Author: Ryan Swen

2018 Reading Log

Ryan Swen Lists, Reviews Tags: Leave a comment

1. Stoner (1965, John Williams): 7/29-8/2

Difficult to accurately judge just how much this is colored by my absurd absence from reading for these past few years, but this is almost impossibly expansive and moving, covering such an expanse of time (almost cradle-to-grave) in both expanses and skips. Williams’s sense of conveying the almost compartmentalized nature of Stoner’s existence is so cannily divided into focusing on different characters and the events that transpire with them, and yet his approach can’t be reduced to as simple a statement as that. Characters are introduced and then reappear in a startling different context – Finch rather unexpectedly becomes perhaps the fifth most important character, Katharine is introduced in an almost curt manner – and throughout it is apparent that all involved in Stoner’s life are intertwined, perhaps in the most subconscious and buried ways. Stoner’s parents are (to the best of my recollection) not mentioned past the halfway point, and yet the indelible impression that their decaying, dirt-caked lives made on their son and the reader endures. And through it all, art is couched as both salvation and damnation, altering Stoner’s life (for better and worse) at every turn, defining his way of existence while ensuring its continued state of quiet desperation. Stoner is at once devastating and fulfilling, tracking the development and sustained intellect of a singular mindset, observing as it ebbs and flows according to the rhythms of a life that is at once ordinary and extraordinary. Nothing short of revelatory.

2. Tropic Moon (1933, Georges Simenon): 8/8-8/23

Perhaps the most destabilizing element of Tropic Moon is Simenon’s preference for plunging the reader in media res at the start of more or less every chapter, then doubling back to give some context (necessary or not). This happens with regularity, true, but it never fails to dole out a few jolts. Indeed, this tendency is emblematic of the whole book’s careful, more than a little horrifying approach, taking as a given its sweltering setting and organizing an examination of both milieu and intruder. What most stuns is that Timar’s (and Adèle’s, and Bouillox’s) character never truly changes past his first introduction; rather, he deepens and becomes more complex as the heat forces his character to evolve to the atmosphere – that is, until he can’t bear it anymore. He is no coaster; where others survive, he falls.

3. Invisible Cities (1972, Italo Calvino): 9/7; 11/26-12/22
Invoked Hong’s “infinite worlds possible” maxim when raving about this magnificent book, and the comparison isn’t entirely inapposite: there is a certain quality that Calvino evokes here, founded upon the notion that each of this cities could all be real or all be false, all projections of Marco Polo’s native Venice or Kublai Khan’s fantasies about his empire or some combination or non-combination of the two, and it’s entirely to his credit that nothing is resolved. Like the men at its center, there is neither resolution nor total denial, instead a complete state of odd, often beautiful contentment and continual discovery. Invisible Cities‘s final exhortation is as close to a definitive, concrete statement as the book comes, yet it explicitly prescribes searching — a continual, never totally completable task — as the solution, which Calvino does with endless variation and complexity, while laying out his ideas for all to see.

6th (1968): “High Drama in Low Key” Show Notes

Ryan Swen Catalyst and Witness Leave a comment

Table of Contents: Description, Corrections/Clarifications, Housekeeping, General, Main Slate, Ephemera, Recurring Directors, Recurring Countries, One-Time Directors, Debuts/Final Features, Festivals/Oscar Nominees, Events/Shorts, Discussions By Length, Specifications

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Description
The sixth episode of the Catalyst and Witness podcast, devoted to exploring the films and format of the New York Film Festival, hosted by Ryan Swen and Dan Molloy. This covers the sixth edition of the festival in 1968, and features special guest Etan Weisfogel, cinephile and Twitter personality.

0:00-15:06 – Opening
15:07-1:18:27 – Part One [Capricious Summer to The Red and the White]
1:18:28-2:39:26 – Part Two [Mouchette to Kaja, I’ll Kill You!]
2:39:27-3:33:45 – Part Three [24 Hours in the Life of a Woman to Les Biches]
3:33:46-4:47:58 – Part Four [L’Enfance nue to The Firemen’s Ball]
4:47:59-4:59:07 – Closing

Corrections/Clarifications

  • The editing methodology for this episode shifted during Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach.

Housekeeping

  • Hosted by Dan Molloy & Ryan Swen
  • Special Guest Etan Weisfogel
  • Conceived and Edited by Ryan Swen
  • Recorded in Seattle, Portland, and Newark on MacBook GarageBand, Edited in Audacity
  • Podcast photograph from Yi Yi, Logo designed by Dan Molloy
  • Poster by Henry Pearson
  • Recorded July 19, 2018
  • Released July 31, 2018
  • Music (in order of appearance):
    • Capricious Summer (opening night)
    • The Immortal Story (another favorite)
    • Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (favorite of the first section)
    • Lola Montés (favorite of the second section)
    • Les Biches (favorite of the third section)
    • Week-end (favorite of the fourth section)
    • The Firemen’s Ball (closing night)

General

  • Selection Committee: Richard Roud (program director), Amos Vogel (festival director), Arthur Knight, Andrew Sarris, Susan Sontag
  • Location: Philharmonic Hall
  • Prices: 2 for terrace, 3 for orchestra, 4 for loge, with 1 added to all seats for opening night
  • Films seen for the podcast:
    • Ryan
      • Seen before podcast watching period: Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her
      • Seen for the podcast: All available and One Plus One* except Beyond the Law; none rewatched
      • Favorite films: Week-end, Lola Montés, The Immortal Story, The Red and the White, Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, Mouchette, The Nun
      • Least favorite films: A Report on the Party and the Guests, Oratorio for Prague
    • Dan
      • Seen before podcast watching period: Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, Mouchette, The Nun, Lola Montès, Faces, L’enfance nue, The Firemen’s Ball
      • Seen for the podcast: All available except L’Argent and 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman; Faces, L’enfance nue rewatched
      • Favorite films: Week-end, Chronicle of Anna Magdalena, Bach, Lola Montès, The Immortal Story, Mouchette, The Nun, Toni
      • Least favorite films: Partner., A Report on the Party and the Guests, Artists Under the Big Top: Perplexed, Beyond the Law
    • Etan
      • Seen before podcast watching period: Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, Lola Montès, Faces, L’Enfance nue, Week-end
      • Seen for the podcast: Toni, The Immortal Story, A Report on the Party and the Guests, Mouchette, 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman, 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her, Les Biches, The Firemen’s Ball; none rewatched
      • Favorite films: Lola Montès, L’Enfance nue, Les Biches, Faces, Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, Toni
      • Least favorite films: A Report on the Party and the Guests
  • Discoveries of the festival: 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman, One Plus One*, Les Biches
  • Unavailable films: Tropics, Kaja, I’ll Kill You!

Main Slate

Opening Night: Capricious Summer [Rozmarné léto] (1968, Jiří Menzel)
September 17, 9:00
Released 1968
Retrospective: Toni (1935, Jean Renoir)
September 18, 6:30
Released 1936
The Immortal Story [Une histoire immortelle] (1968, Orson Welles)
September 18, 9:30
Released 1969
Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach [Chronik der Anna Magdalena Bach] (1968, Danièle Huillet & Jean-Marie Straub)
September 18, 6:30
Released 1969
A Report on the Party and the Guests [O slavnosti a hostech/About the Party and the Guests] (1966, Jan Němec)
September 19, 9:30
Released 1968
The Red and the White [Csillagosok, katonák/Stars, Soldiers] (1967, Jancsó Miklós)
September 20, 6:30
Released 1969
Mouchette (1967, Robert Bresson)
September 20, 9:30
Released 1970
Retrospective: L’Argent [Money] (1928, Marcel L’Herbier)
September 21, 5:30
Never released
The Nun [Suzanne Simonin, la Religieuse de Denis Diderot/Suzanne Simonin, The Nun of Denis Diderot] (1966, Jacques Rivette)
September 21, 9:30
Released 1971
Retrospective: Lola Montès (1955, Max Ophuls)
September 22, 6:30
Released 1969
Faces (1968, John Cassavetes)
September 22, 9:30
Released 1968
Tropics [Tropici] (1968, Gianni Amico)
September 23, 6:30
Released 1969
Partner. (1968, Bernardo Bertolucci)
September 23, 9:30
Released 1974
Kaja, I’ll Kill You! [Kaja, ubit ću te!] (1967, Vatroslav Mimica)
September 24, 6:30
Released 1969
24 Hours in the Life of a Woman [Vingt-Quatre Heures de la vie d’une femme] (1968, Dominique Delouche)
September 24, 9:30
Never released
Signs of Life [Lebenszeichen] (1968, Werner Herzog)
September 25, 6:30
Never released
2 or 3 Things I Know About Her [2 ou 3 choses que je sais d’elle] (1967, Jean-Luc Godard)
September 25, 9:30
Released 1970
Artists Under the Big Top: Perplexed [Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos] (1968, Alexander Kluge)
September 26, 6:30
Never released
Les Biches [The Does] (1968, Claude Chabrol)
September 26, 9:30
Released 1968
L’Enfance nue [Naked Childhood] (1968, Maurice Pialat)
September 27, 6:30
Released 1970
Week-end (1967, Jean-Luc Godard)
September 27, 9:30
Released 1968
Canceled: One Plus One (1968, Jean-Luc Godard)
September 28, 12:00 AM
Released 1970
Hugo and Josephine [Hugo och Josefin] (1967, Kjell Grede)
September 28, 3:00
Never released
Beyond the Law (1968, Norman Mailer)
September 28, 6:30
Released 1968
Unannounced: Oratorio for Prague [Oratorium pro Prahu] (1968, Jan Němec)
“Closing Night”: The Firemen’s Ball [Hoří, má panenko/There’s a Fire, My Lady] (1967, Miloš Forman)
September 28, 9:30
Released 1968/Released 1968

Ephemera

  • Special Retrospective Matinee: The Boy With the Green Hair (Joseph Losey) and They Live by Night (Nicholas Ray); September 22, 3:00 at Philharmonic Hall
  • “Personal Cinema”: 8 programs of films made by underground/outsider/minority filmmakers, shown at the Library and Museum of Performing Arts in Lincoln Center, all free
  • “The Western”: 19 programs of silent and sound Westerns, shown at the Library and Museum of Performing Arts in Lincoln Center, all free
  • “Filmmakers on New Lifestyles”: 6 programs of films dealing with the new generation’s ways of life, shown at the Library and Museum of Performing Arts in Lincoln Center, all free

Recurring Directors
Key: films in this iteration excluding shorts/omnibus/retrospectives, films in this iteration including, films in the festival up to this point excluding, films up to this point including, number of gala spots (when applicable), number of festivals with more than one film shown (when applicable); † indicates their last appearance, fraction in parentheses indicates number of features shown from oeuvre, features released in the eligible timeframe, features in oeuvre

  • Jean-Luc Godard: 3/3/10/14/2/5
  • Miloš Forman: 1/1/3/3/2
  • Jan Němec: 1/2/1/3/0/1†(1/14/14)
  • Robert Bresson: 1/1/3/3
  • Bernardo Bertolucci: 1/1/2/3
  • Jancsó Miklós: 1/1/2/2
  • Alexander Kluge: 1/1/2/2
  • Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet: 1/1/2/2
  • Jiří Menzel: 1/1/1/2/1†(1/16/16)
  • Gianni Amico: 1/1/1/2
  • John Cassavetes: 1/1/1/1
  • Claude Chabrol: 1/1/1/1
  • Kjell Grede: 1/1/1/1
  • Werner Herzog: 1/1/1/1
  • Maurice Pialat: 1/1/1/1
  • Jacques Rivette: 1/1/1/1
  • Orson Welles: 1/1/1/1
  • Jean Renoir: 0/2/0/2
  • Max Ophuls: 0/1/0/1

