Francois Truffaut in military prison, 1951
“If I don’t vote it’s because I think elections are rigged, by that I mean they are simply without meaning and do not give us a real choice. It’s a social game, the basic premise of which, I think, is false” - François Truffaut
Dramatic stories should be thrown out. They have nothing whatsoever to do with cinema.
It seems to me that when one tries to do something dramatic with film, one is like a man who tries to hammer with a saw. Film would have been marvelous if there hadn’t been dramatic art to get in the way.
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Robert Bresson. (excerpted from “The Question: Interview with Robert Bresson by Jean-Luc Godard and Michael Delahaye,” Cashiers du Cinéma in English, No. 8 p.12). (via criterioncorner) |
linkyourarmsandkeepyourchinup:
I like telling dirty jokes and I like smoking crystal meth, but darling I love you.
Andrew Jackson Jihad tonight!
CRITERION CORNER GIVEAWAY!!!
LATE SPRING edition.
hey there. it’s been a while since i’ve randomly given stuff away, and that doesn’t jive well with my philosophy that love and / or readership should be shamelessly bought. so in honor of Criterion’s first Yasujiro Ozu blu-ray (the cover art of which, as with the original DVD, looks sorta like a Tumblr photo post), i thought it might be fun to give everyone out there a chance to take home one of the most beautiful stories about home ever told.
THE PRIZE: 1 Criterion DVD or Blu-ray (your choice, but choose the blu-ray) of Yasujiro Ozu’s LATE SPRING. Depending on the response, i may have more than 1 winner so that the ratio of entrees to prizes isn’t silly.
TO ENTER: just “like” and / or Re-blog this post (or RT on Twitter @Criterioncorner). each note will count as a separate entry, so everyone can theoretically submit a maximum total of 3 entries, if that’s how you roll.
giveaway will be closed at 11:59 P.M. EST on Friday, 4/20/2012. winners will be randomly selected. the odds may not be ever in your favor, but someone (or a few someones) are gonna get something sweet for nothing.
good luck, and thanks for reading!
CRITERION CORNER #15: What If THE HUNGER GAMES Had Been Directed By One Of The Great Auteurs?
Chantal Akerman:
- Katniss Everdeen spends her days trying to prepare dinner for her little brother, Sylvain, but soon discovers that cooking is exceptionally boring when you don’t have any food. Frustrated, she volunteers as tribute for the Hunger Games, where — armed with only a pair of kitchen scissors — she murders all of the men in competition.
Wes Anderson:
- Haymitch Abernathy is obviously played by Owen Wilson, while Gene Hackman returns from retirement to portray President Snow (Mia Wasikowska is Katniss — Jennifer Lawrence’s face is just too naturally emotive). When Rue dies she gives an epic and grandiose speech. Everyone has an intern, and the interns compete in their own Intern Hunger Games. The film ends with Katniss and Peeta walking out of the arena hand-in-hand as David Bowie sings “Sons of the Silent Age.”
Stan Brakhage:David Cronenberg:
- Pretty much the same movie as the one that was released in theaters, but a lot shorter.
Terry Gilliam:
- Well, the muttations are awesome. Viggo Mortenson plays Seneca Crane, and his penis plays Caesar Flickerman. The Hunger Games are broadcast to the Districts on a pirated feed — the people who watch them are never the same. The film struggles to qualify for a PG-13 rating.
- The film is cancelled on the 5th day of production after a rogue comet devastates Jennifer Lawrence.
Alfred Hitchcock:
- Katniss is a Capitol resident enjoying her summer vacation in District 12, when a slip of paper with her name on it accidentally finds its way into Effie Trinket’s fishbowl of doom during the reaping, and Katniss is forced to compete in the Hunger Games. Katniss is played by Ingrid Bergman, and her impossibly shiny hair makes her an easy target. Peeta is played by Cary Grant, and Gale is played by Gregory Peck. A cheeseburger plays the MacGuffin.
Jean-Luc Godard:
- The kids competing in the Hunger Games are the children of Marx and no Coca-Cola. Katniss dies. Peeta dies. Gale dies. Cinema dies. Towards the end of the Hunger Games, Katniss covers her face in the blue juice of Nightlock berries. She’s also probably a prostitute.
