TEN THAI PHOTO-RESEMBLING FILMS

I’m sick right now. I have a deep throat, sorry, sore throat, so I decided to stay home from Monday to Friday and will go to work again next Monday. I can’t go to the Enki Bilal event this evening. I hope I will get well before the Italian Film Festival in Bangkok starts this coming weekend.

I cannot write anything long at the moment. So I think for the meantime I will write only some lists as usual.

I like the comment that Nawapol gave for the Thai short film GRANDMOTHER (KHUN YAI) (2007, Nawanont Wongkajit, A+) very much. He wrote that this film is like a still photo that can move. I think what I like very much about this film is this characteristic: it is a film which resembles a still photo.

So I decided to make a list of Thai films which have some parts resembling still photos, in roughly preferential order:

TEN THAI PHOTO-RESEMBLING FILMS
(All of them are short films, except BIRTH OF THE SEANEMA,)

1.BIRTH OF THE SEANEMA (2004, Sasithorn Ariyavicha, A+) 70 min

2.WINDOWS (1999, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, A+)

3.ROUGH NIGHT (2001, Samart Imkham, A+)

4.WINTER REMAINS (2004, Sasithorn Ariyavicha, A+) 19 min

5.THE AUDIENCE (2004, Tossapol Boonsinsukh, A+)

6.DRIFTER (1993, Sasithorn Ariyavicha, A+) 8 min

7.SPACE (2005, Sathit Sattarasart, A+)

8.GRANDMOTHER (KHUN YAI) (2007, Nawanont Wongkajit, A+)

9.A SONG AND GROUP OF STARS (BOT PLENG GUB MOO DAO) (2006, Surasithi Bunpala, A+)

10.CITY REPORT (2006, Chakrit Vichaiyuth, A+)

This list is actually not so different from the list of EXTREMELY SLOW THAI FILMS I made in January. The minor difference is that some extremely slow Thai films have their cameras moving from time to time, so these films are extremely slow, but are not like still photos.

The list of extremely slow Thai films can be found at:
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2007/01/when-will-i-see-you-again-tossapol.html

--I google the name Samart Imkham and found that there is someone with that name listed as a member of the band THE PASSION OF ANNA. I don’t know if he is the same Samart Imkham who directed ROUGH NIGHT or not. However, you can listen to the music of THE PASSION OF ANNA at:

http://www.myspace.com/passionofanna

---------------------------------------------------------------

While some films resemble still photos, some still photos also resemble films, such as the photo series of Duane Michals

Some information about Duane Michals
http://www.photoinsider.com/pages/michals/michals.html

THE BOGEY MAN by Duane Michals
http://www.temple.edu/photo/photographers/michals/photosb.html

some photos and photo series by Duane Michals
http://www.pdngallery.com/legends3/michals/

THE DREAM OF FLOWERS by Duane Michals
http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0106/visions_michals.htm

WHO AM I by Duane Michals

YE THAMMA (2007, WATTANA RUJIROJSAKUL, A+++++)

On Saturday 2, June 2007, I went to see many short films directed by the students of the faculty of communication arts, Chulalongkorn University. This festival is called KANG JOR 14. The festival has been held every year, and this is its fourteenth year. I am very impressed with most of the films.

NAWAPOL THAMRONGRATTANARIT (http://visuallyyours2.exteen.com/ ) and ENNISDELMAR (http://maximomlist.exteen.com/ ) wrote a comment on these short films. You can read their comments in Thai at:

http://film.nitade39.net/board/viewtopic.php?t=104&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0


This is the list of the films that I saw in KANG JOR 14 in my preferential order:

NOTE 1: I give the grades according to my own pleasure in viewing the films. So if any director happened to read my comment, please bear in mind that these grades actually mean nothing. The film I like the least in this festival might be a very good film, but I just don’t like romantic films. This is just a comment from an ordinary audience. I usually give A+ to bad movies.

NOTE 2: Most of the films I saw have no official English titles at the moment, so I translate the titles by myself from the Thai titles. These titles might differ from their official English titles in the future. I also transcribe the names and nicknames of the directors by myself, so these names might be spelled differently in other places.

NOTE 3: I apologize in advance if I write anything wrong.


1.YE THAMMA (2007, Wattana Rujirojsakul, A+) 15 min

This film satires many Thai social, religious, and political problems in a very funny way. It is daring. It also seems to condemn the Thai censorship board for the case of SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY. This is a kind of film which I like very much, because it records the political problems of Thailand. This film also reminds of the films directed by Manutsak Dokmai (DON’T FORGET ME) and Prap Boonpan (SPECTRE: 16 YEARS LATER), which also records the problems of Thailand, and in some cases involve a lot of talking. But the main difference is that YE THAMMA is a comedy, while the films by Manutsak Dokmai and Prap Boonpan are a bit more serious. However, I think all these films by Manutsak Dokmai, Prap Boonpan, and Wattana Rujirojsakul might be called ESSAYISTIC FILMS, which is a kind of films which are rare to be found in Thailand.


2.WASABI (2007, Asit Wangsuekul or Q, A+) 30 min


3.GRANDMOTHER (KHUN YAI) (2007, Nawanont Wongkajit or Nont, A+) 4 min


4.FAT GIRL (CONTEMPORARY DANCE FILM) (2007, Chanchana Akajirattikal, A+)


5.GREEN PLANET (KHAJEE POP) (2007, Tanapol Chaowanit or Dew, A+) 15 min

I like the content of this film very much, because it questions some of the practices of the anti-global warming campaign.


6.THE SUCKSEED (2007, Chayanop Boonprakob or Moo, A+) 30 min


7.UGLY IS BEAUTIFUL (2007, Sukhapat Lohwatcharin, A+) 27 min


8.AWAY (2007, Patpimpa Chantranontawongs or Fai, A+) 12 min, black and white


9.JOB APPLICATION (SAMAK NGAN) (2007, Wanwaew Hongwiwat + Waewwan Hongwiwat, A+/A) 20 min

I think the emotion in this film doesn’t run smoothly in some parts, but what I like very much is the heroine of this film. I think she is a very interesting character. She is very much like a normal person who feels insecure about the future, and gets torn between the desire to stand on her own feet or giving her dream up and bowing down to her biased mother. I think this film can be adapted into a feature film focusing on the dramatic life of the heroine, her fear, her hope, her shattered dream, during this turning point in her life.

If the heroine of this film is successful in her job application and her career, I imagine that her life might be like the heroine of JANE (2006, Tania Sng, Singapore, A+), who feels unhappy even if she is materially successful. These two films should make a good double bill.


10.POLICE SERGEANT YEMAR AND THE MURDER MYSTERY CASE 2: LUCKY COOKIE ROBBERY (2007, Thanes Limcharoen or Giaw, A+/A) 20 min


11.HA (2007, Punnawich Tessana, A+/A) 20 min


12.THE ZOMBIE CHICK (2007, Thitimon Mongkolsawasdi, A) 15 min


13.SCHOOL FOR MISTRESSES (BAAN NOI: STABUN PALIT CHOO) (2007, Suchanya Jantrakulasri, A) 20 min


14.IMAGES BEHIND YOUR BACK (PARP KANG LUNG) (2007, Tongtar Wipismakul or Tao, A) 8 min

Nawapol stars in this film. I like his anxious face very much.


15.CAN’T SEE (MONG MAI HEN) ( 2007, Orapim Choenkwansri or Pim, A) 8 min

I agree with Nawapol that I don’t understand this animation, but I still enjoy it.


16.POCKY (2007, Sarawan Weerawat or Joke, A-) 15 min


17.THE DAY I DISAPPEAR (WAN TEE CHAN HAI PAI) (2007, Thitirush Jariyatrakul or Leng, A-) animation, 7 min


18.THE INVISIBLE (2007, Buncha Sritinont, A-)


19.INSANE (FUN FUEN) ( 2007, Venusnun Kanchananukul, A-)
This is a music video.


20.LET GO (PLOI) (2007, Pimpimol Banlutangtam or Jib, A-/B+) 20 min

I like the first half of this film very much. I give A+ to the first half of this film. And I agree with Nawapol that the first half of this film is like a romantic dream of a woman.


21.TWIST LOVE BUS TICKET (TUA RUK PLIK LOCK) (2007, Kriangkrai Wachirathammaporn or Ping, B+) 20 min



FILM AND REAL LIFE 1

GREEN PLANET (KHAJEE POP) reminds me of many pieces of news I read, such as:

--The switching from petroleum to palm oil causes much deforestation, and many animals in Indonesia have been brutally killed in order to clear the forest to make palm plantation.

--Some farmers in cold countries turn to plant tropical plants, so that they can cut down the petroleum used in transporting this food from tropical countries. But they end up using much energy in heating the place where they plant tropical fruit or vegetable.

--IKEA supports the idea of using woods from plantation forest, not from indigenous forest, but some people comment that IKEA furniture are so trendy that the consumers tend to buy new ones every five year, instead of using the furniture for a long period.


A POSTER OF KANG JOR 14

CONFESSION OF GUILTY PLEASURE (ENGLISH VERSION)

RECENTLY CELINEJULIE HAS COMMENTED IN BIOSCOPE WEBBOARD:
http://www.bioscopemagazine.com/smf/index.php?topic=71.150


--ELI ROTH gave an interview in “SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN” about old Italian horror films:
http://www.sfbg.com/printable_entry.php?entry_id=3804

“On emulating the grand old Italian B-movie tradition of killing kids: I wanted to take risks in the movie. I wanted things where people would go, "Oh, you can't do that." Not just to offend, but I wanted to live in that danger zone. After I made it, I saw this film directed by [Narciso Ibanez] Serrador called Who Can Kill a Child?, which I think is genuinely one of the single greatest horror films. I love those early 1970s Italian movies like Torso, Night Train Murders, and To Be Twenty, by Fernando di Leo. Have you seen To Be Twenty? At the end of this movie, my jaw was on the ground. It was so horrific that they pulled every single print from the theaters. But in all three of those films, it's a group of college-age girls that are all going on a trip somewhere. The girls all make intelligent decisions; there's nothing that they do that's like a dumb movie moment. And there's a real, palpable sense of dread in those movies. I really wanted to build that sense of dread for everybody [in Hostel 2].”


Some films mentioned by Eli Roth:

1.WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? (1976, Narciso Ibanez Serrador)

Plot Synopsis from AMAZON.COM
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OCY7TE/imdb-adbox/
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51LNC-f++mL._SS500_.jpg

“A couple of English tourists rent a boat to visit the fictitious island of Almanzora, just off the southern Spanish coast. When they arrive, they find the town deserted of adults, there's only children who don't speak but stare at them with eerie smiles. They soon discover that all the children of the island have been possessed by a mysterious force or madness which they can pass from one to another, and which makes them attack and murder their elders, who can't defend themselves because nobody dares to kill a child...”


2.TORSO (1973, SERGIO MARTINO)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/630579720X/imdb-adbox/
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/513SFHK6K9L._SS500_.jpg

Plot Synopsis from AMAZON.COM

“Someone is strangling coeds in Rome. The only clue is that the killer owns a red and black scarf, and police are stumped. American exchange student Jane and her friends decide to take a break from classes by going up to Danielle's uncle's villa in the country. Unfortunately the killer decides to follow, and the women begin suffering a rapid attrition problem.”


