The Film Lounge

[radiomensch]

The Nazi sympathies are fairly well-known in Scandinavia at least, but the narrative generally brushes it aside as youthful ignorance and conditioning and that he abandoned these sympathies before he started directing films. I am therefore surprised by the accusation that he was actively anti-left to the point that he would threaten students to not make left-leaning films. I wonder if there's more to that story, though given his background it is by no means unbelievable.

I had also not heard that there was a draft of his autobiography where he admits to rape ... Note, I followed the source, and while largely behind a paywall, the intro seems to discredit/sow doubt about this claim. I searched for other sources in English, found none and it is the only article on the topic in Swedish it seems, so this section seems questionable.

- In a few measured lines in the book "Bilder/Images" (1990), Ingmar Bergman hints his attitude towards the left-wing winds of the 60s. With "Skammen / Shame" (1968) Bergman got more directly involved with the political movement and situation in Sweden. Even though he does not mention the Vietnam War at all in "Arbetsboken 1955-1974" (2018), he was clearly proud to have made a political fit into the external reality.

[Lakigigar]

The Nazi sympathies are fairly well-known in Scandinavia at least, but the narrative generally brushes it aside as youthful ignorance and conditioning and that he abandoned these sympathies before he started directing films. I am therefore surprised by the accusation that he was actively anti-left to the point that he would threaten students to not make left-leaning films. I wonder if there's more to that story, though given his background it is by no means unbelievable.

I had also not heard that there was a draft of his autobiography where he admits to rape ... Note, I followed the source, and while largely behind a paywall, the intro seems to discredit/sow doubt about this claim. I searched for other sources in English, found none and it is the only article on the topic in Swedish it seems, do this section seems questionable.

- In a few measured lines in the book "Bilder/Images" (1990), Ingmar Bergman hints his attitude towards the left-wing winds of the 60s. With "Skammen / Shame" (1968) Bergman got more directly involved with the political movement and situation in Sweden. Even though he does not mention the Vietnam War at all in "Arbetsboken 1955-1974" (2018), he was clearly proud to have made a political fit into the external reality.

I don't know what you exactly mean by that with regards to the "Vietnam War"?

[Lakigigar]

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/j ... ker-sequel

Lady Gaga in talks to star as Harley Quinn in Joker 2 which is supposed to be a musical.

[Lakigigar]

How Ryan Gosling looks in the new Barbie film, where he will play Ken.

[hurluberlu]

Almost throw up my breakfast

[Kublai Khan]

Is it a Barbie future set in the future? He looks really old. (the silver hair doesn't help)

[kongs_speech]

Is it a Barbie future set in the future? He looks really old. (the silver hair doesn't help)

Kens of the Future

[GruesomeTwosome]

Finally a new Andrew Dominik film, the long-time-coming Blonde will be on Netflix in September. I’m attracted to this just as a Dominik fan more than being much interested in Marilyn Monroe, but it sounds like this is taking a different approach than your standard “biopic”, thankfully. Oh, and this is rated the rare NC-17.

[peeptoad]

Finally a new Andrew Dominik film, the long-time-coming Blonde will be on Netflix in September. I’m attracted to this just as a Dominik fan more than being much interested in Marilyn Monroe, but it sounds like this is taking a different approach than your standard “biopic”, thankfully. Oh, and this is rated the rare NC-17.

I'm really looking forward to this one. I had a brief, Marilyn obsession when I was like 9 or 10.

Speaking to Screen Daily, Dominik responded to reports that it may be rated NC-17, which the MPA hasn’t confirmed yet but he believes is a “horseshit” decision. “It’s a demanding movie. If the audience doesn’t like it, that’s the fucking audience’s problem. It’s not running for public office,” he added. “It’s an NC-17 movie about Marilyn Monroe, it’s kind of what you want, right? I want to go and see the NC-17 version of the Marilyn Monroe story.”

https://thefilmstage.com/andrew-dominik ... ing-movie/

[kongs_speech]

Finally a new Andrew Dominik film, the long-time-coming Blonde will be on Netflix in September. I’m attracted to this just as a Dominik fan more than being much interested in Marilyn Monroe, but it sounds like this is taking a different approach than your standard “biopic”, thankfully. Oh, and this is rated the rare NC-17.

