MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (George Miller 2015)

[Chris Knipp]

George Miller:
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2015)

http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/mmxfr.jpg
HOULT, THERON, AND SOME OF "THE WIVES" IN MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

Mad Max better than ever but you may miss the old days

Another Mad Max movie is a good idea, isn't it? Maybe not for me. This fourth in George Miller's series has been enormously praised. One reason I can see is the lack of digital manipulation. A lot of the action is real. But I still felt lost. Oh, I'm ready for the post-apocalypse. I've seen it so many times. In this one, it's in Australia, in the desert, and pretty much everybody is a hotrodder and a heavy metal freak. The internal combustion engine still rules and no substitute has been found for gasoline. Most folks have their head shaved and are painted with white power, like Japanese butoh performers. There's fighting, and everyone's wildly energetic, though they have virtually nothing to drink, rarely a chance to get any shut-eye. It's not clear what the diet consists of, but if anybody spots an insect he'll gobble it.

Max isn't so much mad now, as played by the versatile Tom Hardy, as just shy and quiet. I was quite lost at first. It was hard to spot Tom Hardy behind the metal mask he has clamped over his mouth. But then I remembered him as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Same deal, same guy. We in the audience had to put on those 3D glasses -- it felt like the various masks people on screen were wearing, and seemed to get in the way of knowing what was going on, with one thing popping in front of another, getting in the way of what one wanted to see, or of the whole picture.
This is not the world of earlier Maxes, in some ways. The superficial appearances -- people fighting their way across a dusty plain in improvised vehicles -- are the same, but things are more elaborate, and smarter, I reckon. All the bells and whistles and furbelows on the vehicles, to begin with, and the seals and insignias, some of which, we're shown, are branded onto the backs of people who're enslaved by a totalitarian master, the most bewigged and masked of all. As a sign of how swell the getups are, Nicholas Hoult had to spend two hours in makeup every morning just to get a big engine-shaped embossed tattoo put on his chest, which we really only glimpse. Charlize Theron has an arm missing and replaced with a glittering weapons-grade prosthetic -- doubtless a nod to CGI.

It would be nice to have been handed a little program before going in to watch the movie, as is sometimes done at the opera. Some of the purely onscreen explanations went over my head. (I admit that during very violent episodes in blockbuster films I tend to numb out and go into a mild self-protective coma.) It appears that "tyrannical cult leader" King Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), a kind of decaying monster held together by plastic panels and breathing artificially, controls the known world (or a big chunk of Australia anyway -- played this time by Namibia). He controls large quantities of water, which he occasionally lets gush out for a few wasteful, taunting moments. His enforcers are an army of chalk-painted shaven-headed bare-chested "War Boys," of all sizes, small to large. I thought of William Burroughs. Max has been designated as "a universal blood donor" (I guess his blood is all-type, like an all-region DVD player) and he's held prisoner to provide blood for War Boy Nux (Nicholas Hoult). And as we see him, Nux is quite recovered, and his enthusiasm is infectious. "What a lovely day!" he exclaims, as he barrels across the desert.

It gets complicated after that (see the special website Wikia (http://madmax.wikia.com/wiki/Mad_Max:_Fury_Road)). Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a gas convoy driver for King Joe who goes rogue, leads a revolt in her elaborate War Rig, taking King Joe's breeding wives, who have some picturesque names. They are very white, and look like fashion models. Their excess of softness is offset by the Vuvalini, a gang of gnarly old bike chicks, who join the rebels. Max gets dragged along on Furiosa's mission and Nux with him. Things go back and forth, but the ladies rule -- this iteration in the series clearly on a serious feminist kick. I was troubled by the fact that the South African-born Theron now speaks in a well-modulated American accent, like a proper schoolteacher in suburban Connecticut. It seemed incongruous amid all the rough-and-tumble Aussie voices. Tom Hardy hardly speaks at all, and that in a stifled voice, as if Mel Gibson has been strangled. (He, of course, has been banished since this film was postponed after 9/11.)