3.TO BE TWENTY (1978, Fernando Di Leo)
http://www.dvdmaniacs.net/Reviews/Q-T/to_be_twenty.html


--FAVORITE SONG

LAVENDER OIL -- PLAID
http://www.myspace.com/plaid4thepeople


--I went to see CHILLAX (2007, Edward Squire, A+), a video installation at Whitespace Gallery, Lido Theatre, Bangkok, yesterday. I like it a lot. The installation has many artworks. The piece that I like the most is the sentence written on the wall as in the photo below. It is called INTERNATIONAL JOHN LENNON FORGIVENESS DAY, DECEMBER 8:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1011/558558442_e690ee612c_o.jpg



I like this sentence very much, because it made me ask myself whether I would be able to forgive Mark David Chapman if I were Yoko Ono, And I think I can’t. That doesn’t mean I would take a revenge on Mark, but it means that I would not trust this murderer for the rest of my life. This piece of work made me realize that I still have some anger inside of me, and it would be better for me if I am able to get rid of my anger. If I can forgive this murderer, I might be able to “chillax” (chill + relax).

However, other things in this installation made me feel very relaxed. I hope I will have time to write more about this video installation in the future.

For more information on CHILLAX, please read

http://www.onopen.com/2007/editor-spaces/1749


--I just bought OPEN YOUR BOX (2007, A), an album by Yoko Ono. I like this album very much, though I’m still not sure if Yoko Ono’s voice is good for dance music.

The songs that I like very much in this album are:

1.HELL IN PARADISE (Reconstruction Mix) remixed by Peter Rauhofer
http://www.myspace.com/peterrauhofer

2.OPEN YOUR BOX (Club Mix) remixed by Orange Factory

A review for this album
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/42561-open-your-box



--I would like to see old South Korean films by Kim Ki-Young, including these films:

1.THE INSECT WOMAN (1972)
Synopsis from imdb.com written by Nathan Fiedler

“A schoolgirl goes from braids to bouffant when her mother makes her a bar hostess/prostitute. She cures impotence for Professor Lee and becomes his concubine. His entrepreneurial wife is initially shocked but soon accepts the arrangement and even gives the girl and allowance.”

2.PROMISE OF THE FLESH (1975)
Synopsis from imdb.com written by Nathan Fiedler

“Mild-mannered and modest Sook-young looks like your usual middle-aged woman, but happens to be a man-killing murderess. On a train trip to Mokpo, she remembers an earlier trip as a prisoner on furlough accompanied by a menacing but kind butch female guard. On the train they meet Hoon, a young man who falls for Sook-young. The guard lets them be alone at a bizarre marriage in a hill-top graveyard “

3.LIVING DEAD GIRL (1978)
Synopsis from imdb.com written by Nathan Fiedler

“A dour student, Young-gul, crosses paths with an elderly book salesman obsessed with Hitler and Nietzsche, a two-thousand year-old female corpse, and a mad scientist. Young-gul wants to commit suicide but the book salesman insists the human will even overcome biological death. Young-gul tests this by trying to kill him. Later the corpse comes to life in the hope that Young-gul will impregnate her.“


--Mr. PC in bioscopemagazine’s webboard wrote a very good comment on his guilty pleasure in seeing some erotic films. His comment made me ask myself about my guilty pleasure, and I hope my comment on this topic won’t scare all of my readers away.

One thing that makes me doubt myself very much is that I always think I hate war, militarism, and military government. However, I have to admit to myself that I enjoy sexual fantasy about foreign muscular soldiers. Does this mean that I am a militarist in my subconscious? Does this mean that I should go to see a psychiatrist? I don’t know, and I don’t care, because I’m sure that my fantasy won’t harm anyone, and I’m sure that my fantasy will never lead me to support war, military ideas, or military government.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1121/559239587_143bb3ff3d_o.jpg


MY HANDSOME GUILTY PLEASURE LIST

This list is about the films that I like very much, and one of the main reasons that I like them is just because the actors are handsome. However, these films have many other good things in them besides the looks of the actors. And frankly, I don’t think I really feel guilty about liking them.

1.BEAU TRAVAIL (1999, Claire Denis, A+)


2.ALWAYS (1989, Steven Spielberg, A+)
I love Brad Johnson in this film, but I don’t like him in other films or TV series.


3.OCEAN TRIBE (1997, Will Geiger, A+)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119817/


4.THE GREAT RAID (2005, John Dahl, A+)


5.TOP GUN (1986, Tony Scott, A)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092099/


6.IN JULY (2000, Fatih Akin, Germany, A)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0177858/
Moritz Bleibtreu is very cute.


7.POP & ME (1999, Chris Roe, A)

This is a documentary about the relationship between fathers and sons. One thing that stands out from the film is that the director and his brothers are very cute.


8.BAD BOYS -- A TRUE STORY (2003, Aleksi Makela, Finland, A-)


9.TRUE BLUE (1996, Ferdinand Fairfax, A-)


10.ANACONDAS: THE HUNT FOR THE BLOOD ORCHID (2004, Dwight H. Little, A-)
Johnny Messner looks very sexy.


11.DEATH WARRANT (1990, Deran Sarafian, A-)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099385/
I think Jean-Claude Van Damme looks very sexy in this film.


12.303 FEAR FAITH REVENGE (1998, Somjing Srisupap, Thailand, A-)
http://www.siamweb.org/sanook/movies/handbill2/handbill/thaimovi/thai000/303/303.html

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1248/559294015_4c2a8b3c71_o.jpg

CONFESSION OF GUILTY PLEASURE

RECENTLY CELINEJULIE HAS COMMENTED IN BIOSCOPE WEBBOARD:
http://www.bioscopemagazine.com/smf/index.php?topic=71.150

ตอบคุณ pc

--ถ้าหากคุณ pc ชอบหนังแนวอีโรติกในยุค 60-70 ขอแนะนำให้อ่าน BLOG ของคุณ MIKE KITCHELL ค่ะ บล็อกของเขามีชื่อว่า ESOTIKA EROTICA PSYCHOTICA และสามารถอ่านได้ที่
http://esotika.blogspot.com/

blog ของเขาพูดถึงหนังแนวนี้เยอะมากทีเดียว ซึ่งรวมถึงหนังญี่ปุ่นยุคเก่าอย่าง DAY-DREAM (1964, Tetsuchi Takeshi) ด้วย
http://esotika.blogspot.com/2007/06/day-dream-tetsuji-takechi-1964.html

ส่วนบล็อกของอีกคนนึงที่น่าสนใจ คือบล็อกของ JEREMY RICHEY สามารถอ่านบล็อกของเขาได้ที่
http://mooninthegutter.blogspot.com/

ใน SIDEBAR ใน BLOG ของเขา จะมีกลุ่มลิงค์ที่น่าสนใจที่มีชื่อว่า THE GHOSTS OF MELODY NELSON รู้สึกว่ากลุ่มลิงค์นี้จะรวบรวมลิงค์ของนักร้องที่น่าสนใจเอาไว้ค่ะ


--ได้เข้าไปฟังเพลง GHOST VEST แล้วค่ะ เสียงออร์แกนในเพลงนี้หลอนสุดๆจริงๆด้วย ฟังเพลงนี้แล้วเลยทำให้นึกถึงหนังตัวอย่างเรื่อง DON’T ที่ใช้ประกอบภาพยนตร์เรื่อง GRINDHOUSE คนที่ยังไม่ได้ดูหนังตัวอย่างเรื่องนี้ลองเข้าไปดูได้ที่ BLOG ของคุณ FILMSICK ตามลิงค์ข้างล่างนี้ค่ะ รู้สึกว่าเพลงอย่าง GHOST VEST มันเหมาะจะใช้ประกอบหนังเรื่อง DON’T มากๆ
http://filmsick.exteen.com/20070506/the-movie-we-ve-waitng-for

ชอบหนังตัวอย่างเรื่อง DON’T มากค่ะ มันดูแล้วฮามากๆ และทำให้นึกถึงหนังยุคเก่าๆจริงๆด้วย


ใน BLOG ของคุณ FILMSICK ยังมีหนังตัวอย่างเรื่อง THANKSGIVING ของ ELI ROTH ด้วย ดูแล้วน่ากลัวมากๆและทำให้นึกถึงหนังฆาตกรโรคจิตยุคเก่าๆจริงๆ

พูดถึง ELI ROTH แล้ว ก็เลยทำให้นึกถึงหนังเรื่อง HOSTEL: PART II ของเขาที่กำลังเปิดฉายอยู่ในอเมริกาในตอนนี้ รู้สึกว่าหนังเรื่องนี้จะทำให้ผู้ชมมีความเห็นแตกแยกกันเป็นสองฝ่าย บางคนก็ชอบมาก แต่เล่าให้ฟังว่าคนดูหนังเรื่องนี้น้อยมาก อย่างเช่น JEREMY RICHEY ที่เล่าว่าทั้งโรงหนังมีคนดูแค่สองคนเท่านั้น
http://mooninthegutter.blogspot.com/2007/06/some-thoughts-on-hostel-part-two.html

ELI ROTH ให้สัมภาษณ์ในนสพ. SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN เกี่ยวกับอิทธิพลที่เขาได้รับจากหนังอิตาเลียนยุคเก่าด้วย
http://www.sfbg.com/printable_entry.php?entry_id=3804

“On emulating the grand old Italian B-movie tradition of killing kids: I wanted to take risks in the movie. I wanted things where people would go, "Oh, you can't do that." Not just to offend, but I wanted to live in that danger zone. After I made it, I saw this film directed by [Narciso Ibanez] Serrador called Who Can Kill a Child?, which I think is genuinely one of the single greatest horror films. I love those early 1970s Italian movies like Torso, Night Train Murders, and To Be Twenty, by Fernando di Leo. Have you seen To Be Twenty? At the end of this movie, my jaw was on the ground. It was so horrific that they pulled every single print from the theaters. But in all three of those films, it's a group of college-age girls that are all going on a trip somewhere. The girls all make intelligent decisions; there's nothing that they do that's like a dumb movie moment. And there's a real, palpable sense of dread in those movies. I really wanted to build that sense of dread for everybody [in Hostel 2].”


หนังที่ ELI ROTH เอ่ยชื่อถึงข้างบนได้แก่

1.WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? (1976, Narciso Ibanez Serrador)
หนังเรื่องนี้มีขายแล้วในรูปแบบดีวีดี

Plot Synopsis from AMAZON.COM
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OCY7TE/imdb-adbox/

“A couple of English tourists rent a boat to visit the fictitious island of Almanzora, just off the southern Spanish coast. When they arrive, they find the town deserted of adults, there's only children who don't speak but stare at them with eerie smiles. They soon discover that all the children of the island have been possessed by a mysterious force or madness which they can pass from one to another, and which makes them attack and murder their elders, who can't defend themselves because nobody dares to kill a child...”

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51LNC-f++mL._SS500_.jpg


2.TORSO (1973, SERGIO MARTINO)
หนังเรื่องนี้มีขายแล้วในรูปแบบดีวีดี
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/630579720X/imdb-adbox/
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/513SFHK6K9L._SS500_.jpg

Plot Synopsis from AMAZON.COM

“Someone is strangling coeds in Rome. The only clue is that the killer owns a red and black scarf, and police are stumped. American exchange student Jane and her friends decide to take a break from classes by going up to Danielle's uncle's villa in the country. Unfortunately the killer decides to follow, and the women begin suffering a rapid attrition problem.”


