Saturday, August 22, 2009

POLL 61: MANY VIEWPOINTS, MANY ASPECTS

POLL 61: MANY VIEWPOINTS, MANY ASPECTS

My poll 61 is inspired by THE FEAST, which show many viewpoints on the film industry in Italy, including the viewpoints of young people who want to be film directors, a young girl who like to be with a star, a burnt-out director, villagers who remember old films, etc.

So I decided to make a list of my favorite things which include many viewpoints on a subject, or several contrasting viewpoints on a subject.


THESE FILMS/PLAY/NOVEL CONTAIN MANY VIEWPOINTS OR SHOW MANY ASPECTS OF A SUBJECT. WHICH ONES DO YOU LIKE?

1.ALL ABOUT ACTRESSES (2009, Maiwenn Le Besco, France)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1035729/

This mockumentary shows us the problems of female actresses in France, including famous actresses such as Jeanne Balibar, former famous actresses such as Romane Bohringer, arguably famous actresses such as Karin Viard, and a wannabe actress. I think this film should be screened together with SOIS BELLE ET TAIS-TOI (1981, Delphine Seyrig), which interviews Jenny Agutter, Juliet Berto, Ellen Burstyn, Anne Wiazemsky, Barbara Steele, and Millie Perkins. (I haven't seen SOIS BELLE ET TAIS-TOI, but I knew about this film from Mubarak Ali.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076733/


2.THE ARTIST'S FATE (2009, Wilaiwan Praejaroen, Thailand)

This documentary interviews five young Thai artists. Some of them are already famous. Some are not. What I like very much in this documentary is the eyes of these artists. It's such a great pleasure to see the sparkling in the eyes of these artists while they are talking. Some audience may think that watching people talking in this film is boring, but I think the opposite.

The artists interviewed in this film include:

2.1 Lampu Kansanoh
http://www.ardelgallery.com/html/detail_exhibition.php?id=32

2.2 Chol Janepraphaphan

Chol's interview in Thai
http://www.matichon.co.th/matichon/view_news.php?newsid=01pra01210852&sectionid=0131&day=2009-08-21

Chol's work in the exhibition FROM (DIFFERENT) HORIZONS OF ROCKSHELTER
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3268/2864844079_d7aacaedf0_o.jpg

Chol also directed "WALL" ON "WALL" (2008, A+), which is a video installation shown in the exhibition KRUNGTHEP 226: THE ART FROM EARLY DAYS BANGKOK TO THE IMAGINED FUTURE.

2.3 Chusak Srikwan
http://www.whitesp-ce.com/gallery/past/jun_jul_08.html
http://www.siamesesmile2008.com/main/thai/artists_detail.php?id=31


3.CHARISMA (1999, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan)

I like that the film shows us both the character who wants to protect the poisonous tree and the characters who want to cut down the tree.


4.THE CLASS (2008, Laurent Cantet, France)

I like that the film shows us various viewpoints of the teachers and the students.


5.CORN IN PARLIAMENT: LE GENIE HELVETIQUE (2003, Jean-Stephane Bron, Switzerland)

This superb documentary shows us the viewpoints of those who support a GMO law, and those who are against it.


6.THE FEAST (2007, Mimmo Calopresti, Italy)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0808323/


7.FLICKER: A NOVEL (Theodore Roszak)
http://www.amazon.com/Flicker-Novel-Theodore-Roszak/dp/155652577X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250869945&sr=1-1

This great novel shows us various viewpoints on art films.


8.HITLER, A FILM FROM GERMANY (1977, Hans-Juergen Syberberg, West Germany)

I like that the film includes the viewpoint of Himmler and Karl-Wilhelm Krause, who is Hitler's valet, and the film is not only about the history of Germany, but also the history of the cosmos.


9.MADAME X: AN ABSOLUTE RULER (1977, Ulrike Ottinger, West Germany)

I saw this film without English subtitles, so I'm not sure what this film is really about. But from Filmsick's writing, I guess this film explores feminism in many aspects.


10.MOVING CAMERAS – OCTOBER 27 (2009, Prateep Suthathongthai, Thai video installation)

This video installation gives us various viewpoints, literally. This video installation shows us the views from a camera which is passed from one person to another person to another person… . This video installation makes me realize that in order to see a thing fully (or understand a thing more completely), we should watch it from various viewpoints (or listening
to other people).


11.THE PINOCHET AFFAIR (2001, Patricio Guzman, France/Chile)

This documentary is obviously against Pinochet, so I'm very surprised that Guzman also interviews a friend of Pinochet who talks fondly of him. I think Guzman is a very broad-minded person. If I were him, I wouldn't have been able to listen to Pinochet's friend without getting angry.


12.READY TO WEAR (1994, Robert Altman, USA)

This film explores the fashion world in various aspects.


13.THE SARI SOLDIERS (2008, Julie Bridgham, Nepal)
http://www.filmref.com/journal/archives/human_rights_watch/index.html

This film interviews some women who are political enemies. Some are royalists. Some are Maoists.


14.SIDA: SRI RAM? (2005, Pornrat Damrung, Thai play)

This stage play explores the status of many women.


15.SIGNORINA EFFE (MS. F) (2007, Wilma Labate, Italy)

I like the fact that the film shows us both the characters who support labor strikes and the characters who oppose them, and lets us sympathize with both sides.


16.A SLIM PEACE (2007, Yael Luttwak, Israel)

This film interviews both Israeli and Palestinian women.


17.SOMEONE TO LOVE (1987, Henry Jaglom, USA)

This film shows us various viewpoints on love.


18.S21: THE KHMER ROUGE KILLING MACHINE (2002, Rithy Panh, Cambodia)

This film interviews both the perpetrators and a victim of the genocide.


19.SUDDENLY, LAST WINTER (2008, Gustav Hofer + Luca Ragazzi, Italy)

This film shows us both the supporters and the opposers of gay freedom.


20.24 CITY (2008, Jia Zhangke, China)

This film explores a Chinese city from the viewpoints of different people.

You can cast multiple votes.

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This is my comment in Girish's blog:
http://www.girishshambu.com/blog/2009/08/tiff-2009-films.html

These films would also be on my list:

1.AT THE END OF DAYBREAK (Ho Yuhang)

2.LES DERNIERS JOURS DU MONDE (Arnaud Larrieu + Jean-Marie Larrieu)

3.EVERY DAY IS A HOLIDAY (Dima El-Horr)

4.MY QUEEN KARO (Dorothee Van Den Berghe)

1 comment:

celinejulie said...

My own vote is for THE ARTIST'S FATE, CORN IN PARLIAMENT: LE GENIE HELVETIQUE, THE FEAST, FLICKER, MOVING CAMERAS – OCTOBER 27, THE PINOCHET AFFAIR, THE SARI SOLDIERS, SIGNORINA EFFE, SOMEONE TO LOVE, and S21: THE KHMER ROUGE KILLING MACHINE.