Big Brown Eyes (1936)
directed by Raoul Walsh
cinematography by George Clemens
Two wonderfully surreal images, especially when divorced from the
rest of the film.
I haven't found any movie visually earth-shattering lately.
Perhaps those Mexican spectacles have raised the bar to unattainable heights?
Did Five knock out all other competition?
Does anyone out there have any suggestions, requests?
I'd love to hear about more movies to track down.
7 comments:
I know I came in rather late in the story, but have you explored the early Russian films? "Battleship Potemkin" comes to mind.
JB
I imagine you've likely seen it already, but I thought of you when I watched Visconti's White Nights last month. That's pretty visually earth-shattering.
On a completely different tip, another DVD I recently viewed, International House was pretty silly overall but had a few choice visual moments.
"Morvern Callar"? "Miami Vice"? No, really.
For something older, how about "Menilmontant"? I assume you've seen "Sunrise". "Young Mr. Lincoln"?
k, I'll stop now :)
Just discovered a guy called Berlanga, Spanish filmmaker of the 50s and 60s, domestic comedies with a dark satiric edge smuggled in under the fascist censor's nose. Try The Executioner if you can find it.
If you haven't seen it I highly recommend Ikarie XB-1. Difficult to track down (only official release is region 2), but worth it.
It's a Czech scifi film from the early 60s, shot in gorgeous B&W cinemascope.
A few shots to whet your appetite:
http://www.theolddarkarthouse.com/200704/20070413/ikarie_design-01.jpg
http://dvdfreak.bloudil.cz/ikariexb1/images/72113492.jpg
http://dvdfreak.bloudil.cz/ikariexb1/images/48091503.jpg
http://dvdfreak.bloudil.cz/ikariexb1/images/80121645.jpg
I'm sure you're familiar with Murnau's "The Last Laugh", but the new Kino DVD is a revelation -- like watching a whole new film, if you've only seen the usual prints previously available here. The new version is from the German negative, which uses better takes, with better framing, than the U. S. export negative, which was the basis for earlier DVD releases -- and the print on the new Kino edition is simply stunning.
Just re-watched Hitchcock's Number 17, which made me think of you -- so full of interesting shadowshapes, you could fill a dozen posts with it.
And Hands of Orlac also made me think Martinis.
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