The War Boys are wild boys (a Burroughs name) and as they go chasing after Furiosa and her small crew (in search of a green place she remembers from her youth, seeking not "hope," which she's warned against, but "reconciliation," or something like that), one big War Boy War Rig has music, with the Doof Warrior, a rock guitarist floating out in front, his flamboyant twin-necked instrument actually breathing fire. This was my favorite moment, better even than Max washing enemy blood off his face from a tank of baby milk. At some point I realized this was a fantasy. It is a fine detail that when Max has done his job for the ladies, he fades away into the crowd.

There was something very Late Seventies about the whole campy Mad Max idea. Mel Gibson's original Max was a vengeful cop raging over mistreatment of his wife and child, a pretty cheap and easy pretext for uncivil violence. The sequels were colorful but forgettable. Some may say that the Mad Max series "has since had a lasting influence on apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction" (Wikipedia), but the trouble is that there's been so much of that fiction it's hard for Mad Max to seem fresh anymore, even when, as here, it really is fresh. But vigorous and inventive and joyously absurd this better fourth version certainly is, and there's a genuineness to the effort.

Mad Max: Fury Road, 120 mins., debuted in Hollywood 7 May 2015, with theatrical releases in dozens of countries in the week or two following and in June.

[cinemabon]

Mad Max: Fury Road – directed by George Miller

After a thirty-year hiatus, the character of Mad Max returns in this fourth installment, “Fury Road.” A director whose vision created this dystopian future, George Miller presents a film with scale and scope that goes beyond the previous incarnations of this franchise. Max isn’t just the everyman out for revenge. His motivations for existence rise above those around him who remain loyal to a perversion of religious beliefs. Max clings to the hope of a sane society that offers its citizens more than mere existence – all of this implied through Max’s expressions and his eyes. Miller purposely avoided unnecessary dialogue except to explain superfluous details – the handmaidens, the second lieutenants, or the mythical destination of a “green place.”

For one heart-pounding hour, the film opens with almost continual action sequences. We are thrust into Max’s place of desperation, as he is helpless to avoid his eventual death. We wonder if he will ever escape his bondage while being dragged into one of the greatest action sequences ever put on film. Every part of the filmmaking process comes to bear in these action sequences – score, editing, photography (by Academy Award winning John Seale, brought out of retirement), stunt work that defies description and acting by a strong cast lead by Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron. Brought from the original 1979 cast (where he played Toecutter), Hugh Keays-Byrne is Immortan Joe, leader of the valley cult intent on retrieving his property – five “normal” women stolen from his secret lair atop his gigantic fortress that oversees a vast sea of deformed workers. Supported by a cast known as the brothers, whose pure white skin sets them apart, they worship the cult known as V-8 and form their hands into a 4+4 formation over their heads as if praying. The film is one giant chase scene and we have front row seats. But more than that, the movie evokes a yearning for a better life beyond the mundane banality of everyday existence.

Miller did not go into this production without years of preparation. The first draft of the script came from British artist and designer Brendan McCarthy inspired by the second film, “Road Warrior.” Miller obtained the working script from McCarthy, although he’d had ideas of his own that dated back the late 1990’s. He wanted to use the original cast. However, Mel Gibson’s problems and wars in Africa prevented the production company from going forward with principle photography. Delays resulted in Miller switching the main role from Gibson to Hardy in 2011 and principle photography finally started inside the Namibian Desert in 2012. Seale shot with 4K digital equipment that included Canon DSLR cameras set on rigs to offer constant change in point of view.

In 2012, Miller needed additional photography and had to match backgrounds as they moved the production company from Australia back to Namibia after they settled a claim the production had damaged pristine desert locations. Miller hired over 150 stuntpersons that included hires from Cirque du Soleil and Australian Olympic athletes to perform in the delicately staged stunts. Editor Supervisor Margaret Sixel (who also worked with Miller on “Babe” and “Happy Feet”) made close to 2,700 edits that averaged out to 22 cuts per minute. DOP Seale explained that Miller required nearly fifty percent of the movie shot under or over cranked (sped up or slowed down) to maximize the effect of the stunt work. WETA workshop (Lord of the Rings) designed and supplied all of the make-up effects and elaborate costume work along with 1,500 special effects shots. The music score is a mix composed of electronic music by Junkie XL and composers John Powell and Marco Beltrami.

