bergman, antonioni and "the death of" things

[danschank]

well, if you've been within a dozen clicks of my friends page lately, you've probably heard that on july 30th, the film world was dealt the peculiar blow of ingmar bergman and michelangelo antonioni dying on the same day (july 30th). neither filmmaker is particularly dear to me-- i guess i'm not much of a modernist/transcendentalist-- but both were

Comments

bet ya a o scott did not grow up punk rock

[lostcosmonaut]

fuck yeah to all of this, although I think dudes/ladies like that are paid to write exactly things like that--overly respectful to th point of worship

--and when th next Great Filmmaker/Country Music Godparent dies, it'll be th exact same thing

and I'm still not reading it

--mza.

Re: bet ya a o scott did not grow up punk rock

[danschank]

yeah, he's actually sorta cautious along the way about it even...

I don’t believe that the art of filmmaking has necessarily declined since then (I’d quit my job if I did),

... and so forth. but this also points toward the weird sense of oblgation people feel to write stuff like this-- whether or not the NYtimes is pushing the agenda, or people are.

A+ job, D.

[myglock_yrface]

I was never a fan of either of them [a fact which my SO & friends teased me about well prior to their kickage] and never apologetic about it.

I think one thing a lot of people haven't mentioned is NEITHER Bergman or Antonioni had produced anything monumental in years. It wasn't like their careers were cut short.

i figured you'd be on board with this one

[danschank]

i guess saraband was kinda well received though. but point taken about antonioni... that piece he did for eros was actually slammed.

your icon is reminding me that there should have been a larger debate when sembene died, actually... maybe they'll finally be some more screenings of his work? that's the awful part about filmmaker deaths with me-- i immediately begin lusting after the re-releases they inevitably prompt.

Re: i figured you'd be on board with this one

[myglock_yrface]

I really really want to see Ceddo. That's why his death kind of hit me th hardest of all, because I know if he hadn't gotten sick, he'd have been working on yet another project. He was nowhere near finished.

That sentence should say:

[bad_juice]

"...that piece he did for eros was deservedly slammed."

When Soderbergh's obnoxiously American(it's a movie about sex with no sex in it!) short is better than yours, you may as well stop making movies anyway.

[chocolatebark]

Without Bergman, we wouldn't have Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey
and without Antonioni, we wouldn't have, ermm......... Blow Out ?

[danschank]

i forgot about bogus journey... didn't george carlin play the angel of death or something?

(SECRET CONFESSION: i used to own the soundtrack to that movie because i liked the megadeath song on it)

Just saw Bourne 3.0 and must write post about it.

[chocolatebark]

William Sadler is credited as playing the Grim Reaper.
George Carlin was whats-his-name from the future.

It's been a while since I've seen either film, granted.

Rufus

[bad_juice]

A most excellent name for a man from the future.

[atthesametime]

well put, my friend. I wish you wrote more often on LJ because everyone of your posts is pretty fucking awesome.

[danschank]

thanks! and i'll retort by saying that i'm sorta disappointed you're back from egypt, becuase i don't get to read about it anymore, hahaha...

[brendan62442]

It's interesting that the apocalypse is so vivid and such a reasonable worry to you. I am from the suburbs and not from the Spanish Civil War, so my nightmares are very much in line with mime tennis and no-hands clocks. Does your apocalypse have much silence?

[danschank]

what i'm interested in, in that department, is why it's such a potent narrative right now, and what's being addressed when people fantasize about their own annihilation. i'm interested in it in arthouse films, in genre stuff, and even in my own paintings. but it's not like i sit up at night worrying about the end of times or anything. i'm sorta fascinated with misanthropy, because i think it's a very convienient stumbling block on the way to a real conversation, or real social change, or what have you.