I'm really looking forward to this one. I had a brief, Marilyn obsession when I was like 9 or 10.

Speaking to Screen Daily, Dominik responded to reports that it may be rated NC-17, which the MPA hasn’t confirmed yet but he believes is a “horseshit” decision. “It’s a demanding movie. If the audience doesn’t like it, that’s the fucking audience’s problem. It’s not running for public office,” he added. “It’s an NC-17 movie about Marilyn Monroe, it’s kind of what you want, right? I want to go and see the NC-17 version of the Marilyn Monroe story.”

https://thefilmstage.com/andrew-dominik ... ing-movie/

The rating has been confirmed since that article was posted. It was in an MPA bulletin a few months ago and is even in the trailer.

Definitely my most anticipated for the rest of 2022, though it already was before this teaser.

[peeptoad]

Finally a new Andrew Dominik film, the long-time-coming Blonde will be on Netflix in September. I’m attracted to this just as a Dominik fan more than being much interested in Marilyn Monroe, but it sounds like this is taking a different approach than your standard “biopic”, thankfully. Oh, and this is rated the rare NC-17.

I'm really looking forward to this one. I had a brief, Marilyn obsession when I was like 9 or 10.

Speaking to Screen Daily, Dominik responded to reports that it may be rated NC-17, which the MPA hasn’t confirmed yet but he believes is a “horseshit” decision. “It’s a demanding movie. If the audience doesn’t like it, that’s the fucking audience’s problem. It’s not running for public office,” he added. “It’s an NC-17 movie about Marilyn Monroe, it’s kind of what you want, right? I want to go and see the NC-17 version of the Marilyn Monroe story.”

https://thefilmstage.com/andrew-dominik ... ing-movie/

The rating has been confirmed since that article was posted. It was in an MPA bulletin a few months ago and is even in the trailer.

Definitely my most anticipated for the rest of 2022, though it already was before this teaser.

Yes, I know. I probably should have said that when I posted. That quote made me laugh when I read part of the interview originally.

[kongs_speech]

I'm really looking forward to this one. I had a brief, Marilyn obsession when I was like 9 or 10.



https://thefilmstage.com/andrew-dominik ... ing-movie/

The rating has been confirmed since that article was posted. It was in an MPA bulletin a few months ago and is even in the trailer.

Definitely my most anticipated for the rest of 2022, though it already was before this teaser.

Yes, I know. I probably should have said that when I posted. That quote made me laugh when I read part of the interview originally.

Tone is a hard thing on the internet, I didn't mean for that to sound condescending or correcting you at all. I'm really sorry about that.

[peeptoad]

No sweat, kong. My post wasn't exactly clear to begin with...

[Ebbywebby]

Why do we need more movies about Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley *now*?

[3eyes]

Don't know where else to post this:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-ent ... tle-jokes/

[Torgo]

Get the hype for Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021) going!
Top-reviewed A24 release as of now, which isn't exactly easy being the critics darlings they are https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/gu ... es-ranked/

[OldAle1]

Get the hype for Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021) going!
Top-reviewed A24 release as of now, which isn't exactly easy being the critics darlings they are https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/gu ... es-ranked/

Saw a trailer for it a couple of weeks ago while watching - something else, forget what. Maybe Benediction, I remember at least one preview at that screening being something completely wrong for it's placement. Anyway I'm all for different kinds of animation, especially in the cinema where I'm REALLY lucky if one new Japanese film plays here in a year, but I dunno, I just get a particular kind of cute-heartwarming-new agey vibe from this that does nothing for me. Now there are films with such vibes that I've loved but just going on the trailer, I'm not inspired. Hopefully I'll read something from somebody I trust on it, and hopefully it will actually play within an hour of me and I'll actually get the chance to see it on the big screen if I want to.

