RE-APPRAISAL

This is my comment in Girish's blog:
http://www.girishshambu.com/blog/2009/02/strombolian-films.html

--These are the films which I had't loved much in my first viewing, but "after a few years" I found that I really loved them in my second viewing:

1.LES CHOSES DE LA VIE (1970, Claude Sautet)
2.GOLDEN MARIE (1952, Jacques Becker)
3.THE LEFT-HANDED WOMAN (1978, Peter Handke)
4.L'ENFANCE NUE (1968, Maurice Pialat)
5.MAD DOG AND GLORY (1993, John McNaughton)
6.MOONSTRUCK (1987, Norman Jewison)
7.VAN GOGH (1991, Maurice Pialat)
8.DEATH OF A TEA MASTER (1989, Kei Kumai)
9.SERIE NOIRE (1979, Alain Corneau)
10.THE SKY IS YOURS (1944, Jean Gremillon)

In my case, I started becoming a film addict in 1990's by falling in love with "strange" or "outrageous" films, especially films made by Derek Jarman, Peter Greenaway, David Lynch, Luis Bunuel, or Pedro Almodovar. So I didn't appreciate much some films which are "not strange", especially films made by Sautet, Becker, Pialat, or Gremillon. However, after a few years I find that I am able to enjoy greatly the latter type of films. I guess my life experience and my film knowledge (or film sensitivity) gained during these years may be the factors.

As for the case of THE LEFT-HANDED WOMAN and DEATH OF A TEA MASTER, I guess my physical condition during the watching might be a factor, too. I felt these films were too slow, and I felt very sleepy in my first viewing of them. So before I went to see them for the second time, I had had enough sleep and had drunk some coffee. This time I didn't felt sleepy, but I felt they were so sublime.


--The follwing films are the films which I saw only once and didn't love instantly, but after a while I realized that it might be because I went to see them with "wrong expectations" or because I just didn't know how to appreciate the specific styles of the films. I believe I may love these films much more if I have a chance see them for the second time:

1.THE BEAUTIFUL WASHING MACHINE (2004, James Lee)
2.CALM PREVAILS OVER THE COUNTRY (1976, Peter Lilienthal)
3.CLEAN SLATE (1981, Bertrand Tavernier)
4.NEW BLOOD (2002, Cheang Pou-soi)
5.RIZAL IN DAPITAN (1997, Tikoy Aguiluz)
6.SILENCE, WE'RE ROLLING (2001, Youssef Chahine)

When I was watching THE BEAUTIFUL WASHING MACHINE, CALM PREVAILS OVER THE COUNTRY, and SILENCE WE'RE ROLLING, I felt that they were very different from any films I had seen before. I didn't know how to adjust my feelings, emotions, thoughts, or wavelength to respond correctly to these types of films which I was not accustomed to. But when I had a chance to see ALEXANDRIA...NEW YORK (2004, Youssef Chahine) and BEFORE WE FALL IN LOVE AGAIN (2006, James Lee), I found that I greatly enjoyed them, and I think it is partly because I knew in advance what to expect from the films of these directors.

Some articles also made me realize I may have missed something in the films I saw. I went to see NEW BLOOD, hoping it would be very scary and exciting like most horror films, but it wasn't. After that, I read some reviews (including Olaf Moller's) which praised this film's "bleakness", so I realized I had had wrong expectations for this film. RIZAL IN DAPITAN is one of the first Filipino films I saw about ten years ago. It didn't impress me much at that time. But after I found that this film is listed in Noel Vera's list of 100 BEST FILIPINO FILMS, I realized that I was too young when I saw it.

--Special case 1:
In the Bruce Bailie's retrospective in Bangkok in 1999, I felt so-so when I was watching Bailie's films for the first time. But after a few days, I went to see these films for the second time, and I felt ecstatic. I guess my first experience of his films had changed my wavelength, so that I could enjoy his films in the second viewing.

--Like Corey Creekmur, I didn't like any Westerns at all when I was a child, and I still try to avoid them until now, though I love THE SHOOTING (1967, Monte Hellman) and SERAPHIM FALLS (2006, David Von Ancken).

--Though critics can convince me to re-watch some films that I didn't like because I might have overlooked some important things in it, this reason does not work for me every time. I know I have some personal problems with Yasujiro Ozu's films, so I'm not going to see them for the second time, because I am sure I will never be able to really love them.

--Special case 2: Strombolian music videos.
When I was a teenager in 1990, I bought a pirated videotape containing both Vanilla Ice's and Laurie Anderson's music videos in the same tape. I couldn't enjoy Anderson's music and her videos at all, so I taped something over them and kept only the Vanilla Ice's section in the tape. Several years later, I deeply regretted what I had done in 1990.