Yes, several amazing scenes, including the border one. And re: Angelopoulos' "gaze" - I thought it was more blatant here (as a persons' viewpoint) than any of his other films.
Ah yes, Journey of Time... Sculpting in Time sounds very interesting...
Sounds like I'll have to check out October...
Traveling Players and Landscape in the Mist are two staggering masterpieces, on the order (or nearly so) of any of Tarkovsky's very best. Angelopoulos may finally start to really get his due, sadly now, after his recent and sudden death. All his films are being rereleased on DVD so many places will likely have theatre showings (I hope). At the very least, we finally get them all on remastered DVD.
Yes, I've read about that. The only thing I might add is that his quest for forgiveness expands from just himself, to take on the various viewpoints of his family/wife/mother/father, up to the point where he feels guilty for the war and the struggle of an entire nation.
You're right, a very good read. Carney did a great job of describing the films qualities. One thing I'd never quite thought of to the degree he states it is the different spatial relationships in the film (passengers in cars, subway trains, apartments, behind windows, etc) as representations of how closed off they were from eachother.
Lol, whatever I saw it was a documentary that I believe had "Time" in the title. It was about him, art, cinema, life - and I haven't seen the whole thing yet. I thought that was what you were referring to, but...yea... Anyway, I'll check out Sculpting in Time.
Interesting definitions of sublime... I've never seen October but if I insert Battleship Potemkin as a comparison to Nostalghia I imagine I'm understanding very closely where you're coming from.
Re: Angelopoulos ... Eternity and a Day is a much closer comparison, though Ulysses' Gaze has its similarities too.
I've seen some of Sculpting in Time and it was quite interesting. I should probably view it some more.
I agree that Mirror is his most visually and structurally dense, though Andrei Rublev (due in part to its much greater length) may have something to say about that. I think Nostalghia attains more density of emotion/profundity than either of them, even though it appears to be using less to attain it - with Nostalghia practically every shot/sequence expresses something profound and/or deeply moving.
Agreed re: Godard
And I am ecstatic that you found Nostalghia to be one of the greatest films you've ever seen :) I'm assuming this would mark a change in your top 10 vote on my poll, so let me know if a change is in order.
I highly recommend you see Nostalghia's "kid brother", Angelopoulos' Eternity and a Day. It would be a perfect introduction to the incredible cinema of Angelopoulos. He is a dream come true if you've ever wished that Tarkovsky had made more films. As far as I can tell after seeing 4 of his films, he is the 2nd most profound director in film history (Tarkovsky the 1st). You may not believe me now, but the gap between them is not significant at all.
If Angelopoulos keeps this pace up with The Beekeeper and Suspended Step of the Stork and Weeping Meadow, I wouldn't be surprised at all to find him in my top 5 directors.
Re: the weekly log... thanks, those films were all quite amazing. Syndromes deserves another viewing (at least). Late Spring and Sansho were very moving. Army of Shadows was visually stunning and very expertly (and realistically) presented. Out of all them, Sansho was the biggest surprise because it fairly significantly exceeded my expectations.
I highly recommend Angelopoulos' Eternity and a Day to you on an immediate basis, if you haven't seen it already. I'm assuming you haven't, otherwise I'd be shocked because it's not on this list. It's truly one of the most profound films ever made. It actually manages to approximate an impressive degree of the milieu, emotional pull and depth on a similar wavelength as Tarkovsky's Nostalghia.
Just watched Eternity and a Day which was amazing and you're absolutely right in that it recalls Tarkovsky's Nostalghia. And certainly among the most profound films of all time. :)
A key influence on Nostalghia and, thus, Eternity and a Day would be Bergman's Wild Strawberries...
While I don't agree with you that it is one of the most emotional, moving scenes in the history of cinema, I do completely agree that it is the most moving scene in the film, and the most moving of Kubrick's career.
Re: "momentum", not just the second 1/2, but the film in general. I actually thought it's second 1/2 was the superior of the 2 and almost made up enough ground to rate a 7/10 on my scale.
