I’m a fan of Jodorowsky. *el Topo* is one of those wild westerns, though I find the subtext a bit elusive; besides his signature religious and tarot imagery, I assume it touches on Mexican history and politics, which I don't know much about. That’s why I prefer *The Holy Mountain*—it feels more universal without all the niche references.
Jodorowsky tends to overdo it sometimes, but I guess that’s just part of the charm. *Incal* was terrible for me.
I agree they really ought to release some Chinese cinema. All they have right now is the last Chinese emperor, and an Italian directed that one anyway. So I'm not sure I follow your point about them lacking any "pure" Chinese films. 😁
Back to the thread, these are also among my favorites from Criterion so far (not including the ones already mentioned):
Giulietta degli spiriti La strada La dolce vita Fiend Without a Face Kwaidan Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas The Killing 12 Angry Men Picnic AT Paths of Glory When Woman Ascends The Stairs It's Mad Mad Mad Mad World Chungking express Il il sorpasso
She figured if her brother escaped on his own while she kept the guard occupied, he’d have a better shot at making it than if they tried together... She thought they'd just get caught both at once. Just an exhausted slave, nothing much to it...
I'm not so sure... Two healthy people escaping a camp versus one person dragging a half-dead captive on their shoulders? I think option B is the riskier move... 😁
hiddenbear4 said:His brother's change isn't exactly inexplicable, just dramatically straightforward. Being in that camp turned him into a ruthless man; he adapted to his surroundings and abandoned everything his father taught him about mercy. But his sister keeps calling him out on it, and he's struggling to take it. Then, when they go to bury that slave woman, he remembers a similar moment from their childhood—that final night before the kidnapping—and his conscience finally kicks in...
What strikes me as odd about this whole thing is that the turning point was just some childhood memory of picking up twigs. I have no clue why that specific moment supposedly flipped him from a total delinquent into a human rights activist, but then again, history is full of weirder coincidences... 😁
hiddenbear4 (No input provided to rewrite.) The film feels elliptical and isn't overly demanding or complex in its dramaturgy, yet it's crafted as... Just a folk tale...It's a story about cruelty and suffering... nothing more, nothing less. The characters aren't deeply layered psychologically; there isn't much room for complex motivations here. This isn't exactly a psychological drama...
Mizoguchi's Life of Oharu feels like a similar tragedy, but unlike Sansh, it doesn't feel forced to me—it's more realistic. Even Ugets feels much more natural, despite being a ghost story. All three films I've seen from Mizoguchi have that folk tale quality, but Sansh's story just doesn't resonate with me. I think I'll try Street of Shame and some of his later work... they look pretty interesting. 🙂
It’s not that the whole movie is nonsensical, just certain parts. Especially that scene where the brother, sister, and the dying slave girl prepare to escape captivity, and the sister tells her brother to leave her behind in the woods because she'll just slow him down—yet insists he take the dying woman along, even though he'd have to carry her the whole way. Then there's the part where the sister goes to drown herself in the lake. That specific moment really sticks out to me, because her sacrifice should have been the emotional core of the film, but it felt pretty half-baked.
Plus, some of the characters just don't hold up. After years in a labor camp, the brother turns into this cynical jerk who coldly brands slaves with a hot iron and wants to stay at the camp, then suddenly, without any explanation, he wants to smuggle himself out and becomes a human rights activist.
Don't get me wrong, the film is moving, beautiful, and striking, but I can't bring myself to agree that it's one of the greatest films ever made or anything like that.
Twenty-Four Eyes is beautiful, though it's sadly overlooked compared to the other titles I mentioned. Aside from Hideki Takamine's work, I've only seen Carmen Comes Home—which was actually the first Japanese color film—and the sequel, Carmen Falls in Love. I have a soft spot for both and hope Criterion releases them soon.
Visually speaking, Sansho the Bailiff is one of the most stunning black-and-white films I know, even if the plot feels a bit nonsensical to me. Personally, my favorite Mizoguchi film is Ugetsu.
I should also mention those Jean Painlevé documentaries on Criterion; some are quite fun and I really dig his filming style. The collection is titled Science Fiction.
Samuel Robinson2 said:By the way Star Wars was inspired by The Hidden Fortress.
I actually think The Hidden Fortress is a great, charming movie. I haven't seen Star Wars yet (unbelievable, I know, but some people exist 😬), so I'm curious how it stacks up against THF.
As for those Japanese films, my favorite Criterion picks are:
House of Onibaba House of Onibaba Kuroneko Rashomon Rashomon Twenty-Four Eyes Gate of Hell Woman of The Dunes
Peter Ruiz2 said:The Lower Depths extremely bitter...
Based on Maxim Gorky. This version was edited by Jean Renoir. Kurosawa actually filmed two different versions after the war...
Dodes'ka-den isn't quite as much of an adaptation of that play as The Lower Depths (1957) is—maybe Kurosawa's most underrated movie...
I’m definitely backing the recommendations for Diabolique and Samurai Rebellion, though I can't help but wonder what drives people to tackle The human Condition... One look at that runtime and I'm already exhausted... 😁
The Human Condition trilogy clocks in at about nine and a half hours total—a pretty interesting slice of mid-century Japanese cinema.
Speaking of Japanese filmmakers, Eros Plus Massacre and Eureka both run north of three hours...
One of the absolute longest is The cure for Insomnia from 1987. It runs for 87 hours, featuring the poet Lee Groban reciting his work, which is essentially the entire plot.