Quote for the Week

Earlier this week I watched Jacques Tourneur's rather great film Night of the Demon for the first time. Though less well known than some of his other work, I think it's my favourite from the ones that I've seen, slightly flawed though it is. Looking for material to read on the film I came across Curse of the Demon: Of Evil, Myth and Reason by Pedro Blas Gonzalez on the ever-dependable Senses of Cinema. One of the things which struck me most about the essay was its final quote from Jung, which I am therefore reproducing here as my 'Quote of the Week':

One of the most fatal of the sociological and psychological errors in which our time is so fruitful is the supposition that something can become entirely different all in a moment; for instance, that man can radically change his nature, or that some formula or truth might be found which would represent an entirely new beginning.

- C. G. Jung, Psychology and the Occult (quoted in Curse of the Demon: Of Evil, Myth and Reason).

As well as offering an interesting perspective on human psychology in general, I think the quote is especially interesting when applied to the common conception of screenwriting, and in particular to the idea that all of the characters have to undergo a major change – and often a sudden, last minute change at that. In my opinion Jung, and indeed Night of the Demon, show us a much more interesting, and much less pat, path that I wish was explored in far more films.

Scorsese and Intertextuality

A few weeks ago I mentioned in passing that I commented in my BA dissertation on the way that both New York, New York and Raging Bull can be traced back to The Red Shoes, and said that I would post it up here sometime. Since then I've given the work another read...It's interesting to come back to it after four and a half years. Reading it again I can see things that I would do differently now and ideas which I should have clarified or expanded upon. However, I did also feel that I had raised some interesting points within it.

So, here it is: A Critical Analysis of the Application of Genettean Transtextuality to the Filmic Text, with Reference to whether this Notion has Gained New Relevance with the Advent of the DVD. I hope that anyone reading it today will keep in mind that it was written a while ago now and that, as I said above, there are things that I would do differently if I was writing it today.

In its own way, this post should also be understood as the promised second part of my previous Scorsese post that I never got around to writing....

Bergman does Bris

In support of the Bergman 'directorspective' that they have coming up, the Barbican are streaming five of the commericals that the director made for Bris soap in 1951. If, like me, you've read about them but never seen them, go check them out as they're well worth watching: http://www.barbican.org.uk/film/series.asp?id=731&show=media.

The Restored Shoes

Although I'm an admirer of his work, and I've never seen a film of his I haven't enjoyed, I wouldn't refer to Michael Powell as one of my favourite directors. However, I have to admit that I'm still pretty excited by all the discussion coming out of Cannes about the new restoration of The Red Shoes. The video in this article got me pretty fired up:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/may/19/cannes-film-festival-the-red-shoes

I've always been fascinated by the way that Scorsese's work is informed my Powell's. I actually wrote a chapter of my BA dissertation on the way that both New York, New York and Raging Bull can be traced back to The Red Shoes. If I get a chance, I may post it up here sometime.

'Life Just Is' Website Now Live

Although I won't be posting regular updates about my feature on this blog, I do want to just quickly follow up on my It's On post from last month and say that the film, called Life Just Is, now has an official website! Please check it out over at http://www.lifejustisfilm.com/, and please also help support the film by doing one of the following:

Visit the film's official website and join the mailing list.
Become a friend on MySpace.
Become a fan on Facebook.
Become a follower on Twitter.
Become a friend on Bebo.

Help spread the word by forwarding on these links.

For anyone who is interested in reading blog posts with updates, I will be contributing to the official blog, which you can find here: http://lifejustisfilm.blogspot.com/.

Cannes in a Van

A couple of months ago I wrote about the need for people to support independent cinema, and I'd now just like to briefly comment on someone who is supporting independent cinema in a very different and much more direct way. For the last few years, Andy Greenhouse and his cohorts have been driving to the Cannes Film Festival...in a van. Why? Well, because it rhymes. But beyond the linguistic pleasures, there is another reason...

You see, this van is actually the world's 'smallest mobile film festival'. Every year the big yellow van parks up on the Croisette and screens independent short films out of the back of the van. Last year these films included one of my own, Great & Small, and this year I'm pleased to say that they're taking two (Canbury and Paintbrush). It's a truly fantastic, truly independent initiative, and I’m proud to have my work included.

Please visit their website to find out more: http://www.cannesinavan.com/

Quote for the Week

Pretend to weep, friends, since the poets are only pretending to be dead.

- Jean Cocteau, Testament of Orpheus