Delayed for release due to post-production work, “Fury Road” finally premiered May 7, at the TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles; May 14 at Cannes; and wide release May 15 with digitally re-mastered versions for IMAX 3D. One of the highest rated movies of 2015 with 98% of the “cream of the crop” critics in agreement, “Mad Max – Fury Road” is a thrilling, imaginative, and insightful ride into the strange worlds of George Miller’s mind and not to be missed. Highly recommended.

[Chris Knipp]

Thanks for all the release information and historical background, which was needed. I should have rewatched the earlier films in the series before writing my review, and would like to watch it again, this time in "2D," which for me is always less distracting and more enjoyable.

Anthony Lane of The New Yorker (http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/25/high-gear-current-cinema-anthony-lane) loves the film and devotes a long review to it in the 25 May issue.

[Johann]

For one heart-pounding hour, the film opens with almost continual action sequences. We are thrust into Max’s place of desperation, as he is helpless to avoid his eventual death. We wonder if he will ever escape his bondage while being dragged into one of the greatest action sequences ever put on film. The film is one giant chase scene and we have front row seats.

Yes indeed. Agreed and agreed, cinemabon. The opening sequence is one of the best openings I've seen from any movie. Just full-throttle, unrelenting imagery. This movie is a Monster. I'm just so happy that it exists. Talk about a wild ride....The cuts as you mention are rapid-fire, and I loved it. Sheer kinetic energy. It never lets up, never disappoints. The only criticisms I might have are with Charlize Theron's character. We don't really learn a lot about her, and despite her shorn head & cool prosthetic arm she still seems too "pure" or too pretty to be mingling with these characters, who call her Boss.
But I can't knock it, really. What an empowering role for a woman.. kickin' ass and taking names...

All in all, Massive thumbs up for Fury Road.
God Bless George Miller.

[Chris Knipp]

I think I said I should probably see it again, but so far I haven't.
P.s. From Mike D'Angelo on Twitter (13 June):
New wack opinion! Having now seen all of the Mad Max films, my favorite thing in any of them is THUNDERDOME’s opening Bartertown sequence.

INDIEWIRE film critic Eric Kohn's list (http://www.indiewire.com/article/the-15-best-movies-of-2015-so-far-according-to-indiewires-film-critic-20150608?page=3) of best movies of 2015 so far (June)

10. WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
9. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
8. KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER
7. NED RIFLE
6. CHEATIN'
5. '71
4. GIRLHOOD
3. BUZZARD
2. A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE
1. HEAVEN KNOWS WHAT


I don't agree with this list, haven't even seen A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH, NED RIFLE or WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, and consider KUMIKO (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3940-KUMIKO-THE-TREASURE-HUNTER-(David-Zellner-2014)) to be an irritating and really terrible movie. BUT '71 (NYFF 2014 (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3800-New-York-Film-Festival-2014&p=32745#post32745)) is a fine action film and GIRLHOOD (http://www.chrisknipp.com/writing/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2949) is really well made French ghetto coming-of-ager and my veteran Lincoln Center event colleague Kurt Brokow of The Independent (http://independent-magazine.org/2014/03/new_directors_new_films_2014/) made the super-indie BUZZARD (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3686-New-Directors-New-Films-and-Film-Comment-Selects-2014&p=31888#post31888) one of his three 2014 New Directors/New Films Critic's Picks. I want to see A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE -- by Swedish director Roy Andersson, whose last picture,YOU, THE LIVING (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?2152-Roy-Andersson-You-the-Living-(2007)), I reviewed here (Nov. 2007) with reserved admiration from seeing it in Rome dubbed in Italian (it was in the Rome Film Festival) and wrote, "any good film buff really needs to get a look at this." Andersson's story ideas and mise-en-scène are unique and memorable.

What this shows is MAD MAX will come up on some 2015 Best Lists.

[Chris Knipp]

I also had problems with Theron, an referred to her accent, which is too generic and American, while the rest have salty Aussie-ish twangs.

[Chris Knipp]

Variety's featured critics gave their 2015 best-so-far movie lists.

JUSTIN CHANG

INSIDE OUT
MAD MAX
SEYMOUR: AN INTRODUCTION
THE TRIBE
WHITE GOD

SCOTT FOUNDAS

EX MACHINA
KUMIKO
LA SAPIENZA
MAD MAX
SEYMOUR: AN INTRODUCTION
PETER DEBRUGE

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY
THE HARVEST
INSIDE OUT
ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL
A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE

So two MAD MAXes, two SEYMOURs, and two SEYMOURs.

