Re: Documentaries List Discussion & Suggestions (Genre Proje
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2014 4:40 pm
Ah, thanks.
I couldn't figure out the parentheses.
Top 10 ... got it.
I couldn't figure out the parentheses.
Top 10 ... got it.
http://ww.criterionforum.org/forum/
http://ww.criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=12659
Both of these are from PWA / NINA Polish Documentary sets, which are just absurdly great. I could have filled half a list with films from those collections (Witnesses also comes from the same source).Lemmy Caution wrote:Some of the foreign docs I've never heard of, such as:
29. Hear My Cry/Uslyszcie mój krzyk (Maciej J. Drygas, 1991) 99/3(2)/6
33. Wanda Gosciminska, a Textile Worker/Wanda Gosciminska - wlókniarka (Wojciech Wiszniewski, 1975) 95/3(1)/10
Thanks for the info.zedz wrote: Both of these are from PWA / NINA Polish Documentary sets, which are just absurdly great. I could have filled half a list with films from those collections (Witnesses also comes from the same source).
swo17 wrote:04. Vertical Features Remake (Peter Greenaway, 1978) ORPHAN -- I figured this did well enough in the '70s project that it might easily place here without any effort on my part.SpoilerShowPerhaps it would have helped if it were actually a documentary. BUT...unlike something like Spinal Tap, where the comedy is derived from faked moments and the documentary format is somewhat incidental to enjoyment of the film, this works like a parody of the self-seriousness of many documentaries. It may be fake, but "documentary" is in its DNA--it couldn't exist in any other form.
Well, if it's a documentary then it's a snuff movie!16. Finis terrae (Jean Epstein, 1929) ORPHAN
18. Plate-forme mobile et Train électrique (Louis Lumière, 1900) ORPHAN
I was trying to figure out how to accommodate O'Neill on my list and came very close to tossing The Decay of Fiction in there, since at one level it's an architectural documentary (if you leave aside the ghosts and thrashing demons). I'm delighted you found a seat at the table for him. Even though Water and Power isn't my favourite film of his by a long stretch, it's great to have an alternative to Koyaanisqatsi and its ilk.25. Water and Power (Pat O'Neill, 1989) ORPHAN - A much weirder and yet more palatable rendition of what Koyaanisqatsi attempts to achieve. (I still like that film a lot, but more for the audiovisual element.)
This really is a surprisingly great film, considering it's basically a DVD extra avant la lettre.35. Sopralluoghi in Palestina (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1965) ORPHAN -- Unravels the mystery of why Pasolini made a film about Jesus.
I'm glad you tracked this down, and should have known yours would be the other vote. Even today (14 years after I saw the film) I can't help getting a little teared up when I hear the title track, which is both annoying and slightly awesome, especially since the initial association with the guy who chose it was already so cheesy. It wasn't a song he listened to, or even knew, when he was in Bosnia (I think?), but it accompanied a news show montage that he saw some time later, and that's when everything came crashing down. This is one of the best films about the mysterious and unpredictable emotional connections we make with music.46. Crazy (Heddy Honigmann, 2000) ALSO-RAN -- There's something magical about people being deeply moved by terrible music.
I think technically it's more remarkable for where it was made, but I concede your point. This just missed out on my list.49. South (Frank Hurley, 1920) ORPHAN -- A really stunning record of Ernest Shackleton's expedition to the Antarctic, particularly remarkable for when it was made.
Yay! I hope you'll follow up with more of Friedrich's work, and even seek out the 'box set' (no box, but it is a set).Incidentally, since the deadline, I've also watched Rules of the Road and it is rather formally brilliant, with a great use of songs. (Not just the songs themselves, but also how they abruptly cut off at just the right moment.) I might have tried to make room for this if I'd seen it in time.
