaty palms; its passion should be contagious.
i have only heard of "blood money" before, this was my first viewing (and on a large screen!). pre-code hollywood at its best - a fantastic ink-dripping-on-the-bedsheets opening, a seedy underworld in between (complete with cross-dressing bar patrons), and biting-your-nails finale with klepto- nymphomaniac masochist starlet asking for a thorough thrashing. note the double-layered dialog, and some pretty damn cool editing/visual details.
of course the main course was dreyer on a big screen - in this case dvd version pales in comparison (cue flashbacks to brainwashed festival in boston - who used it as visuals?). the witch is mesmerizing, the board-like stiffness of the old man, the shadows, the intricate sound, the long takes and the final confession. boisterous lutheran comedy, as maddin called it. sexy, sensual, ambiguous, easily elevated to the symbolic/fable-like quality, lending itself to many readings.
but returning to maddin - "brand..." is still firmly implanted in my visual memory - it is amazing the range of emotions it brought up; delicate, touching, beautiful and also lurid, seedy, slapstick - a truly filling joyous experience. the live component was just that - an addition of something that reacts to the film and the audience, adding a dimension of chance, craft, show - really one should experience that as a whole, then go back and just view the movie as it is - those two are different, and should be viewed as such.