The Lists Project

[Yojimbo]

I can't believe you forgot 'Nazarin'????

I didn't forget it, I just don't like it as much as the Rossellini. And Exterminating Angel is already ahead of it in the queue. There were a heap of eligible Bunuels, but Simon is so perfect and concise that it did everything I needed in a top 30.

'Nazarin' shot into my Bunuel Top Five, the first time I saw it; I must confess to being disappointed by 'Simon', though; even if I applaud that audacious ending

[Michael Kerpan]

I'm not the least bit disappointed by Simon of the Desert -- but I like Nazarin considerably more (on a par with Viridiana).

[Yojimbo]

I'm not the least bit disappointed by Simon of the Desert -- but I like Nazarin considerably more (on a par with Viridiana).

Maybe my expectations were higher than yours, Michael; Viridiana is also in my Top Five, though

[puxzkkx]

If 'religious' here relates to people's conceptions of their own existence and mortality I think I would nominate Kore-eda's Maboroshi no hikari and Erice's El sol del membrillo for mention - the former is about finding peace through sadness and grieving, understanding the reasons for death, and reconciling oneself with one's own mortality and that of their loved ones. It's also one of the most profoundly moving films ever made in my opinion.

The Erice film is a bit sneakier in how in approaches the topic I guess... but I see it as the story of a man who is afraid of death and gradually learns to accept the ephemeral nature of life. And there's such a gorgeous stillness here, one that hides deep currents, that I'd call spiritual.

[zedz]

That's an interesting reading of the Erice. I was very tempted to include one of his films on my list, but I couldn't quite rationalize it. The Quince Tree Sun feels like a very spiritual film to me, but not in any way I can easily put my finger on, or not without a lot of cumbersome joining of dots. But that's also a film about ephemerality and, ultimately, about death.

[knives]

If we're sneaking into Erice might as well as talk about Latin American cinema too as their version of magical realism is largely indebted to the culture's emphasis on religion and that infects most of the stories. Even something broad like Cronos has the religious undertones that comes from Latin American magical realism.

[puxzkkx]

After reading the good responses here I tracked down and saw Brakhage's The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes and I think I can agree with zedz that there is something spiritual about it. I'm not sure I would say that 'God is in this film' but being faced with such an immediate picture of death definitely makes you think about why you live. And it goes beyond just thinking about who these cadavers were when they were alive. Watching the film is a constant process of finding things to cling on to as signifiers of 'life' - a blood-stained dress, an open eye, a stomach that we expect to rise in breath, the gloved hand of a doctor, a clean white sheet - and feeling them slip out of your grasp. Seeing these 'people' being literally deconstructed corresponds directly to our own reconciliation with death and our process of forgetting, or of accepting that forgetting will one day happen regarding us. These images make you wonder why something so obviously temporary as life exists at all, but somehow it makes you glad it does. And I think it does point to something approaching 'grace in death' in two moments that stick in my head - the hollowed-out chest of a woman holding a puddle of blood, and a pool of water resting in the fold between skin and muscle on the body of an old man. The life or the soul may be gone from these bodies, but now another world exists in their fleshen landscapes.

Thanks for inspiring me to watch this, zedz!

[Michael Kerpan]

Kore'eda's Maboroshi no hikari has a number of explicitly Buddhist elements. It is indeed a wonderful film -- one that needs proper BluRay treatment in the West (the Japanese DVD is infinitely more lovely than the unfortunate US DVD -- bad, but not due to the fault of New Yorker in this particular case).

[puxzkkx]

Kore-eda's After Life would also be quite appropriate for a project like this. Another great film.

[Michael Kerpan]

Then there is Kore'eda's Distance -- which looks at the devastating impact of a dangerously fanatic religious cult on the lives of its devotees (and their surviving family members). Basically ignored in the west because the cult members are not demonized at all (but only presented as human beings, albeit tragicaly deluded ones).

[swo17]

I had a thought--I've read hints here and there about people preparing guides or extensive write-ups for upcoming decades lists projects. If you are working on/are interested in preparing such a thing for a future project, and it's covering a subject/genre/region that is at all possible to be thought of by someone else, it might be a good idea if you just shoot me a PM and make me aware of your intentions, so as to avoid any awkward situations where two people might independently put in a lot of effort to produce essentially the same thing.

[domino harvey]

Okay gang, I'd like to take a break from being Genre Listmaster after the Horror List wraps up, so however y'all wanna decide who is next in line to the throne for the Animation list onward, now's the time to start figuring it out. Like any good politician, I throw my vote behind whoever is more popular

[Mr Sausage]

Ok, here's how we'll do this:

Everyone who wants to run the Genre List project, send me a PM by this time Friday next week (27th). After I've got everyone's names, I'll set up a voting thread or something like that. If only one person applies, they get it.

Have at it.

[swo17]

Ok, here's how we'll do this:

Everyone who wants to run the Genre List project, send me a PM by this time Friday next week (27th). After I've got everyone's names, I'll set up a voting thread or something like that. If only one person applies, they get it.

Have at it.

I don't necessarily want to volunteer, but to anyone who's game but perhaps overwhelmed by the logistics of tabulating results, I have an Excel spreadsheet set up that can make it as easy as possible for you (assuming of course that you have some basic knowledge of how to use Excel). You still have to enter everyone's lists but it does the rest of the work for you.

[matrixschmatrix]

I was reminded that the Animation project will be coming up relatively shortly in another thread, and I should probably start getting prepared soon, so- anyone that's planning on participating, I'd appreciate it if you'd PM me any guides, links, lists, scholarly works, or anything else that you'd like to see in the thread when it gets started up. Including any particular area of expertise you yourself have.

[swo17]

Being in between lists projects always feels a little like this.

[flyonthewall2983]

Are we gonna do a comedy list?

[Mr Sausage]

Presumably. Animation is next, and then I guess we can vote on what comes after that (or not. It's up to matrixschmatrix how this thing runs).

[zedz]

Comedy was discussed earlier, and there was discussion about whether it needed to be divided up into sub-genres (screwball, romantic and so forth). As I recall, the other genres that were 'in the queue' were science fiction, documentary and war movies.

[swo17]

I remember there being quite a fervor surrounding my idea for a religious films list. :-"

[matrixschmatrix]

I figure sometime near the halfway point on Animation I'll just round up four or five nominees and put it to a vote

[swo17]

That sounds like a missed opportunity for a flagrant abuse of your newfound powers. Which is fine, I guess, if that's the sort of dictatorship you want to run.

[zedz]

The worst kind of dictatorship: a democratic one.

[Steven H]

I've had nothing to contribute to the last two. I'm looking forward to animation (and science fiction? someday?)

[matrixschmatrix]

I should note that four of the nominees will be 'Talking Heads movies', movies featuring or created by members of the band Talking Heads