Marco Ferreri

[gubbelsj]

After scrolling through all possible avenues for preexisting conversations, I reluctantly concluded I'd have to break my own rule about not introducing topics until a few more posts were under my belt . Apologies.

I'm interested in opinions about the films of recently deceased Italian provocateur Marco Ferreri. Years back, my university library carried both La grande bouffe and (surprisingly) Dillinger Is Dead on video. Enjoying both, I've been on the lookout for more of his ever since, but haven't had much luck. La grande bouffe seems to have had numerous printings, both Region 1 (but in French only, no subtitles) and 5 (Russian only). Two films I'd like to see are Storie di ordinaria follia / Tales of Ordinary Madness, Ferreri's Bukowski adaptation with Ben Gazzara, and La casa del sorriso / The House of Smiles, winner of the Golden Bear. Anybody seen these films? Worth tracking down?

Perhaps I'm fond of Ferreri because of a thumbnail review of La grande bouffe I once read, hands-down my favorite such ever:

"His most characteristic film of the (1970s was) La grande bouffe, in which four gourmets gorge themselves and die surrounded by their own excrement and vomit." - David Cook, History of Narrative Film

I mean, how can you not love that?

[Barmy]

I can just give a vague answer--all of his stuff except the last few films is of interest. Dillinger is available in Italy with English subs. A number of his other films are out in Italy, but many don't have subs. Awhile ago, 5 or so of his better films were released on DVD in R1 but they are out of print and expensive. I have them and the prints are acceptable, but not great.

Anyway, you might want to check out some Italian DVD websites and eBay for sources.

[jesus the mexican boi]

Two films I'd like to see are Storie di ordinaria follia / Tales of Ordinary Madness, Ferreri's Bukowski adaptation with Ben Gazzara, and La casa del sorriso / The House of Smiles, winner of the Golden Bear. Anybody seen these films? Worth tracking down??

As a 35-year-old who discovered Bukowski in high school, I really liked TALES OF ORDINARY MADNESS. There's no polish here, no sheen--it's just Gazzara taking the role by the balls and wallowing in it. There's an episodic quality to the movie, a sort of formless structure that suits it well, I think. I'd recommend it to fans of Gazzara and Bukowski -- not having seen any other Ferreri, I can't say how representative it is of the man's ouvre. People also seem to either love or hate DON'T TOUCH THE WHITE WOMAN!, but I havent' seen that either.

Note also the bad cover art thread that points out what might well be Gazzara's schlong lounging like a barfly outside of his pants for the DVD release.

[David Ehrenstein]

Great to hear that Dillinger is Dead is available. Anita Pallenberg fans should be alerted. That's the Ferreri that first sparked my interest in him . Il Seme Dell'Uomo is also teriffic. Tales of Ordinary Madness is great, as is Le Grand Bouffe and the very bizarre Don't Touch the White Woman (Custer's last stand staged in the ruins of Las Halles)

Ferreri himself is on view in Pasolini's Porcile.

[Barmy]

Here's a link to what's available in Italy.

[David Ehrenstein]

My Asylum with Roberto Begnini is also good (yes, Begnini's actually good in it) as is L'Audienza with Ugo Tognazzi and Claudia Cardinale. it's a variation on Kafka's The Castle, with the goal being an audience with the Pope.

[David Ehrenstein]

Oh, and I almost forgot -- Bye Bye Monkey. Shot in New York, in English with Gerard Depardieu, Marcello mastroianni, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Avon Long, James Coco and Mimsey farmer. Indescribably weird.

[brunosh]

Three Ferreri R2 DVDs are due out in the UK during the next 2-3 months: La Grande Bouffe and Tales of Ordinary Madness/Don't Touch the White Woman from Nouveaux and The Harem from Infinity. They are up on moviemail http://www.moviemail-online.co.uk/directors/491

[Dylan]

Xploited Cinema just got a Ferreri DVD in, "L'Harem," which sounds interesting.

Marco Ferreri's first color feature stars Carroll Baker as a young architect who decides to break off her engagement to a rich industrialist. She takes a trip with her assistant, during which she becomes entranced by a number of men. Also stars Gastone Moschin, Renato Salvatori, William Berger, George Hilton, and John Phillip Law. Music by Ennio Morricone.

The DVD is in 2.35:1 and is subtitled in English. Has anybody seen this?

[Barmy]

I haven't seen Harem, but I ordered it from Amazon.co.uk.

Much as I love xploited, a lot of their international stuff is way overpriced.

[rohmerin]

Ciao Maschio isone of the worst films I have seen in my life.
I love La gran bouffe and the films he did in Spain, has anyone seen his Spanish films
They are great, specially El pisito, we are suffering now the same trouble with how to find a place to live that my grandparents lived 50 years ago.

El cochecito is an excellnt dark tale about an old man who wants to be normal such his friends, and he wants an electric little car to go out with his invalids companions.

Los chicos is pretty good too, the story of a group of young men friends in Madrid in a very neorealism way.

