Film Quiz

[orbital]

Is it just me or is this thread becoming terribly chaotic? Has anyone answered orbital's riddle, posted a while back?

I think I may take the blame on that since my post disrupted the flow first  . I just wanted to put in a filler until Lilas posted his.

Mine was Tony Takitani btw. I was warned that it might be too hard to guess as the film may be considered an almost obscure film. But the shots are so beautiful that it is hard to forget (this particular scene especially) once you see it.

[Drasko]

Mine was Tony Takitani btw. I was warned that it might be too hard to guess....

Since all of our resident filmwatchers trawled through this thread since you've posted it and nobody even took a shot at it I dare say that whoever said that it might be too hard to guess was pretty right  0:) 

[sidoze]

Mine was Tony Takitani btw

good stuff. It's available here and I will add it to my rental list. Quite a new film (2004)

I thought at first no. 4 was Kieslowski's La Vie double de Véronique.

There's only one Kieslowski film out of the 12 and you already know it. I completely understand why you think it might be that though. What's your opinion of Come and See?

I'll reveal the other 3 tomorrow if they remain unknown till then. I suspect Andre knows the genius who created number 3 and I'm waiting for him to say something

Sorry for the confusion in the thread. I saw an opening and couldn't resist.

[mahlertitan]

I think I may take the blame on that since my post disrupted the flow first  . I just wanted to put in a filler until Lilas posted his.

Mine was Tony Takitani btw. I was warned that it might be too hard to guess as the film may be considered an almost obscure film. But the shots are so beautiful that it is hard to forget (this particular scene especially) once you see it.

I wouldn't call TOny Takitani obscure, sure, it's slow as hell, but obscure? Ken Russell's "Mahler", now THAT is obscure, Takitani is pretty well known for people who read Murakami.

[Lilas Pastia]

Apart from the Murnau and Vertov films I only have blank stares to offer . I know # 3 rings a bell (more so the second pic), but I just can't place it right now. And the names of most of the films or directors are quite new to me...

[Maciek]

There's only one Kieslowski film out of the 12 and you already know it. I completely understand why you think it might be that though.

Whatever it is, the sort of faded yellowish colours are very much in Idziak's style!

What's your opinion of Come and See?

Well, when I first saw it about 7 years ago I was paralyzed - it went straight to the top of my favorite war films list (and probably into the top 10 of the general category too ). I saw it last time about a year ago (I now own a copy) and the impression has waned somewhat. Strangely enough, I now find the opening of the film the strongest. Perhaps what really makes the difference is whether you watch this at home or on the big screen. I must say the whole short sequence that comes after the bombing (with the beeping sound obliterating everything else) was shockingly effective at the cinema, while at home it almost doesn't impress me. OTOH, the ending (shooting Hitler's picture, the war documentaries in reverse etc.) which seemed a bit artificial on first viewing - now doesn't seem to stick out so much anymore. And some scenes (those flies, the dead family) have retained all their power. And, as I said, the beginning seems much more terrifying then at first. It's still somewhere near the top of the war films list, and probably in the general top 30 now (well, definitely the top 50 - which is still excellent!). Actually, if I was going to post a quiz of my own - this would definitely have been in it!

(Of course, there's the fact that the story is set in Belorussia which had a pretty complicated partisan, anit-partisan, Polish Home Army etc. etc. etc. situation, not to mention the ethnic mix - none of this seems evidenced in the movie; and Jews are conspicuously absent too - were there really none in that area? But probably none of this could have been portrayed with any accuracy at all in 1985. )

[Maciek]

Is no. 3 a silent comedy? It seems familiar to me too but I can't quite place it (probably another mistake: I usually either at once know these things for sure or start to guess and become completely hopeless ).

[orbital]

Since all of our resident filmwatchers trawled through this thread since you've posted it and nobody even took a shot at it I dare say that whoever said that it might be too hard to guess was pretty right  0:) 

I'm not talking to you until you know when 

[sidoze]

Is no. 3 a silent comedy?

