bitdepth — 2004

City of God

Rocket from City of God There are films that are stylish and there are films that have important social messages. Most of the time those are two very different films. Then something like City of God (Cidade de Deus) comes along and does it in a way that looks effortless. Shot in an exciting, hyperkinetic style, City of God traces the epic story of group of boys who grow up in the City of God outside of Rio de Janeiro. It’s a sometimes violent story that is based on what actually happened in the planned community of Cidade de Deus. The cast was drawn together from workshops which give something back to the community that is presented on the screen. The use of unknown or non-actors can work incredibly well when the people involved have a connection with the material. The film is powerful and has bold, swaggering attitude that jumps out at you from the very first scene. Directed by Fernando Meirelles and co-directed by Kátia Lund, it’s a film that goes against the trend of big-budget safe, market-tested films. The process that they followed in making the film is fascinating as well in that they made a short film with some of the cast members to make sure that it would work. I’m convinced that you can tell by simply watching a film if the cast and crew really cared and with City of God they’re doing great work. The DVD also features a documentary from 1999 called News From a Personal War that was directed by Lund and João Moreira Salles.

July 28, 2004 cityofgod, fernandomeirelles, film, review

Stanley Kubrick’s Birthday

Barry Lyndon Today is Stanley Kubrick‘s birthday and now I’m starting a tradition of writing about Kubrick on his birthday. Kubrick is one of the most focussed and precise filmmakers ever to commit images to film. He worked deliberately and slowly to craft masterpieces that hold up extraordinarily well. I recently found some more great collections of links and information about Kubrick. The wonderful Coudal Partners (creators of the Jewelboxing system) have a magazine-style site filled with great links. They also have a collection of Stuff About Stanley Kubrick and pointed to Filmbrain‘s pointer to a pdf of Kubrick’s script for Napoleon, which was never filmed, as well as some other great links to Kubrick stuff. Filmbrain also found and was able to watch many earlier Kubrick films including Fear and Desire, Day of the Fight, The Seafarers, and The Flying Padre.
Last year I tried to watch all of Kubrick’s films before his birthday, but managed to just get through most of the black and white ones. Maybe tonight I’ll watch Barry Lyndon, which is one of my favourites. I think that Barry Lyndon is often overlooked because of the slower pacing and the tone. It’s amazing to watch both visually and with the story. Once you settle into the rhythm of the film it moves along beautifully as we watch the tragedy unfold.

July 26, 2004 barrylyndon, film, kubrick

Bus 174

José Padilha‘s 2002 documentary Bus 174 is about a bus hijacking in Rio de Janeiro in 2000 is a gripping, heart-wrenching look at an incident as an indication of a larger problem. Through the incident it establishes the context and the series of events in Brazil that lead to a situation that was both horrible and inevitable. The film uses the extensive footage of the incident covered live on television in Brazil. It asks the general question of “how did we get here?” and the more specific question of “how did Sandro get here?” The invisibility and lack of media attention paid to the street-kid who caused the incident is the nagging question that Padilha thought was the key to understand how it happened. Film is a time-based medium and co-director / editor Felipe Lacerda and Padilha skillfull break up and magnify time as the incident unfolds and we understand things a bit more. The cross-cutting between the story of the Sandro and the hijacking slowly reveal broader insights into Brazillian society in a direct, powerful and personal way that many documentaries about larger social issues fumble all-too-often. Sweeping helicopter shots establish the locations and provide some relief from the tension of the events. But as the film moves towards the end of the highjacking we watch in excruciating detail how the tragedy unfolds. An amazing film that exemplifies the possibilities of documentary.

July 24, 2004 brazil, bus174, documentary, film, review

Stop Motion Animation Workshop

Struts Gallery sign Last weekend I facilitated a stop motion animation workshop at Faucet, the media arts part of the artist-run centre Struts Gallery in Sackville, New Brunswick. It’s the second workshop that I’ve given there and I had a great time. The participants were a talented, motivated group who produced a bunch of animations in two days mainly using digital still cameras. It’s part of what I like to think of as the inappropriate use of technology. What was cool about the workshop is that I just started things off and they went off in various directions. There was plenty of technology to go round… almost everyone had an iBook or PowerBook and digital still cameras. The animations ranged from cut-outs to pixilation to drawing on a wall. It’s great to see people doing cool stuff with relatively cheap tools. I made up a site with links for the Faucet Animation Workshop which is over at my mac.com site.

