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Reviews
21-87 (1964)
A genius ultimate masterpiece.
Lipsett worked at the National Film Board of Canada in the late 60's. He would collect pieces of sound and fit them together to create an interesting auditory sensation. After playing one of these creations to friends, they suggested that Lipsett put images to it. Tthe result became the 7 minute long film Very Nice, Very Nice which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Live Action Subjects in 1962. Despite not winning the Oscar, this film brought Lipsett considerable praise from critics and directors. Stanley Kubrick was one of Lipsett's fans, and asked him to create a trailer for his upcoming movie Dr. Strangelove. Lipsett declined Kubrick's offer. Kubrick went on to direct the trailer himself; however, Lipsett's influence on Kubrick is clearly visible when watching the trailer.
Lipsett's film 21-87 was a profound influence on director George Lucas who included elements from it in THX 1138, (The role of religion in a technological society, the robot arms, THX discovers that LUH was killed on the date 21/87), American Graffiti and of course Star Wars. 21-87 has been credited by Lucas as the source of the "The Force" in Star Wars (Lipsett's "They become aware of a force behind this apparent mask in front of us. They call it God." Also, the holding cell of Princess Leia on the Death Star is cell No. 2187.
Il profumo della signora in nero (1974)
Fascinating-not an easy film
The Perfume of the Lady in Black (Francesco Barilli 1974) is a beautiful and fascinating film. Like a previous reviewer, it took me 2 projections before I could fully grasp what Barilli had wanted to do and mostly accomplished with this film.
The problem comes from the fact that this if often advertised as a Dario Argento-like Giallo, and it's anything but that. While it's easy to see the visual and atmospheric influence this film had on Argento, The Perfume is much closer to an Antonioni film than it is to other Italian scare flicks. Watch it with this approach in mind and you will be literally hypnotized.
Kudos to the main actress who delivers a great performance in a role that had no precise definition on paper!
Le chat d'appartement (1999)
Beautiful animation short
Beautiful short about a day in the life of a bored apartment cat. Overweight and without affection, it escapes in an attempt to run after birds outside.
Beautifully artistic and humane, this short film is both touching and amusing in the exact same way as the Gershwin portion of Fantasia 2000.
I had the chance to watch this on Tele Quebec television. If you can find it somewhere do NOT miss it. This is one of those rare gem you will be talking about to your friends for the rest of your life.
Beautiful short about a day in the life of a bored apartment cat. Overweight and without affection, it escapes in an attempt to run after birds outside.
Beautifully artistic and humane, this short film is both touching and amusing in the exact same way as the Gershwin portion of Fantasia 2000.
I had the chance to watch this on Tele Quebec television. If you can find it somewhere do NOT miss it. This is one of those rare gem you will be talking about to your friends for the rest of your life.
Duel (1971)
Aaaaahhhhhh, YES!
Aaahhhh, the pleasure of Steven Spielberg at his best. Watching Duel is like watching Taxi Driver, The Conversation or THX 1138: works of great filmmakers back when they still cared about the work they were doing (and before Spielberg started to "over-butter" everything.
1970's Spielberg was one of the world's greatest film genius. The ideas he came up with in the mise en scene of Duel, Jaws and his masterpiece Close Encounters are still unparalleled in his opus, and one must look at the work of Hitchcock or Welles to find anything as good or better.
I miss him, just like I miss the others, now that I must live with Minority Report, Attack of the Clones, Jack etc
Sad.
Lichtspiel Opus 1. (1921)
More on Opus 1
I just found this info on Opus I:
In 1914 World War I disrupted the lives of millions of people world wide, and Ruttmann was no exception. He served as a lieutenant in the German army durring the war, and when the war ended in 1918 he became increasingly dissatisfied with the medium of painting. The main problem Ruttmann saw in the medium was its inherently static nature. A painter could attempt to capture some sense of motion in his paintings, but the paintings were, in the end, fixed in place forever. We are told that Ruttmann made a comment, shortly after the end of the war, to the effect that it made no sense to continue painting, unless the paintings could be set in motion(Starr). In 1921, in Frankfort, Germany, he realized this desire with the release of his first abstract film, and indeed the first abstract film the world had ever seen: Lichtspiel Opus I. As is evident from its title, the film combined the separate art forms of painting and music into one work. The film featured moving patterns of light set to a custom score, written specially for Lichtspiel Opus I by Max Butting. The film was a great success, making a lasting impression on people such as Bernhard Diebold, film reviewer for the Frankfurter Zeitung, and Oskar Fischinger, future avant-garde filmmaker in his own right. Ruttmann went on to produce three more completely abstract films, Opus II, Opus III, and Opus IV, which were all well recieved at the time.
Lichtspiel Opus 1. (1921)
More on Opus 1
I just found this info on Opus I:
In 1914 World War I disrupted the lives of millions of people world wide, and Ruttmann was no exception. He served as a lieutenant in the German army durring the war, and when the war ended in 1918 he became increasingly dissatisfied with the medium of painting. The main problem Ruttmann saw in the medium was its inherently static nature. A painter could attempt to capture some sense of motion in his paintings, but the paintings were, in the end, fixed in place forever. We are told that Ruttmann made a comment, shortly after the end of the war, to the effect that it made no sense to continue painting, unless the paintings could be set in motion(Starr). In 1921, in Frankfort, Germany, he realized this desire with the release of his first abstract film, and indeed the first abstract film the world had ever seen: Lichtspiel Opus I. As is evident from its title, the film combined the separate art forms of painting and music into one work. The film featured moving patterns of light set to a custom score, written specially for Lichtspiel Opus I by Max Butting. The film was a great success, making a lasting impression on people such as Bernhard Diebold, film reviewer for the Frankfurter Zeitung, and Oskar Fischinger, future avant-garde filmmaker in his own right. Ruttmann went on to produce three more completely abstract films, Opus II, Opus III, and Opus IV, which were all well recieved at the time.