Saturday, December 08, 2007

MY FOURTH POLL: I LOVE YOU, I'LL KILL YOU

--My third poll has ended with 10 votes (including one vote from mine for L’ARGENT), and the result is:

WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE FILM ENDING AMONG THESE?

1.L’ARGENT (Robert Bresson) 4 votes (40 %)

2.HELL WITHOUT LIMITS (Arturo Ripstein) + TO BE TWENTY (Fernando Di Leo) gets 2 votes each (or 20 %)

4.THE ARMY OF SHADOWS + THE CASTLE (Michael Haneke) + JEANNE DIELMAN + LOVELY RITA + THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN gets 1 vote each (10 %)

9.LA CEREMONIE (Claude Chabrol) + NO PLACE TO GO (Oskar Roehler) get no vote.

Thank you very much for everyone who participated in this poll. I’m glad L’ARGENT gets the most votes. L’ARGENT is the film which really makes me very very afraid to commit any sins, even small ones. Before I saw L’ARGENT, I used to think that commit a little sin (such as stealing someone’s husband, just kidding) might not be a very bad thing, might be something forgivable, might be something you can correct later, might be something people can forget, or I can forget. But L’ARGENT makes me see that such a small sin (using a false bank note) can corrupt our souls and lead to more and more evil. So whenever I am tempted to do any bad things, I will think of L’ARGENT, think of what happens before the ending of this film, and then I find myself not want to do any bad things anymore.

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--One of the films in my wish list is I LOVE YOU, I’LL KILL YOU (1971, Uwe Brandner, West Germany). I find its synopsis very interesting. This film is about a futuristic homosexual relationship between a teacher and a hunter. There is a review of this film by Roger Greenspun in New York Times website. I copied some parts of the review here:

“The teacher arrives to replace a man found dead as the film begins; and following what must be a preordained cycle, he becomes the hunter's friend, his disciple, his lover, and at last his victim—in a relationship that gives the film its title, its plot, and the major clues it offers as to its meaning.”

“Always cutting, with no fades or dissolves, through a succession of precise and beautifully composed shots, moving his camera only when absolutely necessary, severely framing his action visually while providing it with strange sound bridges—pealing bells, tinkling mechanisms, music from many sources—he comes very close to the feeling of those great semi-contemplative movies in which landscape, faces, architecture all collaborate, but which are essentially pure cinema.”


I hope I LOVE YOU, I’LL KILL YOU will be released as DVD soon.



--I think the relationship between the hunter and the teacher in I LOVE YOU, I’LL KILL YOU is very interesting. The title of this film also reminds me of a Thai short film called A WOMAN UNDER CONSCIOUSNESS (2000, Samart Imkham, 40 mins, A+), which is about a female killer who is ordered to murder a male killer who is actually her own lover.

The synopsis of I LOVE YOU, I’LL KILL YOU also makes me think about some very interesting relationships between main characters in some films. So my fourth poll is about my favorite relationships between main characters.

IN WHICH FILM DO YOU FIND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MAIN CHARACTERS VERY INTERESTING?

(I put the name of the main characters behind)

1. BERLIN ALEXANDERPLATZ (1980, Rainer Werner Fassbinder):
Franz Biberkopf (Gunter Lamprecht) + Reinhold Hoffmann (Gottfried John)

2. BETRAYED (1988, Costa-Gavras):
Catherine Weaver (Debra Winger) + Gary Simmons (Tom Berenger)

3. BREATHLESS (1959, Jean-Luc Godard):
Michel Poiccard (Jean-Paul Belmondo) + Patricia Franchini (Jean Seberg)

4. CAPOTE (2005, Bennett Miller):
Truman Capote (Philip Seymour Hoffman) + Perry Smith (Clifton Collins Jr.)

5.FREVEL (1983, Peter Fleischmann, West Germany):
Cop + Murderess

6.THE LIVES OF OTHERS (2006, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck):
Gerd Weisler (Ulrich Muhe) + Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch)

7.LUST, CAUTION (2007, Ang Lee):
Wang Jiazhi (Tang Wei) + Mr. Yee (Tony Leung Chiu Wai)

8.MONSTER (2003, Patty Jenkins):
Eileen (Charlize Theron) + Selby (Christina Ricci)

9.UNE PARTIE DE PLAISIR (1975, Claude Chabrol):
Philippe (Paul Gegauff) + Esther (Daniele Gegauff)

10.RIPLEY’S GAME (2002, Liliana Cavani):
Tom Ripley (John Malkovich) + Jonathan Trevanny (Dougray Scott)

--As usual, you can cast multiple votes.



--Though I love all these ten relationships, I decided to vote for FREVEL, because the relationship between the cop and the murderess in this film is very fascinating, though beyond my understanding. I don’t know why the cop becomes fascinated by the murderess. But I believe that some people can do something which is very hard to understand, and I like films which show something like that. FREVEL is the film which defies logic and reasons, and that’s why I totally love this film.



--Apart from the relationship between main characters, another thing I love in MONSTER is what Eileen said at the end of the film. It is surely one of my most favorite quotes of all time, and makes the ending of MONSTER one of my most favorite film endings of all time, too.

EILEEN:““Love conquers all." "Every cloud has a silver lining." "Faith can move mountains." "Love will always find a way." "Everything happens for a reason." "Where there is life, there is hope."
[laughs]
Oh, well... They gotta tell you somethin'”



--Please feel free to add any comment here.


















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