tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post1762012050764146768..comments2023-10-31T10:21:00.796-04:00Comments on Thanks for the Use of the Hall: Nakahira vs. Vadim, and a Bit About Composition in GeneralDan Sallitthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13136066978329749513noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-82694050881615175072008-06-11T18:45:00.000-04:002008-06-11T18:45:00.000-04:00Hey, Blake - glad you finally got a comment off. ...Hey, Blake - glad you finally got a comment off. I agree that having a good eye doesn't necessarily get you a good film. But it doesn't hurt either. And I do think that Vadim has an interesting, if intermittent, gravity that goes beyond the visual realm.<br><br>There's an English-subtitled DVD of Nakahira's film available from Criterion, titled <b>Crazed Fruit</b>.Dan Sallitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13136066978329749513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-69955751042380860052008-06-11T18:04:00.000-04:002008-06-11T18:04:00.000-04:00I like close analysis too--the more precise the be...I like close analysis too--the more precise the better. It's interesting though that even when you or I or anyone is at their most precise about foreground/background relationships, camera distances, staging on diagonals, and such things, someone else might disagree with the conclusions we draw.<br><br>I haven't seen JUVENILE PASSION and of course have always wanted to. While I do think the images of LES LIASONS DANGEREUSES you have included support the things you say, it makes me wonder if individual images that seem to have this kind of beauty and thoughtfulness necessarily add up to a beautiful and thoughtfully constructed film. When I first saw<br>LES LIASONS in the 1960s, I was taken with it (though maybe half the reason for this has nothing to<br>do with what you said about it--see following remarks), but returning to it years later found it unremarkable.<br><br>But the main reason I'm posting is for the benefit of jazz enthusiasts who may read this and wonder why this movie and SAIT-ON JAMAIS are in a "Jazz Scores" series. LES LIASONS has a score by no less than the great Thelonious Monk, one of my two favorite American artists of the twentieth century (along with John Ford). [The live jazz in the nightclub scene, though, is by an Art Blakey group.] Monk composed no new music for LES LIASONS, but<br>improvised performances on compositions he had already written and sometimes with telling effect as with a witty "Crepuscule with Nellie" for the seduction scene, while a more reflective version of the same piece is heard over the opening credits (among others he played were "Pannonica" and "Light Blue").<br><br>SAIT-ON JAMAIS, which I made a point of seeing though it has been years now (and still have an impresssion it's quite good) has one of the most beautiful jazz scores ever, by John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet (Lewis also composed the score for ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW, my favorite Rovert Wise film, with a main theme that is absolutely haunting and became a great concert performance for the MJQ). If you like Lewis' music, it's one more reason to see SAIT-ON JAMAIS. If you like Monk, you'll want to check out LES LIASONS when another opportunity comes along.<br><br>And meanwhile it's kind of nice to see a defense of the forgotten Vadim.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-52449818175766054522008-06-07T10:46:00.000-04:002008-06-07T10:46:00.000-04:00Thanks for the kind works, Andy, Girish and Stephe...Thanks for the kind works, Andy, Girish and Stephen. For a while I was hesitant to put images in the blog, precisely because the image "speaks volumes to us" - I didn't want the mystery of the image to fill any holes in my thinking. But, from another point of view, stills are a check on one's fancy: one can't just say any nonsense that sounds good, because a part of the movie is sitting there waiting to call one on it.<br><br>Unfortunately, the way I set my blog up means that I'll pay my Internet provider for the extra bandwidth for posts like this for the foreseeable future. Maybe I should just switch to a Blogger-hosted blog and get it over with.Dan Sallitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13136066978329749513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-24568539317749447102008-06-06T13:51:00.000-04:002008-06-06T13:51:00.000-04:00I agree with Girish and others -- keep it up with ...I agree with Girish and others -- keep it up with posts like these! <br><br>I think we all find it fascinating to study the beauty of a shot within a film, be it on its own documentary terms or within the overall narrative and pictoral structure. So many critics are reductive in their assessment of composition, summing up the entire experience with a blurb like "beautiful cinematography" or "nice compositions" while spending paragraph after paragraph discussing plot or acting in elaborate detail. These things are of obvious import as well, but the image quietly speaks volumes to us which amass secretly in our minds, sculpting our impressions of every other aspect of the film, and most don't know how to translate that visual text to words!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-55168404312012608582008-06-06T10:12:00.000-04:002008-06-06T10:12:00.000-04:00I worked on this piece a long time, and somewhere ...<i>I worked on this piece a long time, and somewhere in the middle I realized that almost no one would be interested in the subject.</i><br><br>Dan, I think you've expressed a similar sentiment in passing once or twice before, on your theory- or analysis-leaning posts, and I should tell you that these are precisely the posts that I find <i>most</i> rewarding and thought-provoking! In other words: I'm putting in a request for more posts like these.girishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05079328617099035797noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-65494260921997618912008-06-06T09:56:00.000-04:002008-06-06T09:56:00.000-04:00Recently, these kinds of formal analyses have beco...