French New Wave

I suppose all the cinema that i enjoy these days has some reference to French New Wave. Without it i suppose we'd only have the hollywood movies to go see at the cinema. Those strange movements, that strange quirkiness that all new films seem to contain at some point or another are all inspired by that crazy generation of French film makers that took their passion to a new level that started a new kind of film altogether. It's because of Filini, and Truffaux that we have such film makers as Scorsese, Wes Anderson, and Soderbergh.

Of coarse due to my new sudden enlightenment to thriller films i seem to be trying to match up this generation of film making with these thrillers that i have so suddenly been attracted to. Soderbergh's Ocean's films are a real treat for me and it seems easy to see the influences to French New Wave. The long held shots that should have cut away long before they do, the single shot held on a single face throughout and entire back and forth conversation to show one single emotion from one single person even though the other may the one you should be focusing on, the shots that have been improvised and mistaken for true acting, in which it isn't acting, it's reality, its realism.

This is something different from realism though. This is style that contributes to story. It drives us to explore deeper into a character, to want to immerse ourselves in a characters world, to fill their shoes to try the incredible and do what they do. Observation is key, but living is the effect. The endings aren't what we want, but they are what happens, no hollywood wrap ups, this is how it is and this is how it will always be. What is in the shot will always contribute to something that is raw and contributes our character to whatever is there, almost nothing is purposeful, it is true film in a way.

Avatar, the new abyss?

Hello all and happy new year!

From the man who defends the abyss, I would like to say that I surprisingly enjoyed Avatar. After months of thinking the film looked like something I wouldn’t watch if it was the last film on earth, it turned out to be a film on par with The Abyss. This may be all based on a personal sense of how I feel about the film, but the emotional response I got from Avatar were just as warm and as adventurous as they were when I first saw Cameron’s 1989 feature. I feel that in some way he has retraced his steps back to that film in order to keep Avatar on a level that even he enjoys.

The films 3D supplies nothing new to the film. As I may have stated before, I have never found 3D very attractive at any point in my viewing experience. The 3D in this film is no different. There is no need to be brought into the world visually. I think the structure of the story and the scenes of Jakes learning of the na’vi experience are enough to bring a good understanding and feeling of the world that you are immersed into. The effects are fantastic; there is no question about it. As quoted by a fellow student, when looking into the eyes of the Na’vi it actually looks like a being, not something created by a human but an actual being of reality that has enough life in its eyes to tell an entire story by itself and that is something which is a new experience to me. As I may have mentioned the story is not exactly the most inventive piece of writing I have ever seen, but not to be a bit rude, but I wouldn’t expect much else from Cameron. I mean look at his other films. Terminator is completely ridiculous, The Abyss is rather crazy, True Lies is just plain dumb. Yet, I still enjoy these films. Maybe its just in his true film making style that he has been able to drag me into his head for a little while, or in his case a long while.

In fact now thinking on the subject, that’s exactly what it is about his style of filmmaking. It’s the world that he creates and the way he drops you into it. In terminator we are trapped in this dark city structure where people don’t dare to roam, but a machine lurks in the shadows, in The Abyss, we are taken down 2000 feet below the water to watch as a battle for life and death rages while the pressure rises, in True Lies…. Well, in Titanic, we are truly taken back and are completely and utterly involved in the relationship.

I think I’ve struck the nail on the head to say that I watch films to be taken out of my seat and into a different world, unlike that of my own. So it’s easy to admit that long films really do the trick for me. Films that are almost three hours long actually keep me occupied. It’s a strange thing and I know that I’m probably on a different planet from a lot of film lovers, but they are truly glorious when they can take me away.

Avatar is 2 and a half hours long, and I can honestly say I didn’t want it to end.

So there we go, I can sleep at night now.