[Johann]

I also had problems with Theron, an referred to her accent, which is too generic and American, while the rest have salty Aussie-ish twangs.

Exactly. It's outlandish. She shows next to no emotion for most of the movie then she has this "Elias from Platoon" intense emotional release.
The camera angles are amazing in this. Your eyes are busy- you don't want to blink, you don't want to miss a shot. The 3-D really looked cool to me.
I recommend it, even tho you said it was an encumbrance Chris. It may not be mandatory, but I really enjoyed the 3-D.
Yes indeed, this one will be on everybody's top ten list for 2015. If not, then maybe you should stop watching movies altogether.
I saw a trailer for the rebooted Fantastic 4 and I'm not sure what to make of it. I didn't mind the previous two films, but a reboot may be in order. The Thing looked awesome. I also saw the poster and trailer for Zack Snyder's Batman Vs. Superman, and it looks fantastic. It will not disappoint. Zack Snyder is carving out a Mighty Fine Legacy...

[Chris Knipp]

I did watch this in 3D. It may be "good" 3D. One that is is LIFE OF PI, which I had to watch in 3D as the NYFF opening night film. But the discomfort of the glasses and the darkening of the images and the simplistic quality of the technology (like grandma's steeopticon) keep me convinced 3D has nothing I want.

Originally Charlize Theron didn't know English. I think she learned it from American TV shows. Anyway, doing an Australian accent is probably a bit out of her comfort zone. As for her showing no emotion, well, what can I say? A movie like this isn't exactly about acting, anyway, is it? But she didn't quite fit in with the rest of the scene and cast, I agree.

[Johann]

The character of "King Immortan Joe" is my favorite, after seeing this a second time. (Just as Awesome the second time)
His "look" is freakishly awesome. The mask on his face is quite the eye-grabber. His albino visage is like Rob Zombie in his Dragula video but even more freakish. That character is more interesting than Max himself!

This movie is indeed fantasy, as Chris mentions. But it's also got a rare quality for outlandish movies: white-knuckle intensity that you can't look away from. Even if you do, even if you roll your eyes, you will keep looking. Won't you, Voyeur? lol
The opening sequence should pull you in and keep you riveted until those wild credits roll.
If not, then perhaps Sunnygreen Community Retirement Living House is for you. We lawn bowl on Fridays and have lemonade soirees & knitting classes on weekends. No violence or shocks to your innocence at Sunnygreen! Call today. And experience shuffleboard like you've never experienced it before.

[Johann]

"A gleefully insane symphony of destruction" is how one reviewer on the IMDB called it.
I would say that's quite correct.

The "Doof Warrior" is also a character to behold. He's the Heavy Metal guitarist whose guitar throws flames.
He's pretty off-the-map Awesome. His scenes are sheer uncontrollable undulation. He's so wild he has to be tethered to the fucking rig...I mean, Jesus, have you ever seen a character like that? In any movie? EVER?

[Chris Knipp]

Well, you enthusiasm harmonizes with the rave reviews -- even from the French critics (Allociné (http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-125054/critiques/presse/#pressreview40023017) 4.4) and Brits (Guardian's (http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/may/14/mad-max-fury-road-review-extravagantly-bizarre) Peter Bradshaw 4/5 stars)/; I think the Metaceritic 89% is a bit over the top, to be honest. Saying your fave character beats Hardy's Max isn't saying much; he's very tame compared to Mel Gibson's original. But a female protag is currently market-savvy, it seems. I also commented on the deaf metal flame-thrower guitar with approval; that got my attention. He's been a passionate movie buff since the age of three, which would be for about fifteen years, and he's fan of Mireilles' City of God, as I am.