Recurring Countries
Key: films in this iteration excluding shorts/retrospectives, films in this iteration including, films in the festival up to this point excluding, films up to this point including, number of gala spots (when applicable)

  • France: 8/11/35/45/4
  • Czechoslovakia: 3/4/9/11/3
  • West Germany: 3/3/6/6
  • USA: 2/2/14/23
  • Italy: 2/2/14/18/1
  • UK: 1/1/6/8
  • Sweden: 1/1/5/5
  • Hungary: 1/1/4/4
  • Yugoslavia: 1/1/4/4

One-Time Directors

  • Dominique Delouche
  • Marcel L’Herbier (retrospective)
  • Norman Mailer
  • Vatroslav Mimica

Feature Debuts

  • Gianni Amico
  • Dominique Delouche
  • Kjell Grede
  • Werner Herzog
  • Maurice Pialat

Final Features

  • Max Ophuls (retrospective)

Festivals

  • NYFF World Premiere
    • Beyond the Law (?)
    • Oratorio for Prague
  • Cannes
    • The Nun (1966)
    • Mouchette (1967, OCIC)
    • Capricious Summer (also Karlovy Vary, Crystal Globe)
    • The Firemen’s Ball
    • The Red and the White
    • A Report on the Party and the Guests
    • 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman (also San Sebastian)
  • Berlin
    • Les Biches (Best Actress)
    • Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach
    • The Immortal Story
    • Signs of Life (Special Jury Prize)
    • Week-end
  • Venice
    • Artists Under the Big Top: Perplexed (Golden Lion)
    • L’Enfance nue
    • Faces (Volpi Cup for Best Actor, Pasinetti Award)
    • Partner. (also 1969 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight)
  • Other
    • Kaja, I’ll Kill You! (Pula)
    • Tropics (Pesaro)
  • N/A
    • L’Argent
    • Hugo and Josephine
    • Lola Montès
    • One Plus One
    • Toni
    • 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her

Oscar Nominees

  • Faces: Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress
  • The Firemen’s Ball: Best Foreign Film

Events/Shorts

events
shorts

Discussions By Length (Approximate)

  • 23:36 Week-end (3:52:44-4:16:20)
  • 18:06 L’Enfance nue (3:34:37-3:52:43)
  • 16:25 Lola Montés (1:56:35-2:13:00)
  • 15:38 Faces (2:13:01-2:28:39)
  • 14:49 The Nun (1:41:45-1:56:34)
  • 13:42 24 Hours in the Life of a Woman (2:40:23-2:54:05)
  • 13:05 Mouchette (1:19:32-1:32:37)
  • 12:42 The Immortal Story (33:05-45:47)
  • 12:32 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (3:00:58-3:13:30)
  • 12:02 Les Biches (3:21:43-3:33:45)
  • 11:14 A Report on the Party and the Guests (56:39-1:07:53)
  • 11:11 Toni (21:53-33:04)
  • 10:50 Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (45:48-56:38)
  • 10:33 The Red and the White (1:07:54-1:18:27)
  • 9:29 One Plus One* [One Person] (4:16:21-4:25:50)
  • 9:06 L’Argent [One Person] (1:32:38-1:41:44)
  • 8:11 Artists Under the Big Top: Perplexed (3:13:31-3:21:42)
  • 7:06 Partner. (2:30:50-2:37:56)
  • 6:51 Signs of Life (2:54:06-3:00:57)
  • 6:34 The Firemen’s Ball (4:41:24-4:47:58)
  • 5:46 Capricious Summer (16:06-21:52)
  • 5:32 Hugo and Josephine (4:25:51-4:31:23)
  • 5:28 Beyond the Law [One Person] (4:31:24-4:36:52)
  • 4:30 Oratorio for Prague (4:36:53-4:41:23)
  • 2:09 Tropics [Unavailable] (2:28:40-2:30:49)
  • 1:29 Kaja, I’ll Kill You! [Unavailable] (2:37:57-2:39:26)

Specifications

  • Jiří Menzel, Rozmarné léto, 1968, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 74 minutes, 1.37:1, Czech, Czechoslovakia.
  • Jean Renoir, Toni, 1935, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 81 minutes, 1.37:1, French and Italian and Spanish, France.
  • Orson Welles, Une histoire immortelle, 1968, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 58 minutes, 1.66:1, English, France.
  • Danièle Huillet & Jean-Marie Straub, Chronik der Anna Magdalena Bach, 1968, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 94 minutes, 1.37:1, German, West Germany.
  • Jan Němec, O slavnosti a hostech, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 71 minutes, 1.37:1, Czech, Czechoslovakia.
  • Jancsó Miklós, Csillagosok, katonák, 1967, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 90 minutes, 2.35:1, Hungarian and Russian, Hungary.
  • Robert Bresson, Mouchette, 1967, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 81 minutes, 1.66:1, French, France.
  • Marcel L’Herbier, L’Argent, 1928, 35 mm, black-and-white, silent, 195 minutes, 1.33:1, French, France.
  • Jacques Rivette, Suzanne Simonin, la Religieuse de Denis Diderot, 1966, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 140 minutes, 1.85:1, French, France.
  • Max Ophuls, Lola Montès, 1955, 35 mm, color, 4-track stereo sound, 116 minutes, 2.55:1, French and English and German, France.
  • John Cassavetes, Faces, 1968, 16 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 130 minutes, 1.66:1, English, USA.
  • Gianni Amico, Tropici, 1968, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 81 minutes, 1.37:1, Portuguese and Italian, Italy.
  • Bernardo Bertolucci, Partner., 1968, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 105 minutes, 2.35:1, Italian, Italy.
  • Vatroslav Mimica, Kaja, ubit ću te!, 1967, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 87 minutes, 1.37:1, Serbo-Croatian, Yugoslavia.
  • Dominique Delouche, Vingt-Quatre Heures de la vie d’une femme, 1968, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 84 minutes, 1.66:1, French, France.
  • Werner Herzog, Lebenszeichen, 1968, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 87 minutes, 1.37:1, German, West Germany.
  • Jean-Luc Godard, 2 ou 3 choses que je sais d’elle, 1967, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 87 minutes, 2.35:1, French, France.
  • Alexander Kluge, Die Artisten in der Zirkuskuppel: Ratlos, 1968, 35 mm, black-and-white and color, mono sound, 104 minutes, 1.37:1, German, West Germany.
  • Claude Chabrol, Les Biches, 1968, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 100 minutes, 1.66:1, French, France.
  • Maurice Pialat, L’Enfance nue, 1968, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 83 minutes, 1.66:1, French, France.
  • Jean-Luc Godard, Week-end, 1967, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 105 minutes, 1.66:1, French, France.
  • Jean-Luc Godard, One Plus One, 1968, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 100 minutes, 1.66:1, English, UK.
  • Kjell Grede, Hugo och Josefin, 1967, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 82 minutes, 1.37:1, Swedish, Sweden.
  • Norman Mailer, Beyond the Law, 1968, 16 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 110 minutes, 1.37:1, English, USA.
  • Jan Němec, Oratorium pro Prahu, 1968, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 26 minutes, 1.37:1, English, Czechoslovakia.
  • Miloš Forman, Hoří, má panenko, 1967, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 73 minutes, 1.37:1, Czech, Czechoslovakia.

July 2018 Capsules

Ryan Swen Reviews Tags: Leave a comment

Ashes of Time [Original]
But first time with the original cut, which feels like another beast entirely; where the Redux felt as if from another world out of time, this feels rooted in a specific cultural and geographic context. What stay the same are the faces, the ruminations on memory and figures.

The Grandmaster (rewatch)
The key to The Grandmaster lies in the photos, in those moments where time comes to a total standstill. If, as Ip says, once a move – whether it be on a chessboard, in the flurry of fists, in the grand scheme of history – has been made, it cannot be taken back, then these act as the concrete points of delineation. Color fades to black-and-white, and though the participants may then leave, their trace cannot be erased. So it is with their destinies. Gong Er has no choice but to fight Ma San, her father must pass on the torch, Ip can never return to Foshan: they are defined as much by their actions, their lot in life, as by their skill in combat. All eventually reach this state of acceptance, where they become resigned to their fates; that Ip is the last one that remains vertical is no accident.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
Perhaps most startling, among so many of the elemental parts that combine to form The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, is Lau Kar-leung’s sense of editing, especially during the training sequences. Once Liu finishes the strength courses and moves into learning the forms of kung fu, Lau moves into almost an entirely different vein of conveying his narrative. Neither strictly montage (in the sequence definition) nor the entirely step-by-step mode in which the film had proceeded prior, the chambers flow into each other: hands into legs, legs into sword, sword into staff. These delineations are clear to the viewer, but Lau cuts so fluidly on movement that the viewer is constantly brought anew into another discipline. So it is with the rest of the film, so dedicated to laying out every step with clarity, and yet accomplishing it in a way that feels essential to not just Liu’s training, but the possibilities of the human form at large.

5th (1967): “To See and Be Seen” Show Notes

Ryan Swen Catalyst and Witness Leave a comment

Table of Contents: Description, Corrections/Clarifications, Housekeeping, General, Main Slate, Ephemera, Recurring Directors, Recurring Countries, One-Time Directors, Debuts, Festivals/Oscar Nominees, Events/Shorts, Discussions By Length, Specifications

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Listen to the podcast here.
Subscribe to the podcast here.

Description
The fifth episode of the Catalyst and Witness podcast, devoted to exploring the films and format of the New York Film Festival, hosted by Ryan Swen and Dan Molloy. This covers the fifth edition of the festival in 1967.

0:00-12:42 – Opening
12:43-1:00:37 – Part One [The Battle of Algiers to Napoléon]
1:00:38-1:34:58 – Part Two [Funnyman to The Taking of Power by Louis XIV]
1:34:59-2:03:23 – Part Three [Barrier to The Other One]
2:03:24-2:38:47 – Part Four [Portrait of Jason to Far From Vietnam]
2:38:48-2:45:04 – Closing

Corrections/Clarifications

  • Elvira Madigan was Danish, while Sixten Sparre was Swedish.

Housekeeping

  • Hosted by Dan Molloy & Ryan Swen
  • Conceived and Edited by Ryan Swen
  • Recorded in Seattle and Portland on MacBook GarageBand, Edited in Audacity
  • Podcast photograph from Yi Yi, Logo designed by Dan Molloy
  • Poster by Roy Lichtenstein
  • Recorded June 21, 2018
  • Released June 29, 2018
  • Music (in order of appearance):
    • The Battle of Algiers (opening night)
    • Le Départ (favorite soundtrack)
    • Napoléon (favorite of the first section)
    • The Taking of Power by Louis XIV (favorite of the second section)
    • Made in U.S.A (favorite of the third section)
    • Applause (favorite of the fourth section)
    • Far From Vietnam (closing night)

General

  • Selection Committee: Richard Roud (program director), Amos Vogel (festival director), Arthur Knight, Andrew Sarris, Susan Sontag
  • Location: Philharmonic Hall
  • Prices: 2 for terrace, 2.50 or 3 for orchestra, 3.50 or 4 for loge, with 1 added to all seats for opening night
  • Films seen for the podcast:
    • Ryan
      • Seen before podcast watching period: The Battle of Algiers
      • Seen for the podcast: All available; all rewatched
      • Favorite films: Napoléon, The Battle of Algiers, The Taking of Power by Louis XIV, Applause, Portrait of Jason
      • Least favorite films: Memorandum, Tonite Let’s All Make Love in London
      • Catch-Up Corner: Raven’s End (3rd)
    • Dan
      • Seen before podcast watching period: The Battle of Algiers, Samurai Rebellion
      • Seen for the podcast: All available except Memorandum; none rewatched
      • Favorite films: Napoléon, Portrait of Jason, The Battle of Algiers, The Taking of Power by Louis XIV
      • Least favorite films: Young Törless, Le Départ, Barrier, Let’s All Make Love in London
      • Catch-Up Corner: The Wedding March (3rd)
  • Discoveries of the festival: Far From Vietnam, Applause, Yesterday Girl
  • Unavailable films: Hot Years, Funnyman, Puss & Kram, Benefit of the Doubt, The Other One, A Mother’s Heart

