Your Favorite Foreign Film

[ImOscardotcom]

It was dead depressing, overly violent, and full of pointless whimsy that was more disturbing than whimsical. Sure, I loved the effects, but who did Gilly make the movie for? Adults or kids? Or just weird people who want to grow up to be Donnie Darko? Must be that, because the child's POV didn't make sense if it's a movie for adults, and the adult themes don't make sense if it's for children. He took a Grimm's fairy tale and turned it into something that's neither here nor there. It's a movie for Gilly Del Toro, and I'm not Gilly Del Toro. Kind of like how Inland Empire is a movie for David Lynch.

Please stop calling him "Gilly".

[Plastic Self-Cleaning Duck]

Metropolis, M, Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast and - since Hammer counts as foreign, I guess - Quatermass and the Pit.

[Tripe]

I could do "Mexican William" if you like.

I believe that's illegal in all states except Nevada.

[Trumpysgirl]

Has anyone mentioned Battleship Potemkin yet?

[Tripe]

They have now, when it comes to Eisenstein, I like the soundtracks better.

[mrbasehart]

You can find Eisenstein's first silent short film online.  It's...weird. 

[Rude]

They have now, when it comes to Eisenstein, I like the soundtracks better.

That's understandable. I believe that Eisenstein worked very closely with his composer, even during the editing process.

In fact, i seem to remember a class at film school that showed a direct correlation between the music and cinematography of Eisenstein's films. For example, in one slide during the lecture, the sheet music for one of the scores was laid out directly beneath stills from the film. It was then that you could almost see a mathmatical equation in the music for composing each shot.

I'm not sure if this was to illustrate a process that Eisenstein actually used, or whether the teacher simply wanted a visual aid to explain the dramatic connection... but it was a very impressive thing to see.

-Rude

[Tripe]

Yeah the relationship is a great model of how soundtrack and movie can be so brilliantly put together.

[ImOscardotcom]

They have now, when it comes to Eisenstein, I like the soundtracks better.

That's understandable. I believe that Eisenstein worked very closely with his composer, even during the editing process.

In fact, i seem to remember a class at film school that showed a direct correlation between the music and cinematography of Eisenstein's films. For example, in one slide during the lecture, the sheet music for one of the scores was laid out directly beneath stills from the film. It was then that you could almost see a mathmatical equation in the music for composing each shot.

I'm not sure if this was to illustrate a process that Eisenstein actually used, or whether the teacher simply wanted a visual aid to explain the dramatic connection... but it was a very impressive thing to see.

-Rude

That's precisely what he did.

[Trumpysgirl]

I think it may be safe to say that Eisenstein was one of the (if not the) first obsessive compulsive directors (a la Stanley Kubrick).

[ImOscardotcom]

I think it may be safe to say that Eisenstein was one of the (if not the) first obsessive compulsive directors (a la Stanley Kubrick).

There were a few others from those days: Fritz Lang, Erich Von Stroheim, Charlie Chaplin (the final scene in City Lights took 150 takes)...silent film tended to breed more than a few proto-auteurs, I think.

EDIT: Course, I could be wrong. Anybody want to correct me?

[mrbasehart]

I think it's probably because they were allowed to take utter control of almost everything.  Especially Chaplin, who was also the star.  I still think the world records for takes is Jackie Chan on Young Master though.

[gojikranz]

He took a Grimm's fairy tale and turned it into something that's neither here nor there.

have you ever read grimms fairy tales?   they are full of so violence and things one wouldnt consider child oriented.

[Tripe]

Well true and they were never meant to be, they were really just there to show regional differences in phrase use and pronunciation.

[ImOscardotcom]

Well true and they were never meant to be, they were really just there to show regional differences in phrase use and pronunciation.

Huh?