Visually and in the pacing I can definitely see the resemblance. And there's no doubt Von Trier admires Tarkovsky (and of course Dreyer). Also, his next film, Medea, is very Dreyer-esque in execution (the original script is Dreyer), though Tarkovsy-esque visually - and one of the most stunning visual experiences in the history of film (visually its on par with Stalker) - though DO NOT watch the low quality "Facets" release (who also effed up Werckmeister Harmonies). I don't usually recommend watching films on youtube but in this case the site does have a good quality version of Medea posted by one of the users there (in 8 parts I think), and I recommend seeing it there.
Note: by Kubrick being one of the greatest "film composers ever" I am referring to the editing/structuring of his films, not music composition. Though you could actually say the same thing about his choices of music for his films.
Re: Angelopoulos' Eternity and a Day... It's one of the films I haven't seen that I most want to and should have it by order through my library within a few weeks (though sometimes it takes a bit longer depending on various factors such as how many others have requested it, etc). As Angelopoulos was clearly influenced by Tarkovsky I would not be surprised to find him paying homage ("subconsciously" or not) to Nostalghia.
I think the reason Nostalghia is not that highly rated except by a minority is because it hardly has any "plot". What's happening in the film is almost all mental/spiritual (or an extention thereof) and, unless one really 'gets it', it could easily pass one by. It does rate in the top 500 of They Shoot Pictures Dont They's top 1000 films, so it has its supporters.
I agree with his comment on The Mirror too. It's his most overtly experimental work, particularly in regards to form/structure. Emotionally though, I feel Nostalghia enters realms The Mirror doesn't (nor any other film). It's okay to disagree with him but I think you might want to be careful in modifying his statements or assuming Tarkovsky didn't really mean what he said just because you don't quite feel that way too. I've experienced Nostalghia two dozen times on the level he describes and it's very evident to me just how accurate his words are. Though, there's no doubt The Mirror is one of the greatest masterworks in the history of cinema as well. Also, it seems most fans/critics would agree with you that it's the superior of the two, Nostalghia being his lowest, or perhaps 2nd lowest, rated film but I don't think Tarkovsky was one of them.
Thanks, it's on my "to see" list for sure
Yes, several amazing scenes, including the border one. And re: Angelopoulos' "gaze" - I thought it was more blatant here (as a persons' viewpoint) than any of his other films.
Ah yes, Journey of Time... Sculpting in Time sounds very interesting...
Sounds like I'll have to check out October...
Traveling Players and Landscape in the Mist are two staggering masterpieces, on the order (or nearly so) of any of Tarkovsky's very best. Angelopoulos may finally start to really get his due, sadly now, after his recent and sudden death. All his films are being rereleased on DVD so many places will likely have theatre showings (I hope). At the very least, we finally get them all on remastered DVD.
Yes, I've read about that. The only thing I might add is that his quest for forgiveness expands from just himself, to take on the various viewpoints of his family/wife/mother/father, up to the point where he feels guilty for the war and the struggle of an entire nation.
You're right, a very good read. Carney did a great job of describing the films qualities. One thing I'd never quite thought of to the degree he states it is the different spatial relationships in the film (passengers in cars, subway trains, apartments, behind windows, etc) as representations of how closed off they were from eachother.
Lol, whatever I saw it was a documentary that I believe had "Time" in the title. It was about him, art, cinema, life - and I haven't seen the whole thing yet. I thought that was what you were referring to, but...yea... Anyway, I'll check out Sculpting in Time.
Interesting definitions of sublime... I've never seen October but if I insert Battleship Potemkin as a comparison to Nostalghia I imagine I'm understanding very closely where you're coming from.
Re: Angelopoulos ... Eternity and a Day is a much closer comparison, though Ulysses' Gaze has its similarities too.
I've seen some of Sculpting in Time and it was quite interesting. I should probably view it some more.
I agree that Mirror is his most visually and structurally dense, though Andrei Rublev (due in part to its much greater length) may have something to say about that. I think Nostalghia attains more density of emotion/profundity than either of them, even though it appears to be using less to attain it - with Nostalghia practically every shot/sequence expresses something profound and/or deeply moving.
