doctor sabelotodo: fascinating

Showing posts with label fascinating. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Thursday, September 20, 2012

there are a lot of opinions concerning the explosion of Czech films in the 60s….when it began??? why it grew and persisted??? and what happened?? basically, the Czech New Wave erupted around 1964 with a meld of gifted artists and a government funded film industry centered in Prague….some of the films were slice-of-life…some historical…some semi-documentary in format…basically non-threatening to an Eastern Bloc country…however, a number of these films were socially barbed…controversial…and quite subversive….IMHO, the CNW began in 1964…flourished for five years…and more or less ended in 1969 after the Soviet invasion of 1968….here are some of the star players!!

MILOS FORMAN… best known in the West for CUCKOO’S NEST and AMADEUS…emigrated early from Czechoslovakia…. LOVES OF A BLONDE (1965) is his signature masterpiece…a bittersweet story of a working girl and a musician…full of humor and pathos….BLACK PETER and THE FIREMAN’S BALL are other notable efforts…

JIRI MENZEL… exploded onto the film scene with his debut feature CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS (1966)… this WWII pararable is full of humor and insight into human foibles, with a distinct Czech viewpoint of life…great performances…Academy Award winner…Menzel made LARKS ON A STRING (1969), which was so anti-communist that it was banned for 20+ years…

VERA CHYTILOVA… a feminist filmmaker from the early 60s…rose to prominence with DAISIES (1967)… basically a plotless film with numerous set pieces involving the two Maries…controversial…subversive…funny…avant-garde…and yes there are Daisies in the film…how this got released is amazing…maybe because it was apolitical??

JAN NEMEC… best known in the West for DIAMONDS OF THE NIGHT (1966)…another well told WWII story…two Jewish boys escape a prison train and struggle to survive alone and with help….very humanely told without being maudlin or mawkish…. REPORT ON THE PARTY AND THE GUESTS is Nemec’s most famous film…intensely critical and anti-establishment….the film was “banned forever” and made Jan a persona non grata..

JAN KADAR… before emigating to Canada, JK made the deeply personal SHOP ON MAIN STREET (1965)… yet another WWII story of a Czech Everyman forced to become the overseer of an elderly Jewish woman’s button shop…a wonderfully told and paced story…another Acadamey Award winner…

FRANTISEK VLACIL… MARKETA LAZAROVA (1968)… a epic 3 hour saga of 13th century Bohemia, concerning the clash between the last remnants of paganism and the Christian majority…a visual delight…long stretches of snow…wolves…forest…mountains…voted the best Czech film of all time…

JIRI WEISS… http://www.allmovie.com/artist/jir%C3%AD-weiss-p116325 “possible” New Wave director…

KAREL KACHNYA… http://www.allmovie.com/artist/karel-kachyna-p96541 am only familiar with UCHO…

IVAN PASSER… http://www.allmovie.com/artist/ivan-passer-p105732 well known in the West…I have heard of INTIMATE LIGHTING!!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

BILL MOYERS SPEAKS

http://billmoyers.com/segment/bill-moyers-essay-the-ghost-of-mccarthyism/

a chilling observation of modern politics and McCarthyism!!!

Monday, January 30, 2012

FUNNY "DOPE" FILMS

disclaimer: by no means am I condoning the use of drugs, nor overlooking the tragedy that drug addiction brings upon the individual and society at large....however... these anti-drug films are all hilariously bad...poor production values on all levels...sensationalistic...exploitative.....often incorrect and simplistic in their observations...silly plots...bad acting...no name directors....
#1. REEFER MADNESS (1936)... the "grand-daddy" of all the "drug warning" films...produced by the infamous DWAIN ESPER....one puff and you are hooked...or you play the piano like a madman possessed...this is the one most folks know...I saw it in high school...not a part of civics!!!
#2. MARIHUANA (1936)... directed by DWAIN ESPER...a companion/bookend piece to REEFER MADNESS...made with the "help of federal, state and police narcotic officers" (yea..right!!)....naive youths are given the "evil weed" by a guy with a mustache, and the next thing you know there is nude swimming and a drowning!!!
#3. ASSASSIN OF YOUTH (1937)... a bit more polished than the first two films....too many reefer parties...an invetigative reporter poses as a soda jerk to collect his story...the short film with the film (THE MARIJUANA MENACE) is a hoot!!!
#4. THE COCAINE FIENDS (1936).... young woman takes a "headache powder" from a dope dealer and become instantly addicted...her brother goes "on a sleigh ride with some snow birds"...tawdry/awful/depressing/maudlin/morbid...did I mention that it is awful!!!
#5. NARCOTIC (1933)... the potentially sad decline of a physician into drug addiction (first opium and then heroin) is ruined once again by exploitative director DWAIN ESPER...in the right hands, this could have been a compelling and well told story...sorry..it ain't happening here!!
#6. TEEN AGE DEVIL DOLLS (1952)... chronicles a teenage girl's decline into addiction and crime...NO DIALOGUE...filmed in documentay style with just a voice over...wonder why??
#7. THE COOL AND THE CRAZY (1958)... features two "known" actors (SCOTT MARLOWE & GIGI PERREAU), and that is about it...typical of the 50s juvenile delinquent films, it has thirty-somethings playing teenagers who start with grass and graduate to LSD...filmed on location in KANSAS CITY!!!