Chorus.Fm Weekly Movie Club • Page 16

Persona is fine. I would consider it part of the canon but it isn't like The Godfather or something.

 

No, it’s a great pick, brilliant film!

 

I don't believe I've ever seen an Ingmar Bergman film, so I'm excited for this one.

 

Same, wasn't able to hop in last week (might retroactively go back through the thread) but I'm looking forward to starting with this one.

 

Bergman is the director I’ve see the most from, 33 according to Letterboxd. He has a dozen or so masterpieces, but even his more obscure or minor films are routinely incredible. Very consistent and prolific, and barely ever missed.

 

I’ve been meaning to check out more Bergman, I’ve not seen Persona so I’m down

 

Seen 10 Bergmans and Persona is right in the middle of the pack. Very good movie, but I definitely prefer Wild Strawberries, Smiles of a Summer Night, Winter Light and The Seventh Seal. Can't go wrong being exposed to more Ingmar though.

 

Not exactly the point of this thread, but as I've seen Persona relatively recently, I watched a Bergman that I hadn't seen before, A Ship Bound to India from 1947, his third feature. I like watching early films like director's like him, because while this is nowhere near as masterful as what would come in the next decade, you can visibly see him working out how to tell his stories.

It's a story of a sailor returning from a 7 year voyage, meeting his former love and then essentially an entire movie flashback to how they first met. It feels (relatively) progressive for 1947 in its depiction of sexuality, as well as challenges to familial authority. Johannes' father is a monstrous figure, unredeemed throughout, with his son living out some form of Oedipal fantasies, and the father attempting to kill his son in revenge. We have some classic moments of Bergman bleakness and despair here too.

You can properly see Bergman honing his craft here, even if he'd need a few more films to really develop what he could do.

 

Here’s a short 4 minute interview of Bergman talking about Persona, in his own very Bergman way of understanding it.

 

I think it's my turn this week.

What: Wheels on Meals (Sammo Hung, 1984, Hong Kong)

Where: I'm not sure on streaming, but you can watch it in good quality on Dailymotion here;

If you would prefer a download, please let me know and I can upload to Google Drive.

Why: Partly because of the fact that Duel to the Death went down well here, this is something in the same sort of wheelhouse, but a contemporary martial arts / action film, that is much more comic focused. The physical gags and jokes here are fantastic, often feeling like they're borrowed directly from silent cinema, and relatively unusually for a kung-fu film, the non-action bits are really funny too, starring some great Hong Kong character actors.

The choreography is absolutely stellar, Sammo Hung is one the best directors and performers from HK cinema, and with Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao at their peak, they really all complement each other. All leads up to a fight with Benny Urquidez, which is frequently and correctly cited as one of the best of all time. This is a career highlight for all three stars here.

If you only know Jackie Chan from Rush Hour or Shanghai Noon (not that those films are bad), you're in for a treat here, the man was a phenomenon throughout the 80s, and a proper bone-fide charismatic movie star, which I don't think his US films really grasp.

 

jesus I didn't realize it's been a week. Looks like I'm doing a double feature of Persona and Wheels. Perfect timing since my boxset of Jackie Chan movies with that in it.

 

We are on to the second round. I will start us off with a "movie" I championed back when it came out, but still think about often: Girl Walk//All Day. It is free to watch at the following link.

https://www.girlwalkallday.com/

It is a feature-length music video for the Girl Talk Album of the same name. Girl Talk is a DJ who mashes up rap vocals with rock and pop instrumentation. Even all thee years later, when I hear the original songs I think of the mashups and this album

 

If anyone wants to join a similar exercise, in the Horror Thread we're creating a Halloween/October watch list kinda similar to Hooptober, if you're familiar.

The list will be as long as the number of people participating (i.e. 15 people participating = 15 movies). Everyone gets to make up one criteria for one horror movie to watch in October (i.e. Watch the 4th installment of any franchise, Watch a movie from the '80s from woman director, etc.)