3.TO BE TWENTY (1978, Fernando Di Leo)
http://www.dvdmaniacs.net/Reviews/Q-T/to_be_twenty.html


--ได้เข้าไปฟัง PLAID แล้ว เพราะสุดๆเลยค่ะ ชอบเพลง LAVENDER OIL มากๆๆๆๆๆ
http://www.myspace.com/plaid4thepeople


--รู้สึกเหมือนกันเลยค่ะว่า JOHN LENNON ดูบางครั้งหน้าตาคล้ายๆคนญี่ปุ่น

พูดถึง JOHN LENNON แล้ว ก็เลยทำให้นึกถึงงาน VIDEO INSTALLATION เรื่อง CHILLAX (2007, EDWARD SQUIRE, A+) ที่เปิดฉายที่ WHITESPACE GALLERY, LIDO THEATRE อยู่ในขณะนี้ เพราะในงานนี้ EDWARD SQUIRE ได้เขียนถ้อยคำโตๆแปะไว้ที่ฝาผนังด้วย โดยงานศิลปะชิ้นนี้มีชื่อว่า INTERNATIONAL JOHN LENNON FORGIVENESS DAY, DECEMBER 8 และมีลักษณะดังรูปข้างล่างนี้

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1011/558558442_e690ee612c_o.jpg


ดิฉันชอบงานชิ้นนี้มากๆค่ะ เพราะมันทำให้ดิฉันตั้งคำถามกับตัวเองเหมือนกันว่าถ้าหากดิฉันเป็น YOKO ONO ดิฉันจะสามารถให้อภัย MARK DAVID CHAPMAN ที่ยิง JOHN LENNON ตายในวันที่ DECEMBER 8, 1980 ได้หรือไม่ และดิฉันก็คิดว่าดิฉันคงให้อภัยไม่ได้ค่ะ ไม่ว่าเวลาจะผ่านไปนานแค่ไหนก็ตาม การไม่ให้อภัยในที่นี้ไม่ได้หมายความว่าดิฉันจะออกไปแก้แค้น แต่หมายความว่าดิฉันคงไม่ไว้วางใจฆาตกรคนนี้อีกตลอดชีวิต

การได้เห็นงานศิลปะชิ้นนี้ทำให้ดิฉันได้รู้ตัวว่าตัวเองคงยังมีโทสะจริตอยู่ในจิตใจไม่มากก็น้อย และคงจะ CHILLAX (chill + relax) ได้ยากพอสมควร อย่างไรก็ดี ส่วนอื่นๆในงาน INSTALLATION นี้ก็ทำให้ดิฉันรู้สึกเย็นใจอย่างประหลาดค่ะ แล้วเอาไว้ว่างๆดิฉันอาจจะเขียนถึงงาน installation งานนี้อีกที

อ่านรายละเอียดเกี่ยวกับ CHILLAX ได้ที่
http://www.onopen.com/2007/editor-spaces/1749

พูดถึง YOKO ONO แล้ว ดิฉันก็เพิ่งซื้ออัลบัมชุด OPEN YOUR BOX (2007, A) ของเธอมาฟังค่ะ อัลบัมชุดนี้เป็นการนำเพลงเก่าๆของเธอมาให้รีมิกเซอร์ชื่อดังหลายคนดัดแปลงเป็นเพลงแดนซ์ ดิฉันชอบอัลบัมชุดนี้มากๆเลยค่ะ แต่ยังไม่ชอบถึงขั้น A+ เพราะรู้สึกว่าพลังมันยังไปไม่สุด ซึ่งบางทีอาจจะเป็นเพราะเสียงของ YOKO ONO อาจจะไม่เหมาะกับเพลงแดนซ์ก็ได้

สองเพลงที่ชอบที่สุดในอัลบัมชุดนี้คือเพลง

1.HELL IN PARADISE (Reconstruction Mix) remixed by Peter Rauhofer

ฟังตัวอย่างเพลงอื่นๆของ PETER RAUHOFER ได้ที่
http://www.myspace.com/peterrauhofer


2.OPEN YOUR BOX (Club Mix) remixed by Orange Factory

ข้อมูลบอกว่า YOKO ONO ถึงกับน้ำตาถั่งท้นออกมาเมื่อได้ฟังรีมิกซ์นี้
http://www.siamzone.com/music/n/1871

คำวิจารณ์อัลบัมชุดนี้
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/42561-open-your-box


--พูดถึงหนังอีโรติกของญี่ปุ่นกับฮ่องกงในทศวรรษ 1970 แล้ว ดิฉันมักจะนึกถึงร้านขายโปสเตอร์หนังเก่าๆที่ตั้งอยู่ในซอยเล็กๆซอยนึงที่เชื่อมระหว่างถนนพระอาทิตย์กับซอยรามบุตรีค่ะ ร้านนี้จะมีโปสเตอร์หนังแนวซุปเปอร์อีสาวโกโนเรียเยอะมาก
http://www.sawasdeehotels.com/th/bangkok/welcomesawasdeeinn/map.html

--ได้ฟังเพลง URAMI BUSHI ของ MEIKO KAJI แล้วก็รู้สึกว่าเพลงคุ้นมากๆค่ะ แต่นึกไม่ออกว่าเคยฟังจากไหนมาก่อน เพิ่งมารู้จากคุณ pc นี่เองว่าเป็นเพลงประกอบ KILL BILL VOL.1


--พูดถึงหนังเอเชียยุค 1960-1970 แล้ว ก็ทำให้นึกถึงหนังเกาหลีใต้ของ KIM KI-YOUNG ค่ะ อยากดูหนังของผู้กำกับคนนี้มาก อย่างเช่นเรื่อง

1.THE INSECT WOMAN (1972)
Synopsis from imdb.com

“A schoolgirl goes from braids to bouffant when her mother makes her a bar hostess/prostitute. She cures impotence for Professor Lee and becomes his concubine. His entrepreneurial wife is initially shocked but soon accepts the arrangement and even gives the girl and allowance. ”

2.PROMISE OF THE FLESH (1975)
Synopsis from imdb.com

“Mild-mannered and modest Sook-young looks like your usual middle-aged woman, but happens to be a man-killing murderess. On a train trip to Mokpo, she remembers an earlier trip as a prisoner on furlough accompanied by a menacing but kind butch female guard. On the train they meet Hoon, a young man who falls for Sook-young. The guard lets them be alone at a bizarre marriage in a hill-top graveyard. “

3.LIVING DEAD GIRL (1978)
Synopsis from imdb.com

“A dour student, Young-gul, crosses paths with an elderly book salesman obsessed with Hitler and Nietzsche, a two-thousand year-old female corpse, and a mad scientist. Young-gul wants to commit suicide but the book salesman insists the human will even overcome biological death. Young-gul tests this by trying to kill him. Later the corpse comes to life in the hope that Young-gul will impregnate her. “


--พูดถึงประเด็นเรื่อง GUILTY PLEASURE แล้วะ ดิฉันก็มีอาการที่คล้ายคลึงกันค่ะ นั่นก็คือบางครั้งดิฉันก็รู้สึกว่าตัวเองมีความขัดแย้งอยู่ในตัวสูงเหมือนกัน เพราะโดยปกติแล้วดิฉันเป็นคนที่เกลียดสงครามอย่างมาก และไม่เห็นด้วยกับรัฐบาลทหาร ซึ่งตามหลักเหตุผลแล้วนั่นน่าจะทำให้ดิฉันไม่ค่อยชอบทหาร
แต่ในเวลาเดียวกัน ดิฉันกลับชอบมี SEXUAL FANTASY ด้วยการคิดถึงทหารฝรั่งหนุ่มหล่อล่ำบึ้ก ซึ่งนั่นทำให้ดิฉันรู้สึกว่ามันเป็นสิ่งที่ขัดกับหลักเหตุผลอย่างมาก อย่างไรก็ดี ดิฉันไม่ค่อยรู้สึก GUILTY กับจุดนี้มากเท่าไหร่ เพราะดิฉันรู้สึกว่า SEXUAL FANTASY ของดิฉันไม่ได้ทำให้ใครเดือดร้อน และมันไม่ได้ทำให้ดิฉันเปลี่ยนมาเห็นด้วยกับรัฐบาลทหารหรือสนับสนุนแนวคิดของทหารแต่อย่างใด

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1121/559239587_143bb3ff3d_o.jpg


ขอแถมท้ายด้วยรายชื่อหนัง GUILTY PLEASURE ของตัวเองค่ะ

MY HANDSOME GUILTY PLEASURE LIST

This list is about the films that I like very much, and one of the main reasons that I like them is just because the actors are handsome. However, these films have many other good things in them besides the looks of the actors. And frankly, I don’t think I really feel guilty about liking them.

1.BEAU TRAVAIL (1999, Claire Denis, A+)


2.ALWAYS (1989, Steven Spielberg, A+)
I love Brad Johnson in this film, but I don’t like him in other films or TV series.


3.OCEAN TRIBE (1997, Will Geiger, A+)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119817/


4.THE GREAT RAID (2005, John Dahl, A+)


5.TOP GUN (1986, Tony Scott, A)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092099/


6.IN JULY (2000, Fatih Akin, Germany, A)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0177858/
Moritz Bleibtreu is very cute.


7.POP & ME (1999, Chris Roe, A)

This is a documentary about the relationship between fathers and sons. One thing that stands out from the film is that the director and his brothers are very cute.


8.BAD BOYS -- A TRUE STORY (2003, Aleksi Makela, Finland, A-)


9.TRUE BLUE (1996, Ferdinand Fairfax, A-)


10.ANACONDAS: THE HUNT FOR THE BLOOD ORCHID (2004, Dwight H. Little, A-)
Johnny Messner looks very sexy.


11.DEATH WARRANT (1990, Deran Sarafian, A-)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099385/
I think Jean-Claude Van Damme looks very sexy in this film.


12.303 FEAR FAITH REVENGE (1998, Somjing Srisupap, A-)
http://www.siamweb.org/sanook/movies/handbill2/handbill/thaimovi/thai000/303/303.html

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1248/559294015_4c2a8b3c71_o.jpg

MON FILS A MOI (MARTIAL FOUGERON, A+++++)

I just found some interesting blogs written by people who seem to love Alain Robbe-Grillet. These blogs are:

1.ESOTIKA EROTICA PSYCHOTICA by Mike Kitchell
http://esotika.blogspot.com/

Mike wrote about LA BELLE CAPTIVE here:
http://esotika.blogspot.com/2007/03/la-belle-captive-alain-robbe-grillet.html

EDEN AND AFTER is in his most favorite top ten films of all time:
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/top_tens/index.html#kitchell


2.Jeremy Richey’s blog
http://mooninthegutter.blogspot.com/


QUOTE OF THE DAY

“MY NOVELS ARE NEVER “ABOUT” ANYTHING, NOR ARE THEY ABOUT IDEAS OR IMAGES”

The quote above is what Alain Robbe-Grillet said in an interview given to Claud DuVerlie. This interview is in the magazine NEW LITERARY HISTORY: Vol.11 No.3, On Narrative and Narratives: II (Spring 1980). You can catch a glimpse of this interview at:

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0028-6087(198021)11%3A3%3C527%3ABTIAIW%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Z


--I have seen nine French films so far in the 2007 French film festival in Bangkok. These are the list of films in my preferential order:

1.MON FILS A MOI (MY SON) (2006, Martial Fougeron, A+)


2.CHANGE OF ADDRESS (2006, Emmanuel Mouret, A+)

Somehow the style of this film reminds me of THE MAGIC GLOVES (2003, Martin Rejtman, Argentina, A+).


3.PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES (2006, Alain Resnais, A+)


4.THE PASSENGER (2006, Eric Caravaca, A+)

I don’t like something in the story of this film, but I give A+ to the film just because of the atmosphere.


5.THE PAGE TURNER (2006, Denis Dercourt, A+)


6.YOU AND ME (2006, Julie Lopes Curval, A+/A)


7.LA MOME (2007, Olivier Dahan, A)

I wish there is a found-footage film mixing LA MOME with Jennifer Hudson.

You can read the interview of Olivier Dahan by Michael Guillen at:
http://theeveningclass.blogspot.com/2007/06/la-vie-en-rose-evening-class-interview.html


8.ORCHESTRA SEATS (2006, Daniele Thompson, A-)


9.FOUR STARS (2006, Christian Vincent, C+)

I don’t know what happened to Christian Vincent, because I like two earlier films of his: THE DISCREET (1990, A-), THE SEPARATION (1994, A-).
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0898603/


--Right now MON FILS A MOI has a high chance to be in the list of my top ten most favorite feature films of 2007. I like this film very much, not because I think it is as great a film as AMOUR D’ENFANCE (2001, Yves Caumon, A+), but because the story of MON FILS A MOI just reminds me of the real life of my best friend. Seeing this film is like seeing my best friend’s life turning into a film. This film is so real, real, real, real, real to me, and that’s why I worship it.

