As previously mentioned in these dispatches (see #1 and #2), my chief sources of delight among the feature-length films shown at the 2009 Viennale were a pair of minor masterpieces from Filipino legend Lino Brocka—Jaguar (1979) and Weighed But Found Wanting (1974)—and the comparatively box-fresh Totó by Peter Schreiner. Having now seen two pictures by Schreiner and five by Brocka, I am very keen to catch further examples of their work and also to recommend them to others who aren't aware of their mastery. The low profile of Schreiner, even among committed cinephiles, is particularly perplexing and undeserved.
This year's Viennale also allowed me to extend my shamefully limited knowledge of the films of Robert Bresson, who has long been one of the most revered, respected, venerated figures in international cinema. Before this week I'd only ever seen two Bressons: The Devil, Probably(Le diable, probablement, 1977), which I saw at the Edinburgh Film...
This year's Viennale also allowed me to extend my shamefully limited knowledge of the films of Robert Bresson, who has long been one of the most revered, respected, venerated figures in international cinema. Before this week I'd only ever seen two Bressons: The Devil, Probably(Le diable, probablement, 1977), which I saw at the Edinburgh Film...
- 11/5/2009
- MUBI
Above: Peter Schreiner's Totò.
"Siegel knew about the Windigo, all right. He remembered being scared out of his wits once at camp by the fireside yarn image of a mile-high skeleton made of ice, roaring and crashing through the Canadian wilderness, grabbing up humans by the handful and feeding on their flesh."
—Tom Pynchon, 'Mortality and Mercy in Vienna' (1959)
I suspected as much after seeing his 2007 film Bellavista, but catching his latest work Totò in its one public screening at the Viennale—in the Kunstlerhaus on the evening of Wednesday 28th—confirms it beyond any doubt. Peter Schreiner, born in Vienna in 1957, may not be among Europe's better-known documentarians, but based on these two films alone (he has a string of intermittent credits stretching back to the early eighties) he's clearly one of the best.
In total I saw 37 feature-length films at this year's Viennale and the ones I...
"Siegel knew about the Windigo, all right. He remembered being scared out of his wits once at camp by the fireside yarn image of a mile-high skeleton made of ice, roaring and crashing through the Canadian wilderness, grabbing up humans by the handful and feeding on their flesh."
—Tom Pynchon, 'Mortality and Mercy in Vienna' (1959)
I suspected as much after seeing his 2007 film Bellavista, but catching his latest work Totò in its one public screening at the Viennale—in the Kunstlerhaus on the evening of Wednesday 28th—confirms it beyond any doubt. Peter Schreiner, born in Vienna in 1957, may not be among Europe's better-known documentarians, but based on these two films alone (he has a string of intermittent credits stretching back to the early eighties) he's clearly one of the best.
In total I saw 37 feature-length films at this year's Viennale and the ones I...
- 11/4/2009
- MUBI
Cannes Prix de la mise en scène winner Brilliante Mendoza is, arguably, today's most acclaimed Filipino director. I'm not a fan, but I already started to watch his movies. In some ways, he is like Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal and Mike de Leon in how he portray the lives and struggles of Filipinos, but others will certainly disagree with the comparison.While two of these filmmakers- Brocka and de Leon also went to Cannes to compete, it was Mendoza's Kinatay who got to receive an award - and a major one at that. - - -
- - - When it was announced that Brilliante (his name means brilliant in English) has won the Best Director, I felt a mixture of pride and despair - pride because it was a major recognition for a filmmaker coming from a third world country and despair because the three filmmakers I mentioned above...
- - - When it was announced that Brilliante (his name means brilliant in English) has won the Best Director, I felt a mixture of pride and despair - pride because it was a major recognition for a filmmaker coming from a third world country and despair because the three filmmakers I mentioned above...