Agreed re: Godard
And I am ecstatic that you found Nostalghia to be one of the greatest films you've ever seen :) I'm assuming this would mark a change in your top 10 vote on my poll, so let me know if a change is in order.
I highly recommend you see Nostalghia's "kid brother", Angelopoulos' Eternity and a Day. It would be a perfect introduction to the incredible cinema of Angelopoulos. He is a dream come true if you've ever wished that Tarkovsky had made more films. As far as I can tell after seeing 4 of his films, he is the 2nd most profound director in film history (Tarkovsky the 1st). You may not believe me now, but the gap between them is not significant at all.
If Angelopoulos keeps this pace up with The Beekeeper and Suspended Step of the Stork and Weeping Meadow, I wouldn't be surprised at all to find him in my top 5 directors.
Re: the weekly log... thanks, those films were all quite amazing. Syndromes deserves another viewing (at least). Late Spring and Sansho were very moving. Army of Shadows was visually stunning and very expertly (and realistically) presented. Out of all them, Sansho was the biggest surprise because it fairly significantly exceeded my expectations.
I highly recommend Angelopoulos' Eternity and a Day to you on an immediate basis, if you haven't seen it already. I'm assuming you haven't, otherwise I'd be shocked because it's not on this list. It's truly one of the most profound films ever made. It actually manages to approximate an impressive degree of the milieu, emotional pull and depth on a similar wavelength as Tarkovsky's Nostalghia.
Just watched Eternity and a Day which was amazing and you're absolutely right in that it recalls Tarkovsky's Nostalghia. And certainly among the most profound films of all time. :)
A key influence on Nostalghia and, thus, Eternity and a Day would be Bergman's Wild Strawberries...
While I don't agree with you that it is one of the most emotional, moving scenes in the history of cinema, I do completely agree that it is the most moving scene in the film, and the most moving of Kubrick's career.
Re: "momentum", not just the second 1/2, but the film in general. I actually thought it's second 1/2 was the superior of the 2 and almost made up enough ground to rate a 7/10 on my scale.
Visually and in the pacing I can definitely see the resemblance. And there's no doubt Von Trier admires Tarkovsky (and of course Dreyer). Also, his next film, Medea, is very Dreyer-esque in execution (the original script is Dreyer), though Tarkovsy-esque visually - and one of the most stunning visual experiences in the history of film (visually its on par with Stalker) - though DO NOT watch the low quality "Facets" release (who also effed up Werckmeister Harmonies). I don't usually recommend watching films on youtube but in this case the site does have a good quality version of Medea posted by one of the users there (in 8 parts I think), and I recommend seeing it there.
Note: by Kubrick being one of the greatest "film composers ever" I am referring to the editing/structuring of his films, not music composition. Though you could actually say the same thing about his choices of music for his films.
Re: Angelopoulos' Eternity and a Day... It's one of the films I haven't seen that I most want to and should have it by order through my library within a few weeks (though sometimes it takes a bit longer depending on various factors such as how many others have requested it, etc). As Angelopoulos was clearly influenced by Tarkovsky I would not be surprised to find him paying homage ("subconsciously" or not) to Nostalghia.
I think the reason Nostalghia is not that highly rated except by a minority is because it hardly has any "plot". What's happening in the film is almost all mental/spiritual (or an extention thereof) and, unless one really 'gets it', it could easily pass one by. It does rate in the top 500 of They Shoot Pictures Dont They's top 1000 films, so it has its supporters.
I agree with his comment on The Mirror too. It's his most overtly experimental work, particularly in regards to form/structure. Emotionally though, I feel Nostalghia enters realms The Mirror doesn't (nor any other film). It's okay to disagree with him but I think you might want to be careful in modifying his statements or assuming Tarkovsky didn't really mean what he said just because you don't quite feel that way too. I've experienced Nostalghia two dozen times on the level he describes and it's very evident to me just how accurate his words are. Though, there's no doubt The Mirror is one of the greatest masterworks in the history of cinema as well. Also, it seems most fans/critics would agree with you that it's the superior of the two, Nostalghia being his lowest, or perhaps 2nd lowest, rated film but I don't think Tarkovsky was one of them.