Class notes 3: 11.10.2010 - Vicarious Attachments

Quiz - later

This time we had coffee before class which is an idea I like. Either the room setup or just the class dynamic means there isn't really chat in the class itself. Next job is remembering people's names.  There was a quiz this week which was terrifyingly hard. We were given the length of the class to work out the answers but there were whole sections I couldn't begin to answer.

We watched a section of "Cinema Europe: The Other Hollywood", a documentary by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill and narrated by Kenneth Branagh. It seemed very well done, and as our lecturer pointed out, there's no drama to the narration, just facts interestingly told which was very refreshing for an American documentary. The section dealt with the very early european films, from the train arriving in the station (L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciota) by the Lumiere brothers through to an unrestored Rescued by Rover. It brought back to me the absolute awe I felt at a Georges Melies retrospective in 2005. The scene where the rocket crashes into the eye of the moon was surprisingly one of the most emotional moments I've had in the cinema. There was something overwhelmingly humbling in the achievements of this movie maker from over 100 years before and each scene was so touchingly familiar, that perhaps I felt shame at thinking of the Smashing Pumpkins as I sat there. It's a feeling I often get when motifs that have been imprinted on me from before I can remember are presented to me in their original form.

I remember when I turned the corner and saw the leaning tower in Pisa I felt something similar; it was a feeling that for some unexplained reason wasn't reproduced for a second in Rome. New York also has this effect on me. Being there hearkened back to so many great movie and tv memories, and now when I see New York on screen I feel this enormous attachment to a city where I've spent less than a month in all. It's like a scent from my childhood evoking powerful responses in me, but only vicariously familiar.

The silent film I've seen apart from this is limited so I'll list it here for future reference and perhaps for future expansion.

- Nosferatu (watched online at some point)

- Paul Merton's Silent Clowns

- Harold Lloyd (as shown on RTE on Saturday afternoon in the 80's)

- Cinema of Silence (cached) 

Programme 2 – Sunday September 23rd at 12pm 

Ballet Mecanique by Fernand Leger 

Anemic Cinema by Marcel Duchamp 

Rhythmus 21 by Hans Richter 

Ghosts Before Breakfast by Hans Richter

 L’étoile de Mer by Man Ray 

Un chien andalou by Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel

This last was a musical experiment as much as a film one, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity of seeing Un Chien Andalou on the big screen. Some of the others were far longer than they deserved to be from what I can remember.

We watched the start of "Mother" (1926) directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin. This was very intriguing and I look forward to seeing more. I want to talk later about why I avoided pre-70's cinema for so long and how I'd made generalisations based on a few genres that I know now to avoid or take with a grain of salt. That was relevant to my watching Mother, honestly. All may become clear if I ever write it.

There was a brief exploration of a quote from the lecturer's friend (who died and left him a collection which included VHS copies of the "Other Hollywood" series previously mentioned.) The quote mused on not seeing every movie - the joy at there being so much more to see, and sadness at all the great films we'll never see.

Class notes 2: 04.10.2010 - A call to arms?

Rescued by Rover (screenonline)
Fitzcarraldo

Rescued by Rover is a British film made in 1905 by Hepworth Manufacturing Company and starring Cecil M. Hepworth, his wife, baby and dog, along with another couple to round out the cast. On its own merits a very charming and exciting 5 minutes, in the context of film history it's fascinating. As explained in the screenonline link above:

'By 1905, most films consisted of multiple shots, but their narratives were still conceived on an essentially "theatrical" model, in that they consisted of a series of self-contained "acts". By contrast, Rescued By Rover's director Lewin Fitzhamon regarded individual shots as small pieces of a larger jigsaw making up the whole film, a much more "cinematic" treatment.'


We watched a restored version, the quality of which was made clear the next week when we saw a clip of it in a documentary from the 90's(?)