I hope someone makes MON FILS A MOI 2, and in this sequel, the mother (Nathalie Baye) will meet a real formidable opponent, because in this sequel, her son (Victor Sevaux) will get a chance to further his piano lesson, and his teacher will be Erika Kohut (Isabelle Huppert). Just imagine the mother and the piano teacher fighting each other.


An image from MON FILS A MOI

http://outnow.ch/Media/Img/2006/MonFilsAMoi/

ADIEU MURIEL, OR THE TIME OF FLANDRES

THIS IS MY COMMENT IN MEMORIES OF THE FUTURE’S BLOG:

http://memoriesofthefuture.wordpress.com/2007/06/04/hell-erect-barbed-wire-around-his-little-ego/

I like your reviews of MURIEL in dvdverdict.com and in your blog very much. Your reviews inspired me to begin reading some parts of the book ALAIN RESNAIS, written by John Francis Kreidl, published by Twayne Publishers in Boston, 1977. In this book, there are three articles on MURIEL in page 79-134. At first, I intended to finish reading these three articles before I comment on your blog, but now ten days have passed, and I still can’t find time to finish reading them, so I think I should start making some comments before it’s too late.

Here are some of my thoughts on MURIEL, a film which I saw only once in 1997:

--My friend commented after seeing this movie with me that he had spotted a clock in many scenes of this film, or if there was no clock in the scene, the characters in that scene would be talking about time. I think that when I find the time to watch the DVD of this film, I will try to see if what my friend said was right. (Or maybe I just remember wrongly what my friend said.)

------------------------

--In dvdverdict.com, you said, “…I personally respond more deeply and intensely to Resnais's earlier, more poetic masterpieces Last Year at Marienbad and Hiroshima mon amour…”.

I think I share the same feeling with you. I like MURIEL very much, but less than those two films. I think my feelings towards Resnais’s films are varied, and my feelings might depend on who was the scriptwriter of each Resnais’s film, because some of his films seem to have different styles. I don’t know how much the style of each of his film is influenced by him or his scriptwriter.

Alain Resnais’ films that I saw, in preferential order:

1.LAST YEAR IN MARIENBAD (1961, A+++++++++++++++)
Written by Alain Robbe-Grillet

2.HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR (1959, A++++++++++)
Written by Marguerite Duras

3.NIGHT AND FOG (1955, A++++++++)
Written by Jean Cayrol

4.MY AMERICAN UNCLE (1980, A+++++)
Written by Jean Grualt, adapted from Henri Laborit’s writings

5.SAME OLD SONG (1997, A++)
Written by Jean-Pierre Bacri and Agnes Jaoui

6.MURIEL, OR THE TIME OF RETURN (1963, A+)
Written by Jean Cayrol

7.PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES (2006, A+)
Written by Jean-Michel Ribes, adapted from Alan Ayckbourn’s play

8.NOT ON THE LIPS (2003, A+)
Written by Andre Barde

9.MELO (1986, A)
Written by Alain Resnais, adapted from Henri Bernstein’s play

I like every film of Resnais that I saw, and I think he is an auteur, but sometimes I wonder how much of my love for LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD and HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR is due to the scriptwriter or the director.

-------------------------------

--I think MURIEL can be a part of an unintentional trilogy of FRENCH MEN AND WAR, This trilogy include:

1.ADIEU PHILIPPINE (1962, Jacques Rozier)
It’s about a French man before going to Algerian war. I haven’t seen this film yet.

2.FLANDRES (2006, Bruno Dumont, A+)
Though the war in this film is not Algerian, I think the content of this film somehow reminds me of MURIEL. In MURIEL we never saw the torture of Muriel, but what is not shown in MURIEL might be substituted by what is shown in FLANDRES, I guess.

3.MURIEL

--------------------------------

--There are many films about Algerian war which I want to see, but haven’t seen them yet, including:

1.THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (1966, Gillo Pontecorvo)

2.THOU SHALT NOT KILL (1961, Claude Autant-Lara, 148 min)

3.THE UNDECLARED WAR (1992, Bertrand Tavernier, 240 min)

You can find the list of films about this conflict in an article in africultures.com. The article is called FROM MISCEGENATION PHOBIA TO AMBIVALENCE IN FILM by Olivier Barlet.

---------------------------------------

--I think films about war veterans are very interesting. Many films in this group deal with the guilt of the war veterans and the unforgettable sins they did during the war, or deal with their mental scars. Sometimes these war veterans seem to carry the sin and guilt around and bring them back home and it affected those people around him.

Interesting films in this group may include:

1.MY STEP-BROTHER FRANKENSTEIN (2004, Valeri Todorovsky, Russia, A+)

2.THE TWILIGHT ZONE: EPISODE “NIGHTCRAWLERS” (1985, William Friedkin, A+)
I’m not sure if this thriller TV episode is a metaphor for something or not.

3.MARIA’S LOVERS (1984, Andrei Konchalovsky, A)

4.THE LIGHT (2004, Philppe Lioret, A)

5.TRACKS (1976, Henry Jaglom)
I haven’t found the time to see this DVD yet.

--------------------------

--In the book ALAIN RESNAIS, John Francis Kreidl quoted Pierre Kast from Cahiers du Cinema. I think what Kast said is very interesting, so I quote it here.

Pierre Kast said in the article “Les Malheurs du Muriel” in Cahiers du Cinema No. 149 (November 1963) page 29 that:

“What does Resnais propose [in MURIEL]? To show, it seems to me, as never yet before seen, a certain reality: to oblige the viewer to confront himself with himself, [an act] which appears to him at once faithful and monstrously unfaithful to that which he has never thought about in looking at himself in this way. It is concerned above all with the profound reputting under analysis of all of the logical systems dealing with external reality concerning those people who live in the world today. Evidently, if one sets out to describe the subject matter of MURIEL with a certain type of vocabulary, one arrives at a presentation analogous to that of ELLE or MARIE-CLAIRE; but it is precisely that which is put to the question; in other words, the film obliges people to find themselves in the presence of –in regarding their own self-adventure—the same horror that springs forth in looking at the external world, this monstrous reality in which they live and to which they are normally accustomed. And the essential proposition of Resnais is to open their eyes and tell them: look at yourself, here you are in fact.”

The book ALAIN RESNAIS by John Francis Kreidl is still available in amazon.com, but the price is 46.50 dollars. You may check your local library.

----------------------------------------------

--Some trivia: MURIEL is in the top ten best films of 1963’s list by Jean-Luc Godard. The list is as follows:

1.TRIAL OF JOAN OF ARC (Robert Bresson)
2.THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (Luis Bunuel)
3.THE BIRDS (Alfred Hitchcock)
4.THE CHAPMAN REPORT (George Cukor)
5.ADIEU PHILIPPINE (Jacques Rozier)
6.DONOVAN’S REEF (John Ford)
7.MURIEL
8.THE NUTTY PROFESSOR (Jerry Lewis)
9.IRMA LA DOUCE (Billy Wilder)
10.TWO WEEKS IN ANOTHER TOWN (Vincente Minnelli)

Looking at this list, I wish THE CHAPMAN REPORT be released as DVD soon, because Ty Hardin is gorgeous.

TY HARDIN

A LETTER TO FILMSICK

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS COPIED FROM MY E-MAIL TO FILMSICK. IT IS FULL OF SPOILERS, SO SKIP THIS POST IF YOU ARE AFRAID OF SPOILERS.

หวัดดีค่ะ

ขอเอาข้อความในเมล์นี้ไปแปะใน blog ด้วยนะคะ

LA BELLE CAPTIVE (1982)

--ไม่แน่ใจว่า ROBBE-GRILLET จงใจสร้างความคล้ายคลึงระหว่างผู้หญิงในร้านกาแฟกับ MARIE-ANGE และระหว่างพระเอกกับคนตายหรือเปล่า แต่ถ้าให้เดา ก็เดาว่าน่าจะเป็นเช่นนั้น เพราะ THEME เรื่อง DOPPELGANGER หรือคนที่คล้ายกันเป็นสิ่งที่พบได้ในหนังและนิยายของ ROBBE-GRILLET หลายๆเรื่อง

ROBBE-GRILLET เองก็เคยให้สัมภาษณ์ว่าผู้หญิงในร้านกาแฟดูคล้ายแวมไพร์ และ MARIE-ANGE เองก็เป็นแวมไพร์เหมือนกัน

ส่วนคนที่นอนตายอยู่นั้น ตอนที่ดิฉันดูหนังเรื่องนี้ ดิฉันก็คิดเหมือนกันว่าหน้าตาเหมือนพระเอกมาก แต่ตอนหลังไปอ่านจาก SIGHT AND SOUND ซึ่งเขาตั้งข้อสังเกตว่าคนที่นอนตายหน้าตาคล้าย ROBBE-GRILLET ซึ่งข้อมูลในอินเทอร์เน็ตก็ไม่มีบอกด้วยว่าบทคนที่นอนตายแสดงโดย DANIEL MESGUICH (ซึ่งรับบทเป็นพระเอก) หรือรับบทโดยใครกันแน่ แต่ไม่ว่าคนที่นอนตายจะแสดงโดย DANIEL MESGUICH หรือไม่ก็ตาม การที่คุณ FILMSICK เองก็คิดเหมือนดิฉันว่าคนที่นอนตายหน้าตาคล้ายพระเอกมาก ก็แสดงให้เห็นว่าดิฉันไม่ได้คิดไปเองคนเดียว และ ROBBE-GRILLET น่าจะจงใจเล่นสนุกกับคนดูตรงจุดนี้

อันนี้เป็นข้อความใน SIGHT AND SOUND ค่ะ
http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/3874

“Walter's principal assignment, meted out to him by his boss Sara Zeitgeist (Cyrielle Claire), is to deliver a letter to Count Henri de Corinthe (a Robbe-Grillet lookalike), who is found dead with a throat wound and formerly engaged to Marie-Ange to boot - that is, until her mysterious death six or seven years earlier.”

ชอบ SARA ZEITGEIST อย่างรุนแรงเหมือนกันค่ะ เธอสง่ามากๆ และชื่อเธอก็ เริ่ดมากๆ ไม่รู้ ROBBE-GRILLET คิดชื่อเธอขึ้นมาได้อย่างไร

บทวิจารณ์บางที่บอกว่าบท SARA ZEITGEIST นี้ได้รับแรงบันดาลใจมาจากบท THE PRINCESS ที่ MARIA CASARES แสดงใน ORPHEUS (1950, Jean Cocteau) แต่เครื่องแต่งกายของยัย SARA ZEITGEIST นี้พิสดารมากๆ มันดูหลงยุคมากๆ ซึ่งก็เข้ากับชื่อเธอ และก็เข้ากับองค์ประกอบหลายๆอย่างใน LA BELLE CAPTIVE ที่หลงยุคกันไปหมด ตั้งแต่พระเอกที่ทำตัวเป็นคนยุคฟิล์มนัวร์, SARA ZEITGEIST ที่ขี่มอเตอร์ไซค์เหมือนสาวซิ่งยุค 60 แต่กลับใส่เสื้อผ้าเหมือนมาจากศตวรรษอื่น, MARIE-ANGE ที่เหมือนหลุดมาจากหนังแวมไพร์ยุค 70, ตำรวจที่หน้าตาเหมือนพวก NOSFERATU ในทศวรรษ 1920 แถมยังมีอุปกรณ์วิทยาศาสตร์พิสดารหลุดเข้ามาในเรื่องอีก

มีบทวิจารณ์ LA BELLE CAPTIVE ลงไว้อย่างละเอียดใน INTERNET ด้วย อ่านได้ที่ JIM’S FILM REVIEWS
http://jclarkmedia.com/film/filmreviewbellecaptive.html

รู้สึกว่านักวิจารณ์คนนี้จะไม่ค่อยชอบ LA BELLE CAPTIVE เท่าไหร่นัก เราอ่านแล้วก็ไม่เห็นด้วยกับเขาสักเท่าไหร่ แต่เขาให้เกร็ดเล็กเกร็ดน้อยเยอะดี

แล้วเดี๋ยวว่างๆอาจจะเอาข้อมูลเกี่ยวกับ ROBBE-GRILLET ไปแปะใน BLOG อีกนะคะ

BELOW IS THE PAINTING “CAPTIVE” (1940) BY PAUL KLEE. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE FILM “LA BELLE CAPTIVE”.