Main Slate

Opening Night: The Battle of Algiers [La battaglia di Algeri] (1966, Gillo Pontecorvo)
September 20, 9:00
Released 1967
Hot Years [Tople godine] (1966, Dragoslav Lazić)
September 21, 6:30
Never released
Yesterday Girl [Abschied von gestern/Farewell to Yesterday] (1966, Alexander Kluge)
September 21, 9:30
Never released
Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator [Ljubavni slučaj ili tragedija službenice P.T.T./Love Affair, or the Tragedy of a P.T.T.] (1967, Dušan Makavejev)
September 22, 6:30
Released 1968
Le Départ [The Departure] (1967, Jerzy Skolimowski)
September 22, 9:30
Released 1968
Retrospective: Napoléon [Napoléon vu par Abel Gance] (1927, Abel Gance)
September 23, 1:30
Released 1929
Funnyman (1967, John Korty)
September 23, 6:30
Released 1971
Hugs and Kisses [Puss och Kram] (1967, Jonas Cornell)
September 23, 9:30
Released 1968
Young Törless [Der junge Törless] (1966, Volker Schlöndorff)
September 24, 6:30
Released 1968
Samurai Rebellion [Jōi-uchi: Hairyō tsuma shimatsu/Rebellion: Receive the Wife] (1967, Kobayashi Masaki)
September 24, 9:30
Released 1968
The Lion Hunters [La chasse au lion à l’arc/The Lion Hunting at the Bow] (1965, Jean Rouch)
Also: Memorandum (1965, Donald Brittain & John Spotton)
September 25, 6:30
Never released/Never released
The Taking of Power by Louis XIV [La Prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV] (1966, Roberto Rossellini)
September 25, 9:30
Released 1970
Barrier [Bariera] (1966, Jerzy Skolimowski)
September 26, 6:30
Never released
“The London Scene”
Tonite Let’s All Make Love in London (1967, Peter Whitehead)
Benefit of the Doubt (1967, Peter Whitehead)
September 26, 9:30
Never released/Never released
Retrospective: Les Carabiniers [The Riflemen] (1963, Jean-Luc Godard)
September 27, 6:30
Released 1968
Made in U.S.A (1966, Jean-Luc Godard)
September 27, 9:30
Released 1981
Father [Apa] (1966, Szabó István)
September 28, 6:30
Released 1967
The Other One [L’une et l’autre/The One and the Other] (1967, René Allio)
September 28, 9:30
Released 1967
Portrait of Jason (1967, Shirley Clarke)
September 29, 6:30
Released 1967
Elvira Madigan (1967, Bo Widerberg)
September 29, 9:30
Released 1967
Retrospective: Applause (1929, Rouben Mamoulian)
Also: Show People (1928, King Vidor)
September 30, 3:00
Released 1929/Released 1928
A Mother’s Heart [Serdtse materi] (1966, Mark Donskoy)
September 30, 6:30
Released 1967
“Closing Night”: Far From Vietnam [Loin du Vietnam] (1967, Jean-Luc Godard & Joris Ivens & William Klein & Claude Lelouch & Chris Marker & Alain Resnais & Agnès Varda)
September 30, 9:30
Released 1968

Ephemera

  • “A Tribute to Abel Gance”: 8 films presented in conjunction with the Cinémathèque Française, shown at the Library and Museum of Performing Arts in Lincoln Center, all free
  • “The Social Cinema in America”: 21 events investigating current trends in American documentary cinema, held at the Library and Museum of Performing Arts in Lincoln Center, all free

Recurring Directors
Key: films in this iteration excluding shorts/omnibus/retrospectives, films in this iteration including, films in the festival up to this point excluding, films up to this point including, number of gala spots (when applicable), number of festivals with more than one film shown (when applicable); † indicates their last appearance, fraction in parentheses indicates number of features shown from oeuvre, features released in the eligible timeframe, features in oeuvre

  • Jean-Luc Godard: 2/3/7/11/2/4
  • Jerzy Skolimowski: 2/2/4/4/0/2
  • Peter Whitehead: 2/2/2/3/0/1†(2/8/8)
  • Alain Resnais: 1/1/3/3/2
  • Chris Marker: 1/1/3/3/1
  • René Allio: 1/1/2/2
  • Kobayashi Masaki: 1/1/2/2†(2/10/22)
  • Agnès Varda: 1/1/2/2/1
  • Bo Widerberg: 1/1/2/2
  • Joris Ivens: 1/1/1/2/1
  • Roberto Rossellini: 1/1/1/2
  • Jean Rouch: 1/1/1/2†(1/32/38)
  • Alexander Kluge: 1/1/1/1
  • Dušan Makavejev: 1/1/1/1
  • Volker Schlöndorff: 1/1/1/1
  • Szabó István: 1/1/1/1
  • Abel Gance: 0/1/1/2
  • Rouben Mamoulian: 0/1/0/1

Recurring Countries
Key: films in this iteration excluding shorts/retrospectives, films in this iteration including, films in the festival up to this point excluding, films up to this point including, number of gala spots (when applicable)

  • France: 5/7/27/34/4
  • USA: 2/4/12/21
  • UK: 2/2/5/7
  • Sweden: 2/2/4/4
  • West Germany: 2/2/3/3
  • Yugoslavia: 2/2/3/3
  • Italy: 1/1/12/16/1
  • Japan: 1/1/9/10/1
  • Poland: 1/1/6/6
  • Canada: 1/1/3/4
  • USSR: 1/1/3/3/1
  • Hungary: 1/1/3/3
  • Belgium: 1/1/2/2

One-Time Directors

  • Donald Brittain & John Spotton
  • Shirley Clarke
  • Jonas Cornell
  • Mark Donskoy
  • William Klein (gala)
  • John Korty
  • Dragoslav Lazić
  • Claude Lelouch (gala)
  • Gillo Pontecorvo (gala)
  • King Vidor (retrospective)

Feature Debuts

  • Jonas Cornell
  • Alexander Kluge
  • Dragoslav Lazić
  • Rouben Mamoulian (retrospective)
  • Volker Schlöndorff

Festivals

  • Cannes
    • Young Törless (1966, FIPRESCI)
    • Elvira Madigan (Best Actress)
    • Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator (Critics’ Week)
  • Berlin
    • Le Départ (Golden Bear)
  • Venice
    • The Battle of Algiers (1966, Golden Lion, FIPRESCI)
    • Yesterday Girl (1966, Special Jury Prize)
    • Samurai Rebellion (FIPRESCI)
    • The Lion Hunters (?)
    • The Other One (?)
    • The Taking of Power by Louis XIV (?)
  • Other
    • A Mother’s Heart (San Sebastian)
    • Barrier (Bergamo, Grand Prize)
    • Far From Vietnam (Montreal)
    • Father (Locarno, Moscow, Grand Prize)
    • Hot Years (Mannheim; Pesaro)
    • Hugs and Kisses (Pesaro)
    • Made in U.S.A (London)
    • Memorandum (San Francisco)
  • N/A
    • Applause
    • Benefit of the Doubt
    • Les Carabiniers
    • Funnyman
    • Napoléon
    • Portrait of Jason
    • Show People
    • Tonite Let’s All Make Love in London

Oscar Nominees

  • The Battle of Algiers: 1966 Best Foreign Film, 1968 Best Director, 1968 Best Screenplay

Events/Shorts

events
shorts

Discussions By Length (Approximate)

  • 21:34 Napoléon (39:03-1:00:37)
  • 10:05 Far From Vietnam (2:28:42-2:38:47)
  • 9:14 The Taking of Power by Louis XIV (1:25:44-1:34:58)
  • 8:09 Portrait of Jason (2:04:21-2:12:30)
  • 7:54 The Battle of Algiers (13:41-21:35)
  • 6:50 “The London Scene” (1:40:02-1:46:52)
  • 6:30 The Lion Hunters (1:14:24-1:20:54)
  • 6:28 Made in U.S.A (1:52:03-1:58:31)
  • 5:51 Yesterday Girl (22:35-28:26)
  • 5:35 Le Départ (33:27-39:02)
  • 5:33 Applause (2:17:18-2:22:51)
  • 5:09 Les Carabiniers (1:46:53-1:52:02)
  • 4:59 Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator (28:27-33:26)
  • 4:55 Young Törless (1:04:41-1:09:36)
  • 4:48 Memorandum [One Person] (1:20:55-1:25:43)
  • 4:46 Samurai Rebellion (1:09:37-1:14:23)
  • 4:46 Elvira Madigan (2:12:31-2:17:17)
  • 4:18 Show People (2:22:52-2:27:10)
  • 4:06 Barrier (1:35:55-1:40:01)
  • 3:32 Father (1:58:32-2:02:04)
  • 1:47 Funnyman [Unavailable] (1:01:42-1:03:29)
  • 1:30 A Mother’s Heart [Unavailable] (2:27:11-2:28:41)
  • 1:18 The Other One [Unavailable] (2:02:05-2:03:23)
  • 1:00 Hugs and Kisses [Unavailable] (1:03:30-1:04:40)
  • 0:58 Hot Years [Unavailable] (21:36-22:34)

Specifications

  • Gillo Pontecorvo, La battaglia di Algeri, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 121 minutes, 1.85:1, Arabic and French, Italy.
  • Драгослав Лазић, Топле године, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 85 minutes, 1.66:1, Serbo-Croatian, Yugoslavia. (?)
  • Alexander Kluge, Abschied von gestern, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 88 minutes, 1.37:1, German, West Germany.
  • Душан Макавејев, Љубавни случај или трагедија службенице ПТТ, 1967, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 79 minutes, 1.66:1, Serbo-Croatian, Yugoslavia.
  • Jerzy Skolimowski, Le Départ, 1967, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 93 minutes, 1.66:1, French, Belgium.
  • Abel Gance, Napoléon, 1927, 35 mm, black-and-white, silent, 333 minutes, 1.33:1 and 4.00:1, French, France.
  • John Korty, Funnyman, 1967, 35 mm, black-and-white and color, mono sound, 102 minutes, 1.85:1, English, USA.
  • Jonas Cornell, Puss och Kram, 1967, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 94 minutes, 1.66:1, Swedish, Sweden.
  • Volker Schlöndorff, Der junge Törless, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 87 minutes, 1.37:1, German, West Germany.
  • 小林正樹, 上意討ち 拝領妻始末, 1967, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 128 minutes, 2.35:1, Japanese, Japan.
  • Jean Rouch, La chasse au lion à l’arc, 1965, 16 mm, color, mono sound, 81 minutes, 1.37:1, French, France.
  • Donald Brittain & John Spotton, Memorandum, 1965, 16 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 58 minutes, 1.37:1, English, Canada.
  • Roberto Rossellini, La Prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV, 1966, 16 mm, color, mono sound, 100 minutes, 1.37:1, French, France.
  • Jerzy Skolimowski, Bariera, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 77 minutes, 1.66:1, Polish, Poland.
  • Peter Whitehead, Tonite Let’s All Make Love in London, 1967, 16 mm, color and black-and-white, mono sound, 57 minutes, 1.37:1, English, UK.
  • Peter Whitehead, Benefit of the Doubt, 1967, 16 mm, black-and-white and color, mono sound, 70 minutes, 1.37:1, English, UK.
  • Jean-Luc Godard, Les Carabiniers, 1963, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 80 minutes, 1.37:1, French, France.
  • Jean-Luc Godard, Made in U.S.A, 1966, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 90 minutes, 2.35:1, French, France.
  • Szabó István, Apa, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 88 minutes, 1.37:1, Hungarian, Hungary.
  • René Allio, L’une et l’autre, 1967, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 90 minutes, 1.66:1, French, France. (?)
  • Shirley Clarke, Portrait of Jason, 1967, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 105 minutes, 1.37:1, English, USA.
  • Bo Widerberg, Elvira Madigan, 1967, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 91 minutes, 1.66:1, Danish and Swedish, Sweden.
  • Rouben Mamoulian, Applause, 1929, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 80 minutes, 1.20:1, English, USA.
  • King Vidor, Show People, 1928, 35 mm, black-and-white, silent/mono sound, 83 minutes, 1.20:1, English, USA.
  • Марк Донско́й, Сердце матери, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 100 minutes, 2.35:1, Russian, USSR.
  • Jean-Luc Godard & Joris Ivens & William Klein & Claude Lelouch & Chris Marker & Alain Resnais & Agnès Varda, Loin du Vietnam, 1967, 16 mm, color and black-and-white, mono sound, 115 minutes, 1.37:1, French, France.

