Selection of Cultural Activites (18/10/10 - 23/10/10)

Films

12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, Orion-Nova Productions, USA, 1957)

All That Heaven Allows (Douglas Sirk, Universal International Pictures, USA, 1955)

The Boston Strangler (Richard Fleischer, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, USA, 1968)

Brides of Dracula (Terrence Fisher, Hammer Films, UK, 1960)

The Conformist (Bernardo Bertolucci, Mars Film, France, 1970)

The Dreamers (Bernardo Bertolucci, Recorded Picture Company, France, 2003)

French Lieutenant’s Woman (Karel Reisz, Juniper Films, UK, 1981)

The Haunted Palace (Roger Corman, American International Pictures, USA 1963)

Kill, Baby Kill (Mario Bava FUL Films, Italy, 1966)

Pickup on South Street (Samuel Fuller, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, USA, 1953)

River of No Return (Otto Preminger, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, 1954)

Sunday Bloody Sunday ( John Schlesinger, Vectia, UK, 1971)

Tenebre (Dario Argento, Sigma Cinematografica Roma, Italy, 1982)

Tulpan (Sergei Dvortsevoy, Pallas Film, Kazakhstan, 2008)


Preliminary Notes: French Lieutenant’s Woman
Further exploration would be Gavin Miller’s and Reisz’s The Technique of Film Editing (1968). I believe it would give insight into the aesthetics of film, though in relation to medium of editing.

Preliminary Notes Tulpan
The objective camera; never subjective shots.
Mise-en-scene – colour scheme: turquoise blue (Subtle, washed out look of film = hardship)
(Allegory) Dying lambs – comment on future of youth in Kazakhstan. Allegory also in The Dreamers (Paris 68' - Marxism/Maoism).
We never see what is desired – Tulpan = significant (unattainable dreams)

Preliminary Notes The Boston Strangler
Influence of father – Animation: Collage/double exposure sequences take place instead of a traditional American montage sequence (convey period of time/information).


Television

‘The Suitcase’, episode six, Mad Men, fourth series, USA, BBCHD, tx. 20.10.2010.
A History of Horror, UK, BBC4, tx. 18.10.2010
‘The Camping Trip’, episode four, The Inbetweeners, third series, UK, E4, tx. 18.10.2010.

Preliminary Notes Mad Men
Complex storylines: narrative arcs encompass all seasons.
Form + Content = Synthesis: Style + Narrative = Cohesive.
e.g. "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" representation and exploration of girlhood sexuality.


Radio

The Film Programme, 2010. [Radio programme] BBC, BBC Radio 4, 22 October 2010 16.30.

Reading

Brownlow, Kevin. 1968. The Parade’s Gone by... Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California.

Perkins, V.F. 1972. Film as Film. London: Penguin Books.

Sternberg, Josef Von. 1966. Fun in a Chinese Laundry. London: Secker and Warburg.

I’ve been sidetracked this week, so I’ve only re-read a few more chapters of Film as Film but I have been exploring Silent Cinema (in relation to the Open Studies Certificate). I thought I would read Kevin Brownlow’s The Parade’s Gone by... to gain a more appreciative attitude towards silent American cinema.

More importantly, I was overjoyed to receive a copy of Josef Von Sternberg’s autobiography, Fun in a Chinese Laundry. Von Sternberg is one of my favourite film directors. When not trying to decipher fact from fiction, it is significant to note that he does give insight into his own theories on aesthetics, especially the first and the last two chapters.