DIANA THATER

Copy from an e-mail I sent to someone:

I haven’t seen SYNDROMES AND A CENTURY, but I like PLOY very much, except the ending of the film, which is too neat. As for now, my preferential order for Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s films is as follows:

1.INVISIBLE WAVES (2006, A+)

2.PLOY (2007, A+)

3.FUN BAR KARAOKE (1997, A+)

4.LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE (2003, A)

5.MONRAK TRANSISTOR (2001, A)

6.TALK TO HER: TWELVE TWENTY (2006, A)

7.6IXTYNIN9 (1999, A-)

8.TOTAL BANGKOK (2006, A-)

My friend, Filmsick, wrote a Thai review of PLOY here:
http://filmsick.exteen.com/20070610/entry-1

What I like very much in Ploy include:

1.The acting of Lalita Panyopas in the first half of the film

2.The structure of the film

3.The charm of Apinya Sakulcharoensuk (Ploy) and Porntip Papanai (Tum). I think Pen-ek is great in creating the style of his female characters. I like the two female characters, Faye Atsawet and Champagne X, in FUN BAR KARAOKE very much.

4.The soundtrack of the film, which is made by Koichi Shimizu and Akritchalerm Kalayanamitr

5.I like some shots of the film, which show “a room with a view” or showing the room with some views outside. Sometimes the views from the outside are reflected on the windows in the room, if I don’t remember it wrongly. I think these shots are beautiful.

These views from the outside and the inside of the room somehow reminds me of the film WHITE IS THE COLOUR (2002, Diana Thater). I haven’t seen WHITE IS THE COLOUR. I just saw a photo of this film, and it reminds me of some beautiful shots in PLOY.

For more information on Diana Thater, please read:
http://www.davidzwirner.com/artists/2/

A photo from WHITE IS THE COLOUR
http://www.zwirnerandwirth.com/exhibitions/2005/DT0105/white.html
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1019/542607951_f2946b1dd8_o.jpg

This is a photo from the video installation PERPETUAL MOTION (ONE) (2005, Diana Thater)
http://www.davidzwirner.com/artists/2/work_2459.htm
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1084/542607955_90604f990d_o.jpg

This is a photo from the video installation PSYCHE (2005, Diana Thater)http://www.davidzwirner.com/artists/2/work_2461.htm

MARIANNE DENICOURT VS. MARION COTILLARD

RECENTLY CELINEJULIE HAS COMMENTED IN NEW SCREENOUT WEBBOARD:
http://www.xq28.net/wow/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=192&start=100

ตอบคุณแฟรงเกนสไตน์

เมื่อวันอังคารได้คุยกับคุณแฟรงเกนสไตน์นอกรอบเกี่ยวกับ MARION COTILLARD(born 1975) แล้วดิฉันบอกว่าเห็นเธอแล้วนึกถึงดาราหญิงคนนึง แต่นึกชื่อไม่ออก ตอนนี้นึกชื่อออกแล้วว่าคือ MARIANNE DENICOURT (born 1966) ที่นำแสดงใน UP DOWN FRAGILE (1995, Jacques Rivette, A+)

อันนี้เป็นรูปของ MARIANNE DENICOURT จาก SLICE OF LIFE (2002, Patrick Timsit)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1431/542623817_abdbf9fa1e_o.jpg


อันนี้เป็นรูปของ MARION COTILLARD จาก A GOOD YEAR (2006, Ridley Scott)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1312/542623811_3a7720f3dd_o.jpg

VERA ROMEYKE IS NOT ACCEPTABLE

Brian Darr (http://hellonfriscobay.blogspot.com/ ) has left a comment in my blog here:
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2007/06/websites-of-my-favorite-directors.html

This is Celinejulie’s reply:

Thank you for consoling me, Brian. Now I guess the Goethe Institute may really have some budget problems. I guess they show movies from DVDs in order to cut the budget, and they show movies from film prints whenever the program is co-sponsored by other institutes.

Alliance Francaise in Bangkok also show movies from DVDs now, but they still show movies from film prints from time to time. Actually, I don’t mind seeing films from DVDs, if the showing doesn’t run into these following problems:

1.Sometimes the DVD gets stuck (I don’t know if I use the right English word) during the show, and the show has to stop, and the audience would not know the ending of the film. I hate this DVD problem very much. I don’t know what is the use for the advance of technology if they create problems like this. I had this problem from time to time, including when I went to see KIRIKOU AND THE SORCERESS (1998, Michel Ocelot) at Alliance Francaise and when I went to see SCHIZOPOLIS (1996, Steven Soderbergh) in a university. KIRIKOU AND THE SORCERESS dvd got stuck before the last 5-10 minutes of the film, and SCHIZOPOLIS got stuck during the last third of the film. This kind of problem leaves the viewers in emotional devastation. It feels as if you are making love to someone but get interrupted before you reach that point.

Thinking about this problem, I wonder what the viewers would feel like if they are watching A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT (2004, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, A+) but the DVD gets stuck before the last scene of the film. That would make some viewers scream out loud and feel very very bad, I think. Because for this movie, the emotions get build up continuously, and I remembered that I felt tremendously eager to know the fate of Manech (Gaspard Ulliel). I nearly cried when I watch the last scene of this film.

2.The projector gives a lousy picture. I think this problem occurred at the Goethe Institute in Bangkok during 2001-2002. There was a Gay and Lesbian Film Festival held there in 2002, and I remembered that most films shown in this festival were from DVDs, but the projector gave a very lousy pictures. The pictures were very blurred. However, I guess the Goethe Institute bought some new projectors after that, because the picture quality was improved in later years.

Talking about the Goethe Institute, I feel like making a wish list for films I wish the Goethe Institute can show in Bangkok in the near future. I know this dream won’t come true, but talking about it at least can lessen my hunger for the films.

This wish list is created by reading synopsis of some German films. I don’t know if these films are good or not. Maybe some of them are very bad films, but their synopses get me interested.

The synopses below comes from the book WEST GERMAN CINEMA SINCE 1945: A REFERENCE HANDBOOK by Richard C. Helt and Marie E. Helt, published by The Scarecrow Press in London, 1987. I bought this second-hand book for 20 baht, or 50 US cents. It’s incredible.

MY WISH LIST FOR FILMS SHOWN AT THE GOETHE INSTITUTE IN BANGKOK:


1.ANGELS WITH BURNT WINGS (Engel, die ihre Fluegel verbrennen) (1970, Zbynek Brynych)

Two adolescent children murder their mother’s lover, then commit suicide. Starring Susanne Uhlen.


2.SUPERMARKET (Supermarkt) (1973, Roland Klick)

A socially neglected young man wanders through a big city, comes into conflict with the police, kills someone without apparent reason, and then attempts to rob a supermarket. Starring Charly Wierczejewski and Eva Mattes.


3.DREAMS SHOT TO HELL (Zerschossene Traeume) (1975, Peter Patzak) 99 min.

A young man, who had been used by a homosexual and a nympho-maniac, becomes a policeman in order to seek revenge. Starring Yves Beneyton, Raymond Pellegrin, Mathieu Carriere.


4.JANE IS JANE FOREVER (Jane bleibt Jane) (1976, Walter Bockmayer)

An elderly woman enters the last phase of her life by escaping into illusion: She is convinced she is the widow of Tarzan.


5.VERA ROMEYKE IS NOT ACCEPTABLE (Vera Romeyke ist nicht tragbar) (1976, Max Willutzki) 104 min

Disagreements over the teaching methods of a politically active teacher end in her being transferred. Starring Rita Engelmann.


6.LOVE IS SOMETHING TENDER (Liebe ist etwas Zaertliches) (1976, Sofia Scandurra) 92 min.

A young Italian woman returns from a vacation at the sea and ends her marriage, which both partners had thought was a happy one. Starring Stefanie Sandrelli, Maria Schneider, Michele Placido.


7.MIRADOR (1978, Werner Nekes) 88 min.

In connection with the Spanish word meaning observation post, this experimental film attempts to take common images from conventional films and put them together in unusal ways.


8.MIRA’S HOUSE (Miras Haus) (1979, Dagmar Damek)

A woman in central France loves to dominate guests in her country house, until a young woman challenges her. Starring Brigitte Fossey and Doris Kunstmann.


9.NIGHTMARE WOMAN (Die Alptraumfrau) (1980, Lothar Lambert)

A portrait of a lonely woman who tries to escape her boring existence through sexual daydreams and fantasies. Starring Ulrike S.


10.THE GLACIER SYNDROME (Das Packeis-Syndrom) (1982, Peter Krieg) 60 min.

Zurich is hit by a cold wave which turns out to be not only a natural disaster, but a social one which “freezes” society, too.


11.THAT’S ENOUGH FOR ME, I’M DROPPING OUT (Mir reicht’s – ich steig aus) (1983, Gustav Ehmck)

Linda, a teenager, gets fed up with the monotony and strict role behavior of her parents and decides to leave home, and she is able to convince her mother to come along. Starring Linda Manz, Marie-Christine Barrault, and Ana Torrent.


12.THE BITE (Der Biss) (1984, Marianne Enzensberger) 84 min.

A female vampire tries to “liberate” her bourgeois friends from their career obsessions by biting them. Starring Marianne Enzensberger.


For those who worship Alexander Kluge, you can read the review of YESTERDAY GIRL (1966, Alexander Kluge, A+) by Acquarello here:

http://www.filmref.com/notes/archives/2007/06/yesterday_girl_anita_g_1966.html

---------------------------------------------------------------

Below is a photo of Yves Beneyton, the star of DREAMS SHOT TO HELL, L’AMOUR FOU (1969, Jacques Rivette), PAULINA IS LEAVING (1970, Andre Techine), THE LACEMAKER (1977, Claude Goretta, A+), CHARIOTS OF FIRE (1981, Hugh Hudson)
http://www.agencesimpson.com/article.php3?id_article=69

BOSSACUCANOVA

THIS IS MY COMMENT IN BIOSCOPE'S WEBBOARD
http://www.bioscopemagazine.com/smf/index.php?topic=71.150


ตอบน้อง ENNISDELMAR

ดีใจมากค่ะที่ได้เจอน้องในงานหนังกางจอ พี่กะว่าจะเขียนถึงหนังในงานนี้ แต่ยังไม่มีเวลาเขียนถึงสักที แต่ชอบ "เย ธัมมา" มากที่สุดในบรรดาหนังที่ได้ดูในงานกางจอปีนี้ค่ะ


--Some interesting links

1. I have just found this website – cinebeats.
http://cinebeats.blogsome.com/

This site is highly recommended for FILMSICK and khun PC. It is full of great stuff about films from the 1960s & 1970s, and it also has many beautiful songs you can listen to, including songs from:

1.1 Georges Delerue – LE MEPRIS (Jean-Luc Godard)

1.2 Bruno Nicolai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno_Nicolai

"Bruno Nicolai (1926 - 1991) was an Italian film music composer, orchestra director, and musical editor most active in the 1960s through the 1980s. While studying piano and composition at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, he befriended Ennio Morricone and formed a long working relationship, with Nicolai eventually conducting for and co-scoring films with Morricone. Nicolai also scored a number of giallo exploitation films for director Jess Franco."

