Hiroshima Mon Amour

Hiroshima Mon Amour
*****/5
Alain Resnais

Clearly this film influenced Breathless in the editing and other aspects, although they are two vastly different movies. As Stu put it, the French "get away with murder" when it comes to dialogue. This film amounted to a conversation that was circular and poetic, splashed with images that support or contrast the statements. It gave me such a strange feeling, and I think that was intended. The filmmaker bombards you with opinion and at the same time says nothing to prove one reality over another. At the end, you feel a crushing realization that works as deeply whether you take it metaphorically or not.

I was speaking with Maher this afternoon and was laying out some of my feelings towards films, what I appreciate in contrast to what turns me off. I came to some sort of point about the difference between films that affect your mind, your heart, and your gut. I think I tend to put the mind last when prioritizing these things for myself. Perhaps words affect the mind, images affect the heart, and connotations affect the gut.
Of course this made me think of Werner Herzog, who is probably one of the best filmmakers ever, and certainly one of the best working today. Herzog's films affect your gut first with situations and deep, deep emotions. Even if you watched his films on mute, you feel them in your gut. From your gut they work up and grab your heart. And from there they move to your brain, which tries to make sense of your feelings.

Hiroshima Mon Amour works along these lines as well. Even as dialogue heavy as it is, the story is told through images. The dialogue is almost like a soundtrack for connotations. Less than leaning on for story purposes, the French use voiceover as sort of a mood setter, to capture your attention by insisting on too much information or statements that are vague and poetic. But they never distract, which American voiceovers do. Perhaps French voiceovers are less expository than they seem.

All in all, I think I prefer Hiroshima Mon Amour's ambitions to that of Breathless, but perhaps this will change with time.

Recommendations:
Breathless

Shameful Neglect and A New Chapter

I'm pretty pathetic when it comes to updating.

Since the last time I've posted, I have been trying to fill some of the holes in my film knowledge. The New Wave, on either side of the Atlantic, has been pretty neglected, so I dug into that and others. I don't think it's possible to really document the volumes of films I've watched, but I can rattle off some big ones that I had not already seen.

Bonnie and Clyde
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Serpico
The 400 Blows
nearly all of Jean-Pierre Melville's catalog (Le Samourai being the most outstanding)
nearly all of Terry Gilliam's catalog (Brazil and 12 Monkeys being the ones not to avoid entirely)
about 7 or 8 Ingmar Bergman films
Cocteau's Orphic Trilogy
Late Spring
Le Bete Humaine


I'll spare you a recitation of my Netflix account history, and I will probably make separate entries for the ones that affected me most deeply.

I also saw some bad movies, Public Enemies, and Christopher Nolan's first film Following come to mind. Perhaps they deserve their own entries as well.

I have also been reading up on different facets of filmmaking. I think for the interest of cohesion, I will give that its own post also. Who would have thought all these posts! But as I enter into my first year of film school (next week) I think it will be beneficial to keep a record of my thoughts on films and other things. I will be seeing a lot of films and be given a lot of information. Perhaps I can use this newfangled blog thing to keep my head straight.

Last, but not least, I have been watching tons and tons of anime. There are some very strange trends in anime right now. Definitely my current favorite is Fight Ippatsu! Juuden-Chan!! It's a bizzare parody that borders on pornagraphic but with the most biting humor I've ever seen. It plays on expectations ("Maybe it's because Mom's watching over me from above. Just kidding!") and gives gratuitous fan-service, and still manages to dish out one of the most compelling plots a short series has offered in a long time. Not recommended for people unfamiliar with anime stereotypes or without a working knowledge of Sailor Moon or La Blue Girl. Ohhhh man, I can't wait til next week.