The most recent of Larry Carlson’s intensely psychedelic shorts, “This Moment is Not”, features a monotone soundtrack along with the heavily reverberated insights of a mystic.
WEIRD HORIZON FOR THE WEEK OF 9/2/2011
A look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs, and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available on the official site links.
You know the doldrums of the summer blockbuster season are finally over when interesting movies start to trickle back into theaters…
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame (2010): A mystery/action epic set in a fantastical steampunk China; the titular detective investigates a spontaneous human combustion plague. Many are saying this is a return to form for once-great director Tsui Hark (Once Upon a Time in China, Zu Warriors). Opening in New York and LA, with playdates in major North American cities throughout September. Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame official site.
Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life [Gainsbourg: Vie Heroique] (2010): Biopic about the dashing chanteur who slept with Bardot and Birkin; it includes surrealistic elements (Gainsbourg’s libido, a grotesque, giant-nosed puppet, shares screen time with him). This one is currently buried deep in the reader-suggestion bin. Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life official site.
Love Exposure (2008): Shion Sono’s 4 hour (!) comedy epic involves Roman Catholicism, candid panty photos, and a butt-kicking, man-hating schoolgirl. It’s playing this week at Cinema Village in Greenwich Village, with future screenings highly unlikely. We’re hoping this exhibition is a harbinger of an imminent Region 1 DVD release. No official site, but this IFC News review (which describes the movie as ” totally bugs**t insane”) may get your juices flowing.
NEW ON DVD:
Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (1990): In one of his final movies, the world-class director films eight of his own dreams, including one where he enters the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh (who’s played by none other than Martin Scorsese). Normally, a re-release of Dreams would be cause to celebrate, but in this case it’s not. Here’s why: this is a “Warner Archives” release, which means an overpriced, features-free DV-R (the “Archives” are where Warners sends niche movies, such a silent films, that they conclude won’t make enough money to justify pressing DVDs). Further, the announcement page ominously warns that the film is not restored and has been made from the “best-quality video master currently available.” Since Warner’s 2003 DVD release is out of print, relegating Dreams to the Archives suggests they have no interest in investing in a quality production of this important film anytime in the near future. Buy Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (DV-R). You can also rent or buy Dreams via Video-on-Demand
“The Complete Jean Vigo”: Truth in advertising: the Criterion Collection has packaged up the complete film works of Vigo, the son of an anarchist who died at 29 of a lung infection after completing his first feature film. That film, of course, was L’Atalante (1934), the lightly surrealist tale about newlyweds living on a barge; also of interest is the then-controversial 41 minute short Zero de Conduite, a revolutionary tale about a French boarding school that was banned by the French censors until 1946. Buy “The Complete Jean Vigo” (The Criterion Collection)
Face to Face [Ansikte mot Ansikte] (1976): This neglected Ingmar Bergman movie about a psychiatrist hallucinating and undergoing a nervous breakdown has long been unavailable, despite the fact that both Bergman and star Liv Ulman were nominated for Oscars in 1977. The movie has been compared to the Certified Weird Repulsion, among other tales of feminine madness. Olive films snapped it up while the Criterion Collection was looking the other way. Buy Face to Face
Norwegian Ninja [Kommandør Treholt & ninjatroppen] (2010): An alternate-history story that re-imagines the career of diplomat Arne Treholt (who was convicted of treason for selling secrets to the Soviets) as a top ninja in a secret Scandinavian spy squad! We suspect a lot of the jokes in this absurdist political satire will go over the heads of non-Norwegians, but how can a weird movie site not at least mention a film entitled “Norwegian Ninja“? Buy Norwegian Ninja
Orpheus [Orphée] (1950): Frankly, there have not been a lot of weird new releases in 2011 (as compared to the banner year of 2010), but the Criterion Collection has had us working overtime with their special edition re-releases of old classics. Jean Cocteau’s Orpheus, an update of the Greek myth about the poet who travels to the underworld in search of his lost love, is one of Surrealism’s greatest achievements. Dig those wavy mirrors. Another film currently languishing in our reader-suggested review queue (that should get bumped up with this release). Buy Orpheus (Criterion Collection)
Wrecked (2011): Psychological thriller starring Adrien Brody as a man who wakes up trapped in a wrecked car with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He hallucinates a lot. The fact this bravura one-man show performance by relatively big star Brody went straight to DVD does not bode well; hopefully, it was just too weird to be released in theaters. Buy Wrecked
