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Damn. I was just thinking recently about how he not only preceded, but also outlasted most of the French nouvelle vague directors. I finally caught up with his great Hiroshima, mon amour last year, I just picked up a DVD of Muriel from the library yesterday, and I've got You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet on its way. And didn't a new Resnais film just premiere at the BIFF last month? R.I.P. It feels like a immense piece of French cinema history has died as well.
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And apropos the Oscars tonight - because it's too late for Resnais to be acknowledged in the "In Memoriam" segment, it would be nice if someone - perhaps the winning Best Director - mentions him in their acceptance speech.
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Damn. I was just thinking recently about how he not only preceded, but also outlasted most of the French nouvelle vague directors. . The most famous one is still around (Jean Luc Godard). I know, I've met him.
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Damn. I was just thinking recently about how he not only preceded, but also outlasted most of the French nouvelle vague directors. . The most famous one is still around (Jean Luc Godard). Yes, thus the "most of." But don't remind me - it figures that Godard, the most overrated of all directors, carries on. =rolls eyes=
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Of all of Resnais' films, I've only seen three. This is one.
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One I haven't seen.
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The second Resnais film I've seen.
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A Resnais film I'd like to see (just because of the title).
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The third Resnais film I've seen.
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Another one I want to see, but which is unavailable on DVD.
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A while back, I recorded this one off of TCM, but I haven't watched it yet.
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Posted: |
Mar 3, 2014 - 1:23 PM
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By: |
Rozsaphile
(Member)
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Those who weren't around at the time cannot appreciate how huge HIROSHIMA and MARIENBAD loomed for serious movie fans in the early 1960s. They constituted the twin towers in the cathedral of cinema ("the foreign film") as high art. Bergman, Fellini, Kurosowa and some others had been establishing significant reputations through the 1950s. And at the very end of the decade the Young Turks of the nouvelle vague would start to crash the party. But Resnais, with his challenging of the very space-time continuum of the medium, was at the very center of attention. What amazes me is how quickly his star began to fall. The later sixties films continued to draw critical attention and small audiences. The stylish STAVISKY . . ., with Belmondo and glamour and the Sondheim score, was popular. PROVIDENCE (1976) was a smash in France and cleaned up at the Cesar Awards, including one for the Miklos Rozsa score. But that film, Resnais's first (and only) movie in English, did not do well in the United States. Neither did any of the later works. By the nineties most Resnais films scarcely got a U.S. release. The man was active into his nineties, but most Americans scarcely noticed. Is this a comment on his later work or does it simply reflect the declining audience for foreign-lnaguage films in this country?
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Posted: |
Mar 3, 2014 - 2:21 PM
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By: |
Octoberman
(Member)
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Is this a comment on his later work or does it simply reflect the declining audience for foreign-lnaguage films in this country? That's a good question. But as our own presence here attests, there are still cinephiles who appreciate foreign-language films. Perhaps we just perceive that their numbers are diminished from our own real-life associations with other like-minded people. For instance, I am the only person in my family or social circle that would go out and see a subtitled film--much less actually own one. (I keep trying to get The Missus more interested in them, but I don't have a whole lotta luck with that unless I can somehow explain the parts of movies that would resonate with her own experiences... things with which she can identify. Just last night I was giving her a summary of "La Strada", which she had never seen. This in turn led to me briefly touching on "Nights Of Cabiria" and the element of someone who manages to smile through their tears, as Cabiria does at the end, caused The Missus to show a bit of curiosity. It's not a lot, but it's encouraging! ) EDIT: Oh, and before anyone points it out, I'll just mention that I am well aware that Resnais didn't make "La Strada" or "Nights Of Cabiria". I mentioned those movies only within the context of my initial reply. I think I would have a snowflake's chance in Hell of getting the Missus to sit and watch "Hiroshima Mon Amour" with me! LOL
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Posted: |
Mar 3, 2014 - 11:39 PM
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By: |
Bob DiMucci
(Member)
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Is this a comment on his later work or does it simply reflect the declining audience for foreign-lnaguage films in this country? I read today that the 1975 French film “Cousin Cousine,” was the fifth largest grossing foreign film in the U.S, up to that time, and took in about $8 million. But here are the top ten largest grossing foreign films in the U.S. since 1980: 1. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Taiwan) $128 mil. 2. Life Is Beautiful (Italy) $58 mil 3. Hero (China) $54 mil. 4. Instructions Not Included (Mexico) $44 mil. 5. Pan's Labyrinth (Mexico) $38 mil. 6. Amelie (France) $33 mil. 7. Jet Li's Fearless (China) $25. mil 8. Il Postino (Italy) $22 nil. 9. Like Water for Chocolate (Mexico) $22. mil. 10. La Cage aux Folles (France) $20 mil. What do we have? Three martial arts films, several fantasies, the rest light comedies and romances. Unless you count “Life Is Beautiful,” not a serious drama among them. Where are the challenging, thoughtful, films that explored the human condition, which we think made up the bulk of the foreign films in the 1950s through the 1970s? Well, our recollections of those years are probably clouded. Outside of the big cities and college campuses, foreign films had less of an impact across the country than we think. If you could find a list of the biggest grossers from those years, you’d probably find “Hercules” near the top of that list. Quality aside, it is true that Americans are watching fewer foreign films. A 2010 article by Philadelphia Inquirer film critic Carrie Rickey notes that: “The presence of foreign films in America is on the wane. By The Inquirer's count, from 2004 to 2009, the proportion of foreign films shown in the Philadelphia area dropped dramatically, from 20 percent to 12 percent, mirroring a long-term national trend. "”In the 1960s, imports accounted for 10 percent of the U.S. film box office," says Toby Miller, coauthor of Global Hollywood. "In 1986, that figure was 7 percent. Today, it is 0.75 percent." “Foreign-language films represent less than 1 percent of the domestic box office "at a time when Hollywood movies account for 63 percent of the global box office," says Len Klady, box-office analyst for moviecitynews.com and Screen International.” Perhaps the U.S. audience for foreign films hasn’t changed as much as the foreign films have changed. I think that foreign films and U.S. films have moved closer together. In the 1960s, there were few U.S.-produced films that had sensibilities similar to foreign films. Now, my observation is that, except for differences in language, foreign films and U.S. art films are much more alike. There are few subjects, emotions, character types, or film techniques that distinguish the foreign product from American-financed art films.
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