{ art & other musings }

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Saturday, December 15, 2012

La Haine

Written & Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz / Cinematography by Pierre Aïm / Editing by Mathieu Kassovitz and Scott Stevenson / Produced by Christophe Rossignon / Starring Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé, and Saïd Taghmaoui

"C’est l’histoire d’un homme qui tombe d’un immeuble de cinquante étages. Le mec, au fur et à mesure de sa chute se répète sans cesse pour se rassurer : jusqu’ici tout va bien, jusqu’ici tout va bien, jusqu’ici tout va bien. Mais l'important c’est pas la chute, c’est l’atterrissage."

Mathieu Kassovitz: "You don't have to be political to make a film like HATE, you can talk about society through the human perspective, something that everyone can understand. I'm not a politician; I'm lucky to be a filmmaker and to be able to express myself through the films I make."(interview from: ThingReviews NYC 2/9/96, author: Ryan Deussing)

Friday, November 2, 2012

King of Devil's Island

(2010) Written by Dennis Magnusson / Directed by Marius Holst / Cinematography John Andreas Andersen / Editing by Michal Leszczylowski / Produced by Karin Julsrud

based on true events that occurred at Bastøy Prison in Norway in 1915...

Why did you choose to make a film based on a true story? To me a story that has some root in reality is fascinating. This story was interesting, because it was not yet exposed. It is an interesting historical event, since these themes play along and are still relevant today; when evil things are done, who is the bad guy? Is the evil character the one that beats up the kids? Or the responsibility lies higher up with the governor, who allows this to happen? Bastøy is the micro cosmos of what is still happening nowadays. You could take the scandals of the catholic church or Guantánamo Bay and the same kind of themes are still there.
- Marius Holst (interviewed by Zowi Vermeire)

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Midnight Cowboy

(1969)
Directed by John Schlesinger / Screenplay by Waldo Salt / Based on the novel "Midnight Cowboy" by James Leo Herlihy / Editing by Hugh A. Robertson / Starring Dustin Hoffman & Jon Voight / Produced by Jerome Hellman / Music by John Barry / Cinematography by Adam Holender / Distributed by United Artists

"If most of my films have anything in common it's an interest in human relationships, particularly the more extraordinary and difficult kinds. I find the struggle of characters against the odds terribly interesting. I don't think I could possibly do a film about some sort of brave hero, some Errol Flynn winning the Battle of the Bulge . . . I'd rather do films about smaller people, outcasts." - John Schlesinger

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

LAST EXIT TO BROOKLYN

Story by Hubert Selby, Jr. "There is more humanity in a prostitute trying to truly love, if only for a moment, than in all the slow-motion romantic fantasies in the world." - Roger Ebert

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Prometheus

Directed by Ridley Scott
Written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof
Cinematography by Dariusz Wolski
Editing by Pietro Scalia

Prometheus transports its audience to a distant world, where we feel the fear and wonder of exploration, the mystery of existence and humanity's insatiable quest to solve it, and the awe of the universe. The film's ending left me with an understanding of the "Gods" within us and our responsibility in relation to our Creations and our Creator.
"In the Western classical tradition, Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving, particularly the quest for scientific knowledge, and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy." (Wiki)

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Cannes 65th Film Festival


RUST AND BONE
Directed by Jacques Audiard
Starring Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts
Story by Craig Davidson
...a love story born from trauma and loss; love for self, love for another, love for a child, love for life.
"I like to start with people whose heroic value isn’t obvious, an anti-hero maybe. [...] This story was so unbelievable to begin with — whales, amputation — so I wanted the script to be believable. We wanted to write a movie where in each scene, we couldn’t predict what would happen next. We wanted it to flow naturally and be very unpredictable." - Jacques Audiard (interviewed by Rebecca Leffler THR 2012)
Bon Iver - Wash

Sunday, February 19, 2012

American Beauty

Directed by Sam Mendes
Written by Alan Ball
Music by Thomas Newman




"It was one of those days when it's a minute away from snowing and there's this electricity in the air, you can almost hear it. And this bag was, like, dancing with me. Like a little kid begging me to play with it. For fifteen minutes. And that's the day I knew there was this entire life behind things, and... this incredibly benevolent force that wanted me to know there was no reason to be afraid, ever. Video's a poor excuse, I know. But it helps me remember... and I need to remember. Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world I feel like I can't take it, like my heart's going to cave in."
- Wes Bentley as Ricky Fitts