Well it is silent, but more of a documentary than anything else. It is rather funny though, so perhaps you could call it a comedy too. Thanks for writing that about Come & See. My first viewing was also in the cinema, and I agree that the scene following the bombing is much more effective on a big screen and with large speakers all around (this is the main point of course). In no other film have I felt the bizarre contradictory feelings of sheer exhaustion at witnessing such horror yet sheer elation at seeing such a magnificent film. I left the cinema in an utter stupor because of this. Great film, no doubt about it.

[Maciek]

Well it is silent, but more of a documentary than anything else.

Ha, ha. So my guess was half-right. Which of course means that I was going in completely the wrong direction...

I left the cinema in an utter stupor because of this.

Yes, that was my reaction too. I was speechless for quite a while. Really, seeing this film is more of an experience than just "watching a movie", isn't it?

[Maciek]

OK, I've put the pieces of the puzzle together:

1) Silent
2) Documentary
3) You thought André would know it

= ?

Why, = Jean Vigo's A propos de Nice (On the Subject of Nice), of course! It's from 1930. I should probably try to seek it out now that I've guessed it.

[M forever]

Is it just me or is this thread becoming terribly chaotic? Has anyone answered orbital's riddle, posted a while back? Have all of M's been answered? These are real questions - I'm actually not sure, though I think the answer to both is no.

Yes, sorry about the confusion, I thought it would take sidoze a little longer to post all his pics, so I wanted to provide some light entertainment in the meantime...

Drasko already guessed two correctly

C - Ballad of a Soldier

D - Lawrence of Arabia

but the others are still "open" and if you want, you can guess them:

A


B


C


D


E

[Maciek]

M, great of you to post that reminder! I was in the act of doing the same. OK, now I can make this post a little shorter...

Along with the three above from M Forever, the following from sidoze still remain a mystery (will the pictures display? in the preview they do...):

1.


4.

[Maciek]

OK, the more I look at the first photo of sidoze's no. 4, the more I'm certain that's a Lisbon tram. But if these are shots from Lisbon Story - they seem pretty uncharacteristic to me (but then, I saw the film back in 1994 when it first came out - I may be hallucinating).

[sidoze]

OK, I've put the pieces of the puzzle together:

1) Silent
2) Documentary
3) You thought André would know it

= ?

Why, = Jean Vigo's A propos de Nice (On the Subject of Nice), of course! It's from 1930. I should probably try to seek it out now that I've guessed it.

Yes that's it, nice work You won't forget those dancing girls (and the camera angle they're captured at) towards the end of the film. Artifical Eye have released all 4 of his films together. The one I really liked was Zero de conduite--the forerunner of 400 Blows--with that mesmerising slow-motion dream-like sequence towards the end -- feathers from beaten pillows suspended in the air, the boy doing the acrobatic flips towards the camera, very powerful cinema. L''Atalante, the film he's most known for, left relatively little impression on me. I found it too realistic and gritty and dour, lacking the poetic shots and manipulations of the two I've mentioned.

[sidoze]

OK, the more I look at the first photo of sidoze's no. 4, the more I'm certain that's a Lisbon tram. But if these are shots from Lisbon Story - they seem pretty uncharacteristic to me (but then, I saw the film back in 1994 when it first came out - I may be hallucinating).

Really Maciek, that is very impressive to notice such a detail. I certainly couldn't have done that  It's shot in Lisbon, though the director, actors and language come from the east. Hint: the two unidentified films are by the same director

[mahlertitan]

let's see how well you do

[Drasko]

4.

It's shot in Lisbon, though the director, actors and language come from the east.

The colors and the sort of 'shape shifting' image in that one is bugging me all day. Is that Sokurov again?

[Maciek]

MT, I believe no. 2 is Viridiana (a Bunuel film).

[Drasko]

MT's No.4 is Ken Russell's Mahler