The line you quoted from IMDb comes from a young Australian aspiring filmmaker (http://www.abdillafilms.com/#!Mad-Max-Fury-Road-Review/c23fj/5566f7020cf235f8195f2eba) and sometime movie reviewer, I believe. Very young. Unless he's a plagiarist, which nowadays is always a possibility. This guy admits "my grammar is terrible) -- not without reason, yet he is certainly a vivid and enthusiastic writer: "old-blooded, botanically medieval, crusades-like, and horrifically thrilling—that's Fury Road.." From a sampling, I like his reviews.

http://www.chrisknipp.com/links/abdmax.jpg
STEVEN/SVEN, ABDIULLA FILMS
(http://www.abdillafilms.com/#!about-me/cgyc)
IMDb's Mad Max "User" reviews turn up some serious haters of the film. So not everybody is satisfied. Not that that is anything new. As I imply in my review, I recognize the merit of the piece but it wasn't quite my thing and some of it went over my head. I'm waiting for the program guide I can study before a second viewing -- without the darkening glasses.

On Allociné's critic page they quote Les Inrocuptibles' Jean-Marc Lalanne, Le film impressionne par son hyper contemporanéité. Il recycle tous les fétiches de la première trilogie puis les refond dans une forme totalement synchrone avec les codes visuels contemporains. "The film impresses for its super-contemporaneity. It recycles all the obsessions of the original trilogy and then reshapes them in a form that conforms completely with current visual codes." Or something like that.

[Johann]

If that's his picture...wow. What did he do to his head? It's been Adam Lamberted!
A passionate movie buff since age 3. Right-O.
IMDB reviewers can be sketchy. I haven't written anything there in over 10 years.
His review was the first one on the Fury Road page and I cherry-picked from it.
He's using phrases like "old-blooded"- what does that mean? and "botanically medieval"- what does that mean?
If he's 18 then he's probably trying to make his writing "sing" and he's digging really deep to impress. LOL
But as long as he keeps it fresh, he should be alright, right? ha ha

[Chris Knipp]

He comes up with some vivid phrases. There is youthful enthusiasm to burn. IMDb Users comments can be helpful. There are some very serious, well-informed writers. But I rarely look at them now. However, this is a way to reach even the director, sometimes, because the audience is so wide. I've made contacts through commenting there.

[Johann]

You seem to have a good system of cross-referencing other critics. I'm a little solipsistic about what I post, and I should read more varied points of view. I missed the first postings about Mad Max here- I thought nobody had seen it, like Avengers, Age of Ultron.

I like to cherry-pick. I find that method works. I cherry-pick the films I see and I cherry-pick reviews I like. It's just easier for me. Seems to me most IMDB reviewers are either really enthusiaistic movie-goers who want their opinion heard or are serious writers who have to dress to impress. The main thing I look for is a point to the review. As a friend of mine likes to remind me: "Don't write to say something! Write because you have something to say!"

You don't want to be like a "stupid fucking white man", right? You don't want to be someone who talks a lot but says nothing, right? lol

[Chris Knipp]

I want to know what critics think. Critics or the best ones provide a world of intelligent discourse about contemporary films that we are free to listen to and participate in. But I read reviews, esp. in the trade journals, more for information than their "point." Critics rarely have a "point" nowadays. Pauline Kael had a point. I guess Jonathan Rosenbaum (http://www.jonathanrosenbaum.net/) had one and still does though now he's not a day-to-day new movie reviewer he seems less visible. His website shows since his "retirement" he is still very active. Armond White has one but it's often just to hate everything! I also find British reviews and French ones extremely helpful for smarter wittier writing and a wider viewpoint. Americans often just don't "get" French films. I thought Americans weren't going to "get" the new UK Amy Winehouse doc, but apparently they are liking it after all. No bad reviews of it on Metacritic. I want to see it. Also recommend Liz Garbus' new Nina Simone doc.

[Johann]

It's an art to watch a film once and nail what you saw in a review. That is what separates the critic from the "buff", because once you write it, you can't really retract it. You must be conscious of what you saw and how you formulate your thoughts on what you saw. Sometimes it's harder than it looks. Sometimes you see a film and are loathe to type one word about it.
Sometimes you go overboard and end up off the mark (see my posts on Superman Returns. LOL). But if you can keep the fire in yer belly to keep on writing then all is good. I find it's best to say what you really think/feel, because if you don't you fall into the trap of being too cerebral and milquetoast- two qualities I loathe in people. I can be "scholarly" but I find it doesn't get my point across half the time. It's better to be a blunt-force objective writer, no?

