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Nodrog · 1 Sep 2007, 02:36

good films dont have genres

All About Lily Chou Chou (Shunji Iwai)
Probably the most beautiful film I've encountered -pretty much every scene could be a photograph, and the soundtrack blends in perfectly. I actually posted a thread a few years ago about how much I loved this; I've watched it again since then and my views havent changed much. The plot is still difficult to follow, but it doesnt matter because the themes and messages come through in the individual scenes regardless, and the cinematography and directing are breathtaking.

Funny Games (Michael Haneke)
I think the hardest issues to talk about in a sincere manner are the ones which 'everybody already knows' - the trite items of conventional wisdom that gets hammered into peoples heads since childhood, yet which are never really thought about or appreciated. Discussing the media portrayal of violence belongs in this category - its a cliche topic that has been done to death, and all the debate has changed little. Natural Born Killers is an example of the sort of traps a film discussing this issue can fall into, being extremely hackeneyed in most places and eventually just becoming the same sort of spectacle of violence which it tries to criticise.

I expected to hate Funny Games because it sounded gimmicky and trite. It isnt - its a wonderful example of how to rescue an important question from cliche and ask it in a fresh manner. This is achieved via extremely clever filmmaking - there's a constant barrage of tricks which are used to create a continual sense of detachment and emotional distance, which allows the underlying message to come through clearly without falling into the NBK trap of becoming identical to the objects under discussion.

The thing which most impressed me is the sense of mental space which it creates. Unlike many films which throw information at the viewer rapidly, leaving little time to actually reflect on whats happening in the way you can with a book, Funny Games uses many ingenous techniques which force thought to take place, while also providing enough time for it to occur. In particular, there is a 10+ minute scene 2/3's of the way through which I'd rate as one of the most effective I've ever watched. Brilliant stuff, and not gimmicky at all.

1 Sep 2007, 02:36	#4
Nodrog Registered User Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 8,476	Re: The GD Movie Archive good films dont have genres All About Lily Chou Chou (Shunji Iwai) Probably the most beautiful film I've encountered -pretty much every scene could be a photograph, and the soundtrack blends in perfectly. I actually posted a thread a few years ago about how much I loved this; I've watched it again since then and my views havent changed much. The plot is still difficult to follow, but it doesnt matter because the themes and messages come through in the individual scenes regardless, and the cinematography and directing are breathtaking. Funny Games (Michael Haneke) I think the hardest issues to talk about in a sincere manner are the ones which 'everybody already knows' - the trite items of conventional wisdom that gets hammered into peoples heads since childhood, yet which are never really thought about or appreciated. Discussing the media portrayal of violence belongs in this category - its a cliche topic that has been done to death, and all the debate has changed little. Natural Born Killers is an example of the sort of traps a film discussing this issue can fall into, being extremely hackeneyed in most places and eventually just becoming the same sort of spectacle of violence which it tries to criticise. I expected to hate Funny Games because it sounded gimmicky and trite. It isnt - its a wonderful example of how to rescue an important question from cliche and ask it in a fresh manner. This is achieved via extremely clever filmmaking - there's a constant barrage of tricks which are used to create a continual sense of detachment and emotional distance, which allows the underlying message to come through clearly without falling into the NBK trap of becoming identical to the objects under discussion. The thing which most impressed me is the sense of mental space which it creates. Unlike many films which throw information at the viewer rapidly, leaving little time to actually reflect on whats happening in the way you can with a book, Funny Games uses many ingenous techniques which force thought to take place, while also providing enough time for it to occur. In particular, there is a 10+ minute scene 2/3's of the way through which I'd rate as one of the most effective I've ever watched. Brilliant stuff, and not gimmicky at all. Last edited by Nodrog; 1 Sep 2007 at 16:31.