Sunday, February 15, 2009

Cinema Paradiso


I just watched Giuseppe Tornatore's Nuovo Cinema Paradiso again. Couldn't help myself from weeping. It is a beautiful film. Well shot, well cut and a great story. It also doesn't in with a fairy tale hollywood finale which gives it artistic merit, and at the same, makes you wish things had turned out differently. But as in life, you can't have your cake and eat. I suppose this is the classic case of art imitating life, if you can find Alberto's character realistic. I have the DVD with an additional 52 mins or the original director's cut.

I am so moved by it that I am pasting the wikipedia link for further details.

I dont mind subtitles for a good film. The only thing I am mindful of is the limitation of languages and as a result, some things get lost in translation.

I will watch a good film in any language... because good stories that are well executed transcend borders.

But watching that at this time of the night in a place like this does come with repercussions.

Beholding anything profound in a place like this comes with repercussions. I have nothing but my thoughts, which are now wrapped up in this brilliant masterpiece. It's the same when I read a good book. I have to be quiet for a while... as the whole experience washes over my consciousness. The bullet theory in mass communication may have long been disproved, but subliminal seduction stays in tact. I am perennially seduced by art that moves me.

It is a great movie... and it deserved every award it got!
, gui

5 comments:

Azikiwe said...

I tell persons all the time that the best films are'nt made by Hollywood but instead acts of masturbatory capitalism. Since you are acquiring a taste for fine filmmaking you should see this :

Bicycle Theives-
director : Vittorio de Sica

The power of content is the axis of this film,its done with a very small budget and largely amateur actors and a very simple plot. This type Italian neo-realist film served not to exemplify aesthetic advancement but to highlight a social & moral urgency in the post-war period. Indeed, a classic movie about the cruel nature of life, of inescapable fate.
A great film, I'll be happy to lend you on your next visit, but if you really into classic filmmaking and aspire as such ,get a copy at AMAZON

http://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Criterion-Collection-Lamberto-Maggiorani/dp/B000KRNGO0/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_i

Azikiwe said...

here is the wikipedia note on Bicycle Theives

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_Thieves

Sheer Almshouse said...

Will look it up. Thanks for the heads up.

Have you seen Monsoon Wedding. I am a huge fan of Mira Nair. I mention it though because it was a low-budget feature shot in 30 days on location in Mumbai. There is something really special about the authenticity of Indie low budget features that have enough creativity and passion to not come across as "low budget" in nature.

Azikiwe said...

..heard of Monsoon Wedding never saw it...I waiting for SlumDog Millionaire which creeped its way into Oscar hearts...funny how this American company recognise foreign indie efforts !

Sheer Almshouse said...

Indians (and I believe Bollywood filammakers could be in the lot) seem to be annoyed that this film is up for Oscars when so many more spectular Bollywood features have been made and ignored. They are pissed at the lack of authenticity and the notion that the British (or other) foreigner has to come in to shoot for the Oscars to find them interesting enough.

Mira Nair is an art unto herself. Monsoon is a personal film which has a lovely plot with 5 different stories going on, all centred around a traditional Panjabi wedding. It's the kind of film I want to make. She also has a background in documentary filmmaking, which adds further authenticity to this work of love.

 
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