[David Ehrenstein]

Bye Bye Monkey is truly bizarre, and for that reason alone quite fascinating. it was one of several films made by European directors in English during that period, hoping to capitalize on Visconti's success in making English language filsm for the international market. But even though it was shot in New York, Bye Bye Monkey never won a theatrical release. It's of a piece with other Ferreri films about tragic triste males (eg. Le Grand Bouffe, The Last Woman )

For sheer unreconstructed nuttiness Don't Touch the White Woman can't be beat.

[Anonymous]

In france "la grande bouffe" is very appreciate. It's a dream for us to die eating ! Succes here and some scandale. Great performance for the excelent four actor, my favorite is Piccoli.
I like so "rêve de singe" (monkey's dream ?) and "le mari de la femme à barbe" (?)

[Le Feu Follet]

I shall never forget the scene in The Last Woman (L'Ultima Donna) where Gerard Depardieu cuts of his own penis with an electric carving knife!

[David Ehrenstein]

I saw it first-run in Ne York, and the moment that happned half the theater rose as one man and fled!

[Barmy]

French company "Opening" released a bunch of Ferreri this year. Looks like they are not subtitled. Check out amazon.fr if interested.

[Barmy]

8-disc boxset as reported in the boutique thread (although the list price has been corrected upwards by $100 or so. LOL.

[luridedith]

I liked La Grande Bouffe but found it a little disappointing. The premise is endlessly fascinating but for a film about death by excess it didn't have the gaudy humour and art direction that say Greenaway would have brought to the film (apart from SPOILER the guy who farted himself to death - good times!). The French novel "Sweet Death" by Claude Tardat took on the same subject matter but with a mixture of beautiful and repulsive surreal imagery - La Grande Bouffe had a rather grim, realistic monotone to me which doesn't do the premise justice.

Plus, I love intrusive, demanding scores and this barely had any music in it what so ever so I think that was what was irritating me the most (it just a taste thing, don't really like silence unless the film's visually amazing enough to ignore it). Otherwise it was a fine film but I guess my expectations were too high.

[A]

I second the recommendation for Ferreri's Spanish film El cochecito (1960). This is truly a very dark comedy, that tells a lot about Spanish society at the time. Very similar to Bunuel. =P~

[David Ehrenstein]

It's one of the two films Josef Von Sternberg speaks of approvingly in his memoir Fun in a Chinese Laundry -- the other being Last Year at Marienbad.

[BradStevens]

Just received Koch Lorber's box set, which contains the rarely seen uncut 113 minute version of BYE BYE MONKEY, almost 20 minutes longer than any of the transfers available previously (such as Image's Region 1 DVD). The main addition is a scene with William Berger, who was completely eliminated from the shorter variant (though, curiously, he's still not credited).

[knives]

Anyways I started with El Cochecito and the skinny for this one is that an older man finds out his paralytic brother has a mechanical wheel chair and wants one too, but his son refuses to loan out the money because he doesn't need it and in fact the family doctor says it will only do him harm. That's a small part of the film though as it runs more as a series of comedic set pieces with the plot only loosely coming together as a second thought. Of the other three films of his that I've seen this very early effort was most reminiscent of Dillinger is Dead. This is a lot weaker than that picture though as the plotlessness is much more noticeable and the look is fairly basic. The humour too isn't all that developed yet, but is still very funny. There wasn't anything in the way of gut laughs, but it was all effective. I guess what I'm trying to communicate is that as a trial run for greater things this was an effective and funny turn.

[knives]

Nine years later and The Seed of Man is an immensely marked improvement. It seems that this is the beginning of an explore the genres period in his career (the next film is a western) and everything is lined up so perfectly. Even before the apocalypse that is the movie's macguffin things seem slightly off with instruction videos on infections playing in a cafe and everyone else silent (no one speaks let alone the main characters for about ten minutes). Before this becomes a Dillinger is Dead redux our main couple leave their world and enter an apocalyptic world that's part the bible and part Romero. The most startling change though is the colours which get blown the hell and look like the watercolours in the final section of In Praise of Love. From here we get little episodes of the characters exploring their new world and arguing about whether they want to be Adam and Eve. Well that's not entirely truthful, they spend a whole scene trying to deal with their lost history before giving up after being unable to decide how to label cheese (and whether or not it should be for eating).It's actually a bit of an additional comedy that for all this set up and horror the characters' concerns haven't changed a lick. All that is different is the stakes and they don't seem to care. They have their little hut, whale carcass (I have to believe this is a nod to La Dolce Vita, and don't need to go to work. They need nothing else. One of the funniest interludes is when a girl enters their little eden and the male lead finds out that she unlike his wife is willing to reproduce, but has his reservations. The pay off should have been obvious and I feel terrible at laughing at it, but it moves so leisurely that I never had the chance to realize things were happening.

[domino harvey]

La donna scimmia coming to Blu-ray from Cult Epics

[L.A.]

Don’t forget that El Cochecito (1960) also received a nice Spanish Blu-ray. Everything subtitled in English and available at ”Compra 3 por el precio de 2” campaign at Amazon.es at the moment.