Deep in the Hea(r)t of Texas

For reasons far to convoluted to get into (not to mention the risk to national security), Filmbrain is holed up in a hotel room in Dallas, TX. Dallas -- flat and hot. Really hot. Heat index of 112 degrees hot. The blast that hits you as you step outside is about as unpleasant as unpleasant can be. Not a great city for a cinephile. Fortunately, Filmbrain's Execu-Suite is equipped with a DVD player, so not all is lost. Plus, it will give him a chance to catch up on some reading. To wit -- The Early Film Criticism of Francois Truffaut is quite a remarkable read, for it reveals a younger, angrier, more passionate Truffaut, who lashes out at films and directors that he would later praise in his book The Films in My Life. (Most notably, John Ford.) Yet his most surprising dismissal can be found buried in his review of Val Guest's The Quartermass Xperiment, where he writes off English cinema as a whole: "Imagination is what English cinema most cruelly lacks; in the cinema of that country, where stars look like their queen, everything is grey and ineffective, slow-witted and arduously painstaking. The British cinema is made of dullness and reflects a submissive life-style, where enthusiasm, warmth, and zest are nipped in the bud. A film is a born loser just because it is English. Even a good script filmed by a good director and performed by good actors in England will most likely end up as a bad film. Why? This is the only mystery that English cinema has in store for us." Ouch. Now to seek out some lunch, Texas style.

Comments

[girish]

And then later in "The Films In My Life", he says:

"Considering the high intellectual level in England, and in light of the universal stature of her great writers and poets, isn’t it rather curious that since cinema came into being, the only two British filmmakers whose works have actually survived the test of time—and space, for that matter—are Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock?

To put it quite bluntly, isn’t there a certain incompatibility between the terms “cinema” and “Britain”? This may sound far-fetched, but I get the feeling that there are national characteristics - among them the English countryside, the subdued way of life, the stolid routine – that are antidramatic in a sense. The weather itself is anticinematic…"

[Flickhead]

Perhaps at that age Truffaut didn't quite get the films of Michael Powell (who was still a few years shy of being "discovered"), a man who undoubtedly shared similar opinions and took some of these issues to task in The 49th Parallel, the excellent I Know Where I'm Going, and the even better The Edge of the World.

[dvd]

Hey, welcome to my neck of the woods! If you feel like grabbing a cup of coffee or catching a film, shoot me an e-mail. It's actually not that bad of a city for a cinephile - I think there are more arthouse screens here than any other US city outside of NY and LA. It's just everything that surrounds those screens that's terrible.

[Matt M.]

You should stop by the Asian Film Festival of Dallas while you are in town. It's at the Magnolia. I just saw your favorite movie of last year, Last Life in the Universe, at AFFD on Monday.

I wholeheartedly recommend a trip to the Premiere Video on Mockingbird. The wall of foreign films, organized by country and director, could easily keep one occupied the rest of their life. You should be able to take the DART rail to Mockingbird Station and walk across the street.

Email me back and I'll do my best to get you introduced to the local art house theaters and maybe even some shooting locations for classics like State Fair and Robocop.

[la_depressionada]

i like this post FOR it discusses books and movies.

it sounds like the young truffaut had just eaten in england, pauvre petit.

[Herb Levy]

"I think there are more arthouse screens here than any other US city outside of NY and LA."

I'm not sure about the comparative number of "arthouse screens" in various US cities, but I do think that some of these screens are often filled with movies that wouldn't neccesarily be considered arthouse fare in other US cities besides New York & Los Angeles.

I'd be very surprised if, over the course of a given year, you couldn't see far more foreign, independent, and otherwise obscure films from a wider range of directors and countries in Austin, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, or Seattle.

[dvd]

Surprisingly, that's not the case - both of the Angelikas and the various Landmark theaters keep their screens stocked exclusively with reputable fare. And while I can't speak for all the cities you mention, I know Dallas gets most foreign and independent films weeks before Austin, and often before Chicago as well. The only thing we're missing out on is regular repertoire cinema.

This, and the musems, are the only good things about DFW.

[Julie]

Great that you are in town!

You really need to stop by the weekly Roundtable film discussion group at the Angelika on Monday night if you can. It's a nice little gathering of local cinephiles.

Also, the Asian Film Festival closes tonight at 7:30pm at the Dallas Museum of Art with Save the Green Planet. I know you've already seen it, but email me if you want to see it again. I can arrange a free seat for you. If the prospect of a free movie isn't enough, then let me mention the ginger-wasabi ice cream cake that will be served at the reception afterwards.

[Herb Levy]

"Surprisingly, that's not the case"

I live in Fort Worth and get over to Dallas several times a month to see films that aren’t playing on this side of the Metroplex and I stand by what I wrote earlier.

There may literally be more screens showing foreign and independent films in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, but that seems like a pointless measurement. If you were to look at the actual number of different films of this type shown here over the course of any given year, you would find that there are several other cities in the US which show more films of a wider range than can be seen here.

by reading previews and reviews in magazines like the Village Voice, Film Comment, Cineaste, the LA Weekly, etc and comparing it with what shows up in Dallas/Fort Worth, you’ll find that there’s quite a lot of independent and foreign films that simply never show up in DFW. Many of these films ARE being screened in various other US cities besides NY & LA, like the ones I listed earlier: Austin, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle.

Yes, the Landmark and Angelika theaters are usually presenting nothing but indie/foreign films, and there is a lot to choose from because of the presence of these two chains here. The movie options in DFW are very good, but they really aren’t close to being the best outside of NY & LA.

[Sal C.]

This discussion brings up an interesting debate I have with a friend once a year. He moved from NYC to San Diego a few years ago and every time I visit I get jealous. Why? Because sometimes the amount of choices in New York can be overwhelming. If he wants to go see 'arthouse' or foreign fare (or a revival) he has 4, maybe 5 theaters to choose from. As a result he goes to the movies twice a week like clockwork. Meanwhile there are days I open the Voice and there may be a dozen or more interesting films available (if you throw in museums, etc.). There's no way a person can see it all and maintain a steady job, a home life, and his/her sanity (see "Cinemania" for further reference). The same comes up with music. He has 3 or 4 cool rock clubs. He can go see that one great bill each week while I feel like I'm ALWAYS. MISSING. SOMETHING.
So, am I alone or does any else ever get this feeling that too much variety is sometimes, kinda, scary?

[Herb Levy]

It's probably obvious that my choice'd be to have more choices than you could possibly see in a reasonable week/month/year. Having more choices simply raises the quality and variety of what you can see.

I mean, I didn't hate November, but if I'd had other options that I hadn't already seen, I probably wouldn't have seen it and I wouldn't have minded missing it.

If I had the opportunity to see more of the recent movies by, say, Jia Zhangke, Bela Tarr, Abas Kiarostami, Chantal Akerman, Hsiao-hsien Hou, Chris Marker, Jafar Panahi, Ming-liang Tsai, or Moshen Makhmalbaf, Michael Haneke, etc. in North Texas theaters, I'd probably have seen fewer US indie films, but that'd be okay with me.