Filmmakers on Other Filmmakers

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jon
Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2006 9:03 pm

#76 Post by jon » Thu Dec 21, 2006 2:02 am

vogler wrote:The whole story as told by Brakhage can be found here. It really is hilarious. Needless to say I completely disagree with Tarkovsky but we all have different tastes.
Hilarious read. I literally laughed out loud at Tarkovsky's response to the student film that was shown after Brakhage's films.

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Cold Bishop
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 9:45 pm
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#77 Post by Cold Bishop » Thu Dec 21, 2006 3:02 am

MichaelB wrote:because he had a secret liking for violent American exploitation films.
Now this is something I'd like to hear more about.....

Just imagine, Tarkovsky, after fleeing from Russia, directing films for AIP. What kind of B-Movie brilliance would that of been?

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MichaelB
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#78 Post by MichaelB » Thu Dec 21, 2006 6:03 am

Cold Bishop wrote:Just imagine, Tarkovsky, after fleeing from Russia, directing films for AIP. What kind of B-Movie brilliance would that of been?
Well, his friend and former co-screenwriter Andrei Konchalovsky more or less made that journey, from Andrei Rublev in the 1960s and Siberiade in the 1970s to, erm, Tango and Cash in the 1980s.

Mind you, the closest he came to B-movie brilliance was Runaway Train, which despite coming from the Golan-Globus schlock factory must have one of the most unlikely credits list of any film of its decade - aside from Konchalovsky, the original story by Akira Kurosawa was beefed up with hardcore prison slang by Edward Bunker (the real-life ex-con best known for playing Mr Blue in Reservoir Dogs).

And while I wouldn't exactly recommend a double bill with Siberiade, given the latter's length, they chime together surprisingly well - not least given their recurring images of a path through a seemingly endless snow-shrouded forest.

David Ehrenstein
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#79 Post by David Ehrenstein » Thu Dec 21, 2006 12:10 pm

His Shy People is also quite teriffic.

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GringoTex
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 5:57 am

#80 Post by GringoTex » Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:21 pm

Speaking of director infighting, Brakhage told me Kenneth Anger placed a voodoo curse on him.

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vogler
Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2006 8:42 am
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#81 Post by vogler » Thu Dec 21, 2006 1:31 pm

GringoTex wrote:Speaking of director infighting, Brakhage told me Kenneth Anger placed a voodoo curse on him.
I believe it. Kenneth Anger placed the curse of the toad (or was it the frog?) on Bobby Beausoleil and shortly after that his car broke down outside the Manson Family house, he joined their gang and then ended up in prison for his part in the Manson murders. This is Anger's story anyway. I think Anger felt guilty about this later though and he was sad that Bobby Beausoleil has got to spend the rest of his life in prison 'just for killing one musician'.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

#82 Post by zedz » Thu Dec 21, 2006 4:22 pm

vogler wrote:
David Ehrenstein wrote:Tarkovsky was just plain rude.
Indeed. Bergman criticising directors in an interview is one thing but Tarkovsky's behaviour just strikes me as deeply wrong on a basic human level. He's still a genius though, but I don't suppose that means I have to like him as a person.
Tarkovsky was a great filmmaker, but a cranky, arrogant and blinkered person. Anybody wishing to preserve their illusions about their favorite filmmakers being nice guys should steer well clear of his diaries. (Still, it's not their job to be nice.)

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

#83 Post by zedz » Thu Dec 21, 2006 4:27 pm

vogler wrote:I believe it. Kenneth Anger placed the curse of the toad (or was it the frog?) on Bobby Beausoleil and shortly after that his car broke down outside the Manson Family house, he joined their gang and then ended up in prison for his part in the Manson murders. This is Anger's story anyway.
I think that last sentence is the key to any Anger anecdote. I could listen to him spin yarns for hours, but I'd take anything he said with a Lot's wife of salt. When I heard the story, Bobby was the founding member of Love (Arthur who?), and the curse also put paid to his promising music career.

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vogler
Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2006 8:42 am
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#84 Post by vogler » Thu Dec 21, 2006 4:40 pm

zedz wrote:I think that last sentence is the key to any Anger anecdote. I could listen to him spin yarns for hours, but I'd take anything he said with a Lot's wife of salt.
Yes, definitely. At the London Film Festival he told us a great one about Marianne Faithfull. He told of how he pleaded with her not to smuggle drugs across borders when they were making Lucifer Rising, especially when entering Egypt since the penalty was death. He said she didn't listen though and smuggled it mixed in with her make up. Allegedly the makeup on her face in Lucifer Rising was in fact heroin and he said if we ever see the film to 'watch out for her'. I've never laughed so much in all my life as when listening to Kenneth Anger talk.

