gululv
11-02-2004, 11:30 AM
On film schools and in film classes all over I see the same films:
From German expressionism: M, Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Soviet silent film: The Battleship Potemkin
Early American cinema: The Birth of a Nation, Nanook of the North, the most famous Chaplin films + maybe some Keaton and "Sunrise"
French golden age: La Regle du jeu
Italian neorealism: The Bicycle Thief
The French New Wave: Breathless, The 400 Blows
The American New Wave: The Godfather films, Taxi Driver, Apocalypse Now
+ maybe some Fellini, Bergman, Buñuel and Kurosawa
I won't say much negative about most of the films I've listed above, but I think it's a problem that these and a few more films are the ones showed to film students all over the world. I don't know if Tokyo Story is better than Late Spring or Early Summer, or who decided that. It's time to rethink what films should be classics. Of course films like Pandora's Box and Spirit of the Beehive are well-known to cineasts, but to most people, even those attending film schools or film classes, they are completely unknown. What about this suggestion for a short film history:
German silent cinema: M, Pandora's Box
Soviet films from 20's and 30's: Earth, By the Bluest of Seas (and not the propaganda films of Eisenstein)
Early American cinema: Greed, A Night at the Opera/The General, something by von Sternberg
French golden age cinema: La Regle du jeu, L'Atalante
Italian cinema: The Rise to Power of Louis XIV, The Passenger
Japanese golden age: The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums, Late Spring
French New Wave: Letter from Siberia, Celine and Julie Go Boating
American New Wave: McCabe and Mrs. Miller, The King of Marvin Gardens
+
something by Bresson and Satyajit Ray, The Spirit of the Beehive, modern Chinese cinema, by Hou and others, Parajanov and the best of Tarkovsky (Mirror, Andrei Rublev), Borowczyk's animation films and live action features, Blue Velvet, Persona, Tristana, films from the German New Wave like Kings of the Road and The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, something by Angelopolous..
Of course there are many other films I should have mentioned, but the point with this was to challenge the established classics. I understand that many think of classic international cinema as boring when all they get to see (if they don't have access to a decent film society/repertory cinema) is The Battleship Potemkin, Breathless and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. And the worst of all is that it seems like European and Asian cinema doesn't exist at all anymore except for films like Amelie and Hero when one speaks to film teachers. People who used to like Herzog and Antonioni now thinks Pulp Fiction and Fight Club are modern masterpieces. My question is: Who control film history for most people, and why does Eisenstein get more appreciation than a poet like Dovzhenko? Is it because he confirms the thoughts we already had about the Russians?
From German expressionism: M, Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Soviet silent film: The Battleship Potemkin
Early American cinema: The Birth of a Nation, Nanook of the North, the most famous Chaplin films + maybe some Keaton and "Sunrise"
French golden age: La Regle du jeu
Italian neorealism: The Bicycle Thief
The French New Wave: Breathless, The 400 Blows
The American New Wave: The Godfather films, Taxi Driver, Apocalypse Now
+ maybe some Fellini, Bergman, Buñuel and Kurosawa
I won't say much negative about most of the films I've listed above, but I think it's a problem that these and a few more films are the ones showed to film students all over the world. I don't know if Tokyo Story is better than Late Spring or Early Summer, or who decided that. It's time to rethink what films should be classics. Of course films like Pandora's Box and Spirit of the Beehive are well-known to cineasts, but to most people, even those attending film schools or film classes, they are completely unknown. What about this suggestion for a short film history:
German silent cinema: M, Pandora's Box
Soviet films from 20's and 30's: Earth, By the Bluest of Seas (and not the propaganda films of Eisenstein)
Early American cinema: Greed, A Night at the Opera/The General, something by von Sternberg
French golden age cinema: La Regle du jeu, L'Atalante
Italian cinema: The Rise to Power of Louis XIV, The Passenger
Japanese golden age: The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums, Late Spring
French New Wave: Letter from Siberia, Celine and Julie Go Boating
American New Wave: McCabe and Mrs. Miller, The King of Marvin Gardens
+
something by Bresson and Satyajit Ray, The Spirit of the Beehive, modern Chinese cinema, by Hou and others, Parajanov and the best of Tarkovsky (Mirror, Andrei Rublev), Borowczyk's animation films and live action features, Blue Velvet, Persona, Tristana, films from the German New Wave like Kings of the Road and The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, something by Angelopolous..
Of course there are many other films I should have mentioned, but the point with this was to challenge the established classics. I understand that many think of classic international cinema as boring when all they get to see (if they don't have access to a decent film society/repertory cinema) is The Battleship Potemkin, Breathless and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. And the worst of all is that it seems like European and Asian cinema doesn't exist at all anymore except for films like Amelie and Hero when one speaks to film teachers. People who used to like Herzog and Antonioni now thinks Pulp Fiction and Fight Club are modern masterpieces. My question is: Who control film history for most people, and why does Eisenstein get more appreciation than a poet like Dovzhenko? Is it because he confirms the thoughts we already had about the Russians?