1.3 Alessandro Alessandroni
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_Alessandroni

"Alessandro Alessandroni (born March 16, 1925 in Rome) is an Italian musician. He plays multiple instruments, including the guitar, mandolin, sitar, accordion, and piano, and has composed over 40 film scores.

Being an accomplished whistler, Alessandroni collaborated with his childhood friend Ennio Morricone on a number of soundtracks for Spaghetti westerns. Morricone's orchestration often calls for an unusual combination of instruments and voices. Alessandroni can be heard as the whistler on the soundtracks for Sergio Leone's films A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Once Upon a Time in the West, Giu la testa, and many others."


2. I just learned from Girish Shambu's blog about Apichatpong Weerasethakul's interview in REVERSE SHOT.

Excerpt from the interview:

"This kind of response shows the mentality of people, that they’re very not in tune. I’m not talking about freedom in the American sense; I’m talking about basic things like being able to say whatever we want to say. But we cannot. Some people don’t have this sense because they’ve been under this mind control for a long time, and it’s become part of their mentality. So for me, if we get real change, we’ll be ok. We can say more things but not everything, and those people can stay in their shells and they’ll be happy. It’s not affecting them anyway."


3.For people who love avant-garde films, you can read many articles on avant-garde films from the avant-garde blog-a-thon held in August last year. The links to all these articles can be found in Girish Shambu's blog here:
http://www.girishshambu.com/blog/2006/08/joseph-cornell.html


4. A latin band called "BOSSACUCANOVA", for people who love chill-out music.
http://www.myspace.com/umabatidadiferente
http://www.bossacucanova.com/bossacucanova.asp


I especially love this photo of the film crew of WORLDLY DESIRES (2005, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, A+)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1232/538128937_769c924c14_o.jpg


This is a photo of BOSSACUCANOVA

FAVORITE FILMS OF 1990S

THIS IS MY COMMENT IN GIRISH SHAMBU'S BLOG
http://www.girishshambu.com/blog/2007/06/best-of-nineties.html#comments

--I didn’t know about the Shamus’s site before, but I got curious after reading about it here, so I looked into his old site and I feel very very scared, because it is written in Thai, and the whole contents make no sense. Some contents are about Thai history, some are about Thai Tschools or universities. I don’t know exactly what happened to that site. I just hope that the site is not hacked by some Thai psychos.

--I agree with many films mentioned above, including:

1.ALPSEE (1995, Matthias Mueller) in Mike Hoolboom's list

2.FAME WHORE (1997, Jon Moritsugu) in Ed Halter's list

3.MY SEX LIFE...OR HOW I GOT INTO AN ARGUMENT (1996, Arnaud Desplechin) in Manohla Dargis' list

4.THE NASTY GIRL (1990, Michael Verhoeven) in Gareth's list

5.THE REFLECTING SKIN (1990, Philip Ridley) in Cinebeats' list

6.RIVER OF GOLD (1998, Paulo Rocha) in JPM's list
I haven't seen this film, but I have seen one film by Paulo Rocha. It is THE ROOT OF THE HEART (2000), and it is one of my most favorite films seen in 2005. Some parts of THE ROOT OF THE HEART remind me of Derek Jarman and Ulrike Ottinger.

7.SOMBRE (1998, Philippe Grandrieux) in Nicole Brenez's list

8.SWORDSMAN II (1992, Ching Siu-tung, Stanley Tong) in Shelly Kraicer's list

9.THESIS (Alejandro Amenabar) in Dave's list

10.VIDEOGRAMS OF A REVOLUTION (1992, Harun Farocki) in Albert Wu's list


--There are many films in 1990's which I wish I could have seen. These are my 1990's film wish list:

1.A WOMAN'S TALE (1991, Paul Cox, Australia)

2.THE BISHOP'S STORY (1995, Bob Quinn, Ireland)

3.FRAGMENTS OF LIFE (1999, Francois L. Woukoache, Cameroon)

4.ON BOYS, GIRLS AND THE VEIL (1995, Yousry Nasrallah, Egypt)

5.THREE BRIDGES ON A RIVER (1999, Jean-Claude Biette, France)

6.THE PARTY – NATURE MORTE (1991, Cynthia Beatt, Germany)

7.THE HAIR OPERA (1992, Yuri Obitani, Japan)

8.BLUE BLACK PERMANENT (1992, Margaret Tait, UK)

9.JOAN SEES STARS (1993, Joan Braderman + Dana Master, USA)

10.MODULATIONS (1998, Iara Lee, USA)


--Films about children, teenagers or young adults I love in the 1990's include:

1.ADEUS, PAI (GOODBYE, FATHER) (1996, Luis Filipe Rocha, Portugal)
Heartbreaking father-and-son relationship

2.L'APPAT (1995, Bertrand Tavernier)

3.AUGUST IN THE WATER (1995, Sogo Ishii)
Sci-fi, X-Files, mysterious. I don't understand this film, but I love it.

4.BEAUTIFUL THING (1996, Hettie Macdonald, UK)
I think this film forms an unintentional trilogy with TWO OF US (1987, Roger Tonge, UK) and GET REAL (1998, Simon Shore, USA) as gay coming-of-age trilogy.

5.THE CHERRY ORCHARD (1990, Shun Nakahara)
Lesbian film about girls who rehearse together for the play The Cherry Orchard

6.DARKNESS AND LIGHT (1999, Chang Tso-chi, Taiwan)

7.DAUGHTER (SIA DAI) (1996, Chatrichalerm Yukol, Thailand)
This film is about the problem of drug addiction among schoolgirls.

8.SOUS-SOL (1996, Pierre Gang, Canada)

9.TOKYO KYODAI (1995, Jun Ichikawa)

10.WELTMEISTER (WORLD MASTER) (1994, Zoran Solomun, Germany)


--And now, this is my favorite 1990's films list. This list is not my "most" favorite films of 1990's, because my most favorite are not very different from the films other people have already mentioned. These are just the names of the films I love very much. I name only one country per film in this list.

1.MOEBIUS (1996, Gustavo Mosquera R. , Argentina)

2.KISS OR KILL (1997, Bill Bennett, Australia)

3.FEAR OF HEIGHTS (1994, Houchang Allahyari, Austria)

4.THE CARRIERS ARE WAITING (1999, Benoit Mariage, Belgium)

5.LAST NIGHT (1998, Don McKellar, Canada)

6.NANJING 1937 (1995, Wu Ziniu, China)

7.RETURN OF THE IDIOT (1999, Sasa Gedeon, Czech)

8.BLINDFOLDED (1999, Matti Ijas, Finland)

9.FORGET ME (1994, Noemie Lvovsky, France)

10.COLD HOMELAND (1995, Volker Koepp, Germany)

11.THE BACHELOR (1997, Nikos Panayotopoulos, Greece)

12.CROSS HARBOUR TUNNEL (1999, Lawrence Wong, Hong Kong)

13....AND THE MOON DANCES (1995, Garin Nugroho, Indonesia)

14.ELVIS AND MARILYN (1998, Armando Manni, Italy)

15.DYING AT A HOSPITAL (1993, Jun Ichikawa, Japan)

16.THE CORRIDOR (1994, Sharunas Bartas, Lithuania)

17.THE CHERRY PICK (1996, Arno Kranenborg, Netherlands)

18.LOVE STORIES (1997, Jerzy Stuhr, Poland)

19.DAY OF THE FULL MOON (1998, Karen Shakhnazarov, Russia)

20.ANTARTIDA (1995, Manuel Huerga, Spain)

21.IL CAPITANO (1991, Jan Troell, Sweden)

22.THE PERSONALS (1998, Chen Kuo-fu, Taiwan)

23.MAE NAK (1997, Pimpaka Towira, Thailand)

24.PRIEST (1994, Antonia Bird, UK)

25.THE LOVE MACHINE (1999, Gordon Eriksen, USA)
Amy Taubin wrote about this film in villagevoice.com

The photo below comes from the Dutch film THE CHERRY PICK (1996, Arno Kranenborg, A+)

http://www.filmkrant.nl/av/org/filmkran/archief/fk174/174main.html

WEBSITES OF MY FAVORITE DIRECTORS

Mubarak Ali has left a comment in my blog here:
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2007/06/matthias-mueller-and-bavo-defurne.html

This is Celinejulie’s reply:

--I also wish there were more avant-garde films shown in Bangkok. I think the chance for Bangkokians to see non-mainstream films depend on who is the cultural attache or who is in charge of the cultural affair of each foreign embassy at the moment. I think positions like these are replaced once every three or four years. Whenever these positions are taken by people who love art films, art films from that country would be shown in Bangkok. As for now I have to thank a lot for anyone who is in charge of the cultural affairs at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok, because there have been many video installations from Australia shown in Bangkok during the last few years. Before that, there were none of these Australian video installations shown in Bangkok in the 1990’s.

Unfortunately, while Bangkokians are exposed to many good films from Australia during 2000’s, Bangkokians have much less chance to see good films from Germany during the same period. In the 1990’s, the Goethe Institute in Bangkok showed German films nearly every week. We used to have a chance to see about 40 good German feature films every year. But in 2000’s, the Goethe Institute in Bangkok changed some policies. Now we can see only 10 German feature films every year. I feel very sad about this, because this policy doesn’t apply worldwide. You can compare the cultural program of the Goethe Institute in San Francisco with the one in Bangkok, and you will know how sad I feel.

The Goethe Institute in San Francisco’s website:
http://www.goethe.de/ins/us/saf/enindex.htm

The Goethe Institute in Bangkok’s website:
http://www.goethe.de/ins/th/ban/enindex.htm

However, as for me, the current problem is not only the availability of the avant-garde films shown in Bangkok, but also the availability of my free time to see them. Now many experimental films are shown in ubuweb, but I don’t have enough time to see them.


--I hadn’t heard of Arthur Lipsett before, but after I read your article, I think he must be very interesting. I also hadn’t known about your avant-garde blog-a-thon before. I think this blog-a-thon is really great. I will try to read most of these avant-garde articles when I have time.


--My found footage films wish list:

1.Films by Douglas Gordon

I have seen only one film of his: “10MS-1” (1994), and I haven’t watched the Zidane film he did with Philippe Parreno (though this one is not found footage). From what I read, I think Douglas Gordon’s projects are very interesting.


2.INTERVISTA (1998, Anri Sala)
http://www.frif.com/new99/intervis.html

Description of this film from FIRST RUN ICARUS FILMS’ website:

“In the process of moving house with his family, Anri Sala, an Albanian art student, discovered a twenty-year-old 16mm newsreel film, containing images of a congress of the Albanian Communist Party. In the film a young woman, a leader of the Communist Youth Alliance, is seen making a speech, and later giving an interview. But Anri could not make out what she was saying, because the sound had been lost.

With the passing of years this woman had left behind the hopes and fears, ideals and disappointments, deceptions and rebellions of her youth. She was his mother, Valdet.”


