Federico Fellini's mesmerising masterpiece is an autobiographical and soul-searching voyage into a personal and creative crisis. Having made 6 features and 3 short films, he considered this to be number 8½ of his works...
To be screened Wednesday at 21:00
http://www.putlocker.com/file/4T0I6UYQZDV#
Akira Kurosawa double-bill:
Ikiru (1952)
EFAS is proud to have its first double-bill and even prouder that it be in honour of Japanese master Akira Kurosawa :hatoff: The two films have been selected to show the wide range of his palette, starting with a poetic, humanistic film touching on social realism, and concluding with the frenetic pace of a samurai action film which would influence many later directors...
Double-bill to be shown Saturday evening...
Yojimbo (1961)
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ReplyDeleteIkiru
ReplyDeleteA man who has just existed for years, on finding he is terminally ill, is faced with the reality of the life that he has (to all intents and purposes) wasted. At first, mourning and feeling immense shame for this he happens upon a writer who helps start him upon a road of experiences. Opening his eyes – to life; to the duty of living; to opportunities given to make a difference. Watanabe, takes that opportunity. ‘In other words’ it’s not too late...
Kurosawa’s influence on his peers in the US is clear to see. Some of his use of camera’s are a clear influence on Orson Welles. A close up, with the Watanabe and the writer as they both look down at a dog eating, and then Watanabe standing, briefly out of picture only to loom over the writer as he comes to an important decision... People rushing in to dance to ‘Life is Brief’, knowing that it is.. the camera staying behind the curtain that they run through and watching them as they curtain sways following they’re entrance through it...
The wake scene, which takes up much of the film, clearly inspired Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men. As Watanabe’s co workers start entrenched in their position that they all take credit for the park created in a run down area (the opportunity taken, to make a difference), with one lone worker insisting it was Watanabe’s dedication and quiet determination that made it happen... One by one they each start remembering what he did; the impact he made..
One of the most hauntingly beautiful films I have ever had the privilege of seeing.
Ikiru
ReplyDeleteMaybe the best film I've ever seen. Fascinating story about the man who's frantically trying to find meaning in what was left of his futile life.
The film which makes you think about your own life and the way you're living it.
Oh and Takashi Shimura - PERFECT!
ReplyDeleteThe plot behind Ikiru could have made into a turgid sentimentalised story in the hands of a lesser filmmaker, especially the average Hollywood mug. Instead it is poetic and affecting... just as we realise what the dying man is about to do to redeem the value of his life, the film takes an atypical turn and cuts into a 2nd act projecting us into the future and after his death, reflecting back on his actions and their consequence rather than just depicting them in a linear routine way which most Hollywood directors would have tritely done. Sensei Kurosawa often employed this two-act splitting scheme, for example in another of his great non-samurai films, High and Low. :hatoff:
ReplyDelete8 1/2:
ReplyDeleteHave to confess I am not the biggest fan of Fellini since sometimes his films seem like style over substance to me, but this one might be the one I like best simply because I knew just how to enjoy it, let it just flow like the dreamy surreal film it is.
8 1/2:
ReplyDeleteSo overrated :S