[GruesomeTwosome]

Get the hype for Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021) going!
Top-reviewed A24 release as of now, which isn't exactly easy being the critics darlings they are https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/gu ... es-ranked/

Saw a trailer for it a couple of weeks ago while watching - something else, forget what. Maybe Benediction, I remember at least one preview at that screening being something completely wrong for it's placement. Anyway I'm all for different kinds of animation, especially in the cinema where I'm REALLY lucky if one new Japanese film plays here in a year, but I dunno, I just get a particular kind of cute-heartwarming-new agey vibe from this that does nothing for me. Now there are films with such vibes that I've loved but just going on the trailer, I'm not inspired. Hopefully I'll read something from somebody I trust on it, and hopefully it will actually play within an hour of me and I'll actually get the chance to see it on the big screen if I want to.

Yeah, I get the same vibe from the Marcel the Shell movie trailer (and I have seen the the first of the Marcel short films that the same team made about a decade ago. I think they made two more over the years). I will still likely go see it if it comes to a nearby theater, as I’ll take any non-blockbuster counter-programming I can get during the summer, but I will say that it doesn’t look like my kind of thing. Cutesy to the point of cloying is what I got from the first short and the trailer for this film (people seem to love that voice that Jenny Slate does…not me).

[mightysparks]

Fixing up formatting issues for the Highest Rated list and found this interesting director: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0186335/

[kongs_speech]

https://thereveal.substack.com/p/agains ... -righteous

Scott Tobias explains how the anti-humanity of Dogville is extremely relevant to current American life.

[zuma]

https://thereveal.substack.com/p/agains ... -righteous

Scott Tobias explains how the anti-humanity of Dogville is extremely relevant to current American life.

Thanks.

[OldAle1]

https://thereveal.substack.com/p/agains ... -righteous

Scott Tobias explains how the anti-humanity of Dogville is extremely relevant to current American life.

Thanks for that. I remember Scott being a rather pessimistic, misanthropic guy so not surprised he's a fan of this film.

I had very mixed feelings about it, the one time I saw it (new), but that's been almost 20 years now, wow, and I really couldn't go into detail. I'm not necessarily bugged by misanthropy - I think it's a very realistic state to be in, frankly, given the history of mankind - but there are filmmakers (and writers, and other artists of course) who seem to be almost happy about their misanthropy, or seem to have decided that human beings can't be saved, and so why bother trying to be empathetic - and those I tend to have problems with. The way I see it -

Hopeless misanthropes who are fine with armageddon, because they see humanity as unable to be saved - Von Trier, Haneke, Altman; perhaps George Carlin and H.G. Wells in their late years, Bergman

Misanthropes who still hold out hope for humanity: Lav Diaz, Mark Twain, Vonnegut, Terence Davies

Not sure which group: Stanley Kubrick

Feel free to discuss, disagree, denounce

It should go without saying that most people on these lists are atheists; one thing religion pushes into you is a belief on some level of the value of mankind - not sure you can really say you're a True Believing Christian, Buddhist, Jew, Muslim etc if you think humanity is worthless. They're also all men; I'm sure there are misanthropic female artists out there but damned if I can think of any. I personally would call Ayn Rand a misanthrope, but she wouldn't have labeled herself such. I also wouldn't label her an "artist" for that matter. Anyway, I tend to have more problems with that first group, though I can deal with Carlin (because of funny) and the early, less-dour H.G. Wells.

And there's also the irony that I'm sure only a few hundred million people have noticed that all these insanely awful, anti-human decisions that have been handed down in the last week are coming from a group of lawyers who uniformly were raised in the bosom of one church which supposedly cares about "the sanctity of life" above all other things. Somehow I don't see a SCOTUS made up of people like LVT or Michael Haneke or Stanley Kubrick caring so little about the actual lives of their countrymen and women.

[St. Gloede]

They're also all men; I'm sure there are misanthropic female artists out there but damned if I can think of any. I personally would call Ayn Rand a misanthrope, but she wouldn't have labeled herself such. I also wouldn't label her an "artist" for that matter. Anyway, I tend to have more problems with that first group, though I can deal with Carlin (because of funny) and the early, less-dour H.G. Wells.

