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| Close Up |
Progress will be compiled at the end of each month and the films are listed in order of preference.
Close Up
Abbas Kiarostami (1991)
Kiarostami shoots the real life trial of a man accused of
fraud for impersonating a famous Iranian director. The family he dupes expect
larceny as his motive but the man assures us his reasons are artistic. Kiarostami
plays with the form of film like no one has perhaps before or since as he has
the people involved re-enact the events discussed in court; Reality seems to
overlap with fiction and we sink deep into the pure wonder of the form; Simply
astonishing.
Dogville
Lars Von Trier (2003)
On a black stage with minimal props and lighting the
godfather of Dogma 96’ plays out his most audacious effort. On the run from the
mob in the 1920s, Nicole Kidman happens upon an old mining town and is accepted
into the bosom of their simple community before good old human nature rears its
ugly head. The set up may seem gimmicky at first but with nothing to distract
us from the greed, lust and prejudice of the townspeople, their (our?) age old
vices are left naked and festering. It’s more tongue in cheek than Haneke but
with no less disdain for the human race.
Vertigo
Alfred Hitchcock (1958)
James Stewart tracks a woman through the streets of San
Francisco as his mind spirals down into this darkening mystery. Colour, music,
fear and anxiety are harnessed to perfection. The film topped Sight and Sounds all-time list and it’s
difficult to argue with that.
Days of being Wild
Wong Kar Wai (1990)
Featuring one of the best looking casts of all time, Kar
Wai’s 2nd feature- and his first to fully realize his trademark
feel- is a hot, humid film of lust in the wee hours of the morning; all fluorescent
lighting, electric fans and shadows cast from window blinds; wonderfully lush
film making full of wild flashes of life.
Code Unknown
Michael Haneke (2000)
Plotlines, tension and social classes overlap in the French
capitol as Haneke gives his grim assessment of big city living. A stone cold
sober look at the gaping distances which exist between us.
Nashville
Robert Altman (1975)
Altman’s enormous ensemble cast seem about as stable as a
motorway pile-up with the director’s endearing love affair with country music
the only glue holding it all together. Yet still he leaves room to breathe.
Every character feels detailed and nuanced and the music is delivered with
pride and sincerity in this panoramic snapshot of Nashville’s mid 70s music
scene. Paul Thomas Anderson’s early career looks covered in his shadows.
The Beat That My Heart
Skipped
Jacques Audiard (2005)
Audiard moves a Harvey Keitel film from 1978 to present day
Paris with ease. Romain Duris’ livewire performance as the piano loving thug
seems liable to burst off the screen
Taste of Cherry
Abbas Kiarostami (1997)
A man who plans to take his own life encounters a young
soldier, a man of faith and an elderly professor as he drives around looking
for someone to bury him at dawn. Largely a straight up fiction when compared to
his earlier work but this Palme Dor winning film is by no means less beautiful.
Like with Kar Wai, the speckles and burns on the celluloid will make you yearn
for the pre digital age.
Sans Soleil
Chris Marker (1983)
Taking it’s dreamy narrative from the fictional letters of
Sandor Krasna, Chris Marker gives us a hypnotic postcard of early 80s Tokyo and
an immersive look at the flickering nature of memory.
Buffalo 66
Vincent Gallo (1998)
Gallo does just about everything in front and behind the
camera for this semi-autobiographical film. Its innovations sometimes feel a
little forced but the performances- especially those of Huston and Gazzara as
Gallo’s parents- are strong and the ending is crisp and satisfying.
Magnificent Obsession
Douglas Sirk (1954)
A year before they combined on the wonderful All That Heaven Allows, Sirk, Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson made
this slightly puzzling film. It’s beautiful widescreen Hollywood no doubt but
unlike Heaven Allows, the message feels both naive and awfully dated.
