Some double features
Image result for sympathy for lady vengeance
I have always liked the idea of double features. A single movie can be paired with many other movies. It is really up to you how you want to pair the movies together. You can do just two samurai movies, or pair a samurai movie with a modern gangster movie. What you pair makes someone try and see why you paired them together obviously. So here are a few that I really enjoy and have been thinking about
M and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
Both movies about crimes against children, but the communities take drastically different measures in response.
Silence and The Two Popes
Both are meditations on religion and philosophy, particularly Christianity, which is a religion I quite like to think about.
Tokyo Story and Harakiri
Hegel remarks that the tragedy features a character who represents some form of life who plays out that form of life to the end, even when that form of life shows the deep contradictions in that society’s way of life. Tokyo Story I believe is such a great movie because it is the greatest tragedy of the post-WWII era films. Harakiri is here because it almost became a tragedy, but as we see, our main character refused to be part of one.
Long Night’s Journey into Day and Judgement at Nuremburg
The former is a documentary on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Committee, the latter a movie on the trials war tribunals for the Nazis. Both represent what is talked about in transitional justice, state buildings, and what justice is. Most importantly, we learn how similar the politics and many of the political actors are of these atrocities to citizens in other states absent any of these types of atrocities.
Farewell My Concubine and Ash Is Purest White
I am no Chinese historian, but watching these two in these order is the way to do it. They give the past 6 distinctive eras of China. Well, these 6 eras seem to be just in the background, while the foreground are two love stories.
Le Bonheur and The Housemaid
Infidelity.
Rashomon and 12 Angry Men
The truth.
The Sacrifice and Ikiru
The Sacrifice can be considered the last ditch effort of an intellectual to save the world, through a wish. However, there are no mystical witches that can do this as far as I know. The good is an effort, an ordeal, and so we should look to Ikiru.
Grass and Hotel by the River
The theme here is just Hong Sang-soo in all his glory.
Seven Samurai and Shoplifters
Poverty.
The Battle of Algiers and The Nightingale
Anti-imperialism.
The Quiet Family and Barking Dogs Never Bite
Dark comedy.
Good Will Hunting and Dead Poets Society
Robin Williams.
The Face of Another and Cure
Psychological.
Pierrot Le Fou and The Handmaiden
Love.
Night on Earth and Coffee and Cigarettes
Jarmusch.
In the Mood for Love and Only Lovers Left Alive
A different kind of love.
BONUS : The “I have nothing better to do during the pandemic” weekend
Watch on Friday night Stalker.
Saturday, watch Sátántangó. Bela Tarr wants people to watch it in one sitting, but I had to like, go make lunch. So at least try it in two sittings. I get what he means though, you should try and soak it up in one go without intermission. You want to be in the same state for the whole 8 hours, you want to be sucked in, absorbing every scene. So good luck.
Sunday, watch An Elephant Sitting Still.
These are the best uses of the “long take” I have seen. Tarkovsky was more modest with it, Tarr almost absurd with it, and HuBo is perfect with it. They each use it in different ways, to do different things, but I believe Hu Bo masters it.