[Johann]

I happen to believe Amy Winehouse was murdered. That's a controversial stand, but I believe it.
I've read more than once that Illuminati members propositioned her and she told them to fuck off.
Next thing you know, she's dead, a "predictable" death. Yeah, just as predictable as Princess Diana's, Heath Ledger's and Stanley Kubrick's.

[Chris Knipp]

You have a lot to say about reviews and review-writing but you hardly ever write a review; you should write more. I don't theorize, I just writ them. My reviews may be too "academic," but it is a primary function of reviews to inform viewers about what they will or have seen. My hat's off to those with fire in their belly, but I like the clever aperçcu, the witty observation, and I like to know who the dp's grandmother was.

[Johann]

I do too, but only for worthy films. Who cares about the DP for Howard the Duck? Right?

I should write more. I like it. cinemabon told me I should write a book on Kubrick. That's something to think about.

[Chris Knipp]

The dp for Howard the Duck was Richard H. Kline. I got that from the Variety review in five seconds. He would care, very much.

[Johann]

Maybe not. Can you google if he's proud of his work? Is he ashamed he got paid for that and gave it to audiences?

[Chris Knipp]

Look him up yourself. He's now 89. He is known for his work on Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Soylent Green (1973) and Body Heat (1981). He was twice nominated for an Oscar. He has nothing to be ashamed of; not all a cinematographer works on is a masterpiece. I'd much rather have Ed Lachman's career though.

[Johann]

You're missing my point. He does have something to be ashamed of. It's called Howard the Duck.
Have you seen Howard the Duck?
Have you seen Soylent Green for that matter? It's made out of pee-pul!
Star Trek:TMP was great.

[Chris Knipp]

I would consider the writer and director responsible for a movie failure not the cinematographer. But I have not see it. I like Soylent Green, classic. Spoiler you!

[Johann]

Fair enough. But the DP has some responsibility, wouldn't he?
To give credit, George Lucas has done very good by children and yet he has also done some unforgivable things.
Jar-jar Binks' dialogue alone is enough to drive you nuts...
But guess what? I'm excited for the new Star Wars. And can also appreciate Howard the Duck on one level: how bad can a hollywood movie be? Howard is Exhibit A. What were they thinking? Howard the Duck is actually a cool comic book character! And look what they did to him! Fanboy Smash! lol

[Chris Knipp]

I can't talk about Howard the Duck because I avoided it. Maybe it looks different now or has a certain cap flavor.

Of course the dp is responsible for the quality of the cinematography, but not the writing. But look up Ed Lachman -- he is the dp on a lot of cool titles, including Desperately Seeking Susan, Ken Park, The Virgin Suicides, Erin Brokovitch, Far from Heaven, A Prairie Home Companion, I'm Not There, [parts of] Siedl's "Paradise" trilogy, and lately, Todd Haynes' Carol, which was one of the big critical hits at Cannes this year. And I mean cool, not just good movies, but hip, sophisticated titles it would be fun to be associated with. I became aware of Ed Lachman through occasionally talking to him at Lincoln Center festival screenings.

I guess by George Lucas what I'd find most congenial are THX1138 and American Graffiti. I remember going to the first Star Wars with my father and his falling asleep and my understanding. Now that one seems nostalgic. I don't understand the sequence of the Star Wars movies. I didn't follow them, till I went to Revenge of the Sith because I like Hayden Christensen. I was very bored.

I guess I don't understand the concept of not being able to "forgive" a filmmaker. Why do I have to "forgive" him? If he does something I don't like, can't I just let it go and ignore it?

[Chris Knipp]

Some great classic films have been renovated in digital 4K restorations that are having brief theatrical releases and will be available on video.

