tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post4259766748606851494..comments2024-03-27T21:42:56.131-05:00Comments on 1001plus: Hell in a HandcartSJHoneywellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-70441312647487027282019-03-27T07:18:32.318-05:002019-03-27T07:18:32.318-05:00I think it is incorrect to say that Godard describ...I think it is incorrect to say that Godard describes a France breaking down, because Godard is not describing anything coherent. This is not France and it is not a scenario. These are simply absurd pictures put together with some symbolic meaning serving a radical political intent. He could have put anything on display, really. Nothing makes any sense at all.<br /> TSorensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12208153011927807857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-89070695262648475822018-11-05T14:48:27.602-06:002018-11-05T14:48:27.602-06:00Your reaction to Pierrot le Fou was quite similar ...Your reaction to Pierrot le Fou was quite similar to mine, except that I let my irritation get away with me. It is not even fun, just arrogantly artsy. The Godard content of the List could definitely be reduced to two with no harms done whatsoever.<br />TSorensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12208153011927807857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-62380934932889237972017-07-05T13:51:07.286-05:002017-07-05T13:51:07.286-05:00I don't always take issue with absurdism, but ...I don't always take issue with absurdism, but I like there to be something to grasp onto. When it's just absurd for the sake of being absurd or mean for the sake of being mean, I don't get the point. Like poems about poetry, something that is essentially just about itself leaves me in the position of thinking that the world would be no different if that thing simply vanished.<br /><br /><i>Viridiana</i>...clearly about how much Bunuel hates Catholicism!SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-67198718859758179242017-07-03T16:21:48.518-05:002017-07-03T16:21:48.518-05:00I seem to have liked Weekend a lot more than anybo...I seem to have liked Weekend a lot more than anybody else. <br /><br />Sometimes I like these surreal absurdist movies and sometimes I don't. I love so much of Bunuel (like The Exterminating Angel and The Phantom of Liberty and The Milky Way) but I didn't much like Viridiana. And it's taken me years to even begin to get Antonioni. In the 1990s I saw a double feature of L'avventura and Red Dust and it was A CHORE! But I loved L'eclisse.<br /><br />And when I do eventually look up the entries on these films online or in cinema books, I go "OH! So that movie was about how much Bunuel hates Catholicism!")<br /><br />So I have no idea what Weekend is supposed to mean. It was so chaotic, a tribute to anarchy, and everyone was so awful! I really enjoyed it, for some reason. You really had no idea what was going to happen, except that you were going to see more car wrecks.Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17921029597363212734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-13000920107422936542013-09-04T11:10:10.766-05:002013-09-04T11:10:10.766-05:00I find that with a lot of Godard's films, that...I find that with a lot of Godard's films, that's my reaction. I get what happens, I just don't understand <i>why</i> it happens.<br /><br />I suspect you're right, by the way. I think a lot gets read into Godard that isn't really there.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-81864979650038232372013-09-04T04:22:45.111-05:002013-09-04T04:22:45.111-05:00"I understand what happens in the story, but ..."I understand what happens in the story, but I don’t understand what it’s about."<br /><br />Funnily enough, one of my Twitter friends said much the same thing about Pierrot just the other day, though he liked it more than you seem to have done. As for what it's about, well, the flippant answer would be something like "it's about 110 minutes", which I know is a glib joke but so is Godard... for the most part I suspect his films are about less than people think.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-36565486496612494992013-08-25T11:34:29.974-05:002013-08-25T11:34:29.974-05:00Crazy? Nah. Just close to finishing, and taking wh...Crazy? Nah. Just close to finishing, and taking what opportunities I have for a double feature. <br /><br />No more two Godards in one day, though.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-18983261175686712882013-08-25T11:31:25.757-05:002013-08-25T11:31:25.757-05:00Oh ho ho, these two films TOGETHER? What are you,...Oh ho ho, these two films TOGETHER? What are you, a masochist?!?!?!?<br /><br />When I watched Week End a second time in order to review it, I started it, got about 15 minutes in, became overwhelmed by that feeling you described as "having an idea it was ABOUT something, but unsure what it was actually ABOUT," caved, and turned on the commentary. Best decision ever. The commentary was by a film scholar, and he was talking about recurring themes, social commentary, color and composition work (the colors are apparently HUGELY symbolic in Week End), etc., and it left me with a MUCH better idea of what Godard was trying to say. I'm still not a fan of Week End, but I ended my second viewing with a pretty decent grasp on Godard's message. sure, it would have been nice to be able to pick that up on on my own, but come on, this is Week End here. (I love Jean Pierre Leaud's random cameo as, what was it, Napoleon?)<br /><br />When I watch Pierrot le Fou again, I hope there is a similar commentary for it, because what the fuck is that movie, I don't even know. And I am not above listening to someone try to tell me what the fuck it is if it can at all help me understand it a tiny bit.<br /><br />I can't believe you watched these two back to back. You crazy.siochembiohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11487373396181856763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-54845751030047298132013-08-25T09:35:01.291-05:002013-08-25T09:35:01.291-05:00I pretty much agree completely. I liked Breathless...I pretty much agree completely. I liked <i>Breathless</i> and also appreciated <i>My Life to Live</i>. I also found some real value in <i>2 or 3 Things I Know About Her</i>. These two, <i>Masculin Feminin</i> and <i>Contempt</i> I can pretty much live without. Oh, and while <i>Alphaville</i> was sort of interesting, it didn't do a lot for me.<br /><br />I have seen <i>Bande a Part</i> and liked it, and wouldn't mind it being a part of this. I've also heard nothing but good about <i>A Woman is a Woman</i>.<br /><br />As to your last point, I pretty much agree. I'd be happy if the Godard count was cut in half--I'd hear arguments for a few of the others that I didn't like--but I'm guessing there are eight Godard films because he's Godard and not because all eight really deserve to be here.SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-50020684946581874402013-08-25T07:21:39.054-05:002013-08-25T07:21:39.054-05:00My take on Pierrot is that it's just a bunch o...My take on Pierrot is that it's just a bunch of random shit that Godard felt like filming, then he threw it all together on a screen. Film critics love it precisely because it makes no sense, but they get to play with it endlessly looking for hidden meanings.<br /><br />I actually liked Weekend for a while. The long, long sequence driving through the traffic jam was amusing to me. I also wondered how the hell long it took to set up that shot. Later events amused me in a macabre way for a while, but you're right when you say eventually it just stops even pretending to try to communicate to the viewer.<br /><br />I feel that Godard usually has an interesting 45-60 minutes in his various films, but then he loses his way and/or just has filler for the rest. I think he would have made some great shorts.<br /><br />Congrats on finishing off Godard from the list. Any bets that Bande a part (1964) will be on the new one? I'm amazed it wasn't already, since it was one of Godard's more famous films.<br /><br />As for me, I think we would have been fine with Breathless and My Life to Live to "get" Godard and the other six slots could have been given to films that didn't have famous enough directors.Chip Laryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00787403805554027107noreply@blogger.com