Kira Muratova and Vera Chytilová should fit quite nicely into one of your categories, especially in their later films, as they are farces with collections of usually quite amoral, cowardly and despicable characters. Marguerite Duras is another one my thoughts instantly went to.

Claire Denis could also be argued to belong in group 2 based on a decent few of her films.

Also, while she is anything else in person and almost all of her career is filled with charming and marvellous works, young Varda had a mean streak. Think Le bonheur in particular, but also her follow-up The Creatures and even the predecessor Cleo has the traits.

[OldAle1]

They're also all men; I'm sure there are misanthropic female artists out there but damned if I can think of any. I personally would call Ayn Rand a misanthrope, but she wouldn't have labeled herself such. I also wouldn't label her an "artist" for that matter. Anyway, I tend to have more problems with that first group, though I can deal with Carlin (because of funny) and the early, less-dour H.G. Wells.

Kira Muratova and Vera Chytilová should fit quite nicely into one of your categories, especially in their later films, as they are farces with collections of usually quite amoral, cowardly and despicable characters. Marguerite Duras is another one my thoughts instantly went to.

Claire Denis could also be argued to belong in group 2 based on a decent few of her films.

Also, while she is anything else in person and almost all of her career is filled with charming and marvellous works, young Varda had a mean streak. Think Le bonheur in particular, but also her follow-up The Creatures and even the predecessor Cleo has the traits.

Good examples! I haven't really seen enough from Muratova or Chytilová but I should have thought of Duras - although I'm not sure I'd actually call her a misanthrope, I definitely can't completely disagree with that assessment either. And Le bonheur is one of the most misanthropic films ever! But in a good way

Not sure I'd agree with Denis being considered such, overall - yes, a few films are pretty bleak, but then there are Vendredi soir and 35 rhums which certainly feel life-affirming in most respects; I think the latter is one of the warmest, most purely "human" films I've seen in the last few months. She seems more - schizophrenic I guess - in her attitude toward humanity. Which seems pretty reasonable to me.

[Ebbywebby]

Breillat? Wertmuller? Maybe. I recently saw Lucile Hadzihalilovic's "Evolution," and that certainly didn't love mankind. Or even womankind.

I don't think I've seen anything by Muratova.

[Torgo]

Another BIG CAST there: Amsterdam by David O. Russell, coming this fall

[kongs_speech]

Pardon my frankness, but the agenda this article is pushing, re: the Sight and Sound poll, makes me wanna fucking puke. I hate everything this woman has to say about it, especially the last paragraph that praises zoomers for thinking 13 Going on 30 (not even a good rom-com) is equal to Fellini. This whole trend of overzealous anti-elitism needs to die. Gatekeeping is certainly not all bad. Otherwise, we have no culture and every idiot's opinion is seen as equal to scholars and experts.

https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/ ... so-serious

[PeacefulAnarchy]

It would be a more interesting article if it actually pushed some weird agenda rather than a mealymouthed "both sides have a point and I'm too much of a coward to even stake an actual position in that vast middle other than some blind hope for a better future"

[Torgo]

Pardon my frankness, but the agenda this article is pushing, re: the Sight and Sound poll, makes me wanna fucking puke. I hate everything this woman has to say about it, especially the last paragraph that praises zoomers for thinking 13 Going on 30 (not even a good rom-com) is equal to Fellini. This whole trend of overzealous anti-elitism needs to die. Gatekeeping is certainly not all bad. Otherwise, we have no culture and every idiot's opinion is seen as equal to scholars and experts.

https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/ ... so-serious

"The answer, really, is that you can’t. It’s fundamentally absurd to rank art. You can only try, in your own lopsided, subjective way, to fashion a list of ‘greatest films’ that you love and that, in turn, you want other people to see and love."

Huh you don't effing say?!