June 2018 Capsules

Ryan Swen Reviews Tags: Leave a comment

That Day, on the Beach
Yang’s sensibility and perspective eventually becomes unmistakeable throughout That Day, on the Beach, but, aside from perhaps “Expectations,” this is the first work I’ve seen from him where the perspective is so heavily colored by a single character’s viewpoint, whether it be Jiali’s or someone else’s. For a director so otherwise forthright in his storytelling – though, of course, the rapid changes in character focus are a key component of his expansive and all-encompassing vision – Yang goes for a full-bore elliptical approach. Memory slips in and out of the viewer’s headspace, some “flashbacks” (although clearly the past is meant to be fully present) lasting mere moments and others lingering for seemingly close to an hour. Incredibly, all this happens while the film operates on an emotional register that manages to evoke melodrama while ostensibly remaining within the restraint and distance that Yang deployed even more skillfully in the films to come.

And what makes this structure – which folds in on itself to access the most formative moments – so vital is this feeling of transience. To say Yang’s films are fundamentally about modernity is far too general, but it manifests itself even in the moments that are meant to be past: society and the codes of conduct (in the home, in the workplace, in the city) are never far away, and they bear down on the individual and the marriage in ways both plainly visible and achingly invisible. The prospect of escape is tantalizing, but even with a triumphant final image the viewer (and Yang) is all too aware of the cost, the long, meandering, jumbled journey required to get there. And in that, seemingly all of human emotion and experience can be found.

My Blueberry Nights
Rather than, as I feared, a simple recapitulation or dilution of Wong’s trademark themes and style, My Blueberry Nights feels almost like a doubling down or an elaboration, transplanting his concerns and slightly but noticeably modifying them. This is as much a film about outsiders trapped in their own orbits as his other movies: a café owner who uses keys, pies, and videotapes as totems of memory; a cop who drinks like every day’s his last; an impulsive, confident gambler who seems to traverse the same landscapes that Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung crossed. It’s not an especially difficult task to assign certain roles – Norah Jones as Faye Wong (down to the use of their respective music), Jude Law as an exceptional mirror of Takeshi Kaneshiro – and indeed the three sections almost seem to follow a progression from Chungking Express to Fallen Angels to Happy Together. And the look and the music, the repetitions and the way images jump and flow into each other, the loneliness, the often intentional goofiness; all of these are universal, captured by Wong in a look, in a glance, in a frame.

4th (1966): “An Exceptionally Personalized Point of View” Show Notes

Ryan Swen Catalyst and Witness Leave a comment

Table of Contents: Description, Corrections/Clarifications, Housekeeping, General, Main Slate, Ephemera, Recurring Directors, Recurring Countries, One-Time Directors, Debuts, Festivals/Oscar Nominees, Events/Shorts, Discussions By Length, Specifications

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Description
The fourth episode of the Catalyst and Witness podcast, devoted to exploring the films and format of the New York Film Festival, hosted by Ryan Swen and Dan Molloy. This covers the fourth edition of the festival in 1966, and features special guest Evan Morgan, critic and co-host of the Snakes & Funerals podcast.

0:00-12:09 – Opening
12:10-51:17 – Part One [Loves of a Blonde to Au hasard Balthazar]
51:18-1:33:20 – Part Two [The Creatures to The Cheat]
1:33:21-2:16:45 – Part Three [The Shameless Old Lady to Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors]
2:16:46-3:08:35 – Part Four [Pearls of the Deep to The War Is Over]
3:08:36-3:15:54 – Closing

Corrections/Clarifications

  • N/A

Housekeeping

  • Hosted by Dan Molloy & Ryan Swen
  • Special Guest Evan Morgan (Snakes & Funerals)
  • Conceived and Edited by Ryan Swen
  • Recorded in Seattle and Portland on MacBook GarageBand, Edited in Audacity
  • Podcast photograph from Yi Yi, Logo designed by Dan Molloy
  • Poster by Roy Lichtenstein
  • Recorded May 6, 2018
  • Released May 20, 2018
  • Music (in order of appearance):
    • Loves of a Blonde (opening night)
    • Simon of the Desert (another favorite)
    • Au hasard Balthazar (favorite of the first section)
    • The Burmese Harp (favorite of the second section)
    • Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (favorite of the third section)
    • Pierrot le Fou (favorite of the fourth section)
    • The War Is Over (closing night)

General

  • Selection Committee: Richard Roud (program director), Amos Vogel (festival director), Arthur Knight, Andrew Sarris
  • Location: Philharmonic Hall
  • Prices: 2 for terrace, 2.50 or 3 for orchestra, 3.50 or 4 for loge, with 1 added to all seats for opening night; subtract 0.50 for Do You Keep a Lion at Home? (children’s matinee screening)
  • Films seen for the podcast:
    • Ryan
      • Seen before podcast watching period: The War Game, Au hasard Balthazar, Meet Marlon Brando, The Cheat, Masculin féminin, Pierrot le Fou
      • Seen for the podcast: All available except La Chienne*; all rewatched except The War Game
      • Favorite films: Pierrot le Fou, The War Game, Simon of the Desert, Au hasard Balthazar, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, The War Is Over
      • Least favorite films: Almost a Man, Pearls of the Deep
    • Dan
      • Seen before podcast watching period: Loves of a Blonde, Au hasard Balthazar, Masculin féminin, La Chienne*
      • Seen for the podcast: All available except The Shameless Old Lady; none rewatched
      • Favorite films: Pierrot le Fou, Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, Au hasard Balthazar, Masculin féminin, The War Is Over
      • Least favorite films: Almost a Man, La commare secca, The Hunt, Pearls of the Deep
      • Catch-Up Corner: Les Vampires (3rd)
    • Evan
      • Seen before podcast watching period: Au hasard Balthazar, The Burmese Harp, Masculin féminin, Simon of the Desert, La Chienne*, Pierrot le Fou
      • Seen for the podcast: All available except Hunger, Accattone, La commare secca, Pearls of the Deep; none rewatched
      • Favorite films: Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, Masculin féminin, The War Is Over
      • Least favorite films: Almost a Man, Intimate Lighting
  • Discoveries of the festival: Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, The War Is Over, The Shameless Old Lady, Troublemakers, The Round-Up, Hunger
  • Unavailable films: The Eavesdropper, Do You Keep a Lion at Home?, Notes for a Film on Jazz, A Woman of Affairs

Main Slate

Opening Night: Loves of a Blonde [Lásky jedné plavovlásky] (1965, Miloš Forman)
September 12, 9:00
Released 1966
The War Game (1966, Peter Watkins)
Also: Wholly Communion (1965, Peter Whitehead)
September 13, 6:30
Released 1967/Released 1967
Hunger [Sult] (1966, Henning Carlsen)
September 13, 9:30
Released 1968
Retrospective: La commare secca [The Skinny Gossip] (1962, Bernardo Bertolucci)
September 14, 6:30
Released 1982
The Eavesdropper [El ojo de la cerradura/The Keyhole] (1966, Leopoldo Torre Nilsson)
September 14, 9:30
Never released
Au hasard Balthazar [Balthazar, by Chance] (1966, Robert Bresson)
September 15, 6:30
Released 1970
The Creatures [Les Créatures] (1966, Agnès Varda)
September 15, 9:30
Released 1969
The Hawks and the Sparrows [Uccellacci e uccellini/Birds of Prey and Little Birds] (1966, Pier Paolo Pasolini)
September 16, 6:30
Released 1967
Retrospective: Accattone (1961, Pier Paolo Pasolini)
September 16, 9:30
Released 1968
Children’s Show: Do You Keep a Lion at Home? [Máte doma lva?] (1963, Pavel Hobl)
September 17, 11:00
Released 1966
“The Scene”
Meet Marlon Brando (1966, David & Albert Maysles)
Notes for a Film on Jazz [Appunti per un film sul jazz] (1965, Gianni Amico)
Troublemakers (1966, Norman Fruchter & Robert Machover)
September 17, 1:30
Never released/Never released/Never released
Retrospective: The Burmese Harp [Biruma no tategoto] (1956, Ichikawa Kon)
September 17, 4:00
Released 1967
Retrospective: A Woman of Affairs (1928, Clarence Brown)
Also: The Cheat (1915, Cecil B. DeMille)
September 17, 6:30
Released 1928/Released 1915
The Shameless Old Lady [La Vieille dame indigne/The Unworthy Old Lady] (1965, René Allio)
September 17, 9:30
Released 1966
Intimate Lighting [Intimní osvětlení] (1965, Ivan Passer)
Also: Three [Tri] (1965, Aleksandar Petrović)
September 18, 2:00
Released 1969/Released 1967
The Round-Up [Szegénylegények/Outlaws] (1966, Jancsó Miklós)
September 18, 6:30
Released 1969
Masculin féminin [Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis/Masculine Feminine: 15 Specific Events] (1966, Jean-Luc Godard)
September 18, 9:30
Released 1966
The Hunt [La caza] (1966, Carlos Saura)
September 19, 6:30
Released 1967
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors [Tini zabutykh predkiv] (1965, Sergei Parajanov)
September 19, 9:30
Never released
Pearls of the Deep [Perličky na dně] (1966, Omnibus: Jiří Menzel, Jan Němec, Evald Schorm, Věra Chytilová, Jaromil Jireš)
September 20, 6:30
Never released
Simon of the Desert [Simón del desierto] (1965, Luis Buñuel)
Also: The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short [De man die zijn haar kort liet knippen] (1966, André Delvaux)
September 20, 9:30
Released 1969/Released 1974
Canceled: Retrospective: La Chienne [The Bitch] (1931, Jean Renoir)
September 21, 6:30
Released 1976
Pierrot le Fou [Pierrot the Madman] (1965, Jean-Luc Godard)
September 21, 9:30
Released 1969
Almost a Man [Un uomo a metà/Half a Man] (1966, Vittorio De Seta)
September 22, 6:30
Never released
“Closing Night”: The War Is Over [La Guerre est Finie] (1966, Alain Resnais)
September 22, 8:40
Released 1967

Ephemera

  • “The Independent Cinema”: 27 lectures, interviews, discussions with filmmakers and critics, screenings, covering various aspects of independent filmmaking in US coordinated by John Brockman at the Library and Museum of Performing Arts in Lincoln Center, all free

Recurring Directors
Key: films in this iteration excluding shorts/omnibus/retrospectives, films in this iteration including, films in the festival up to this point excluding, films up to this point including, number of gala spots (when applicable), number of festivals with more than one film shown (when applicable); † indicates their last appearance, fraction in parentheses indicates number of features shown from oeuvre, features released in the eligible timeframe, features in oeuvre