3.THE FLAMETHROWERS (Owen O’Toole + Alte Kinder + Schmelzdahin)

http://www.filmalchemist.de/schmelzfilms.html

Description of this film from Juergen Reble’s website:

“The original material of this film triptych (which was later transferred onto one 16-mm filmstrip) was an almost burnt print of Pather Panchali by Satyajit Ray. The American artist Owen O'Toole sent this film to the members of Alte Kinder asking them to react on it artistically
- the beginning of a transatlantic co-operation of filmmakers. The Bonn based artist's group Schmelzdahin created the third and final part of this game of visual associations. (Alte Kinder, 1990)”



4.NEGATIVE MAN/GIVE AIDS THE FREEZE (Cathy Joritz)

Information about this film comes from the website below:
http://astroqueer.tripod.com/bio/biaf.html

“Irreverent and amusing reappropriation of old 1950s b/w films in which Joritz has scratched devils and safe sex messages over the original images of deadpan preaching psychologists.”


--I also noticed that you mentioned Thomas Koener in your blog on Juergen Reble. I like Koener very much. I had a chance to see only one of his films. I saw SUBURBS OF EMPTINESS (2003, Thomas Koener, A+) in January this year. It is my most favorite film of that month, and it will surely be in my top ten most favorite short films of this year.

My most favorite list for this year so far:

Most favorite film of January:
SUBURBS OF EMPTINESS (2003, Thomas Koener)


Most favorite film of February:
SORRY (2007, Noraset Vaisayakul)
This is a Thai video installation.


Most favorite film of March:
MUANG SAMUT (A TOWN BY THE SEA) (2007, students in the faculty of communication arts, Chulalongkorn University)

This is a short Thai documentary about Burmese immigrants in Thailand and the injustice and prejudice they face. It made me cry.


Most favorite film of April:
FIREFLIES (2007, Chawit Waewsawangwong)

This is a Thai short experimental film. It is like a music video for a techno song. The color, the sound, and the rhythm of this film are very powerful to me.


Most favorite film of May:
AMOUR D’ENFANCE (BOYHOOD LOVES) (2001, Yves Caumon, France)


--I also like the fact that Thomas Koener has his own website. This website makes it very easy for us to know what he did in the past and what he is doing at the present.

I think I should make a list of the websites of some of my favorite directors, and I will try to put the links to these websites on my blogroll when I have time, so it will be easy for us to check for the information on their current projects.

WEBSITES OF MY FAVORITE DIRECTORS:

1.KHAVN DE LA CRUZ
http://www.kamiasroad.com/khavn/

2.ALEX DAVIES
http://schizophonia.com/

3.THOMAS KOENER
http://www.koener.de/

4.CHRISTELLE LHEUREUX
http://christelle.lheureux.free.fr/sommaireEngl.html

5.GEERT MUL
http://www.geertmul.nl/

6.PHILIPPE PARRENO
http://www.airdeparis.com/parreno.htm

7.JUERGEN REBLE
http://www.filmalchemist.de/

8.CHRISTOPH SCHLINGENSIEF
http://www.schlingensief.com/index_eng.html

9.ULA STOECKL
http://www.ula-stoeckl.com/

10.SZUPER GALLERY
http://www.szuper.org/


This is a photo from BELOVED (2006) project by Geert Mul:

BEDA DOCAMPO FEIJOO

--THIS IS MY COMMENT IN SHAHN'S BLOG:
http://sixmartinis.blogspot.com/2007/06/perhaps-they-just-didnt-know.html

Hi, this is the first time I comment here. I just know about your blog from Mubarak Ali's blog. I have heard that you are interested in Matthias Mueller's films, so I'd like to tell you that I just post some details about his video which is on sale in http://www.amazon.de/ in Mubarak's blog. I'm sorry I have no information about his DVD.

By the way, I'm not sure if you are interested in films about WWII or other subjects. But if it's about WWII, I recommend these 4 DVDs and 1 video:

1.COME AND SEE (1985, Elem Klimov, Soviet Union)

2.UNDER THE EARTH (1985, Beda Docampo Feijoo, Argentina, only in video)

3.WAR AND REMEMBRANCE (1988, Dan Curtis + Tommy Groszman, USA, 1620 min or 27 hours)

4.THE MURDERERS ARE AMONG US (1946, Wolfgang Staudte, Germany)

5.KANAL (1957, Andrzej Wajda, Poland)

STADT IN FLAMMEN (1984, SCHMELZDAHIN, A+++++)

THIS IS MY COMMENT IN MUBARAK ALI'S BLOG (with some added information):
http://supposedaura.blogspot.com/2007/05/sing-body-electric.html

I don’t know if this information will be useful or not, but I would like to tell you or anyone interested in Matthias Mueller that you can watch his film ALPSEE (1994) from a videocassette called X-PILATION. This video is available from

1.www.amazon.de

2.You might be able to borrow it from a library in your local Goethe Institute.

This video has no English subtitles, but I strongly recommend this video for any non-German speakers. This video include 7 short German experimental films, 5 of them need no subtitles, because they barely have dialogues or voiceovers. Only 2 short films in this video should have had English subtitles. I haven't heard that there is a DVD version of this video.

The short films in this video are:

1.ALPSEE
15 min


2.THE BASIS OF MAKE UP (1983, Heinz Emigholz, A+)
20 min, silent


3.THE STATICS—ENGINEERING MEMORY BRIDGES (1990, Michael Brynntrup, A+)
21 min.
This film has voiceover and should have had English subtitles. I saw this film once with English subtitles in the Michael Brynntrup retrospective held at the Goethe Institute in Bangkok in 2001. The film puzzled me in a similar way as Alexander Kluge's films.


4.BETWEEN (1989, Claudia Schillinger, A+)
10 min
People who love Catherine Breillat might love this film.


5.THE NARRATIVE FILM (1988, Uli Sappok)
4 min
This film has voiceover and should have had English subtitles.


6.STADT IN FLAMMEN (1984, Schmelzdahin, A+)
6 min
This is a found footage film and is my most favorite in this video compilation. Schmelzdahin is a group of filmmakers who worked together between 1979-1989. This group comprises Jochen Lempert, Jochen Mueller, and Juergen Reble.

This is the description of the film by Owen O'Toole:

"Stadt in Flammen is the most volcanic film I've ever seen; the emulsion literally crawls off the film base, like a lava flowing across terrain. Vague generic hospital (soap opera?) footage cracks and crumbles, seeths in the frame in a slow-motion dissolve. Like ancient paintings crack and fall away from their surfaces. This is the other side of Schmelzdahin - the mutilated film. Though they may sumtimes claim to shoot no film themselves (only re-working found footage), don't believe it. Schmelzdahin also have built a super 8 optical printer with which they make their film discoveries. (Owen O' Toole 1989/90)"


7.EIN BEWAEHRTER PARTNER (A PROVEN PARTNER) (1993, Juergen Reble, A+)
21 min

For more information about Juergen Reble and Schmelzdahin, please read:
http://www.filmalchemist.de/publications/MFJ_97.html


This is a photo of STADT IN FLAMMEN. The photo is from
http://www.filmalchemist.de/15.html

MATTHIAS MUELLER AND BAVO DEFURNE

(correction: After I made this post on Sunday, I found out later that the director of BROKEN GLASS is Marte Maren Holth, not Marte Holte, so I made the correction accordingly. I also corrected the year of the release of ALPSEE)


After reading Mubarak Ali’s post on Matthias Mueller and Juergen Reble in his blog, I felt very inspired and decided that I should write something, too.

Mubarak Ali’s post on Matthias Mueller:
http://supposedaura.blogspot.com/2007/05/sing-body-electric.html

Mubarak Ali’s post on Juergen Reble:
http://supposedaura.blogspot.com/2006/08/jrgen-reble-alchemist-of-cinema.html

Mike Hoolboom’s article on Matthias Mueller:
http://www.mfj-online.org/journalPages/MFJ30,31/MHoolboomScattering.html

Daniel Kotenschulte’s article on Matthias Mueller:
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/06/38/pensao_globo.html

Canyon Cinema on Matthias Mueller:
http://www.canyoncinema.com/M/Muller.html

I have seen only five films by Matthias Mueller. They are:

1.VACANCY (1999, A+)
This film ranks no.4 on my favorite film list for 2002.

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/03/24/favourites3.html#phokaew

“If you found Fata Morgana (Werner Herzog, 1971) bewitching in the way it magically transforms the Sahara desert into a sci-fi landscape, Vacancy does the same by magically transforming a city from the past into a futuristic town. For me, Mueller is not only one of the greatest experimental filmmakers, he is also one of the greatest filmmakers. There are a lot more emotions in his films than in most narrative cinema, and his films prove very well that there is more to experimental films than style, forms or concepts.”


2.ALPSEE (1994, A+)

I like the use of colours in this film and the milk spilling scene very much. This film should be screened together with BROKEN GLASS (Marte Maren Holth, animation, A+), and SEP.30TH, '99 (Atsushi Ito).


3.BEACON (2002, co-directed with Christoph Girardet, A+)


4.PHOENIX TAPES (1999, A+)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244136/


5.PHANTOM (2001, A+)
http://docentes.uacj.mx/museodigital/museodigital/Nueva/expo%20ICP/ICP%201.htm


--VACANCY affected me as strongly as INDIA SONG or TAKE THE 5:10 TO DREAMLAND (1976, Bruce Conner). These films made me afraid to move any part of myself, even any finger, or to breathe loudly while watching them. I felt as if I had witnessed one of the holiest event in the history. These films seem to come from twilight zone, bordering between our conscious and subconscious. They are sacred to me.

--Bavo Defurne was an assistant director in ALPSEE. He is a very interesting Belgian gay director. He directed SAILOR (1997, A+), CAMPFIRE (1999, A), SAINT (1996, A), and "PARTICULARLY NOW, IN SPRING" (1995, A-). These four short films are released as DVD. Though Defurne was an assistant to Mueller's, I don't think I find any obvious similarity between their films.
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51TWDAMNGSL._SS500_.jpg


--Matthias Mueller might be one of the best directors in the "found footage film group". Last year I made a list of interesting found footage films. I think I should post it again here.

INTERESTING FOUND FOOTAGE FILM LIST
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2006/09/coldcut.html

1.DIAL H-I-S-T-O-R-Y (1998, JOHAN GRIMONPREZ, A+)

One of my most favorite documentaries
http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/07/42/2006-world-poll-3.html#Phokaew


2.ALONE: LIFE WASTES ANDY HARDY (1998, MARTIN ARNOLD, A+)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157304/


3.REPORT (1967, BRUCE CONNER, A+)http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130976/

4.LOVE (2003, TRACEY MOFFATT + GARY HILLBERG, A+)http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c633.shtml


5.RE:VOLUTION (2001, A+) – a music video of COLDCUT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6KnJ0k_u7w

6.HAPPINESS IS (2006, Thanes Mankasakul, A+)


7.ALL YOU CAN EAT (1993, MICHAEL BRYNNTRUP, A)


8.MY FIRST FILM (1991, SASITHORN ARIYAVICHA, A)


9.SPECTRES OF THE SPECTRUM (1997, CRAIG BALDWIN)http://www.canyoncinema.com/B/Baldwin.htmlhttp://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0007LBLZA.01._SS500_SCLZZZZZZZ_V1106165488_.jpg

Information from amazon.com:

"Agitprop genius Craig Baldwin, director of TRIBULATION 99 and SONIC OUTLAWS, returns with his grandest work to date! SPECTRES OF THE SPECTRUM plunders Baldwin's treasure trove of early television shows, industrial and educational films, Hollywood movies, advertisements and cartoons, combining these with live-action footage, no-budget special effects, and relentless narration to generate a wholly original paranoid science-fiction epic."


10.L’ARRIVEE (1997-1998, PETER TSCHERKASSKY)


Unfortunately, I haven't seen any films by Baldwin or Tscherkassky yet. I only hear about their reputation.


