wow weve had that movie for like 20 years and its still unopened … i thought t was just another lame parody … i might have to watch it when we move ,
(Speaking of Peter Greenaway)
His films are not going to be everyone’s cuppa but they definitely are unusual. He quite often has nudity but, unlike most directors, does not shy away from frontal male nudity. I suppose that would be a defense against the male gaze.
To add to his catalog here, The Pillow Book.
The film’s title, " The Pillow Book ", refers to an ancient Japanese diary written by Sei Shōnagon, whose actual name is believed to have been Kiyohara Nagiko, from whence the protagonist’s name in the film.
The film is narrated by Nagiko, a Japanese born model living in Hong Kong. Nagiko seeks a lover who can match her desire for carnal pleasure with her admiration for poetry and calligraphy. The roots of this obsession lie in her youth in Kyoto, when her father would write characters of good fortune on her face. Nagiko’s father celebrates her birthday retelling the Japanese creation myth and writing on her flesh in beautiful calligraphy, while her aunt reads a list of “beautiful things” from Sei Shōnagon’s Pillow Book . Nagiko’s aunt tells her that when she is twenty-eight years old, the official book of observations will be officially 1000 years old, and that she, Nagiko, will be the same age as Sei Shōnagon when she had written the book (in addition to sharing her first name). Nagiko also learns around this time that her father is in thrall to his publisher, “Yaji-san”, who demands sexual favours from her father in exchange for publishing his work.
That’s in the first ten minutes.
It’s been years since I’ve seen them. Might give them a rewatch in the far future, but there are many more films I have not seen that I would try first. I think he was trying too hard to be important, was trendy 25 years ago, not sure his movies have stood the test of time with regards to critical acclaim - complexity has some disadvantages. Certainly I could be wrong and others may disagree - or enjoy them more than I did at the time.
Coming Apart
Paradise: Love
Have 7 Up, 21 Up, 28 Up, etc. been mentioned?
No, but it’s one of my favorite documentaries.
“Little Fugitive”
I liked that movie a lot!
My nominee is Black Moon.
The Calamari Wrestler (2004) - One of few live-action films to take professional wrestling as a backdrop, this is almost certainly the only one with a cephalopodian main character. A squid and a fierce mantis shrimp play supporting roles.
Salomè (1972) - Apparently edited by someone with an extremely short attention span, this version of Oscar the Wilde’s play brilliantly casts a bald-headed Donyale Luna (the first black supermodel) in the title role; she looks like an alien, which is the predominant vibe of the flick as a whole. Not recommended for anyone’s viewing pleasure.
In the running has to be Pasolini’s Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom.
Don’t ever watch it. I wish I hadn’t.
Pasolini’s first two movies were very good (Accatone, Mamma Roma), but I have no interest in that movie, and usually got bored with his other movies. For an atheist, he sure had a lot of interest in religion!
Definitely. Check out his film The Gospel According to St. Matthew, which is shot absolutely straight from the gospel. It’s a refreshing change from the overly reverential religious film made at the same time, like King of Kings. There was something much more realistic about Pasolini’s stubble-bearded Jesus. You could actually believe that he would be walking around the Sea of Galilee barefoot and haranguing people.
Atheists and agnostics make the best plays and movies about religious subjects, I think because they treat them as real people and not as icons. In this vein, see George Bernard Shaw’s St. Joan or Robert Bolt’s A Man for All Seasons.
I do agree atheists can make a more interesting movie, because of the lack of dogma, and I tried watching that movie, but just couldn’t get into it. The same with every other one of his movies. I don’t know what happened after his first two movies…
Hilary Mantel gives a very different view of Sir Thomas More in Wolf Hall. The BBC miniseries of Wolf Hall is probably the best Tudor drama ever made.
Bruce Beresford’s movie Black Robe is exceptionally good at depicting religious faith, both Catholic and Native American, with believable three-dimensional characters and complex situations.
He had good source material. Brian Moore, who wrote the novel upon which the film was based, wrote a bunch of stuff with Catholic themes (which kind of unfairly put him in Graham Greene’s shadow). He was good at it
Brian Moore, in turn, also had good source material – the voluminous Jesuit Relations, written year by year in the early 17th century by the missionaries who were actually there, detailed reports sent back to their superiors in France.
Gutenberg has translations. Fascinating stuff, if you are into the early history of Canada.
Living in Oblivion is not necessarily the most unique movie I’ve ever seen, but it was different. I liked it.
Along with its artsy pretentiousness, I thought the Australian film “Bliss” was unique.
School Days with a Pig is based on a true story. A 6th grade class raise a piglet, P-chan, as a class project to teach them where their food truly comes from. At the end of the year they debate whether they will follow through and send P-Chan to the processor or leave it her to the third grade class. The acting and discussion during the final debate between the children is brilliant!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPAaT8MH8E4
This isn’t Babe! They decide to send P-Chan off to the processor…