  • Jean-Luc Godard: 2/2/5/8/1/3
  • Pier Paolo Pasolini: 1/2/1/3/0/1
  • Luis Buñuel: 1/1/4/4/1/1
  • Miloš Forman: 1/1/2/2/1
  • Alain Resnais: 1/1/2/2/1
  • Robert Bresson: 1/1/2/2
  • Leopoldo Torre Nilsson: 1/1/2/2†(2/13/28)
  • René Allio: 1/1/1/1
  • Jancsó Miklós: 1/1/1/1
  • Sergei Paradjanov: 1/1/1/1
  • Ivan Passer: 1/1/1/1
  • Aleksandar Petrović: 1/1/1/1
  • Carlos Saura: 1/1/1/1
  • Agnès Varda: 1/1/1/1
  • Peter Watkins: 1/1/1/1
  • Ichikawa Kon: 0/1/2/3/0/1
  • Bernardo Bertolucci: 0/1/1/2
  • Gianni Amico: 0/1/0/1
  • Věra Chytilová: 0/1/0/1
  • Cecil B. DeMille: 0/1/0/1
  • Jaromil Jireš: 0/1/0/1
  • Albert Maysles: 0/1/0/1
  • David Maysles: 0/1/0/1
  • Jiří Menzel: 0/1/0/1
  • Jan Němec: 0/1/0/1
  • Jean Renoir: 0/1/0/1
  • Peter Whitehead: 0/1/0/1

Recurring Countries
Key: films in this iteration excluding shorts/retrospectives, films in this iteration including, films in the festival up to this point excluding, films up to this point including, number of gala spots (when applicable)

  • France: 6/7/22/27/3
  • Czechoslovakia: 4/4/6/7/1
  • Italy: 2/5/11/15
  • USA: 1/4/10/17
  • UK: 1/2/3/5
  • Argentina: 1/1/3/3
  • Mexico: 1/1/2/2/1
  • USSR: 1/1/2/2/1
  • Denmark: 1/1/2/2
  • Hungary: 1/1/2/2
  • Belgium: 1/1/1/1
  • Spain: 1/1/1/1
  • Yugoslavia: 1/1/1/1
  • Japan: 0/1/8/9/1

One-Time Directors

  • Clarence Brown (retrospective)
  • Henning Carlsen
  • Vittorio De Seta
  • André Delvaux
  • Norman Fruchter & Robert Machover
  • Pavel Hobl
  • Evald Schorm (omnibus)

Feature Debuts

  • René Allio
  • Bernardo Bertolucci (retrospective)
  • André Delvaux (?)
  • Norman Fruchter & Robert Machover
  • Pavel Hobl
  • Ivan Passer
  • Pier Paolo Pasolini (retrospective)

Festivals

  • Cannes
    • Hunger (Best Actor)
    • The Hawks and the Sparrows (Special Mention for Totò)
    • The Round-Up
  • Berlin
    • The Hunt (Best Director)
    • Masculin féminin (Best Actor, Youth Film Award, Interfilm Honorable Mention)
  • Venice
    • The Burmese Harp (1956, Special Mention)
    • Simon of the Desert (1965, Special Jury Prize)
    • Loves of a Blonde (1965)
    • Pierrot le Fou (1965)
    • Au hasard Balthazar (OCIC)
    • Almost a Man (Volpi Cup for Best Actor)
    • The War Game (Special Prize, San Giorgio, OCIC Honorable Mention)
    • The Shameless Old Lady (Best First Film Prize) (?)
    • The Creatures
  • Other
    • The Eavesdropper (Mar del Plata)
    • Intimate Lighting (San Sebastian)
    • Three (Karlovy Vary)
    • Pearls of the Deep (Locarno)
    • Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (Mar del Plata, Grand Prix)
    • The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short (Pesaro)
    • The War Is Over (Locarno)
  • N/A
    • Wholly Communion
    • La commare secca
    • Accattone
    • Do You Keep a Lion at Home?
    • Meet Marlon Brando
    • Notes for a Film on Jazz
    • Troublemakers
    • A Woman of Affairs
    • The Cheat
    • La Chienne

Oscar Nominees

  • The Burmese Harp: 1956 Best Foreign Film
  • The War Game: Best Documentary (won)
  • Loves of a Blonde: Best Foreign Film
  • Three: Best Foreign Film
  • The War Is Over: 1967 Best Original Screenplay

Events/Shorts

events
shorts

Discussions By Length (Approximate)

  • 11:59 The War Is Over (2:56:36-3:08:35)
  • 10:35 Pearls of the Deep [Omnibus] (2:17:42-2:28:17)
  • 9:55 “The Scene” (1:12:23-1:22:18)
  • 8:51 Pierrot le Fou (2:41:45-2:50:36)
  • 8:32 The Creatures (52:07-1:00:39)
  • 8:09 The War Game (20:23-28:32)
  • 7:17 Loves of a Blonde (13:05-20:22)
  • 7:10 Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (2:09:35-2:16:45)
  • 7:05 Masculin féminin (1:57:52-2:04:57)
  • 6:51 Au hasard Balthazar (44:26-51:17)
  • 6:50 The Round-Up (1:51:01-1:57:51)
  • 6:32 The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short (2:34:36-2:41:08)
  • 6:17 Simon of the Desert (2:28:18-2:34:35)
  • 6:15 The Shameless Old Lady [Two People] (1:34:17-1:40:32)
  • 5:58 Almost a Man (2:50:37-2:56:35)
  • 5:54 Hunger [Two People] (33:23-39:17)
  • 5:39 The Hawks and the Sparrows (1:00:40-1:06:19)
  • 5:32 The Cheat (1:27:48-1:33:20)
  • 5:31 Three (1:45:29-1:51:00)
  • 4:55 Intimate Lighting (1:40:33-1:45:28)
  • 4:52 Accattone [Two People] (1:06:20-1:11:12)
  • 4:50 The Burmese Harp(1:22:19-1:27:09)
  • 4:49 Wholly Communion (28:33-33:22)
  • 4:36 The Hunt (2:04:58-2:09:34)
  • 3:46 La commare secca [Two People] (39:18-43:04)
  • 1:20 The Eavesdropper [Unavailable] (43:05-44:25)
  • 1:09 Do You Keep a Lion at Home? [Unavailable] (1:11:13-1:12:22)
  • 0:37 A Woman of Affairs [Unavailable] (1:27:10-1:27:47)
  • 0:35 La Chienne [Canceled] (2:41:09-2:41:44)

Specifications

  • Miloš Forman, Lásky jedné plavovlásky, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 88 minutes, 1.37:1, Czech, Czechoslovakia.
  • Peter Watkins, The War Game, 1966, 16 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 48 minutes, 1.37:1, English, UK.
  • Peter Whitehead, Wholly Communion, 1965, 16 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 33 minutes, 1.37:1, English, UK.
  • Henning Carlsen, Sult, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 112 minutes, 1.66:1, Swedish, Denmark.
  • Bernardo Bertolucci, La commare secca, 1962, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 93 minutes, 1.66:1, Italian, Italy.
  • Leopoldo Torre Nilsson, El ojo de la cerradura, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 102 minutes, 1.37:1, Spanish, Argentina. (?)
  • Robert Bresson, Au hasard Balthazar, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 95 minutes, 1.66:1, French, France.
  • Agnès Varda, Les Créatures, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 92 minutes, 2.35:1, French, France.
  • Pier Paolo Pasolini, Uccellacci e uccellini, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 89 minutes, 1.85:1, Italian, Italy.
  • Pier Paolo Pasolini, Accattone, 1961, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 117 minutes, 1.37:1, Italian, Italy.
  • Pavel Hobl, Máte doma lva?, 1964, 35 mm, color and black-and-white, mono sound, 81 minutes, 1.37:1, Czech, Czechoslovakia. (?)
  • David & Albert Maysles, Meet Marlon Brando, 1966, 16 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 28 minutes, 1.37:1, English and French and German, USA.
  • Gianni Amico, Appunti per un film sul jazz, 1965, 16 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 35 minutes, 1.37:1, English, Italy.
  • Norman Fruchter & Robert Machover, Troublemakers, 1966, 16 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 54 minutes, 1.37:1, English, USA.
  • 市川崑, ビルマの竪琴, 1956, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 116 minutes, 1.37:1, Japanese, Japan.
  • Clarence Brown, A Woman of Affairs, 1928, 35 mm, black-and-white, silent/mono sound, 92 minutes, 1.33:1, English, USA.
  • Cecil B. DeMille, The Cheat, 1915, 35 mm, black-and-white, silent, 59 minutes, 1.33:1, English, USA.
  • René Allio, La Vieille dame indigne, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 94 minutes, 1.66:1, French, France.
  • Ivan Passer, Intimní osvětlení, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 71 minutes, 1.37:1, Czech, Czechoslovakia.
  • Александар Петровић, Три, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 80 minutes, 1.37:1, Serbo-Croatian, Yugoslavia.
  • Jancsó Miklós, Szegénylegények, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 95 minutes, 2.35:1, Hungarian, Hungary.
  • Jean-Luc Godard, Masculin féminin: 15 faits précis, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 103 minutes, 1.37:1, French, France.
  • Carlos Saura, La caza, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 91 minutes, 1.66:1, Spanish, Spain.
  • Sergei Parajanov, Tini zabutykh predkiv, 1965, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 97 minutes, 1.37:1, Ukranian, USSR.
  • Jiří Menzel/Jan Němec/Evald Schorm/Věra Chytilová/Jaromil Jireš, Perličky na dně, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white and color, mono sound, 105 minutes, 1.37:1, Czech, Czechoslovakia.
  • Luis Buñuel, Simón del desierto, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 45 minutes, 1.37:1, Spanish, Mexico.
  • André Delvaux, De man die zijn haar kort liet knippen, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 94 minutes, 1.66:1, Dutch, Belgium.
  • Jean Renoir, La Chienne, 1931, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 91 minutes, 1.20:1, French, France.
  • Jean-Luc Godard, Pierrot le Fou, 1965, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 110 minutes, 2.35:1, French, France.
  • Vittorio De Seta, Un uomo a metà, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 93 minutes, 1.85:1, Italian, Italy.
  • Alain Resnais, La Guerre est Finie, 1966, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 121 minutes, 1.66:1, French and Spanish, France.

3rd (1965): “Films: Fashion of the Fashionable” Show Notes

Ryan Swen Catalyst and Witness Leave a comment

Table of Contents: Description, Corrections/Clarifications, Housekeeping, General, Main Slate, Ephemera, Recurring Directors, Recurring Countries, One-Time Directors, Debuts/Final Features, Festivals/Oscar Nominees, Events/Shorts, Discussions By Length, Specifications

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Description
The third episode of the Catalyst and Witness podcast, devoted to exploring the films and format of the New York Film Festival, hosted by Ryan Swen and Dan Molloy. This covers the third edition of the festival in 1965.
0:00-9:08 – Opening
9:09-54:11 – Part One [Alphaville to Charulata]
54:12-1:31:16 – Part Two [The Wedding March to Shakespeare Wallah]
1:31:17-2:18:36 – Part Three [Les Vampires to Le Petit Soldat]
2:18:37-3:10:38 – Part Four [Gertrud to Red Beard]
3:10:39-3:17:39 – Closing

Corrections/Clarifications

  • “Les Jeux Des Anges” was directed by Walerian Borowczyk.