Carol Reed's THE THIRD MAN

Satyajit Tay's APU TRILOGY (http://www.filmleaf.net/showthread.php?3996-Satyajit-Ray-s-APU-TRILOGY-restored-PATHER-PANCHALI)(which I've reviewed recently)

Alain Resnais' debut feature HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR (http://www.criterion.com/films/217-hiroshima-mon-amour)
A cornerstone of the French New Wave, the first feature from Alain Resnais is one of the most influential films of all time. A French actress (Emmanuelle Riva) and a Japanese architect (Eiji Okada) engage in a brief, intense affair in postwar Hiroshima, their consuming mutual fascination impelling them to exorcise their own scarred memories of love and suffering. With an innovative flashback structure and an Academy Award–nominated screenplay by novelist Marguerite Duras, Hiroshima mon amour is a moody masterwork that delicately weaves past and present, personal pain and public anguish

The Third Man and Hiroshima Mon Amour were great favorites of mine when they came out. They are movies that can be watched over and over with pleasure. I had never seen the second part of the Apu Trilogy, Aparajito/The Unvanquished, until recently when the 4K restoration became available, and seeing it for the first time was a wonderful, deeply moving experience. I can't compare finally seeing the whole Apu Trilogy over a weekend to anything else. I learned more about filmmaking and about life in those few days than at any one time before.

[Johann]

In The People Vs. George Lucas a fan says that he'll buy anything with the Star wars logo on it. That's a contract!
he shouts. Fans feel their loyalty to the brand (and Star Wars is an unbreakable brand folks) should be rewarded with movies that resemble what they remember from their childhoods. Writer/Legend Neil Gaiman said it: "Fans are like: 'We like that. We Want One More of Those Please'". If you deviate from the original brilliance, it had better be because of new brilliance, and George Lucas had no new brilliance. He damaged his own creation. I heard that he had ideas for the new Star Wars film and Disney said something to the effect of "That's nice, but we're going in a different direction". So we'll see what cinema history gets made this Christmas. I'm looking forward to it. Some fans will never forgive George Lucas for the Star Wars prequels. Indeed, there is even a song out there called "George Lucas raped my childhood".


Cinematographers are just as important to me as the writer and director. That's the holy trinity there, for movies. Without all three firing on all cylinders or all in sympatico, then chances are the film will suffer. Kubrick did all three jobs, usually. Quality control demanded it. In fact he did almost every single job in the movie business better than most. Kubrick will never need forgiveness. He needs and gets exaltation. :)

[Johann]

Awesome to hear you had a marvelous Satyajit Ray experience. Wish I could see that trilogy like you did.

[Johann]

Back to Mad Max: the IMDB reviews are hilarious.
The first three pages of user comments are people venting anger: "Awful!" "Horrible" "Juvenile" "Disgrace" "Travesty".

Huh? What planet are these people on? It ain't earth. Either that or they just don't know the difference between a bad film and a great one. Let's Be Clear: Mad Max: Fury Road is a masterpiece. Only one guy on the imdb called it that from what I could tell.

[Chris Knipp]

I think you will be able to see the new Apu Trilogy at least on DVD or Blu-ray.

Maybe you your trilogy to include the editor. A movie is a collective effort, even though some directors do everything, sometimes.

[Johann]

Yes, if you combine the writer and director (if they are REAL filmmakers) then the editor can take his place in the "Holy Trinity".
The only reason I did not include the editor is because he's ultimately not needed. How so?
See the Masterpiece Russian Ark and you'll know why.

I'm currently reading Williams s. Burroughs' The Place of Dead Roads (1983) and what a wild read it is. Here's some snippets:

To what extent did he succeed? Even to envisage success on this scale is a victory. A victory from which others may envision further.

There is not a breathing of the common wind
that will forget thee;
Thy friends are exaltations, agonies and love,
and man's inconquerable mind.


"Ka, Egyptians called it...soul, whatever. Well I got news for Ka.
It isn't invulnerable and it isn't immortal." Bickford draws his gun and fondles it.
"It's a magnetic field...it can be dispersed. POOF, no more Billy."

[Johann]

A sequel to Fury Road has been announced, with Tom Hardy reprising his role as Max.
It will be called THE WASTELAND. Hell yeah. Strike while the iron is hot Mr. Miller!

[Johann]

You know what sucks? There are no action figures for Mad Max: Fury Road due to its' R rating.
All I see is killer toys with this movie, Mang.
I want an amazeballs action figure of Max, King Joe and the Doof Warrior! Fanboy want toy! Pronto! lol
Vehicles would be bitchin' too...I mean come on, this flick is a kids wet dream for action figures...