July 16, 2004 animation, faucet, struts, teaching, workshop

Six Feet Under Season 2

Peter Krause in Six Feet Under Finally! After far too long, the second season of Six Feet Under has been released on DVD. I don’t understand how HBO releases DVDs… things like The Sopranos come out quite quickly, but stuff that I really, really want to see such as Six Feet Under or Mr. Show show up years later. While I wish that I could have seen it sooner, one of the great things about having a DVD of a series is that you can watch it all closer together instead of parcelling it out over four months. I’ve tried to avoid finding out a lot about how the show has progressed, but that’s not really the point, as what makes the show interesting isn’t the surprises, but the amazing cast combined with the quirky writing and directing.
I’ve only watched the first episode of the second season, but I really liked it and I can’t wait to wade through the other episodes. It’s awkward at first, but everyone seems to know that. The characters are reestablished slowly and the whole thing feels like someone you’ve known and loved for a long time that you finally see again. They’ve changed a bit, but they’re still the same person and you’ve forgotten a few things about them which can be a bit awkward. The big difference on the other side of the camera was that the show became popular which can change things. Luckily in the hands of Alan Ball and the cast and crew it still works.
I love the show and I love the cast. Peter Krause is one of my favourite actors. Maybe it’s because he’s not overexposed and that he’s got a knack for portraying a character in a subtle way that makes you forget that he’s an actor. Years ago when I saw the pilot for Six Feet Under I stayed up far too late because I saw Krause and couldn’t stop watching. Krause, along with the whole cast is trying to figure out who he is and what he is supposed to do. How do you fit in with your family? What is the right choice? There are no easy answers and we watch a group of people that we care about struggling with their lives. In the vast wasteland that is television today with the channels filling up with less original material and more “reality” it’s good to see something well-crafted that has respect for the craft of drama and respect for the audience.

July 9, 2004 dvd, review, sixfeetunder, tv

Once Upon a Time in the West

Showdown Sergio Leone knew how to use the frame. Many years ago I saw “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly” on tv and I was mesmerized by it. Then I was lucky enough to be living in Montreal and was able to see it again in a theatre and it was amazing. I then was able to see the other films in the “Dollars” trilogy and finally I saw “Once Upon a Time in the West.” It came out last year in a new DVD release and I finally picked it up. A bold film for the time and a bold film now. Leone stretches everything out with long scenes and long shots. The sound effects are stylized and the score by Ennio Morricone is odd, unmistakable and fits perfectly. All of the pieces are slowly assembled, from the opening sequence that spreads the titles out over 10 minutes to the final showdown.
The casting of Henry Fonda as a psychopathic gunfighter was deliberately perverse. Leone wanted to cast Fonda against type to enhance his first appearance in the film. Charles Bronson is perfect as a man with no name called “Harmonica” because of the harmonica that he plays. Jason Robards was also cast against type as a man framed for a massacre he wasn’t responsible for. All three men are brought together by a woman played by Claudia Cardinale. While her character isn’t a big step forward in terms of the portrayal of women in film, she’s a strong character who takes care of herself and would have been even more surprising when the film was made in 1968.
While Leone knew and loved the Western, he rethought and recontextualized the genre with antiheroes and everything stripped down to the most basic level. The combination of the wide frame and deliberate pacing set up scenes with a visual clarity that makes dialogue almost redundant. The final showdown between Fonda and Bronson is electrifying. Leone is a masterful filmmaker who loved films and was a powerful influence on many filmmakers that followed.

July 8, 2004 dvd, enniomorricone, film, onceuponatimeinthewest, review, sergioleone, western

1 / 2