Zedz be telling no lies on this.zedz wrote:swo17 wrote:04. Vertical Features Remake (Peter Greenaway, 1978) ORPHAN -- I figured this did well enough in the '70s project that it might easily place here without any effort on my part.SpoilerShowPerhaps it would have helped if it were actually a documentary. BUT...unlike something like Spinal Tap, where the comedy is derived from faked moments and the documentary format is somewhat incidental to enjoyment of the film, this works like a parody of the self-seriousness of many documentaries. It may be fake, but "documentary" is in its DNA--it couldn't exist in any other form.SpoilerShowI never considered this film (which I'm sort of ambivalent about) or A Walk Through H (which I'm not) as in contention, but there were a number of great films that looked like documentaries, walked like documentaries and quacked like documentaries that I ruled out because they really weren't documentaries, and I can't even discuss them because in most cases the fact that they're not documentaries is a massive spoiler!
I found this doc very entertaining, but also sort of sloppy and irritating. My main gripe was that, for a film that claims to set out to celebrate the art and importance of background singers, and stressed that they're not necessarily failed soloists, it spent almost all of its time focussing on the struggles of singers who (yep) tried and failed to have solo careers. That's the kind of simplistic narrative that most documentaries default to, but in this case it really shoots the film's thesis in the foot.Lemmy Caution wrote:Last night I watched 20 Feet From Stardom. Well done.
I liked how they put the focus on Darlene Love (and The Blossoms), even taking time to explain how Darlene Love was jerked around by Phil Spector. Then branched out to other backup singers -- detailing how Merry Clayton tried to make it as a solo act, while Lisa Fischer was mostly content to be a featured backup singer, and Judith Hill is currently trying to break through. This structure worked well, while they added in other singers and famous headliners discussing backup singers.
My only quibble was that as far as I recall they didn't show one white backup singer actually singing -- except for the square trio from the fifties -- even though they interviewed two of them. They did spend a little time with the Hispanic singer Tata Vega and her career, and some of her singing. Though her singing wasn't highlighted that well.
I was pleased that there were some musicians I wasn't that familiar with. Always looking for more good music and now will have to track down Claudia Lennear's solo album. I was only slightly familiar with her before, but when you were one of the Ikettes, backed up Joe Cocker and David Bowie and were reportedly the inspiration for Mick Jagger singing about what black girl's taste like, well you're worth a listen.
The film also used The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss) as an example of interesting background singing -- but failed to note that the title actually comes from the background singers (bolstering the contention made a few times that background singing is what often sticks with us) and was first recorded by Merry Clayton who is featured fairly prominently in the doc. Not a big deal, but that song seemed an opportunity to tie a few things together.
I've already acknowledged this before, but it's my understanding that the part you're referring to is a reenactment. Lots of documentaries include reenactments of events that would be impossible or inadvisable to film in actuality. Otherwise, the film stars local non-actors and largely documents how they live and work, complete with educationally leaning title cards. I stand by my decision.zedz wrote:Well, if it's a documentary then it's a snuff movie!16. Finis terrae (Jean Epstein, 1929) ORPHAN
I'd say it's a few years too late for that, but yes, it's really an exemplary documentation of a performance, and it very efficiently keeps out of the way of that performance (while still being, apparently, everywhere that matters when it matters).matrixschmatrix wrote:it just feels like you are at a nearly perfect Talking Heads performance.
That sounds like a fascinating documentary, especially as I am only really familiar with his work through the pictures he created for the overture sequence of Dancer In The Dark and Antichrist chapter titles, along with the digital manipulation on the Breaking The Waves chapter titles.martin wrote:19. Per Kirkeby - vinterbillede (Jesper Jargil, 1996)
Per Kirkeby is one of the most celebrated contemporary Danish painters/artists, and his works are among the most expensive works of contemporary Danish art. In this film we see him paint a gigantic painting, approximately 6 x 3 meters, filmed from a fixed position with an almost fixed framing. It's fascinating to see the painting undergo all sorts of transformations as he adds layer upon layer, to such a degree that he sometimes has to remove the paint again. And he's really good at telling about his thoughts and his process. This film became an instant classic in art-classes in Denmark. Apparently the first Danish film to be shot on HD video. Released on BD by DFI.