📽️
Do not watch this film if you are depressed, sad or melancholy because it will severely compound those feelings. But if you want to see how a genius filmmaker can create spectacular moods and atmospheres of real despair and pathos then this film is for you. It's a visceral experience and a challenging one at that...more like a cinematic occult ritual. Take particular note of Volker Spengler's fearless performance and also the "Frankie Teardrop" scene for an example of what I mean about creating a sensory poem of anguish using sound and visions.
Feb 17, 2023
Related Recs
🎥
what is suffering and what is it to art? how does one find the joy of creation and is that joy enough? impressive performance from fassbender despite barely seeing his face. watched it for the first time in 2018 with a brand new group of friends i thought i’d have forever. that group has since spectacularly imploded, but i watch this movie every few years to commemorate them and the new friends i’ve made since.
Apr 24, 2024
Any recommendation for melancholy, existential or experimental films? I need to feel something…
Jun 15, 2024
I can't recommend something without explaining why it's good in my world.
Well, it seems I've found my favorite Tarkovsky film that completely captivated me—soul, eyes, heart, and ears. It's probably one of the most beautiful and aesthetic films I've ever seen.
I've often heard from stuffy film historians that the director's last two films are a self-parody of himself, suggesting that the form has become so pronounced that it now seems more like an imitation of Tarkovsky rather than Tarkovsky's own work.
Well. We dismiss that opinion and establish our own viewpoint. It's hard to abstract from the author and view the work in isolation from the facts, but despite the autobiographical nature of the beloved "Mirror" (which I didn't enjoy at all)—"Nostalghia" so far seems to me the most intimate, personal, sublimated, and reflective (and prophetic).
The theme of emigration, of the male creator, a Russian in Italy, far from home and consumed internally by guilt for abandoning his family—this is literally cinema about himself. Moreover, the film focuses more on the director's favorite idea—the sacrifice of the artist for humanity.
The visuals are as impeccable as possible. Tarkovsky no longer holds back and makes films that are visually closer to his beloved Fellini and Bergman, rather than his early works.
I admit, this is the first time I've seen Oleg Yankovsky, and now I understand the whole cult around his persona. He's truly monumental. An absolute powerhouse, every frame stolen completely, even if he is standing with his back to the audience and just breathing heavily.
The finale with the candle was the most unusual cinematic experience for me in recent years. A true spiritual revelation occurred on screen. The suspense is breath-holding, yet plot-wise, everything happening is safe.
Ten minutes of continuous meditative take, in which Yankovsky's character tries to light a candle and carry it through a small route—truly charged action, which you experience together with the hero almost to a religious catharsis in the finale. Absolute grandeur.
The final shot of a small house grown inside a destroyed temple is one of the strongest visual images I have ever seen. I sat in the cinema in complete stasis, afraid to move, and when it started to snow, I nearly lost my breath. It's been a long time since a film has captivated me like this.
P.S. I still need to watch "Ivan's Childhood" and "The Sacrifice."
P.P.S. If you don't know Russian(Italian), you'll need to prepare to read subtitles because there is no English version.
Jun 10, 2024
Top Recs from @michael-imperioli
🐟
I have found some of these creatures to be as noble and true as many human beings.
Feb 17, 2023
🎵
This rather obscure 1969 b-side would later become a huge hit in 1971 when it was recorded by The Carpenters with some of its risque lyrics (as well as its title) changed. Written by the great Leon Russel and Bonnie Bramlett and featuring Clapton himself on guitar, this song moves and haunts me everytime I hear it. One of the great melodies in rock history.
Feb 17, 2023
📕
My favorite novel of the last year. Once begun, this one is impossible to put down yet you will want it to go on and on. It's about love, sex, family, fame, identity and yes, pain. With an ending so transcendent and full of hope it made me cry.
Feb 17, 2023