Miloš Forman (1932-2018)

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cpetrizzi
Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2012 9:26 am

Re: Miloš Forman (1932-2018)

#26 Post by cpetrizzi » Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:56 pm

Brian, you definitely make a great point. I know I've seen an amazing amount of movies since 16, and of course, developed favorites since then. I wasn't exposed to many foreign films in my childhood, except for early John Woo. My scope of foreign film started broadening around age 17 after seeing Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources and subsequently many others. I'm not sure how you guys feel about this pairing, but it remains one of my fave.

Also, I may not have been clear; I wasn't specifically referring to favorites. I was trying to make a point about impressionable movies. For me these were Rocky, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T., Kramer vs. Kramer, Sophie's Choice, Amadeus, Brazil, etc. I'm loathe to say most of these got Best Picture and are from the U.S. Forgive my childhood self.

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JSC
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 9:17 am

Re: Miloš Forman (1932-2018)

#27 Post by JSC » Tue Sep 01, 2020 1:27 pm

I recently got around to re-watching Amadeus, which I haven't seen in twenty-five years. I think the film still holds up very
well, and the set design and costumes are incredible. It took me a while to find the theatrical version, but eventually I was
able to get a Canadian DVD release (and unfortunately, one of the old flipper discs). A couple days later, I decided to watch
the Director's Cut, which I found to be inferior both in pacing and impact. I know that Forman has said this was the original cut
of the film, but after all this time it still seems a shame that the theatrical version hasn't officially made it's way to HD in some
form, especially since the Director's Cut has the eight Oscar wins as part of it's advertising (and this was presumably not the cut
the Academy voted on).

beamish14
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 3:07 pm

Re: Miloš Forman (1932-2018)

#28 Post by beamish14 » Tue Sep 01, 2020 1:42 pm

JSC wrote:
Tue Sep 01, 2020 1:27 pm
I recently got around to re-watching Amadeus, which I haven't seen in twenty-five years. I think the film still holds up very
well, and the set design and costumes are incredible. It took me a while to find the theatrical version, but eventually I was
able to get a Canadian DVD release (and unfortunately, one of the old flipper discs). A couple days later, I decided to watch
the Director's Cut, which I found to be inferior both in pacing and impact. I know that Forman has said this was the original cut
of the film, but after all this time it still seems a shame that the theatrical version hasn't officially made it's way to HD in some
form, especially since the Director's Cut has the eight Oscar wins as part of it's advertising (and this was presumably not the cut
the Academy voted on).


I completely concur regarding the 2002 recut. Fortunately, the Saul Zaentz Company is making a 4k restoration of the true version.

I loathe how the second version completely destroys the film's perfect pace and the makes Constance's vitriol towards
Salieri too unambiguous.

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JSC
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 9:17 am

Re: Miloš Forman (1932-2018)

#29 Post by JSC » Tue Sep 01, 2020 1:46 pm

Great to hear about a restoration. Is there an article somewhere about that?

beamish14
Joined: Fri May 18, 2018 3:07 pm

Re: Miloš Forman (1932-2018)

#30 Post by beamish14 » Tue Sep 01, 2020 1:52 pm

JSC wrote:
Tue Sep 01, 2020 1:46 pm
Great to hear about a restoration. Is there an article somewhere about that?


Someone on Blu-Ray.com mentioned hearing something from Paul Zaentz. I just hope they also finally restore At Play in
the Fields of the Lord
, one of the most insanely slept-on masterpieces ever.

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bottled spider
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:59 am

Re: Miloš Forman (1932-2018)

#31 Post by bottled spider » Sat Aug 14, 2021 5:37 pm

JSC wrote:
Tue Sep 01, 2020 1:27 pm
I recently got around to re-watching Amadeus, which I haven't seen in twenty-five years.
Ditto, but unfortunately it was the infernal 180 minutes director's cut for me. I did enjoy revisiting this... for about an hour.

The problem with the director's cut (and probably the theatrical cut to a lesser degree) is that most of Salieri's scheming is rather milquetoast. While his abortive seduction of Constance is shockingly vile, and his final plot against Mozart's life gratifyingly fiendish, in between he does things like not warn Mozart against including (gasp!) a ballet scene in his opera. Or he inserts a spy into the Mozart household, but this potentially interesting development proves surprisingly inconsequential -- which doesn't prevent the director from treating us to several interviews between Salieri and the maid whose sole import is the startling revelation that Mozart writes music

To take another narrative about a naïve innocent uncomprehendingly persecuted by an imagined friend whose grievances are unsuspected, what makes Othello work is the escalation and acceleration of Iago's plots, and the jeopardy into which he places himself. There's little risk for Salieri, no tricky intrigue or complex, evolving machinations requiring improvisation and quick thinking. Similar unfavorable comparisons could be drawn between Amadeus and Richard III, Kind Hearts and Coronets, or Dangerous Liaisons. Which is not to say Amadeus ought to be like those other plays/films, only that since it is virtually plotless by comparison, it needn't have been so long.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Miloš Forman (1932-2018)

#32 Post by Michael Kerpan » Sat Aug 14, 2021 10:13 pm

bottled spider -- Not to mention that Salieri actually supported Mozart and his music in many ways.... (and did the same for many other young composers -- including Beethoven and Schubert).

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bottled spider
Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:59 am

Re: Miloš Forman (1932-2018)

#33 Post by bottled spider » Sun Aug 15, 2021 6:56 pm

It was ages ago, but I seem to remember in the original theatrical release a prominent intertitle emphasizing the fictionality of the movie, which didn't come up in the director's cut I just watched.

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