- 11/1/2009
- by modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina)
- The Movie Fanatic
Cannes Prix de la mise en scène winner Brilliante Mendoza is, arguably, today's most acclaimed Filipino director. I'm not a fan, but I already started to watch his movies. In some ways, he is like Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal and Mike de Leon in how he portray the lives and struggles of Filipinos, but others will certainly disagree with the comparison.While two of these filmmakers- Brocka and de Leon also went to Cannes to compete, it was Mendoza's Kinatay who got to receive an award - and a major one at that. - - -
- - - When it was announced that Brilliante (his name means brilliant in English) has won the Best Director, I felt a mixture of pride and despair - pride because it was a major recognition for a filmmaker coming from a third world country and despair because the three filmmakers I mentioned above...
- - - When it was announced that Brilliante (his name means brilliant in English) has won the Best Director, I felt a mixture of pride and despair - pride because it was a major recognition for a filmmaker coming from a third world country and despair because the three filmmakers I mentioned above...
- 11/1/2009
- by modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina)
- The Movie Fanatic
Cannes Prix de la mise en scène winner Brilliante Mendoza is, arguably, today's most acclaimed Filipino director. I'm not a fan, but I already started to watch his movies. In some ways, he is like Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal and Mike de Leon in how he portray the lives and struggles of Filipinos, but others will certainly disagree with the comparison.While two of these filmmakers- Brocka and de Leon also went to Cannes to compete, it was Mendoza's Kinatay who got to receive an award - and a major one at that. - - -
- - - When it was announced that Brilliante (his name means brilliant in English) has won the Best Director, I felt a mixture of pride and despair - pride because it was a major recognition for a filmmaker coming from a third world country and despair because the three filmmakers I mentioned above...
- - - When it was announced that Brilliante (his name means brilliant in English) has won the Best Director, I felt a mixture of pride and despair - pride because it was a major recognition for a filmmaker coming from a third world country and despair because the three filmmakers I mentioned above...
- 11/1/2009
- by modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina)
- The Movie Fanatic
Cannes Prix de la mise en scène winner Brilliante Mendoza is, arguably, today's most acclaimed Filipino director. I'm not a fan, but I already started to watch his movies. In some ways, he is like Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal and Mike de Leon in how he portray the lives and struggles of Filipinos, but others will certainly disagree with the comparison.While two of these filmmakers- Brocka and de Leon also went to Cannes to compete, it was Mendoza's Kinatay who got to receive an award - and a major one at that. - - -
- - - When it was announced that Brilliante (his name means brilliant in English) has won the Best Director, I felt a mixture of pride and despair - pride because it was a major recognition for a filmmaker coming from a third world country and despair because the three filmmakers I mentioned above...
- - - When it was announced that Brilliante (his name means brilliant in English) has won the Best Director, I felt a mixture of pride and despair - pride because it was a major recognition for a filmmaker coming from a third world country and despair because the three filmmakers I mentioned above...
- 11/1/2009
- by modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina)
- The Movie Fanatic
Cannes Prix de la mise en scène winner Brilliante Mendoza is, arguably, today's most acclaimed Filipino director. I'm not a fan, but I already started to watch his movies. In some ways, he is like Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal and Mike de Leon in how he portray the lives and struggles of Filipinos, but others will certainly disagree with the comparison.While two of these filmmakers- Brocka and de Leon also went to Cannes to compete, it was Mendoza's Kinatay who got to receive an award - and a major one at that. - - -
- - - When it was announced that Brilliante (his name means brilliant in English) has won the Best Director, I felt a mixture of pride and despair - pride because it was a major recognition for a filmmaker coming from a third world country and despair because the three filmmakers I mentioned above...
- - - When it was announced that Brilliante (his name means brilliant in English) has won the Best Director, I felt a mixture of pride and despair - pride because it was a major recognition for a filmmaker coming from a third world country and despair because the three filmmakers I mentioned above...
- 11/1/2009
- by modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina)
- The Movie Fanatic
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