[Chris Knipp]

Your argument for the irrelevancy of editors falls down because Russian Ark is not a masterpiece. It's interesting, like everything he's done, but sorely needs some editing. Greatly overrated here. AlloCine press rating 3.4 -- fair enough maybe. But a masterpiece would be 4+.

I'm not a fanboy and am very glad not to be. I'm happy for you that Mr. Mad Max Director is doing another Mad Max. He seems to have made these films his career. T.S. Eliot killed it with the title The Waste Land. It can never feel original after his great poem (published in 1923!).

I'm a big fan of William Burroughs myself, but don't think the Place of Dead Roads is one of his best. What are the lines from Wordsworth doing in there? They ain't his accomplishment. Your pen must have slipped, because of course the word is "unconquerable."

Have you listened to Burroughs' lectures and readings on YouTube? Classic. The composition of Naked Lunch has been compared to that of The Waste Land, by the way, because Ginzberg played as big a part in honing it down and shaping it into a masterpiece as Ezrad Pound did with Eliot's poem. Cronenberg need an editor for his Naked Lunch version, Ronald Sanders.

[Johann]

I'm gobsmacked by The Place of Dead Roads. Just his wordplay..and his ideas...I love that man. Homosexual hero here, so prudes and homophobes stay away...Bill writes better than 1000 straight writers combined.
The Wordsworth quote is not credited in my book. It's dropped in between the narrative, along with other quotes. It's written here as IN-conquerable. Not sure why.


Here's some more great lines from it:

Identify yourself with your gun. Take it apart and finger every piece of it. Think of the muzzle as a steel eye feeling for your opponent's vitals with a searching movement. Move forward in time and see the bullet hitting the target as an ACCOMPLISHED FACT.



The Christian God, and that goes for Allah, is a self-seeking asshole planning to cross us all up. Like all colonists he despises those he exploits. Who but an asshole wants to see people grovelling in front of him?

[Johann]

Hunter S. Thompson loved a quote from T.S. Eliot's THE HOLLOW MEN:
Between the idea
And the reality
Falls the shadow

I haven't read much Eliot myself. I can't comment of The Waste Land, but you sound right on that one, Chris.
I haven't heard Burroughs'lectures but I will check them out. His voice is cool to me. He also read a Jim Morrison poem on the STONED IMMACULATE tribute CD, where he also speaks about Jim's death, saying he never believed for a minute that Jim died in a bathtub.

This Burroughs book "The Place of Dead Roads" could be a movie, it's that good. It's the wild west and outer space in one tome!
Naked Lunch was good as a movie, I actually like it, but I think it could've been done better.

[Chris Knipp]

Burroughs read/lectured/performed for college audiences for money a lot after he became a youth culture icon, and he could descend into self-characature. But he was always unique and funny. His lectures at the Nairopa Institute show his intelligence and range of knowledge. His is a voice of clarity. Some, no many, of his ideas seem totally nutty to me, as his radical and perverse sexual fantasies do to straights; yet they come in the vehicle of smarts and wisdom. Let's just say he can get away with them.

It has been a long time since I read The Place of Dead Roads and I did not read it carefully. Opinions differ but I think after the first great book Naked Lunch and the followups of Nova Express and The Ticket that Exploded and even then, he was recycling material, and the stlistic and imaginative wonderment of the beginning became increasingly watered down despite the strong pose and interesting ideas and endless wit and humor. He turned into a great personality. It would be wise to listen to his warnings about what's happened or happening to the world.

Pasting in the quote (slightly altered) from Wordsworth borrows from Eliot, whom you would do well to check out, especially The Waste Land. The Hollow Men is easy stuff; The Waste Land would take a year of study to grasp. It's central to the early modernist literary understanding of the decline of the West.

[Johann]

Fair enough. I'm aware of Eliot and his importance, but I haven't dived into his stuff.

Hunter Thompson called Burroughs "A Shootist", a man who uses words like a gun.
He seemed to have a strong grasp of what ails mankind, and he turned it into art, like Kubrick did, post-Spartacus.
Burroughs and Jim Morrison have one thing in common: they both knew that it will all end badly.
The Place of Dead Roads does have nutty ideas, that's for sure, but I'll take it (especially Burroughs' style of nutty).
He can indeed get away with it. A select few can. ;)