Housekeeping

  • Hosted by Dan Molloy & Ryan Swen
  • Conceived and Edited by Ryan Swen
  • Recorded in Seattle and Portland on MacBook GarageBand, Edited in Audacity
  • Podcast photograph from Yi Yi, Logo designed by Dan Molloy
  • Poster by Bruce Conner
  • Recorded April 6, 2018
  • Released April 18, 2018
  • Music (in order of appearance):
    • Alphaville (opening night)
    • The Koumiko Mystery (another favorite)
    • Charulata (favorite of the first section)
    • Walkover (favorite of the second section)
    • Les Vampires (favorite of the third section)
    • Gertrud (favorite of the fourth section)
    • Red Beard (closing night)

General

  • Selection Committee: Richard Roud (program director), Amos Vogel (festival director)
  • Location: Philharmonic Hall
  • Prices: 2 for terrace, 2.50 or 3 for orchestra, 3.50 or 4 for loge; add 0.50 for Les Vampires; 12.50 and 17.50 for opening (ACLU benefit with champagne reception; rush tickets one dollar more than regular)
  • Films seen for the podcast:
    • Ryan
      • Seen before podcast watching period: Alphaville
      • Seen for the podcast: All available except Raven’s End, The Shop on Main Street, Thomas the Impostor, Of Human Bondage; Alphaville rewatched
      • Favorite films: Gertrud, Les Vampires, Seven Chances, Charulata, Red Beard, The Koumiko Mystery, Alphaville
      • Least favorite films: Black Peter
      • Seen after the podcast: Raven’s End (5th)
      • Catch-Up Corner: The Big City (2nd), Pasazerka (2nd), Before the Revolution (2nd)
    • Dan
      • Seen before podcast watching period: Alphaville, Seven Chances, Gertrud, Red Beard
      • Seen for the podcast: All available except Knave of Hearts, The Lady Without Camelias, Les Vampires, The Wedding March; none rewatched
      • Favorite films: Seven Chances, Gertrud, Charulata, Alphaville, Red Beard
      • Least favorite films: Black Peter, Sandra
      • Seen after the podcast: Les Vampires (4th), The Wedding March (5th)
  • Discoveries of the festival: Not Reconciled, The Koumiko Mystery, Raven’s End, Walkover, The Lady Without Camelias
  • Unavailable films: Sweet Substitute, Twilight of Empire

Main Slate
Opening Night: Alphaville [Alphaville: une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution/Alphaville: A Strange Adventure of Lemmy Caution] (1965, Jean-Luc Godard)
September 7, 9:00
Released 1965
Retrospective: Knave of Hearts [Monsieur Ripois/Mr. Ripois] (1954, René Clément)
September 8, 6:30
Released 1954
Mickey One (1965, Arthur Penn)
September 8, 9:30
Released 1965
Raven’s End [Kvarteret Korpen/Quarter Neighborhood] (1963, Bo Widerberg)
September 9, 6:30
Released 1970
The Shop on Main Street [Obchod na korze] (1965, Ján Kadár & Elmar Klos)
September 9, 9:30
Released 1966
Retrospective: The Lady Without Camelias [La signora senza camelie] (1953, Michelangelo Antonioni)
September 10, 6:30
Released 1981
Charulata [Cārulatā] (1965, Satyajit Ray)
September 10, 9:30
Released 1974
Retrospective: The Wedding March (1928, Erich von Stroheim)
September 11, 3:00
Released 1928
Black Peter [Černý Petr] (1964, Miloš Forman)
September 11, 6:30
Released 1971
Thomas the Impostor [Thomas l’imposteur] (1964, Georges Franju)
September 11, 9:30
Never released
Identification Marks: None [Rysopis/Identification] (1964, Jerzy Skolimowski)
September 12, 3:00
Released 1968
Walkover [Walkower] (1965, Jerzy Skolimowski)
September 12, 6:30
Released 1969
Shakespeare Wallah (1965, James Ivory)
September 12, 9:30
Released 1966
Retrospective: Les Vampires [The Vampires] (1915, Louis Feuillade)
September 13, 5:00
Released 1916
Retrospective: Buster and Beckett
The Railrodder (1965, Gerald Potterton)
Film (1965, Alan Schneider)
Seven Chances (1925, Buster Keaton)
September 14, 6:30
Never released/Released 1968/Released 1925
Retrospective: Tribute to Bette Davis
Of Human Bondage (1934, John Cromwell)
September 14, 9:30
Released 1934
Sweet Substitute (1964, Laurence L. Kent)
September 15, 6:30
Never released
Six in Paris [Paris vu par…/Paris Seen by…] (1965, Omnibus: Jean Douchet, Jean Rouch, Jean-Daniel Pollet, Éric Rohmer, Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol)
September 15, 9:30
Released 1969
Retrospective: Le Petit Soldat [The Little Soldier] (1963, Jean-Luc Godard)
September 16, 6:30
Released 1967
Gertrud (1964, Carl Th. Dreyer)
September 16, 9:30
Released 1966
Fists in the Pocket [I pugni in tasca] (1965, Marco Bellocchio)
September 17, 6:30
Released 1968
Sandra [Vaghe stelle dell’Orsa/Glimmering Stars of the Great Bear] (1965, Luchino Visconti)
September 17, 9:30
Released 1966
The Koumiko Mystery [Le Mystère Koumiko] (1965, Chris Marker)
And: Twilight of Empire (1964, Kevin Billington)
September 18, 3:00
Released 1967/Never released
Not Reconciled [Nicht versöhnt oder Es hilft nur Gewalt wo Gewalt herrscht/Not Reconciled, or Only Violence Helps Where Violence Rules] (1965, Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet)
September 18, 6:30
Released 1969
“Closing Night”: Red Beard [Akahige] (1965, Kurosawa Akira)
September 18, 8:40
Released 1968

Ephemera

  • “Film ’65”: Thirteen panel discussions coordinated by Arthur Knight at the Library and Museum of Performing Arts in Lincoln Center, all free
  • Excerpts from Dark Victory, All About Eve, and Jezebel shown after Of Human Bondage

Recurring Directors

Key: films in this iteration excluding shorts/omnibus/retrospectives, films in this iteration including, films in the festival up to this point excluding, films up to this point including, number of gala spots (when applicable), number of festivals with more than one film shown (when applicable); † indicates their last appearance, fraction in parentheses indicates number of features shown from oeuvre, features released in the eligible timeframe, features in oeuvre

  • Jerzy Skolimowski: 2/2/2/2/0/1
  • Jean-Luc Godard: 1/3/3/6/1/2
  • Satyajit Ray: 1/1/2/2/1
  • Chris Marker: 1/1/2/2
  • Kurosawa Akira: 1/1/1/1/1
  • Marco Bellocchio: 1/1/1/1
  • Miloš Forman: 1/1/1/1
  • James Ivory: 1/1/1/1
  • Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet: 1/1/1/1
  • Luchino Visconti: 1/1/1/1
  • Bo Widerberg: 1/1/1/1
  • Michelangelo Antonioni: 0/1/0/1
  • Claude Chabrol: 0/1/0/1
  • Louis Feuillade: 0/1/0/1
  • Éric Rohmer: 0/1/0/1
  • Jean Rouch: 0/1/0/1
  • Erich von Stroheim: 0/1/0/1

Recurring Countries

Key: films in this iteration excluding shorts/retrospectives, films in this iteration including, films in the festival up to this point excluding, films up to this point including, number of gala spots (when applicable)

  • France: 4/7/16/20/2
  • USA: 2/6/9/13
  • Italy: 2/3/9/10
  • Poland: 2/2/5/5
  • Czechoslovakia: 2/2/2/3
  • Canada: 1/2/2/3
  • Japan: 1/1/8/8/1
  • India: 1/1/2/2/1
  • Sweden: 1/1/2/2
  • Denmark: 1/1/1/1
  • West Germany: 1/1/1/1
  • UK: 0/1/2/3

One-Time Directors

  • Kevin Billington (short)
  • René Clément (retrospective)
  • John Cromwell (retrospective)
  • Jean Douchet (omnibus)
  • Carl Th. Dreyer
  • Georges Franju
  • Buster Keaton (retrospective)
  • Laurence L. Kent
  • Ján Kadár & Elmar Klos
  • Arthur Penn
  • Jean-Daniel Pollet (omnibus)
  • Gerald Potterton (short)
  • Alan Schneider (short)

Feature Debuts

  • Marco Bellocchio
  • Jerzy Skolimowski
  • Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet

Final Features

  • Carl Th. Dreyer

Festivals

  • Cannes
    • Knave of Hearts (1954, Special Jury Prize)
    • Raven’s End (1964)
    • The Shop on Main Street (Special mention for actors)
    • Walkover (International Critics’ Week)
  • Berlin
    • Alphaville (Golden Bear)
    • Charulata (Best Director, OCIC)
    • Shakespeare Wallah (Best Actress)
    • Thomas the Impostor
    • Six in Paris (?)
    • Not Reconciled (?)
    • The Railrodder (Short Silver Bear)
  • Venice
    • Sandra (Golden Lion)
    • Red Beard (Volpi Cup for Best Actor, OCIC; also Moscow)
    • Mickey One
    • Gertrud (non-competition, FIPRESCI)
    • Film (short)
  • Other
    • Black Peter (Locarno, Golden Leopard)
    • Fists in the Pocket (Locarno, Silver Sail)
    • The Koumiko Mystery (Locarno)
    • Identification Marks: None (London)
    • Sweet Substitute (Montreal, Special Jury Prize)
  • N/A
    • The Lady Without Camelias
    • The Wedding March
    • Les Vampires
    • Of Human Bondage
    • Le Petit Soldat
    • Twilight of Empire

Oscar Nominees

  • Of Human Bondage: 1934 Best Actress (unofficial)
  • Raven’s End: 1964 Best Foreign Film
  • The Shop on Main Street: Best Foreign Film (won), 1966 Best Actress

Events/Shorts

events

shorts

Discussions By Length (Approximate)

  • 12:32 “Buster and Beckett” (1:40:20-1:52:52)
  • 11:01 Red Beard (2:59:37-3:10:38)
  • 11:01 Six in Paris [Omnibus] (2:00:05-2:11:06)
  • 10:23 Charulata (43:48-54:11)
  • 10:19 Gertrud (2:19:24-2:29:43)
  • 10:10 Not Reconciled (2:49:26-2:59:36)
  • 9:26 Identification Marks: None/Walkover (1:12:44-1:22:10)
  • 9:10 Alphaville (9:47-18:57)
  • 9:05 Shakespeare Wallah (1:22:11-1:31:16)
  • 8:17 Les Vampires [One Person] (1:32:02-1:40:19)
  • 7:29 Le Petit Soldat (2:11:07-2:18:36)
  • 7:20 The Koumiko Mystery (2:40:59-2:48:19)
  • 6:54 Black Peter (1:01:54-1:08:48)
  • 6:51 The Wedding March [One Person] (55:02-1:01:53)
  • 6:44 Mickey One (22:15-28:59)
  • 6:15 Of Human Bondage [One Person] (1:52:53-1:59:08)
  • 5:51 The Shop on Main Street [One Person] (32:41-38:32)
  • 5:42 Sandra (2:35:16-2:40:58)
  • 5:31 Fists in the Pocket (2:29:44-2:35:15)
  • 5:14 The Lady Without Camelias [One Person] (38:33-43:47)
  • 3:54 Thomas the Impostor [One Person] (1:08:49-1:12:43)
  • 3:40 Raven’s End [One Person] (29:00-32:40)
  • 3:16 Knave of Hearts [One Person] (18:58-22:14)
  • 1:05 Twilight of Empire [Unavailable] (2:48:20-2:49:25)
  • 0:55 Sweet Substitute [Unavailable] (1:59:09-2:00:04)