ABOLISH ALL POLLS

[outdoorcats]

Pardon my frankness, but the agenda this article is pushing, re: the Sight and Sound poll, makes me wanna fucking puke. I hate everything this woman has to say about it, especially the last paragraph that praises zoomers for thinking 13 Going on 30 (not even a good rom-com) is equal to Fellini. This whole trend of overzealous anti-elitism needs to die. Gatekeeping is certainly not all bad. Otherwise, we have no culture and every idiot's opinion is seen as equal to scholars and experts.

https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/ ... so-serious

There are some interesting points in that article mixed in with the other stuff. I agree that Barry Jenkins and Celine Sciamma for example, deserve to be in the canon of great filmmakers, and you could argue the main reason they're not is just because of their newness. The attitude towards new cinema and whether it can rank against the greats seems to usually be "let's wait 40 years and see what still holds up." That certainly wasn't always the case; a look at the older Sight and Sound polls shows that Bicycle Thieves and L'Avventura were immediately widely acclaimed as all-time masterpieces.

That being said, how many kids these days are binge-watching reality TV in between watching "rare Edgar G. Ulmer films"? That last part is impressive. I've seen exactly 2 Ulmer films (you guessed it, it's Detour and The Black Cat!) and haven't even heard of most of the rest. But OK, the point they are trying to make is that kids nowadays are more likely to mix-and-match "high" and "low" entertainment into their diet. And this is a new trend. Is it? Wasn't that one of the driving forces behind the French New Wave critics-turned-directors (particularly their reassessment of the artistic value of American westerns and crime films)? Isn't that kind of what Tarantino is famous for? Heck, as far as conflating highbrow and lowbrow, isn't that kind of what defined The Decameron and The Canterbury Tales in the 14th century?

I'm also pretty sure most zoomers haven't heard of 13 Going on 30. Author showing their age there. Or they are just thinking of someone incredibly specific, like a precocious niece.

[Ebbywebby]

This whole trend of overzealous anti-elitism needs to die.

OK, Miss "Up with Vulgar Auteurism."

That article annoyed me too. So many words poured into such a tired, banal point. As if she's the first one who thought of it. And she sounds like another of those people who want to bend over backward to elevate "Black, queer and women filmmakers" beyond what the work strictly deserves.

[Onderhond]

Another of my hopes is to see an inclusion of younger films on this year’s aggregate. Few were under 40 years old in the last poll ... In 2022, backing recent masterpieces like Moonlight (2016), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), or Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) would provide some contemporary vibrancy to proceedings

Laughed pretty hard at this.

[kongs_speech]

This whole trend of overzealous anti-elitism needs to die.

OK, Mr. "Up with Vulgar Auteurism."

That article annoyed me too. So many words poured into such a tired, banal point. As if she's the first one who thought of it. And she sounds like another of those people who want to bend over backward to elevate "Black, queer and women filmmakers" beyond what the work strictly deserves.

I don't want to make a big deal of it, but can you please not misgender me? I'm just calmly saying as a friend that it hurts my feelings.

But yeah, I agree with you. I think the important thing about inclusion is to give diverse artists a fair chance, not to say that they're automatically the greatest (with the heavy implication that it's bigoted to disagree). Providing an equal opportunity for recognition is essential but that isn't the same as overdoing it like the Criterion Collection has been doing recently with some sub-par releases. If the 2022 incarnation of the Sight & Sound list -- historically the most important film canon list -- turns out to resemble the pathetic update Rolling Stone did a while back to their Top 500 albums list, I will be sorely disappointed and it will be a loss for cinema as a whole.

[Ebbywebby]

Sorry about the "Mr."

[brokenface]

Bad news out of Iran where Jafar Panahi has been arrested again, following a couple of other directors in the past week - Mohammad Rasoulof (There is No Evil) and Mostafa Aleahmad

[outdoorcats]

Bad news out of Iran where Jafar Panahi has been arrested again, following a couple of other directors in the past week - Mohammad Rasoulof (There is No Evil) and Mostafa Aleahmad

It's honestly a miracle that Iranian cinema is as great as it is these days, with the Iranian gov't seemingly doing everything in its power to squash it. Panahi was apparently arrested when he went to the prosecutor's office to ask about Rasoulof. Who was arrested for a social media post asking police to 'put their guns down' in clashes with protestors.

(Until I read these articles I didn't even realize that a more conservative government had taken over last year.)