Fitzcarraldo is another film that left a strange impression after just an excerpt. It was shot in English and dubbed in German which is continually jarring. Klaus Kinski is a strikingly strange looking man and I found myself marvelling at that at times. I was also pondering how much we were supposed to be on board with his notion of an opera house in the jungle. I've never seen all of Field of Dreams either but I've always assumed that complete disinterest in the protagonist's goal will leave me necessarily distanced from the heart of the story. In theory at least. I will watch it. I know what it's like to crave something and be surrounded by people who don't know what they're missing. And maybe once I've seen it, I'll take up the gauntlet, become as obsessed and passionate as any Kinski or Costner and devote my life to building an independent cinema in Newry. In that field opposite the towpath I reckon.

Class notes 1: 27.09.2010

Week 1: 27/09/2010
Paths of Glory
Antonia's Line
Blade Runner

This was an interesting day. I'd been sick in work after lunch but decided was well enough for the trip. Left work at about 5.20 with my maps and notebook in tow and made it to Belfast at about 5 past 6. The red petrol light was on so went looking for diesel and when i found a garage I realised I'd left my wallet in work. I had my euro wallet but that had 40 euro and no cards in it so had to find a place to exchange that outside work hours. Finally found a sainsbury's, got the diesel and was back on the road at about 20 to 7. Turned out the maps Queens provides don't have North on the top of the page so they were useless to me and locals had a hard time deciphering them too. Finally found the place at ten to eight and crept in as the class were watching Antonia's Line. Luckily for me there was no social element that night and I was able to sneak straight back out at nine without talking to anyone. Bizarrely sick again on the way home. I'd have been in a really bad way if it weren't for an open cafe across the way where i was able to buy some bread and butter, about the only food I could face.

So the class:

The class watched some part of Paths of Glory before I arrived.

Antonia's Line is a Dutch film directed by Marleen Gorris and made in 1999. It didn't make a very strong personal impression on me but I think this was due in large part to my not feeling well to start with. It tells the story of four generations of women in a close-knit community. There were some interesting  plot developments but having been late to the class, I think I'll withhold judgment until I've seen it in its entirety.

To highlight the theme of great endings we watched the final scene of Blade Runner. Well... I've seen the director's cut since then and it wasn't the final scene, but I'm not sure if there's an extra scene in the director's cut or whether the scene we watched was just the climactic finish. Which it was.

My notes include a reference to David Thompson's Biographical Dictionary of Film. I can only presume it's recommended reading. I think it was brought up as a better alternative to bumper books of movie facts but I can't remember what was said about the book itself.

Attempting to write this shows my memory doesn't even remember detail after only three weeks. I'll have to write straight after class in future...

The Town and being afraid of everything

Went to see The Town on Saturday night. It wasn't the original plan but we'd misread the days when looking up the Social Network and were early by a day. Since when do movies start on Sunday night?

The Town was very impressive. I found myself completely caught up in it and a chase scene in the middle had me genuinely on edge. I mention this more as a comment on myself than on the scene itself. I worry that my fear of conflict has caused me to become terrified of any kind of conflict on screen. This goes for my long held love for cringe comedy such as Alan Partridge and The Office as much my teenage fascination with horror and later propensity for watching films I'd heard were challenging - and you can read for that either snobby or some way twisted.

I now feel discomfort in other people's confrontations in a more personal way than I did before. It could be because I'm a little less sociable than I used to be. I might put myself through a trial by fire by rewatching The Office and some Miike DVDs that are lying around. I've also heard Buried is hard work emotionally so that might be another good place to start.

So... The Town. Very nicely put together, and mostly well cast, although Pete Postlethwaite's accent was just funny when I don't think  it was meant to be. Jeremy Renner was excellent in particular. Ben Affleck directed himself very well I thought. He played the gangster with a heart role straight and it was somehow believable, even knowing he was the guy from that J-Lo video. I liked how the female characters were written. Rebecca Hall's Claire was funny and intelligent and no more angsty than a victim like her is entitled to be. Blake Lively as Renner's sister is believable and interesting.

"Hello, World!"

Nothing for it but to start typing... I've going to allow myself a certain stream of consciousness format here. It's more important to me that I get the thoughts out somehow so when I have to write something structured I won't be starting from scratch.

So I'm not sure yet what this'll turn into but hoping it'll contain notes on films and other cool stuff I see and maybe just a general diary to fill in for when my memory fails me.