<em>Recently, these kinds of formal analyses have become just about the only blog posts that I read start-to-finish.</em><br><br>Me too. I liked this one a lot. My goals as a blogger/writer and as a moviewatcher are working together for once: I want to slow down, I want to spend more time looking at movies, thinking through them. This post is inspirational: if I take my time, do my homework (a bit of research is all that's usually necessary), I can put something like this together, too! It won't be as impressive, of course, but still . . .Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-36654381371651222352008-06-06T09:07:00.000-04:002008-06-06T09:07:00.000-04:00Darren - if you want to read something short and i...Darren - if you want to read something short and interesting on Keaton, pick up the Eric Rohmer compilation <i>The Taste for Beauty</i> and read the bits on Chaplin and Keaton in "Cinema, the art of space." A sampler: "...[<b>Battling Butler</b>'s] most extraordinary moment is no doubt when, in spite of himself, the boxer gets tangled in the ropes as he tries to enter the ring. The impossibility of describing the humor of such a 'position' to someone who has not seen the film guarantees the authenticity of its cinematic value. Conversely, even Chaplin's most visual discoveries - Charlie juggling bricks, Charlie walking on his knees, Charlie sinking into a tub he thought was empty - make us laugh when we describe them."Dan Sallitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13136066978329749513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-76499738545547090092008-06-06T08:33:00.000-04:002008-06-06T08:33:00.000-04:00Thanks, Dan. I didn't read your piece as imply...Thanks, Dan. I didn't read your piece as implying that 4:3 was at a disadvantage. But since Nakahira came out on the short end of your comparison with Vadim, I was just curious to read your description of someone who worked in 4:3 and who would have fared better in your accidental head-to-head matchup.<br><br>Your response has made me realize that despite the hours and hours I've spent watching Buster Keaton movies, I've never really considered him seriously as a filmmaker. I'd be hard-pressed to describe his formal style in even the most basic terms. All that damn <em>pleasure</em> gets in the way when I watch his films.Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11456377117711062375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-43060039659341429452008-06-06T08:04:00.000-04:002008-06-06T08:04:00.000-04:00Hey, Darren. I might have implied in my piece tha...Hey, Darren. I might have implied in my piece that the old 4:3 Academy ratio was at a disadvantage in producing beautiful images. I certainly don't think that's the case: in fact, watching really early cinema sometimes makes me think that the camera would naturally produce one beautiful image after another if we didn't burden it with codes to create narrative and dramatic meaning.<br><br>Buster Keaton is an interesting filmmaker to think about in terms of serving both the subject of the shot and the environment. Something about his mission made it necessary for him to find that dual visual perspective just to get his comedy done. He can produce unremarkable images when he's just setting up his story, but his frames are stunning whenever he rolls up his sleeves and gets to work on the important stuff.<br><br>Ford is an interesting case. We tend to associate his mature work with a kind of pictorialism, something that I for one don't always look upon kindly in other directors. I think some of his long shots are as exciting as anything in cinema, but if I mentally remove them from their storytelling context, I think I would often not be quite as impressed. There's often a pull between the big, eternal perspective of the camera and the urgencies of the human story being depicted.<br><br>Some of those really nice-looking Vadim two-shots that I included reminded me a bit of the great long-shot interiors from Sirk's early Hollywood films, which were all 4:3.<br><br>Obviously each ratio has its own attractions and dangers. I shot my last film in 16:9 (1.78:1) after having shot two 4:3 films, and suddenly I was more tempted by closeups. That little bit of extra acreage made it more interesting for me to compose around a big head.Dan Sallitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13136066978329749513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-49933001540883794702008-06-05T10:53:00.000-04:002008-06-05T10:53:00.000-04:00Great post, Dan. Recently, these kinds of formal a...Great post, Dan. Recently, these kinds of formal analyses have become just about the only blog posts that I read start-to-finish.<br><br>I've been working my way through a pile of early John Ford and Bertrand Tavernier films lately, which has gotten me thinking about aspect ratios. If you decide to do a follow-up to this post, I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on a filmmaker who's particularly gifted at creating "intrinsically beautiful" images in 4:3.Darrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11456377117711062375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-70858275924312210202008-06-05T01:02:00.000-04:002008-06-05T01:02:00.000-04:00Thanks, Kazu. I worked on this piece a long time,...Thanks, Kazu. I worked on this piece a long time, and somewhere in the middle I realized that almost no one would be interested in the subject. But what the heck. I'd like to see more Nakahira films: Donald Richie's opinion is that he made a few more good movies in the 50s before getting absorbed by the mainstream.Dan Sallitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13136066978329749513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4222475879097604897.post-67044477748854362062008-06-05T00:40:00.000-04:002008-06-05T00:40:00.000-04:00this was a great, insightful post. i just saw CRAZ...this was a great, insightful post. i just saw CRAZED FRUIT recently, motivated by a desire to learn more about japanese new wave filmmakers. i thought it was beautiful, but now i need to see some vadim films.kazuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06427485315499281477noreply@blogger.com