Tscherkassky also wrote about SLEEPY HAVEN (1993, Matthias Mueller) in THE METAMORPHOSIS OF EROS (Stadtkino Vienna, 1993). I think it is very interesting, so I quote Tscherkassky here:

"SLEEPY HAVEN is an erotic day dream's own tropical late afternoon fantasy turned film; a cocktail in which the new takes melt and flow into the found footage like the act of making love. Instead of the cocktail shaker however, Mueller's own film developing tank has left marks on the material. The sailors continually flare-up solarised, and their naked bodies are lent a glowing aura of physical lust via the emulsion's tattooing effect. Only slowly does Mueller turn his material, metaphor for metaphor, towards love. One sees ocean going steam ships lying at anchor in port at the beginning of the film; continual fade ins and fade outs which leaves the screen breathing heavily, open up once more and then close. Ringed apertures associate with the body's orifae..."
------------------------------------------------------------

This is a photo by Bavo Defurne from his website.
http://www.bavo.org/

I SUFFER FROM FILM AMNESIA

THIS IS MY COMMENT IN GIRISH SHAMBU’S BLOG:
http://www.girishshambu.com/blog/2007/05/cinema-in-your-head.html

I also would like to remember films more accurately, and maybe that’s why I’m blogging, so I can note down what I saw before I forget it. Sometimes I suspect if I suffer from amnesia or not, including in the following cases:

1.In 2004, I bought a ticket to see WEST BEYROUTH (1998, Ziad Doueiri) in a film festival, and after seeing the film for 5 minutes, I realized I had seen this film before from cable TV, but had forgotten my seeing it, or else I wouldn’t have bought the ticket then. It’s a good film, but not the one I intend to see again.

2. I saw 24 Thai short films in one day in July last year. I had no time to write down anything while seeing them. I had enough time only for writing down my grades for each film. But the next day when I tried to blog about them, I could remember only 23 films. There’s one film, THE LAST DAY, which I couldn’t remember what it was about. I had written A+ for this film the day before, but I forgot the film completely the day after. I feel very upset about it. My memory for one short film can be completely erased in one night. It’s very upsetting because it’s the film I gave A+ to, and I still can’t remember anything about it now. I also can’t find any description of this film by other people.

3.I saw VALERIE FLAKE (1999, John Putch) in 2003, and in 2005 I intended to write an article on it for a Thai book. I intended to write about a scene in which Valerie Flake’s father-in-law was sitting in a car, looking at Valerie outside the car, but decided not to talk to her. But before I started writing, I watched this film again on video, and found that there is no such scene in this film. There is only a scene in which Valerie was sitting in a car looking outside at her father-and- mother-in-law, but decided not to talk to them. My memory of this scene is the reverse or the opposite of the real scene.

I think “film distorted by viewer’s mind” is a very interesting topic, and I hope there is some research about it. I think some films have the power to touch the viewer’s imagination, fantasy, secret desire, longing, past experience, memory, and subconscious, and thus by touching them, the film becomes mingled with them and distorted by them.

This topic reminds me of what Jean-Claude Carriere wrote in the book THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF FILM (1994, Random House). If I don’t remember it wrongly, he wrote that many people claimed they had seen the monster baby in ROSEMARY’S BABY, though there is no image of that baby in the movie. This film made a lot of audience see what was not there. Many female viewers also claimed that they had seen a baby, or heard a baby’s crying in the last scene of BELLE DE JOUR, though there is no baby or baby’s crying in that scene. There is only a sound of a cat. Carriere suspected that BELLE DE JOUR might have aroused some secret desire of female viewers and that’s the reason why this film was distorted by viewer’s mind.

WHAT I SEE, THE FEELINGS THEY HAVE, THE THINGS THEY HAVE TO DO (A+)

ดิฉันเคยเขียนถึงผลงานศิลปะ “สิ่งที่ฉันเห็น ความรู้สึกที่เขาเป็น สิ่งที่เขาต้องทำ” ของคุณพรพรรณ เกียรติภาคภูมิไว้ใน link ข้างล่างนี้
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2007/03/favorite-artist-pornpan-kiatparkpoom.html

อันนี้เป็นความรู้สึกที่ดิฉันมีต่อผลงานดังกล่าวค่ะ

1.มันดูดำๆเขรอะๆ สกปรกๆ เหมือนฉากหนังสยองขวัญ แต่ดิฉันกลับรู้สึกว่ามันมีความงามบางอย่างอยู่ในนั้น และดิฉันมักจะทึ่งกับผลงานแบบนี้เป็นอย่างมาก ผลงานที่ทำให้สิ่งที่ไม่สวยงามกลายเป็นสิ่งที่สวยงามได้ในแบบของมันเอง

2.มันดูแปลกตาไปจากคำว่า “งานศิลปะ” ที่ดิฉันคุ้นเคย จริงๆแล้วดิฉันแทบไม่รู้จักงานศิลปะดีเท่าไหร่นัก แต่เท่าที่เคยดูมา ก็ไม่เคยเจอผลงานที่ดูเหมือนเศษเหล็กหรืออุปกรณ์โรงงานแบบนี้มาก่อน แถมเป็นเศษเหล็กที่มีใบหน้าคนฝังอยู่ข้างในนั้นด้วย

3.ชอบประเด็นของงานนี้ จริงๆแล้วดิฉันก็ไม่รู้ว่าตัวเองเข้าใจจุดประสงค์ของผู้สร้างงานได้อย่างถูกต้องหรือเปล่า แต่ชอบประเด็นของงานที่ดูเหมือนเป็นการนำเสนอชีวิตชนชั้นแรงงาน โดยไม่ได้นำเสนอในแบบเชิดชูอย่างตรงไปตรงมา ซึ่งมันอาจจะทำให้ดูตื้นเขินหรือโจ่งแจ้งเกินไปจนขาดความน่าสนใจ แต่ดิฉันรู้สึกว่ามันเป็นการนำเสนอในแบบที่แสดงให้เห็นถึงความรักในเพื่อนมนุษย์ที่เป็นชนชั้นแรงงาน โดยไม่ได้มีการ “สั่งสอน” ผู้ชมงานว่าพวกเขาต้องคิดหรือต้องรู้สึกอย่างไร

จุดนี้คือจุดที่สำคัญที่สุดจุดหนึ่งที่ทำให้ดิฉันชอบงานชิ้นนี้ เพราะถ้าหากวัดจากรสนิยมส่วนตัวแล้ว ดิฉันไม่ค่อยชอบงานศิลปะประเภท “สั่งสอนศีลธรรม” สักเท่าไหร่นัก แต่ดิฉันกลับพบว่างานศิลปะแบบนี้มีอยู่เยอะมากในประเทศไทย ทั้งในระดับอาจารย์และนักศึกษา งานศิลปะแบบนี้มีจุดประสงค์ที่ดี และมักจะมีเนื้อหาต่อต้านความเลว, ทุนนิยม, บริโภคนิยม, ภาวะโลกร้อน แต่ไม่รู้ว่าเป็นเพราะอะไร บางทีอาจจะเป็นเพราะว่าดิฉันเป็น “คนเลว” ก็ได้มั้ง ดิฉันจึงไม่ค่อยถูกโฉลกกับงานศิลปะแบบนี้เท่าใดนัก ดิฉันรู้สึกเหมือนกับว่า “ดิฉันรู้เรื่องพวกนี้ดีอยู่แล้ว” ดิฉันรู้อยู่แล้วว่าเรื่องพวกนี้มันเป็นเรื่องไม่ดี เพราะฉะนั้นการมีคนมาบอกในสิ่งที่ดิฉันรู้อยู่แล้วมันจึงทำให้ดิฉันรู้สึกเบื่อ แต่นั่นคงไม่ใช่ความผิดของผู้สร้างงานแต่อย่างใด สาเหตุที่ดิฉันไม่ค่อยชอบงานแบบนี้เป็นเพียงเพราะว่า ดิฉันไม่ใช่ “กลุ่มเป้าหมาย” หรือ “กลุ่มผู้รับสาร” ของงานศิลปะนั้นเท่านั้นเอง

แต่ผลงานศิลปะของคุณพรพรรณกลับไม่ทำให้ดิฉันรู้สึกเช่นนั้น ดิฉันรู้สึกว่ามันง่ายถ้าหากจะสร้างผลงานประเภทที่บอกว่า “ชนชั้นแรงงานดี ชนชั้นนายทุนเลว นายทุนจงพินาศ” หรือ “ชนชั้นแรงงานช่างน่าสงสาร น่าเวทนา ชีวิตพวกเขาลำบากยากแค้นแสนเข็ญ” หรืออะไรทำนองนี้ แต่ผลงานของคุณพรพรรณกลับไม่ได้สั่งสอนผู้ชมงานด้วยสโลแกนสำเร็จรูปแบบนั้น ผลงานของคุณพรพรรณเปิดโอกาสให้ผู้ชม “รู้สึก” กับงานได้ตามแบบที่ผู้ชมต้องการ และเปิดโอกาสให้ผู้ชมค้นหา “ข้อคิด หรือบทเรียน” ที่ได้รับจากงานศิลปะนั้นได้ด้วยตัวเอง ดิฉันรู้สึกว่าผลงานชิ้นนี้ของคุณพรพรรณทำให้ผู้ชมเกิดความรัก, เห็นใจ และชื่นชมในเพื่อนมนุษย์ที่เป็นชนชั้นแรงงาน โดยไม่ได้มีการ “ยัดเยียด” เลยแม้แต่นิดเดียวในการทำให้ผู้ชมรู้สึกเช่นนั้น

4.รู้สึกว่าคุณพรพรรณเก่งมากค่ะในการทำให้ “วัตถุ” ที่ดูเหมือนไม่มีชีวิต กลับ “อัดฝังแน่น” ไปด้วยชีวิตอยู่ในนั้น คุณสมบัติข้อนี้ทำให้การดูงานของคุณพรพรรณเป็นงานที่ทำให้รู้สึกอยากยืนดูนานๆโดยไม่รู้สึกเบื่อเลยค่ะ มันเหมือนกับการได้ดูภาพเหมือนของจิตรกรชื่อดังบางคนที่ทำให้เรารู้สึกว่ามันไม่ใช่แค่ภาพเหมือน แต่มันมี “ชีวิต อารมณ์ ความรู้สึก อดีต ความเจ็บปวด ความเศร้า ความสุข” อยู่ในภาพวาดใบหน้าคนภาพนั้น

5.ชอบผลงานชิ้นนี้มากเพราะมันทำให้สิ่งที่ดูเหมือนเป็นสิ่งธรรมดาในชีวิตประจำวัน กลายเป็นสิ่งที่ดู “สวยงาม” ขึ้นมาได้ ผลงานชิ้นนี้ทำให้ “สนิมบนแผ่นเหล็ก” กลายเป็นสิ่งสวยงามได้ ทำให้ “สิ่งผุๆพังๆ” กลายเป็นสิ่งสวยงามได้

สรุปว่าดิฉันชอบผลงานของคุณพรพรรณเพราะว่ามันทั้ง “สะดุดตา”, “แปลกใหม่ ไม่ซ้ำแบบใคร”, “ทรงพลัง”, “จ้องได้นานๆโดยไม่รู้สึกเบื่อ”, “มีเนื้อหาสาระน่าสนใจ”, “ให้แง่คิดที่ดี” และ “ไม่ยัดเยียด” ค่ะ การได้ชมผลงานของคุณพรพรรณทำให้ดิฉันรู้สึกเหมือนตัวเองได้เปิดประสาทรับรู้ทางดวงตาให้ขยายกว้างมากยิ่งขึ้น ผลงานชิ้นนี้ทำให้ดวงตาของดิฉันสามารถมองเห็นความงามในวัตถุธรรมดาในชีวิตประจำวัน, ความงามในวัตถุที่ดูเหมือนอัปลักษณ์ และความงามในเพื่อนมนุษย์ชนชั้นแรงงาน และดิฉันก็หวังว่าจะมีผลงานศิลปะแบบนี้ออกมาอีกในอนาคตค่ะ