Come to the Horror Thread to throw your name in the hat.

https://forum.chorus.fm/threads/the-horror-thread-2u.55985/page-484#post-5639346

 

I'm a few weeks behind, but I finally got around to Persona. I'll admit it's one where it will probably take further rumination before I can see where I land on it. It took a bit to get going, but once Alma starts giving her monologue about the day at the beach (going to keep it vague for anyone else who hasn't watched) I was fully invested. It's the peak of the film for me. It's a film about being face-to-face with the person you are and the person you wish you were. The last shot of the monologue represents that idea with Elisabet being in the light listening to Alma (who is cast in shadow ) talk about the more free (and specifically child-free) life she probably wants. Or at least that's my initial reading of it. I might give it a rewatch as I'm still thinking about how all the pieces fit together. Even if I don't, I'll definitely be checking out some more of Bergman's work.

 

Got kinda busy and fell off of this but updated the Letterboxd list up to current in case anyone trying to catch up as we enter round 2

 

Wheels on Meals was very fun. The fight choreography was excellent and the chemistry between Chan, Biao, and Hung is fantastic. Even the non-action scenes had a fun rhythm to them will playful dialog. And that final scene between Chan and Benny Urquidez really does live up the hype.

 

I enjoyed Girl Walk//All Day far more than I expected. There is something hypnotic about it. The choreography and loose storyline are fun, but the most enjoyable thing to me was the reactions of random New Yorkers. Obviously, there are larger staged moments where professional dancers join in, but it's filled with reactions from unsuspecting people. When they join in with Marsen's dancing it really is delightful. The Single Ladies bit and the scene subway were standouts for sure. Both seemed like spontaneous moments where people just let go and join in on the fun.

People who can dance like John Doyle creep me out though. I have no idea how you can make your body move like that.

 

I also enjoyed Girl Talk more than I thought. Brought back memories of the time I saw them at the art factory as an afterparty to a frizby tournament I played with my brother.

Half way through Wheels on Meals and having a good time!

 

There's a lot of really great kung fu comedies from around this time starring Chan, Biao and Hung - Sammo Hung in particular has a wonderfully expressive face for comedy and pathos, and he's a surprisingly talented dramatic actor too.

Would recommend Project A, Dragons Forever and Winners & Sinners for more of the same type of blend of humour and action.

Winners & Sinners has the most absurd multi car pile up that just keeps on coming and coming;

 

We will start round 2 next week. That will be @CarpetElf

What were some of your favorites from round 1? What surprised you? What disappointed you?

I was glad to get to watch Transit again. Phoenix is probably his most famous film but Transit is really special. Petzold is up there with Hamaguchi as the best "new" directors (both have been around a while but broke out just recently).

 

First time watches that I really liked; Stepford Wives, Sorcerer, Ceddo, Transit, Duel to the Death

Films I'd already seen and enjoyed; Carol, Meek's Cutoff, Four Lions, Death of Mr Lazarescu, Persona

Films that I didn't particularly enjoy; Cockfighter, Exotica

 

The ones that caught me by surprise were Duel to The Death and Ceddo, I think a lot of that is both were so far outside my usual wheelhouse. They were a breath of fresh air and also happened to be good too.

my favorites were probably Meek’s Cutoff, Four Lions, and Transit. Greenwood’s performance in Meek’s Cutoff has stuck with me quite a bit.

There’s a few I missed from the first few weeks, so I’m still going to attempt to catch up.

 

I only had two rewatches in round one, Four Lions and Brother’s Bloom.

 

Transit and Exoticia id never heard of but were right up my alley and will be actively looking up more from those directors.

Cockfighter really stayed with me and I went on to read the novel.

Most of the queer cinema I've seen has been more serious romances and coming of age and really enjoyed experiencing a different side in But I'm a Cheerleader & Party Girl.

Ceddo was a great introduction to some African cinema!

 

@Morrissey are we starting round 2?