Specifications

  • Jean-Luc Godard, Alphaville: une étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 99 minutes, 1.37:1, French, France.
  • René Clément, Monsieur Ripois, 1954, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 100 minutes, 1.37:1, French, France.
  • Arthur Penn, Mickey One, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 93 minutes, 1.85:1, English, USA.
  • Bo Widerberg, Kvarteret Korpen, 1963, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 101 minutes, 1.37:1, Swedish, Sweden.
  • Ján Kadár & Elmar Kos, Obchod na korze, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 128 minutes, 1.37:1, Slovak, Czechoslovakia.
  • Michelangelo Antonioni, La signora senza camelie, 1953, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 101 minutes, 1.37:1, Italian, Italy.
  • সত্যজিত রায়, চারুলতা, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 117 minutes, 1.37:1, Bengali, India.
  • Erich von Stroheim, The Wedding March, 1928, 35 mm, black-and-white and color, silent, 113 minutes, 1.33:1, English, USA.
  • Miloš Forman, Černý Petr, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 85 minutes, 1.37:1, Czech, Czechoslovakia.
  • Georges Franju, Thomas l’imposteur, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 94 minutes, 1.85:1, French, France.
  • Jerzy Skolimowski, Rysopis, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 73 minutes, 1.66:1, Polish, Poland.
  • Jerzy Skolimowski, Walkower, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 77 minutes, 1.66:1, Polish, Poland.
  • James Ivory, Shakespeare Wallah, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 120 minutes, 1.85:1, English and Bengali, USA.
  • Louis Feullade, Les Vampires, 1915, 35 mm, black-and-white, silent, 417 minutes, 1.33:1, French, France.
  • Gerald Potterton, The Railrodder, 1965, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 24 minutes, 1.37:1, English, Canada.
  • Alan Schneider, Film, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 20 minutes, 1.37:1, English, USA.
  • Buster Keaton, Seven Chances, 1925, 35 mm, black-and-white and color, silent, 56 minutes, 1.33:1, English, USA.
  • John Cromwell, Of Human Bondage, 1934, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 83 minutes, 1.37:1, English, USA.
  • Laurence L. Kent, Sweet Substitute, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 90 minutes, 1.37:1, English, Canada. (?)
  • Jean Douchet/Jean Rouch/Jean-Daniel Pollet/Éric Rohmer/Jean-Luc Godard/Claude Chabrol, Paris vu par…, 1965, 16 mm, color, mono sound, 95 minutes, 1.37:1, French, France.
  • Jean-Luc Godard, Le Petit Soldat, 1963, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 88 minutes, 1.37:1, French, France.
  • Carl Th. Dreyer, Gertrud, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 116 minutes, 1.66:1, Danish, Denmark.
  • Marco Bellocchio, I pugni in tasca, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 105 minutes, 1.85:1, Italian, Italy.
  • Luchino Visconti, Vaghe stelle dell’Orsa, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 105 minutes, 1.66:1, Italian, Italy.
  • Chris Marker, Le Mystère Koumiko, 1965, 16 mm, color, mono sound, 54 minutes, 1.37:1, French, France.
  • Kevin Billington, Twilight of Empire, 1964, 16 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 21 minutes, 1.37:1, English, UK. (?)
  • Jean-Marie Straub & Danièle Huillet, Nicht versöhnt oder Es hilft nur Gewalt wo Gewalt herrscht, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 52 minutes, 1.37:1, German, West Germany.
  • 黒澤明, 赤ひげ, 1965, 35 mm, black-and-white, 4-track stereo sound, 185 minutes, 2.35:1, Japanese, Japan.

April 2018 Capsules

Ryan Swen Reviews Tags: Leave a comment

Les Vampires
If a summation of what makes Les Vampires such a pleasurable experience inevitably devolves into a description of just a handful of its most indelible moments, this is by no means a weakness on the part of the film. Even more than most of the great directors, Feuillade seems to think in terms of the scene, plotting out all of the possibilities of drastic narrative change within this discrete block of time and then executing any number of them. The suspense aspect most associated with a “crime thriller” such as this is quickly replaced with the pleasure of the unexpected, and the even greater pleasure of seeing so many twists and turns executed so flawlessly, with such a skillful restraint in technique matched with the most outlandish developments imaginable.

Also everyone is superhuman in this.

2nd (1964): “All Over the World” Show Notes

Ryan Swen Catalyst and Witness Leave a comment

Table of Contents: Description, Corrections/Clarifications, Housekeeping, General, Main Slate, Ephemera, Recurring Directors, Recurring Countries, One-Time Directors, Debuts/Final Features, Festivals/Oscar Nominees, Shorts, Discussions By Length, Specifications

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Listen to the podcast here.
Subscribe to the podcast here.

Description
The second episode of the Catalyst and Witness podcast, devoted to exploring the films and format of the New York Film Festival, hosted by Ryan Swen and Dan Molloy. This covers the second edition of the festival in 1964.

0:00-9:58 – Opening
9:59-1:21:50 – Part One [Hamlet to Salvatore Giuliano]
1:21:51-2:21:44 – Part Two [A Woman Is a Woman to The Last Clean Shirt]
2:21:45-3:04:05 – Part Three [Passenger to Alone on the Pacific]
3:04:06-3:44:17 – Part Four [King & Country to The Big City]
3:44:18-3:50:37 – Closing

Corrections/Clarifications

  • The decision to withdraw the Museum of Modern Art from the New York Film Festival was made by the board of trustees, not the board of donors.
  • Though various New York Times articles claim that shorts were attached to the films at the 1st New York Film Festival, I was unable to find the titles of the shorts (aside from the Robert Drew short documentaries).
  • The song that plays in the scene from A Woman Is a Woman is sung by Charles Aznavour, not Maurice Chevalier.

Housekeeping

  • Hosted by Dan Molloy & Ryan Swen
  • Conceived and Edited by Ryan Swen
  • Recorded in Seattle and Portland on MacBook GarageBand, Edited in Audacity
  • Podcast photograph from Yi Yi, Logo designed by Dan Molloy
  • Poster by Saul Bass
  • Recorded March 5, 2018
  • Released March 12, 2018
  • Music (in order of appearance):
    • Hamlet (opening night)
    • A Woman Is a Woman (another favorite)
    • Woman in the Dunes (favorite of the first section)
    • Nothing But a Man (favorite of the second section)
    • Passenger (favorite of the third section)
    • King & Country (favorite of the fourth section)
    • The Big City (closing night)

General

  • Selection Committee: Richard Roud (program director), Amos Vogel (festival director)
  • Location: Philharmonic Hall
  • Prices: 2 for terrace, 2.50 or 3 for orchestra, 3.50 or 4 for loge, with 1 added to all seats for opening night
  • Pass for all programs: 42.50 vs. 50 for terrace, 55.00 vs. 62.50 and 67.50 vs. 75.00 for orchestra
  • Films seen for the podcast:
    • Ryan
      • Seen before podcast watching period: A Woman Is a Woman
      • Seen for the podcast: All available except Passenger, Before the Revolution, The Big City; A Woman Is a Woman rewatched
      • Favorite films: Woman in the Dunes, The Brig, Nothing But a Man
      • Least favorite films: Salvatore Giuliano, Siberian Lady Macbeth, The Last Clean Shirt, Fail-Safe
      • Seen after the podcast: The Big City (3rd), Passenger (3rd), Before the Revolution (3rd), Band of Outsiders rewatched (16th)
    • Dan
      • Seen before podcast watching period: Salvatore Giuliano, A Woman Is a Woman, Band of Outsiders, Nothing But a Man
      • Seen for the podcast: All available; A Woman Is a Woman rewatched
      • Favorite films: Nothing But a Man, Woman in the Dunes, Band of Outsiders
      • Least favorite films: Siberian Lady Macbeth, Alone Across the Pacific, Fail-Safe
  • Discoveries of the festival: Hamlet, The Brig, Passenger, Life Upside Down
  • Unavailable films: The Inheritance, To Love, Cyrano and d’Artagnan, Ça ira*

Main Slate

Opening Night: Hamlet [Gamlet] (1964, Grigori Kozintsev)
September 14, 9:00
Released 1966
The Inheritance [La Herencia] (1964, Ricardo Alventosa)
Also: Joseph Kilian [Postava k podpírání/A Character in Need of Support] (1963, Pavel Juráček & Jan Schmidt)
September 15, 6:30
Never released/Released 1966
Fail-Safe (1964, Sidney Lumet)
September 15, 9:15
Released 1964
Nobody Waved Good-bye (1964, Don Owen)
September 16, 6:30
Released 1965
Woman in the Dunes [Suna no Onna/Sand Woman] (1964, Teshigahara Hiroshi)
September 16, 9:15
Released 1964
Hands Over the City [Le mani sulla città] (1963, Francesco Rosi)
September 17, 6:30
Never released
Salvatore Giuliano (1962, Francesco Rosi)
September 17, 9:15
Released 1964
A Woman Is a Woman [Une femme est une femme] (1961, Jean-Luc Godard)
September 18, 6:30
Released 1964
Band of Outsiders [Bande à part] (1964, Jean-Luc Godard)
September 18, 9:15
Released 1966
Nothing But a Man (1964, Michael Roemer)
September 19, 6:30
Released 1964
Lilith (1964, Robert Rossen)
September 19, 9:15
Released 1964
Shin Heike Monogatari [Taira Clan Saga] (1955, Mizoguchi Kenji)
September 20, 3:00
Never released
The Brig (1964, Jonas Mekas)
Also: The Last Clean Shirt (1964, Alfred Leslie)
September 20, 6:30
Released 1966/Never released
Passenger [Pasażerka] (1963, Andrzej Munk)
Also: …A Valparaiso [To Valparaiso] (1963, Joris Ivens)
September 20, 9:15
Released 1970/Released 1965
L’Âge d’or [The Golden Age] (1930, Luis Buñuel)
September 21, 6:30
Released 1980
Diary of a Chambermaid [Le journal d’une femme de chambre] (1964, Luis Buñuel)
September 21, 9:15
Released 1965
Conflagration [Enjō] (1958, Ichikawa Kon)
September 22, 6:30
Never released
To Love [Att älska] (1964, Jörn Donner)
September 22, 9:15
Released 1964
Alone Across the Pacific [Taiheiyo hitori-botchi] (1963, Ichikawa Kon)
September 23, 6:30
Released 1964
King & Country (1964, Joseph Losey)
September 23, 9:15
Released 1966
Life Upside Down [La vie à l’envers] (1964, Alain Jessua)
September 24, 6:30
Released 1965
Before the Revolution [Prima della rivoluzione] (1964, Bernardo Bertolucci)
September 24, 9:15
Released 1965
She and He [Kanojo to kare] (1963, Hani Susumu)
September 25, 6:30
Released 1967
Cyrano and d’Artagnan [Cyrano et d’Artagnan] (1964, Abel Gance)
September 25, 9:15
Never released
Ça ira – Il fiume della rivolta (1964, Tinto Brass)
Replaced With: Siberian Lady Macbeth [Sibirska Ledi Magbet] (1962, Andrzej Wajda)
September 26, 6:30
Released 1971/Never released
“Closing Night”: The Big City [Mahanagar] (1963, Satyajit Ray)
September 26, 9:15
Released 1967

Ephemera

  • Excerpts from quartet of Andy Warhol films shown on the Grand Promenade at Philharmonic Hall: Eat, Kiss, Haircut, Sleep

Recurring Directors
Key: films in this iteration excluding shorts/omnibus/retrospectives, films in this iteration including, films in the festival up to this point excluding, films up to this point including, number of gala spots (when applicable), number of festivals with more than one film shown (when applicable); † indicates their last appearance, fraction in parentheses indicates number of features shown from oeuvre, features released in the eligible timeframe, features in oeuvre

  • Luis Buñuel: 2/2/3/3/1/1
  • Jean-Luc Godard: 2/2/2/3/0/1
  • Ichikawa Kon: 2/2/2/2/0/1
  • Francesco Rosi: 2/2/2/2/0/1
  • Joseph Losey: 1/1/2/2
  • Grigori Kozintsev: 1/1/1/1/1
  • Satyajit Ray: 1/1/1/1/1
  • Bernardo Bertolucci: 1/1/1/1
  • Abel Gance: 1/1/1/1
  • Sidney Lumet: 1/1/1/1
  • Jonas Mekas: 1/1/1/1
  • Mizoguchi Kenji: 1/1/1/1
  • Michael Roemer: 1/1/1/1
  • Teshigahara Hiroshi: 1/1/1/1
  • Andrzej Wajda: 1/1/1/1
  • Joris Ivens: 0/1/0/1