Oh, and then there were the stories of Jimmy Page and Mickey Mouse and so many more.

porcupine2
Joined: Tue Jul 18, 2006 9:14 am

#85 Post by porcupine2 » Thu Dec 28, 2006 9:25 am

I find Tarkovsky's diaries dispiriting - or is it instructive?

from 31st March 1982:
"We watched Ozu's Autumn on television. I don't remember precisely what autumn. Dreadfully boring; rather like a Mendeleyev table."

The question is, how is an Ozu film (Late Autumn, Early Autumn?) like a periodic table, and isn't that an interesting idea for a film...

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Filmmakers on Other Filmmakers

#86 Post by zedz » Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:13 pm

MichaelB wrote:
zedz wrote:I'm always amazed at how great Guillermo del Toro is talking about other people's films.
He's no slouch at writing either: his is one of the standout contributions to the BFI's new Gothic anthology.
So -

Filmmakers who can be trusted to say intelligent things about other filmmakers' work:
Martin Scorsese
Guillermo del Toro
???




(First person to say "William Friedkin" gets whacked.)

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: 643 The Man Who Knew Too Much

#87 Post by Matt » Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:16 pm

Soderbergh. Bogdanovich. Baumbach.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: 643 The Man Who Knew Too Much

#88 Post by zedz » Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:19 pm

I'll give you Soderbergh, and I forgot Todd Haynes. Can't recall what Baumbach has done, and Bogdanovich is decidedly a mixed blessing in my book.

EDIT: Tavernier, of course.

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Matt
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 12:58 pm

Re: Filmmakers on Other Filmmakers

#89 Post by Matt » Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:25 pm

I was mainly thinking of Baumbach's interviews with Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory on Criterion's My Dinner with Andre release and with Brian De Palma on Blow Out.

I suppose you're correct about Bogdanovich in that he can't necessarily be trusted to say something intelligent.

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zedz
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm

Re: Filmmakers on Other Filmmakers

#90 Post by zedz » Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:31 pm

Matt wrote:I suppose you're correct about Bogdanovich in that he can't necessarily be trusted to say something intelligent.
On the other hand, he can be 100% trusted to deliver a mediocre impersonation of whoever he's talking about!

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Moe Dickstein
Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 11:19 pm

Re: Filmmakers on Other Filmmakers

#91 Post by Moe Dickstein » Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:35 pm

And to wear a cravat to cover his neck.

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domino harvey
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Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Filmmakers on Other Filmmakers

#92 Post by domino harvey » Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:38 pm

We're still doing anti-Bogdanovich schtick on this board? I thought that shit went out with the old guard

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MichaelB
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Re: 643 The Man Who Knew Too Much

#93 Post by MichaelB » Wed Sep 04, 2013 4:42 pm

zedz wrote:I'll give you Soderbergh, and I forgot Todd Haynes. Can't recall what Baumbach has done, and Bogdanovich is decidedly a mixed blessing in my book.

EDIT: Tavernier, of course.
And John Waters.

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Mr Sausage
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 9:02 pm
Location: Canada

Re: Filmmakers on Other Filmmakers

#94 Post by Mr Sausage » Wed Sep 04, 2013 5:01 pm

David Cronenberg. Although I haven't heard a ton in the way of criticism, his occasional comments on, say, a top-whatever list he's drawn up are always fascinating.

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:30 pm
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Re: Filmmakers on Other Filmmakers

#95 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Wed Sep 04, 2013 5:07 pm

Olivier Assayas

Kauno
Joined: Sun Dec 18, 2011 4:01 am

Re: Filmmakers on Other Filmmakers

#96 Post by Kauno » Wed Sep 04, 2013 5:10 pm

Don't get me starting. There can be really crap films that we all praise about. Aki Kaurismäki could tell you right away, that it is no use to weight shit.

shaky
Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2013 2:52 pm

Re: Filmmakers on Other Filmmakers

#97 Post by shaky » Wed Sep 04, 2013 5:15 pm

Pedro Costa

Thomas Dukenfield
Joined: Thu Nov 04, 2010 6:42 pm

Re: Filmmakers on Other Filmmakers

#98 Post by Thomas Dukenfield » Wed Sep 04, 2013 10:48 pm

Mr Sausage wrote:David Cronenberg. Although I haven't heard a ton in the way of criticism, his occasional comments on, say, a top-whatever list he's drawn up are always fascinating.
I remember him criticizing the portrayal of mental illness in A Beautiful Mind on Charlie Rose.

criterion10

Re: Filmmakers on Other Filmmakers

#99 Post by criterion10 » Wed Sep 04, 2013 11:08 pm

I wouldn't say that I always agree with Tarantino's opinions on other filmmakers, though they certainly are interesting to listen to.

On a related side note, I found this video on YouTube the other day, where Quentin basically dismisses both Kubrick and Welles.

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Forrest Taft
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2007 8:34 pm
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Re: Filmmakers on Other Filmmakers

#100 Post by Forrest Taft » Thu Sep 05, 2013 10:20 am

Richard Lester and Alex Cox! John McTiernan too.

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