NEW ON BLU-RAY:
“Coen Brothers Collection”: Of course we love the Coen Brothers, but the only film in this four movie collection that might even be called mildly “weird” is Raising Arizona, the ultra-quirky story of a cop and a crook who get married, find out they’re infertile, and kidnap a baby. The other three movies—the neo-noir Blood Simple, the period gangster film Miller’s Crossing, and the hit black comedy Fargo—are all very accomplished, but fairly conventional. A 2007 DVD box set from MGM (buy
“The Complete Jean Vigo”: See description in DVD above. Buy “The Complete Jean Vigo” [Blu-ray]
Deadgirl (2008): Read our capsule review. This controversial film explores what happens when two horny teenage boys find a beautiful undead woman on a slab and decide to keep her as a sex slave. Is it misogynist, feminist, or just plain exploitation-ist? Buy Deadgirl [Blu-ray]
If… (1968): The first film in the Lindsay Anderson/Malcolm McDowell “Mick Travis” saga (which continued with the Certified Weird O Lucky Man! and wrapped up with Britannia Hospital) is set at a British boarding school, and is one of the greatest (and weirdest) anti-authority howls of the 1960s & 70s. This Criterion Blu-ray adds no new features over and above what was on the 2007 2-disc DVD. Buy If . . . [Blu-ray]
The Nightmare Before Christmas 3-D (1993): Read our review. This is the basically the same as Disney’s existing DVD/Blu-ray release, except that it adds 3-D capability for the few TVs that are set up for a third dimension. Note that Nightmare was not originally released in 3-D. The release includes a 3-D Blu-ray, a regular Blu-ray, a DVD and a digital copy. Buy The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D [Blu-ray]
Orpheus [Orphée] (1950): See description in DVD above. Buy Orpheus [Blu-ray]
“Radley Metzger’s Erotica Psychedelica”: Three of Metzger’s well-shot, pre-hardcore features: Camille 2000 (1969), The Lickerish Quartet (1970), and Score (1972). We can confirm that The Lickerish Quartet, at least, is pretty psychedelic. This three-disc limited edition (3,500 units) from Cult Epics comes with a soundtrack and “collectible lenticular artwork” (?) Buy “Radley Metzger’s Erotica Psychedelica” [Blu-ray]
Raising Arizona (1975): If you want to skip the non-weird films in the Coen Brothers collection listed above, you can buy this single disc offering from Fox. Buy Raising Arizona [Blu-ray]
Wrecked (2011): See description in DVD above. Buy Wrecked [Blu-ray]
What are you looking forward to? If you have any weird movie leads that I have overlooked, feel free to leave them in the COMMENTS section.
M22: THE MOZART OPERAS AT SALZBURG (2006): LE NOZZE DE FIGARO
* This is the first in a series on the 2006 Salzburg Festival, in which the 22 filmed operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were diversely and, sometimes, radically staged by the most innovative directors working in opera today. The results provoked wildly mixed reactions and controversy, proving that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart remains a vital voice in the world of 21st century music.
In 1786, Le nozze di Figaro, the first of Mozart’s operas with librettist Fr. Lorenzo Da Ponte, premiered in Vienna. Contrary to legend, the opera was a considerable success, with a libretto pre-approved by emperor Joseph II. Arguably, it is the greatest of Mozart’s operas, although some musicologists give that honorary title to Don Giovanni (also written with Da Ponte). Still, the overall consensus is that Figaro is not only Mozart’s greatest opera, but it may very well be the greatest opera to date by any composer of any time, period.
The opera was based off of Pierre Beaumarchais’ play (one of three Figaro plays), which had a well-earned reputation as subversive and revolutionary (Beaumarchais was also Voltaire’s publisher). That Joseph II approved Da Ponte’s libretto was a little short of miraculous. While the heavier political implications were removed from the text, the defiant, satirical tone ridiculing the aristocracy was, of course, the meat of the plot (the servants eventually best their autocratic master). The opera, like the play, resonated with the masses. With that in mind, a non-revolutionary Figaro seems an oxymoron.
Over two hundred years later, The Marriage of Figaro remains an extraordinarily three dimensional work, which does not flinch from portraying deeply flawed characters. Numerous filmed versions of the opera have been released on DVD, but the 2006 Salzburg entry may be the most uncompromising to date. There is, of course, Peter Sellars’ mid-nineties version (which, aptly, takes place in Trump Tower), but the line-up of the 2006 Continue reading M22: THE MOZART OPERAS AT SALZBURG (2006): LE NOZZE DE FIGARO
LIST CANDIDATE: ZAZIE DANS LE METRO (1960)
Zazie dans le Metro has been promoted onto the List of the 366 Weirdest Films ever made. Comments are closed on this post. Please visit the official Zazie dans le Metro Certified Weird entry.
DIRECTED BY: Louis Malle
FEATURING: Catherine Demongeot, Philipe Noiret, Vittorio Caprioli, Carla Marlier, Annie Fratellini, Yvonne Clech, Antoine Roblot, Jacques Dufilho, Hubert Deschamps
PLOT: Young Zazie goes to Paris and stays with her exotic dancer uncle; the only thing she wants to see is the Metro, but the workers are on strike, so she explores the city instead.