Recurring Countries
Key: films in this iteration excluding shorts/retrospectives, films in this iteration including, films in the festival up to this point excluding, films up to this point including, number of gala spots (when applicable)

  • France: 6/7/12/13/1
  • Japan: 5/5/7/7
  • USA: 5/5/7/7
  • Italy: 4/4/7/7
  • Poland: 2/2/3/3
  • Argentina: 1/1/2/2
  • UK: 1/1/2/2
  • India: 1/1/1/1/1
  • USSR: 1/1/1/1/1
  • Canada: 1/1/1/1
  • Sweden: 1/1/1/1
  • Czechoslovakia: 0/1/0/1

One-Time Directors

  • Richardo Alventosa
  • Tinto Brass (replaced)
  • Jörn Donner
  • Hani Susumu
  • Alain Jessua
  • Pavel Juráček & Jan Schmidt (short)
  • Alfred Leslie (short)
  • Andrzej Munk
  • Don Owen
  • Robert Rossen

Feature Debuts

  • Ricardo Alventosa
  • Luis Buñuel (retrospective)
  • Alain Jessua
  • Don Owen
  • Michael Roemer

Final Features

  • Andrzej Munk
  • Robert Rossen

Festivals

  • NYFF World Premiere
    • Fail-Safe
  • Cannes
    • Woman in the Dunes (Special Jury Prize; also Montreal)
    • Passenger (Tribute, FIPRESCI)
    • Alone Across the Pacific (also San Francisco)
    • Before the Revolution (International Critics’ Week, Young Critics Prize)
    • The Inheritance (International Critics’ Week)
    • Joseph Kilian (International Critics’ Week)
  • Berlin
    • A Woman Is a Woman (1961, Best Actress, Special Jury Prize)
    • Salvatore Giuliano (1962, Best Director; also 1963 Montreal)
    • The Big City (Best Director)
    • She and He (Best Actress, OCIC, Best Feature Film Suitable for Young People)
  • Venice
    • Hands Over the City (1963, Golden Lion)
    • Hamlet (Special Jury Prize)
    • To Love (Volpi Cup for Best Actress)
    • King & Country (Volpi Cup for Best Actor)
    • Life Upside Down (Best First Work; also Cannes International Critics’ Week)
    • Nothing But a Man (San Giorgio Prize)
    • The Brig (Documentary Festival, Grand Prize)
    • Ça ira (?)
    • Lilith (withdrawn)
  • Other
    • Nobody Waved Good-bye (Montreal)
    • Diary of a Chambermaid (Karlovy Vary, Best Actress; also Venice?)
  • N/A
    • Band of Outsiders (Berlin and Locarno?)
    • Shin Heike Monogatari
    • The Last Clean Shirt
    • …A Valparaiso
    • L’Âge d’or
    • Conflagration
    • Cyrano and d’Artagnan
    • Siberian Lady Macbeth

Oscar Nominees

  • Woman in the Dunes: Best Foreign Film, 1965 Best Director

Shorts

shorts

Discussions By Length (Approximate)

  • 15:35 Fail-Safe (30:55-46:30)
  • 14:24 The Brig (2:03:29-2:17:53)
  • 11:56 Hamlet (11:03-22:59)
  • 11:47 Woman in the Dunes (57:43-1:09:30)
  • 11:11 Nobody Waved Good-bye (46:31-57:42)
  • 10:44 Nothing But a Man (1:37:32-1:48:16)
  • 10:37 The Big City (3:33:40-3:44:17)
  • 8:44 Passenger (2:23:19-2:32:03)
  • 8:14 A Woman Is a Woman (1:23:02-1:31:16)
  • 7:47 Lilith (1:48:17-1:56:04)
  • 7:36 Diary of a Chambermaid (2:42:31-2:50:07)
  • 7:23 Shin Heike Monogatari (1:56:05-2:03:28)
  • 7:06 Joseph Kilian [Short] (23:48-30:54)
  • 7:03 Salvatore Giuliano (1:14:47-1:21:50)
  • 6:40 Alone Across the Pacific (2:57:25-3:04:05)
  • 6:26 King & Country (3:04:57-3:11:23)
  • 6:14 Band of Outsiders (1:31:17-1:37:31)
  • 5:42 Conflagration (2:50:08-2:55:50)
  • 5:32 Life Upside Down (3:11:24-3:16:56)
  • 5:31 Before the Revolution [One Person] (3:16:57-3:22:28)
  • 5:29 L’Âge d’or (2:37:01-2:42:30)
  • 5:15 Hands Over the City (1:09:31-1:14:46)
  • 5:00 She and He (3:22:29-3:27:29)
  • 4:56 …A Valparaiso [Short] (2:32:04-2:37:00)
  • 4:17 Ça ira/Siberian Lady Macbeth (3:29:22-3:33:39)
  • 3:50 The Last Clean Shirt [Short] (2:17:54-2:21:44)
  • 1:51 Cyrano and d’Artagnan [Unavailable] (3:27:30-3:29:21)
  • 1:33 To Love [Unavailable] (2:55:51-2:57:24)
  • 0:47 The Inheritance [Unavailable] (23:00-23:47)

Specifications

  • Григо́рий Ко́зинцев, Гамлет, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, 4-track stereo sound, 140 minutes, 2.35:1, Russian, USSR.
  • Ricardo Alventosa, La Herencia, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 78 minutes, 1.37:1, Spanish, Argentina.
  • Pavel Juráček & Jan Schmidt, Postava k podpírání, 1963, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 38 minutes, 1.37:1, Czech, Czechoslovakia.
  • Sidney Lumet, Fail-Safe, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 112 minutes, 1.85:1, English, USA.
  • Don Owen, Nobody Waved Good-bye, 1964, 16 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 80 minutes, 1.66:1, English, Canada.
  • 勅使河原宏, 砂の女, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 147 minutes, 1.37:1, Japanese, Japan.
  • Francesco Rosi, Le mani sulla città, 1963, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 101 minutes, 1.85:1, Italian, Italy.
  • Francesco Rosi, Salvatore Giuliano, 1962, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 123 minutes, 1.85:1, Italian, Italy.
  • Jean-Luc Godard, Une femme est une femme, 1961, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 85 minutes, 2.35:1, French, France.
  • Jean-Luc Godard, Bande à part, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 97 minutes, 1.37:1, French, France.
  • Michael Roemer, Nothing But a Man, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 95 minutes, 1.37:1, English, USA.
  • Robert Rossen, Lilith, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 114 minutes, 1.85:1, English, USA.
  • 溝口健二, 新・平家物語, 1955, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 108 minutes, 1.37:1, Japanese, Japan.
  • Jonas Mekas, The Brig, 1964, 16 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 68 minutes, 1.37:1, English, USA.
  • Alfred Leslie, The Last Clean Shirt, 1964, 16 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 40 minutes, 1.37:1, Finnish, USA.
  • Andrzej Munk, Pasażerka, 1963, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 62 minutes, 1.85:1, Polish, Poland.
  • Joris Ivens, …A Valparaiso, 1963, 16 mm, black-and-white and color, mono sound, 26 minutes, 1.37:1, French, France.
  • Luis Buñuel, L’Âge d’or, 1930, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 63 minutes, 1.20:1, French, France.
  • Luis Buñuel, Le journal d’une femme de chambre, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 97 minutes, 2.35:1, French, France.
  • 市川崑, 炎上, 1958, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 99 minutes, 2.35:1, Japanese, Japan.
  • Jörn Donner, Att älska, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 90 minutes, 1.66:1, Swedish, Sweden.
  • 市川崑, 太平洋ひとりぼっち, 1963, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 104 minutes, 2.35:1, Japanese, Japan.
  • Joseph Losey, King & Country, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 88 minutes, 1.66:1, English, UK.
  • Alain Jessua, La vie à l’envers, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 92 minutes, 1.85:1, French, France.
  • Bernardo Bertolucci, Prima della rivoluzione, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 115 minutes, 1.85:1, Italian, Italy.
  • 羽仁進, 彼女と彼, 1963, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 110 minutes, 1.37:1, Japanese, Japan.
  • Abel Gance, Cyrano et d’Artagnan, 1964, 35 mm, color, mono sound, 145 minutes, 2.35:1, French, France.
  • Tinto Brass, Ça ira – Il fiume della rivolta, 1964, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 89 minutes, 1.37:1, Italian, Italy.
  • Andrzej Wajda, Sibirska Ledi Magbet, 1962, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 93 minutes, 2.35:1, Serbo-Croatian, Poland.
  • সত্যজিত রায়, মহানগর, 1963, 35 mm, black-and-white, mono sound, 136 minutes, 1.37:1, Bengali, India.

March 2018 Capsules

Ryan Swen Reviews Tags: Leave a comment

In the Mood for Love (rewatch)
Wong Kar-wai’s films are full of ambiguities, little moments of languor or frenzied motion that don’t so much stick out of the dense textures as infuse them with an odd charge. But I can’t recall anything in his filmography quite like Mr. Chow’s and Mrs. Chan’s spouses, in both their exclusively back-facing appearances and their place in the emotional narrative. Aside from a few direct, curt but not impolite interactions, they function as structuring absences, fitting into the abbreviated scene structure of the first third of the film with furtive phone conversations, often comprised of single lines that convey a whole world of feeling, just outside of their spouses’ – and the viewer’s – comprehension. Chow’s wife, and perhaps Chan’s husband towards the end, leave them so suddenly that I didn’t even notice it on first watch, and yet they are brought to life by those reenactments, those attempts to subsume identities that can’t help but become something more real, more mysteriously captivating.

Inevitably, the most traditionally Wongian sentiments and dialogue come in the final interactions between Chow and Chan, almost sounding like the voiceover of one of his other film’s protagonists, when the emotional connections and bittersweet recollections of missed romances come to the fore. All else is cloaked and yearning, which the filmmaking makes almost unbearably heartbreaking.

The Day After
“…a rare art that utilizes concrete human forms to reveal the phenomenal disposition and attitude of humans.”

Ever since the introduction of the zoom, Hong’s filmmaking has relied to some palpable extent upon the conspicuous, the emphatic gesture of a tripod-mounted camera. But I can’t recall him utilizing his main outlet for stylistic flourishes to the degree that he does for most of the conversations, panning back and forth, never holding on one face for more than ten seconds at a time. This suits The Day After, undeniably fractious and heated even by Hong’s standards, and especially the frazzled headspace in which Bongwan (Kwon Hae-hyo) is in. But what makes it so much more effective are the “bookend” conversations, both of which display a deep well of disappointment, in which the camera holds on the two figures for the majority of the shot. At one end of the film, there is total deceit and a stubborn lack of clarity. At the other, genuine change and a willingness to embrace a new beginning. In the middle lies every emotion, every obsession, everything that comprises the films of Hong.

Close-Up (rewatch)
I feel like the conceptualization of Close-Up – both in the general film cultural sense and specifically in my recollection – as a seamless docufiction runs counter to the actual experience of seeing the film. In truth, it is a true hybrid, with something more than half the film taken up by the “real” courtroom scene, shot in 16mm, and the rest by “fictional” reenactments, shot in 35mm. Of course, Kiarostami’s touch in this is such that both take on elements of the other – in particular, the chronicling of certain moments (like the conversation in the taxi) that takes on a whole new charge when considering that real people are telling their own stories. But a key factor in what makes the ending so overwhelming is the long-awaited fusing of these two impulses. The real is shot with a clarity that nevertheless is interrupted; the viewer strains to hear what ultimately cannot be spoken, and can simply be expressed with universal languages: music and vision.