[kongs_speech]

Bad news out of Iran where Jafar Panahi has been arrested again, following a couple of other directors in the past week - Mohammad Rasoulof (There is No Evil) and Mostafa Aleahmad

It's honestly a miracle that Iranian cinema is as great as it is these days, with the Iranian gov't seemingly doing everything in its power to squash it. Panahi was apparently arrested when he went to the prosecutor's office to ask about Rasoulof. Who was arrested for a social media post asking police to 'put their guns down' in clashes with protestors.

(Until I read these articles I didn't even realize that a more conservative government had taken over last year.)

I'd imagine they'll be gunning for the guy who made Holy Spider too. What a disgrace.

[OldAle1]

Bad news out of Iran where Jafar Panahi has been arrested again, following a couple of other directors in the past week - Mohammad Rasoulof (There is No Evil) and Mostafa Aleahmad

It's honestly a miracle that Iranian cinema is as great as it is these days, with the Iranian gov't seemingly doing everything in its power to squash it. Panahi was apparently arrested when he went to the prosecutor's office to ask about Rasoulof. Who was arrested for a social media post asking police to 'put their guns down' in clashes with protestors.

(Until I read these articles I didn't even realize that a more conservative government had taken over last year.)

I think Iran has been trying to tread a delicate balance in their approach to the arts/culture; they do want to be part of the world community on some level, they need international trade, they need some contact with the west, particularly given that they struggle in their relations even within the region. So they've been "lenient" in comparison with, say, North Korea, and the fact that Iranian cinema has won so many awards and gotten so much press in the world is probably something they take as a sign that the whole world isn't *entirely* against them. But at the same time they are a no-nonsense authoritarian regime bent on maintaining power for the theocrats forever, and anybody that challenges that in any kind of public way is going to be in trouble. I suspect that what they'd really like to do is drive Panahi and Rasoulof and other "malcontents" out of the country, following the Makhmalbaf family. Imprisoning them for long periods of time, or worse, doesn't really help them in any way that I can see, but they probably think that they can't allow them to continue to speak out.

Today is Panahi's 62nd birthday by the way,

[outdoorcats]

I'd imagine they'll be gunning for the guy who made Holy Spider too. What a disgrace.

Abbasi is still an expatriate right? (I think he lives in Denmark IIRC) He should be safe unless Iran pulls a Putin and starts trying to assassinate him.

I think Iran has been trying to tread a delicate balance in their approach to the arts/culture; they do want to be part of the world community on some level, they need international trade, they need some contact with the west, particularly given that they struggle in their relations even within the region. So they've been "lenient" in comparison with, say, North Korea, and the fact that Iranian cinema has won so many awards and gotten so much press in the world is probably something they take as a sign that the whole world isn't *entirely* against them. But at the same time they are a no-nonsense authoritarian regime bent on maintaining power for the theocrats forever, and anybody that challenges that in any kind of public way is going to be in trouble. I suspect that what they'd really like to do is drive Panahi and Rasoulof and other "malcontents" out of the country, following the Makhmalbaf family. Imprisoning them for long periods of time, or worse, doesn't really help them in any way that I can see, but they probably think that they can't allow them to continue to speak out.

Today is Panahi's 62nd birthday by the way,

It reminds me of USSR and their relationship with Tarkovsky/Paradjanov/etc.

[OldAle1]

It reminds me of USSR and their relationship with Tarkovsky/Paradjanov/etc.

Yeah that's a good comparison. Or China and some of it's filmmakers over the past decades. Or, for that matter, the USA during the blacklist era. It looks bad to actually kill your dissidents - though you can get away with it if they're not famous - and it's harder to do things without international scrutiny than it was during the Cultural Revolution or in the USSR under Stalin or the USA during the McCarthy period. But if you can just expel people or make their lives miserable, the international condemnation won't be so bad, relatively speaking. And any country that wants to be a full member of the international community does have to pay a *little* attention to these niceties of behavior; not to mention the fact that there's been plenty of unrest in Iran off and on for... well, since the Islamic Revolution, frankly. But especially since 2009. So they have to be careful.