Filmbrain Contributes to Memetic Drift

As first noted on Greencine over the weekend, there is a meme making its way around film blogs, and Michael over at Culture Space has tossed it this way. The responses have been pretty impressive so far, and Filmbrain is now convinced that Girish is his doppelganger from the Great White North -- three of his answers to question four might very well have wound up on Filmbrain's list. (Does anybody else love The Young Girls of Rochefort?) Though the answers to some of these will change from moment to moment, here's a snapshot in time: 1. Total number of films I own on DVD and video Just shy of 500 DVDs, probably a third of which are still wrapped. Never bought films on VHS due to poor quality and the tendency towards pan-and-scan. 2. Last film I bought Katsuhito Ishii's The Taste of Tea (cannot wait to watch it.) 3. Last film I watched Cause For Alarm! (1951, Tay Garnett) A domestic film-noir, set in the course of a single day in the life of a housewife. Not very good -- sort of a cross between D.O.A. and The Donna Reed Show. 4. Five films that I watch a lot or that mean a lot to me (in no particular order) An impossibility. There are simply too many films that land in both categories. Here are the five that popped into Filmbrain's head while on an overcrowded F train. Five minutes later, the list changed. Bande à part (1964, Jean-Luc Godard) Anna Karina (in a sweater), dancing the Madison. What more is there to say? Head (1968, Bob Rafelson) Everything you always wanted to know about the sixties but were afraid to ask. The Profound Desire of the Gods (1968, Shohei Imamura) Though it's been over fifteen years since Filmbrain last saw this masterpiece, every second of its three hours is forever burned into his memory. Duck Soup (1933, Leo McCarey) Married. I can see you right now in the kitchen, bending over a hot stove. But I can't see the stove. Wild at Heart (1990, David Lynch) The greatest love story ever told? 5. If you could be any character portrayed in a movie, who would it be? Oh...there are so many. But if forced to pick one -- Berger (Treat Williams) from Hair, just to be able to sing Manchester, England England. . . Now, the fun part. Just because he's dying to know, Filmbrain passes this on to George, Aaron, Daniel, La Depressionada, Matthew, and of course, the Cinetrix. Feel free to leave comments below as well.

Comments

[la depressionada]

hey frank mills wait till i write about my experience at the ifcc.

[Filmbrain]

That must be the reason I had Hair on the brain!

Can't wait to hear it.

[la depressionada]

better than hair on the palm.

[salva]

At last, someone gives "The Profound Desire of the Gods" the label of masterpiece. I don't know why this film is not better known. As you have said, it is one of those lenghty film that justifies every minute of its duration (the sixties were full of this kind of films: il gattopardo, andrei rubliev...the sixties were paradise!!!)

[Peter Nellhaus]

I finally saw Young Girls on DVD a couple of years ago. I wish more of Jacques Demy's films were available. This is sort of irrational, but I really miss Francoise Dorleac. Soft Skin is one of my favorites from Truffaut.

[Filmbrain]

I couldn't agree more Peter. One can only wonder if her sister would still be as successful if Francoise hadn't died.

And Salva -- yes, it is a shame that this film rarely screens and is not available on DVD. I personally think it is Imamura's best.

[girish]

There's a cool little documentary that Agnes Varda made in the early 90's called "Les Demoiselles Ont Eu 25 Ans" to mark the 25th anniversary of "Young Girls". The surviving cast members and crew (including Deneuve; Piccoli; Bernard Evein who did the gorgeous production design; and Michel Legrand) reunited in Rochefort for a celebration. New streets and squares were unveiled and renamed for the film. There were extensive interviews and reminiscences about Demy and the film.
Also, Varda shot all kinds of behind-the-scenes footage in 1967, and she folded those into the documentary as well.

It might have been a great "featurette" to include on the "Rochefort" DVD.

[Peter Nellhaus]

If you have a code free DVD player and fifty dollars, you can get the Imamura film on DVD from Yesasia.com.
No subtitles though.

[girish]

Acually, I think you can get a Region 1 DVD-R of it for $13 at Super Happy Fun dot com. Jonathan Rosenbaum recommended this site in "Cinemascope" magazine a while ago, and they have a lot of interesting, unavailable stuff. (I'm especially eyeing their Lubistch, Kaurismaki and Imamura collections).

[Robert Nagle]

Thanks for the Imamura recommendation. Will definitely look it up (i'm a big fan of Onibaba). I already added 6into9

Truthfully, the breadth of your film knowledge puts mine to shame (although I'll match my book collection against yours any day).

My 5: , Surviving Desire, Cafe Flesh, Rapture, The Joke (now out on DVD--rejoicing in the streets!), Great Ziegfeld, Hear My Song. Damn, that's 6.

[derek]

it is a crime that any imamura is out of print.

[cinetrix]

Oh, dreaded memes. I warned you I'm no good at these.

Having moved in the past year, I despair over those films I do own [less so the books and CDs], and I can tell you it's nowhere near the number most have mentioned. I'd have fewer still if I hadn't hung on to some screeners from my stint in a video store, and I rarely watch any of them, opting instead for peeling off episodes of Arrested Development after dinner.

So I try not to buy DVDs. The last household movie purchases were probably the two cheap public domain early Hitchcocks the Fesser sweetly picked up for me while we were in Florida, not realizing that they're likely taken from unwatchable prints.

Last film I watched? My Summer of Love: Pretty. Vacant.

Five flicks? Change from moment to moment but I am as likely to regress to childhood entertainments like The Blues Brothers and Raiders of the Lost Ark as select more cred-worthy films like Irma Vep.

Finally, which film character I am now is anyone's guess, but in my twenties I was Parker Posey dancing next to the phone booth in Surviving Desire--seemingly peripheral to the action, somewhat oblivious to the world at large, but doing my own thing. And rocking out.

[cynthia]

don't feel bad about not owning many dvds, it think it takes a certain kind of person for that. the kind i am not, apparently. i own exactly three dvds, one of which was a christmas gift and the other two were swag from silverdocs. i don't think you necessarily have to be a collector type to be a film type.