Everything about this sounds amazing, but I'm more interested in Emperor Tomato Ketchup to be honest. Terayama's nutty, but he's not the heart of the Japanese New Wave per se; Wakamatsu's closest to the center without turning into an actual revolutionary.
I watched Jires' The Joke last night and that's pretty great too. I'd also call it lyrical but it's not pictorial really, the focus is more on the subjective sound and flashback structure. In any case it's awesome. Apparently it's the last film with which he tried to be explicitly political so I'm interested to see how he changes things up with Valerie
This one really flew under the radar for me. I got around to seeing it maybe a year after it's release, and was blown away that I hadn't heard more about it. Thoroughly enjoyed it then, and still do.
ЯAW;88856622 said:
The Czech New Wave is pretty great from what I've seen too, which is four of the six films on this eclipse set. Like I implied in my other post I haven't actually seen Valerie, but I'm interested to see how the intentional apolitical nature changes it-- the Czech films I've seen so far are explicitly political, but they also work on levels of sexuality and simple human relationships that make them relevant and touching even today. the political nature does add something, especially in The Joke and Daisies, where the films seem so radically anti-stalinist that it's a surprise the filmmakers weren't dragged into town squares and executed. Oddly though, just from your description, I think Jires' view on sexuality is a lot less youthful in The Joke despite it being made earlier. The way he treats sex in that film is very much as just a tool of vindictive older men looking for revenge, or of stranded older women looking to find emotions they've lost in the 20 years since revolutionary ecstasy, or of spoiler younger men and women looking for a lay. curious to see how much that changes with Valerie.
I actually haven't seen Closely Watched Trains yet, but Menzel's second feature Capricious Summer is well worth checking out. Quite a fun but incisive look at marriage. It certainly has a political level but like I said above, it's not a prerequisite for enjoying the picture. Like you said a lot of these are on Hulu; I expect plenty of those Hulu entires are also ones on the Eclipse set and like I said they're all well worth watching. Favorite so far is probably Daisies, then The Joke, then Capricious Summer, then A Report on the Party and Guests. Haven't watched Pearls of the Deep or Return of the Prodigal Son yet.
I can see that, it's a pleasant watch.
I've only seen Pearls of the Deep, but that's good enough for now. It's gotten me interested in Schorm, Herz, and Jires for sure, and I'm well aware of how awesome Chytilova, Menzel, and Forman/Passer are (Nemec, too). I just don't like to splurge given how many viewing options I have at the moment.
lol, That's about the best context to view it in. It's closest to the avant-garde theatrical productions Terayama put on in the ATG vicinity, which explains my interest.
Wakamatsu's pinku films were among the first of the genre and also the most political; Oshima's definitely the fulcrum of ATG and the student-revolution wing of the J-New Wave, but Wakamatsu's even closer to radical film-makers like Masao Adachi (who, in particular, later traveled to Palestine to aid in revolutionary causes).
Misery loves company.
If you are going to western Texas, may the film gods have mercy on your soul.Wow, need to give it a real watch then.
