Tarkovsky
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shakahislop
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i think it's not just that it's something new it's that he also totally nails it. the whole assemblage is as fully formed as idk the victorian novel form or the hollywood american mainstream form. all the elements he puts together. but it's not that experimental thing where some of it works, some of it sort of works, some of it doesn't work (ie the experiment), it all works. on an affective level it does something to me, the machine creates what it's intending to, it feels like a portal, the combination of the film and my brain and the cinema come together to generate something. it doesn't happen that often in your life where what it generates is something new you haven't got to before. the thing it's a bit like is when i started finally going to good clubs and getting lost in the tunes on a killer soundsystem surrounded by the right people on a phoneless dancefloor and so on.
shakahislop
Well-known member
it's really boring as well. there's always a bit in every one where i think 'ok i would like this to finish pretty soon'. in a sense as you're watching them you know some of it is going over your head. i was trying to explain recently to some friends who haven't been to clubs except meat markets the difference between weird dance music and a big EDM show in terms of the former being something non-directive that you find your own way into and through, you figure out how to interact with it, and the latter being something that's directive and is telling you what to do. the tarkovsky films have that non-directive thing going on. you choose how to take it and what to focus on. you can't take in every element all at once and there's a lot going on at the same time, wrapped up in long stretches where on the surface there's not much going on at all. seeing Tool was like that as well. the complexity is at a level where you've got to direct your attention yourself
shakahislop
Well-known member
i saw the sacrifice yesterday and it's maybe the most straightforward one coz there's actually a story. but still. i thought in affective and experiential terms it's the exact opposite of flicking around on your phone
shakahislop
Well-known member
the highpoint of all of the ones i've seen is the guy walking with the candle is nostaglia or however it's spelt. it's like the rare sporadic revelations i've had in art galleries over the years. it gets at something that rings deep and true that you know on a fundamental level and have seen but have never had a hope of expressing
kid charlemagne
Well-known member
only viewed a couple pages here, but an unfortunate lack of mention of Andrei Rublev, my personal favorite, and without a doubt his best work. though i generally dont see it regarded as such, usually stalker solaris maybe mirror, but I find Rublev to be just as visually beautiful, and yet much more spiritually meaningful to me. Solaris is the bleakest to me, Stalker really conflicts me everytime i watch it because of the overall visual setting of the film, as well as massive disconnect that the characters find themselves in, but the film does end on that scene with the child, which is pretty poignant. Rublev is maybe the greatest portrait of an artist i've ever seen, and the final sequence "the bell" is to me tarkovsky on his deathbed, looking back on his struggles and triumphs as the greatest filmmaker that ever lived, sorta like tenet if youve seen that film. i may rewatch rublev soon.
I agree with most of this apart from the bit about Tenet.
shakahislop
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saw solaris, thought it was pretty bad. really boring. incredibly boring. i couldn't wait for it to be over. was like a bad version of a tarkovsky film. an unenergised sold out audience walking out
shakahislop
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seen all of them except two in the last year. ivan's children and andrei rublev left. i don't think they show them very often so might not be able to see them coz no way am i watching those on my laptop
shakahislop
Well-known member
there's still some killer moments. all the traffic in the first bit towards the start, that is amazing. some of the lights and the clouds as well. i totally didn't understand what was going on with that lady which is normal and usually feels great but i really didn't care about the drama or whatever subtext there was. maybe it rings true if you're already thinking a bit about love and existence and looking for a fellow traveller. it felt a long way from my concerns
IdleRich
IdleRich
I never expected to like The Sacrifice but it's one of my favourites.
IdleRich
IdleRich
What?
shakahislop
Well-known member
yeah. that one nostalghia and mirror are the ones that i love.
shakahislop
Well-known member
obviously if it had been a different day maybe i would have been in the right mood and it would have clicked into place. with films like that you need to bring something to the table as well.
shakahislop
Well-known member
somehow the metrograph audience still, even in solaris, found one opportunity to do a metrolaugh. its such a weird quirk. i remember my english teacher telling me that people in england do that when they go to see shakespeare, make laughing noises so that everyone knows that they get the old english jokes