Thursday, October 26, 2006

Jean Vigo. A propos de Nice.

Of all cinema's illustrious martyr figures, none is more romantic than Jean Vigo, poet maudit of '30s French cinema, dead at 29 after a long struggle with tuberculosis, leaving a filmography that can be screened in just over three hours and which, during his lifetime, showed every sign of vanishing into oblivion. But the ethereal beauty and earthy anarchism that permeate his two masterpieces Zero de conduite (1933) and L'Atalante (1934) are still enveloping audiences in their hypnotic atmosphere today and leaving them sure in the knowledge that Vigo was more than a filmmaker - he was a moment in film history that will never be repeated.

Already entertaining cinematic ambitions, Vigo was briefly employed by the Franco Film studio as a camera assistant. A gift from his father-in-law allowed the destitute filmmaker to purchase a second-hand camera and begin work on what would become his first movie, the satirical film essay A propos de Nice (1930). It was around this time he met his close collaborator Boris Kaufman, a Russian cinematographer. The brother of both cameraman Mikhail Kaufman and director Dziga Vertov (real name Denis Kaufman), whose masterpiece Man with a Movie Camera (1928) influenced A propos de Nice, Boris Kaufman later enjoyed a distinguished career in Hollywood, shooting On the Waterfront (1954) for Kazan and several of Lumet's early films.

A propos de Nice constructs around the central motif of the carnival a savage, frenetic vision of a superficial society in a state of putrefaction. As bold in its formal experimentation as it is in its gleefully morbid fascination with ugliness, the grotesque humour of its portraits of the holidaymakers that swarm over the Promenade des Anglais (sometimes suggestively intercut with shots of animals!) is brutally undercut by images of distressing poverty. The uneasy atmosphere of indolence and boredom boiling over into lustful frenzy while willfully ignoring the encroaching sense of death and decay that surround it makes this Vigo's darkest film. While Zero de conduite's satire is balanced with a lyrical celebration of the forces of revolution and renewal, A propos de Nice limits itself to the death dance of caricatures, caricatures all the more startling for being stolen from life with a hidden camera. As Vigo stated in an address to the Groupement des Spectateurs d'Avant-Garde, "In this film, by showing certain basic aspects of a city, a way of life is put on trial.the last gasps of a society so lost in its escapism that it sickens you and makes you sympathetic to a revolutionary solution."

What is already present in A propos de Nice is Vigo's ability to capture the natural beauty of a real, non-studio setting and spontaneously elaborate on the impression, transforming the commonplace into the magical. His eye for atmosphere and detail would grow from film to film, but from the outset it was rooted in a documentary practice that simultaneously transcended the documentary.


A whole movie in split-rar lies here in a "_Movies_" folder. (~250Mb).

Ben Kehoe

Ben Kehoe is an illustrator with exellent aesthetic style. And i like him so much :D
Ben have a twin brother Andy. He is a very good artist too. )

Friday, October 20, 2006

Jan Svankmajer. The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia.

An incredible short film by Jan Svankmajer

A bust of Stalin is cut open on an operating table, leading to an elaborate animated depiction of Czech history from 1948 (the Communist takeover) to 1989 (the Velvet Revolution). Some knowledge of the subject is essential in order to understand the film, which is entirely visual.

If you can get your hands on a copy of this film maker's collected works, you can see how people from David Lynch to the Brothers Quay are inspired by him and there is also a great documentary on the DVDs.

Junji Hirose & Otomo Yoshihide - Silanganan Ingay

Artist: Junji Hirose & Otomo Yoshihide
Album: Silanganan Ingay
Label: Tanga-Tanga
Released: 1989
Country: Japan
Bit Rate: 212 kbps

Junji Hirose: self-made instrument, toy rhythm box, toy voice changer, auto harp, toys, tenor sax (B1)
Otomo Yoshihide: turntables with hand-made mixer, cassette tapes, hand-made guitar (B1), small instruments, toys.

MUST listen. Try to connect tracks with it's names. Its the most interesting part.

Monday, October 16, 2006

The art of Hans Fischerkoesen.

Hans Fischerkoesen, was among the most distinguished animators remaining in Germany between 1933 and 1945, his work during the war years included a trio of remarkable films: Verwitterte Melodie (Weather-beaten Melody, 1942), Der Schneemann (The Snowman, 1943) and Das dumme Gänslein (The Silly Goose, 1944).
In 1921 Fischerkoesen made a successful advertising film, Bummel-Petrus (Strolling Peter), for the Leipzig shoe factory Nordheimer, which led to a two-year contract with Julius Pinschewer, who had pioneered the use of animated commercials in movie theaters back in 1911. Afterwards, he established his Fischerkoesen Studio in Leipzig to specialize in advertising films, something Fischerkoesen seemed perfectly suited to. After all, he had an irrepressible sense of humor, a good sense of rhythm, and a charming, flexible cartoon style--as well as the obsessive concentration necessary to make animated films perfect in every way. He also had the knack for seeing a pun or twist in some old saying, common situation or popular song which would fit right in with a product. He philosophized about advertising, proposing the "if-then" formula (If you use this product, then this will happen; if you have this problem, then this product will help) as the best format for a succinct, cogent ad.
Certainly, he received critical acclaim: by 1956, he had won major prizes at commercial film festivals in Rome, Milan (three times), Venice, Monte Carlo, and Cannes. He also appeared on the cover of the prestigious Der Spiegel, Germany's equivalent of the American Time magazine. Fischerkoesen continued to make advertising films until 1969, and died in 1973.

Here you can see an advertisement for "Underberg", an herbal digestive aid. The best advertisement ever.

and here is one more, made for philips in 1937.
incredible

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Thursday, October 12, 2006