WHY IT MIGHT MAKE THE LIST: It might make the List thanks to its insane, anarchic soul. A minor character casually kills a waiter by firing a woman’s high-heeled shoe at him, and a parrot transforms into a dog when it’s sprayed with seltzer water; something of this sort happens in just about every detail-packed frame of the film. Zazie’s transvestite uncle proclaims the film’s manifesto: “All Paris is a dream, Zazie is a reverie, and all this is a reverie within a dream…”
COMMENTS: Raymond Queneau’s 1959 comic novel “Zazie dans le Metro” was a surprise sensation in France; with its wordplay, neologisms and nonsense passages, it earned the author comparisons to a French James Joyce. When Louis Malle decided to adapt it, he wanted to fracture the language of film in the same way that Queneau twisted words. Malle used a constant barrage of editing and camera tricks as his main strategy for achieving this goal: speeding up and slowing down the film (sometimes within the same shot), having people unexpectedly pop into and out of the frame, and using rear projection effects and tricks of perspective. There’s a shot where Zazie’s uncle talks to her as she sits on his right, and then the camera seamlessly swings around to show her now seated on his left; in another bit, one speaker in a conversation inexplicably appears in blackface in a reaction shot lasting under a second. These editing pranks fit perfectly with the movie’s absurd scenarios: this is a film where the protagonists climb the Eiffel Tower and find a sea captain and a shivering polar bear at the top. As she wanders about Paris, Zazie encounters a strange cast of characters, starting with her uncle (an artiste who dances in drag) and his wife Albertine (who has a mysterious power to hypnotize men with her beauty), and eventually including a dirty old man, an amorous widow with white and lavender hair, a parrot (who complains about the other characters’ yakking) and the aforementioned polar bear, among other eccentric denizens of Paris (the city is virtually a character itself). Zazie almost has the form of a satire Continue reading LIST CANDIDATE: ZAZIE DANS LE METRO (1960)
LIST CANDIDATE: PROXIMA (2007)
DIRECTED BY: Carlos Atanes
FEATURING: Oriol Aubets, Anthony Blake, Manuel Solás, Abel Folk
PLOT: Just as his life seems to be falling apart, aimless sci-fi nerd Tony (Aubets) becomes accidentally entangled with a doomsday cult, a time-traveling conspiracy, and new method of interstellar transportation. Or does he?
WHY IT MIGHT MAKE THE LIST: Atanes is explicitly trafficking in weird material here, and PROXIMA certainly has its fair share of strange imagery and plot twists, but its elaborate scenario often feels culled from classics like Videodrome and The Matrix. Originality aside, though, its abundance of imagination and ambiguity might be enough to scrape onto the List.
COMMENTS: Attached to anything else, the tagline “The Last Science Fiction Movie” might sound hubristic. But it’s absolutely appropriate to PROXIMA, an apocalyptic love letter to sci-fi and its fans. Atanes puts his obsession with the genre front and center, and the film is dotted with casual references to Blade Runner, Star Wars, and Jean-Luc Picard. Perhaps the most telling such reference is “Felix Cadecq,” the name of the Kilgore Trout-like author (Solàs) whose revelations set Tony’s adventure in motion—and a Spanish homonym for “Philip K. Dick,” whose pet themes form the backbone of PROXIMA‘s mind-bending world.
But Atanes, as liberally as he may borrow from the sci-fi canon, never settles for pure pastiche. The opening scenes, for example, are refreshingly slice-of-life, patiently building up to the main plot with subtle hints of weirdness. We see Tony preparing to close his failing video store, playing Halo as his girlfriend dumps him, and visiting a convention with his best friend Lucas (get it?), balancing sympathy with brual honesty in its depiction of his slacker lifestyle. But everything changes after Tony and Lucas attend a panel featuring the eccentric old Cadecq, who vows never to write again. Instead, he hawks his new CD “Journey to Proxima,” which he claims will guide its listeners into contact with extraterrestrial life.
From this point on, the film is a series of left turns, with detours into amnesia, astral projection, alien technology, and false imprisonment. By the time Tony’s drifting through space in what looks like a magical refrigerator, it’s unclear exactly how each twist is related, beyond a loose sense that something epic is going on. At times, the movie comes across like the breathless sci-fi equivalent of North by Northwest. Alas, Tony’s sojourns into space also reveal PROXIMA‘s greatest weakness: its budget is tragically outstripped by its imagination, and its special effects are universally cheap and shoddy.
That said, it’s impressive how far Atanes goes with so little money, and PROXIMA ends with a string of stunning, otherworldly visions mixing its meager effects with real-world landscapes. Furthermore, at no point is PROXIMA entirely beholden to its effects budget: unlike many Philip K. Dick adaptations, it stays away from action-oriented set-pieces, sticking to a more introspective, cerebral realm. It’s less about the adventure itself, and more about the egotism of imagining oneself at the center of a vast, interplanetary saga. As Cadecq says early in the film, “We are the protagonists now!” But as Tony must learn, bridging the gulf between sci-fi and real life isn’t all it”s cracked up to be.
WHAT THE CRITICS SAY: