must see films

charlotte gainsbourg: willem dafoe: lars von trier: antichrist



“lars von trier’s ‘antichrist’ screened this year at the cannes film festival. the ‘antichrist’, written by danish film director lars von trier, is an intense drama about evil, power and love between two people, featuring charlotte gainsbourg and willem dafoe.” tickets available at the 47th NYFF09.

add it to your list. a film about about a couple who retreat to their woodland cabin to heal after the death of their child. way out into the wilderness: apparently not for the meek, in one reviewer’s words: “I thought I had my head down a lavatory, frankly,” said baz bamigboye of britain’s daily mail, the journalist who asked von trier to justify his film. by dd

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maysles brothers gimme shelter: rolling stones

gimme shelter is a great film, despite being a concert documentary. directed by the kings of doc the maysles brothers (even godard once called albert maysles “the best american cameraman“).  the most memorable scene for me, was when mick is on stage trying to sing and do his crazy dance, while a drunk and pissed-off hells angel guard is standing next to him staring, like he’s some repulsive git (the key part is that there was no security at this concert, just the hells angels “protecting” the band from the drugged out crowd)… more than one thing goes wrong and you can just imagine the stones and what was going through their heads. must see if you haven’t already. by dd

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for george

this short film by fellini is a masterpiece for me, with actor terence stamp, ray charles on the sound track and a spirit that is more punk than the pistols themselves. this particular scene simply never left me! you have to understand what she says to appreciate the gravity of the scene. find an italian immediately. the other two shorts by vadim and malle in the spirit of the dead (3 tales by edgar allan poe) are to be discarded. read more about it in this article by george porcari. by dd

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roman polanski & Sharon tate


polanski is one of my favorite directors. i finally saw the latest documentary on him made in 2008 (wanted and desired) which made me rather sad. of course, as the case is with most ‘good’ directors, he’s done his share of terrible films; ‘bitter moon 1992‘ is just one of them. bitter moon was almost as bad as bertolucci’s last tango in paris.  in that film, i felt embarrassed for the actors and the director. but his ‘knife in the water 1962‘, ‘chinatown 1974‘, ‘rosemary’s baby 1968‘ (starring another favorite director of mine, john cassavetes), ‘the tenant 1976‘ (a lovely film about france in general) and of course ‘repulsion 1965‘. all of these films remain to be what “polanski” is to me. his later film ‘the pianist‘, which received so much attention, wasn’t that terrible, but by no means did it deserve the given status to be the defining moment of his career. of course, hollywood is always late in awarding great talent. maybe they were just catching up for lost time. by dd

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teorema

for me, it’s pier paolo pasolini’s finest film. the infamous salo was neither shocking or memorable, unless you saw it at the time, in which case it was banned. certainly reactionary and specific to the period, but rather boring now. teorema on the other hand, is a film that seems to live on. it’s beautifully filmed and you can’t really lose with terence stamp in the mix. must see. by dd

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Painting With Light

painting with light, a documentary about the life and work of louise dahl-wolfe, 1895-1989. as the first female fashion photographer and a staff photographer for harper’s bazaar from 1936 through 1958.  dahl-wolfe defined the post-war look of american women.  her work is a true inspiration and remains as such today. by kv

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