tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12531085212582302512024-02-19T05:01:53.492-08:00Subtitle LiterateMarc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.comBlogger187125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-38049101855572330302014-10-13T08:54:00.000-07:002014-11-22T18:01:57.930-08:00RIP Subtitle LiterateHello all, and welcome to the final post of <i>Subtitle Literate</i> (2008-2014). I've had a lot of fun with my first blog over the years, and I surely hope you have as well. But now the time has come for me to put it to bed, methinks, take a break, recharge, and reevaluate a few things, including my perceptions and motivations as both a writer and a person. I'll reemerge in some fresh form of creative expression eventually while in the meantime likely turning out the odd piece here and there, but at this moment, for the most part, I feel like the whats and hows and, most importantly, whys of who I am and why I write are still mysterious to me. In short, I feel like I have some soul searching to do - but I am very excited about the adventures that await me still.<br />
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But for now, I again thank everyone who has taken interest in my scribbles, notes, and ramblings both here and elsewhere, and wish you all the best. Cheers.<br />
<br />Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-12343457124535271302014-10-10T15:31:00.002-07:002014-10-10T15:32:10.245-07:00On "Café de Flore" for Toronto Film Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello all. I'm happy to report that a new film piece of mine is now available for your reading pleasure <a href="http://torontofilmreview.blogspot.ca/2014/10/cafe-de-flore.html">over at my good friend David Davidson's blog <i>Toronto Film Review</i></a>. It is on Quebecois director Jean-Marc Vallée's 2001 film Café de Flore - and thus is a natural fit for David's site, since he is easily one of the most passionate and knowledgeable admirers of Vallée's work that I've ever met. If you too love Vallée and his films, I highly recommend taking a peek at the literature David has written about them.<br />
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In other news, I am currently at work preparing a brand new endeavor in film writing that I'm quite excited about. Stay tuned.<br />
<br />Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-48510454569616030622014-07-12T17:52:00.001-07:002014-07-13T02:36:20.734-07:00Kaurismäki + Kurosawa!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello all! It's been a good few months since I last had some new writing to share, which was when an essay I wrote about Aki Kaurismäki was published in the 92nd issue of the Toronto-based film journal <i><a href="http://www.cineaction.ca/index.html">CineAction</a></i>. I have been keeping up with my exploration and admiration of Kaurismäki, whom I now consider to be possibly my absolute favourite filmmaker, and now I have a new piece to my name that examines his work! In my latest essay, which is included in <a href="http://sensesofcinema.com/issues/issue-71/">the 71st issue of the online film journal <i>Senses of Cinema</i></a>, I pair the Finnish master of conscientious deadpan comedy up with an at-first unlikely counterpart: Akira Kurosawa, that fabled maker of samurai epics, nail-biting Tokyo noirs, and humanist dramas. It is within the last category where I find common ground between Kurosawa and Kaurismäki, particularly in the context of Kurosawa's <i>One Wonderful Sunday</i> and <i>Dodes'ka-den</i> and Kaurismäki's <i>Drifting Clouds</i> and <i>The Man Without a Past</i>.<br />
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Intrigued? Please check out the whole essay <a href="http://sensesofcinema.com/2014/feature-articles/down-and-out-in-helsinki-and-tokyo-aki-kaurismaki-and-akira-kurosawas-humanist-tales/">here</a> - and feel free to let me know what you think! Also, take the time to sift through the other contents of the issue (tackling Alfonso Cuarón, David Lynch, <i>The Hunger Games</i> and Romanian cinema, to name just a few of the subjects!). As I so often am, I am very proud to be included amongst such talented soldiers of cinema.<br />
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As always, thanks for reading!<br />
<br />Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-90167019493853506712014-01-31T16:34:00.000-08:002014-01-31T17:11:27.795-08:00On Aki Kaurismäki in CineAction Issue #92<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello all. In this post, I am very pleased to announce the publication of a new essay of mine in the 92nd issue of the Toronto-based film journal <i>CineAction</i>, which has just hit the stands. The piece focuses on one of my absolute favourite filmmakers and an artist whose work has come to mean a lot to me over the past few years: Aki Kaurismäki. I wrote the essay last summer when I was in a particularly uncertain period in my life. Unemployed, living at home in Windsor, desperate to get back to Toronto, and discouraged by meager job prospects, I found myself newly responsive to politically conscientious films and filmmakers that I could relate to in terms of my situation. Of them all, Kaurismäki stood out as a reassuring beacon of hope and truth, and I drew immense measures of comfort and insight from his tales of underdogs, part-timers, and scrappy survivors. Thus, writing the essay served as a way for me to express my thoughts and views regarding the social and economic factors that I, like so many others, was directly confronted with while also allowing me to pay tribute to one of my heroes. Even though I eventually managed to find a new job and make my way back to Toronto, I am still very much concerned about and affected by the social problems explored by Kaurismäki, whose films continue to be as meaningful, relevant, and inspiring as ever.<br />
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Many thanks to Scott Forsyth of York University for expressing interest in my piece and including it in the issue. Those interested in checking out my essay, entitled <i>"It's All About Mercy": Aki Kaurismäki and the Art of Getting By</i>, can find it in the current "Politics + Cinema" issue of <i>CineAction</i>, which will be available in stores for the next few months. Thank you for reading!
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<br />Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-18761560473426008802013-11-16T15:03:00.000-08:002014-06-18T15:36:30.865-07:00Announcing "Riches Upon Riches: A Personal Journey Through French Cinema"Hello all. Once again, much time has elapsed since I last updated this blog, and for that I apologize. The past few months have been especially busy for me, as my life has undergone quite a few significant changes since the dog days of summer. In late August, I finally broke my spell of unemployment limbo and, fulfilling a long-treasured dream of mine, started living and working in downtown Toronto. I am very happy to finally consider myself a fully-fledged Torontonian and am greatly enjoying this newest chapter of my life.<br />
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Even before this latest transition, some may have noticed the dramatic drop in my writing output over the past little while - and indeed, as of this moment I haven't posted or had anything of mine published for some time. Which is not to say I haven't been writing - on the contrary, writing has remained more important to me than ever, especially with the all too precious allotment of time that my busy schedule leaves for it. My efforts have simply been directed toward a personal project of mine I first started in the summer of 2012 that I haven't mentioned to too many people before now. Considering both the point of progress I have reached with it and the place I currently occupy in terms of my life and ambitions, I felt it was a good time to finally share what I've been up to.<br />
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Basically, I've been working on a book: a collection of essays on certain French films and filmmakers from various eras of film history that I adore. I have some previous experience studying and writing about French cinema for other publications, not least of all Intellect Books' <i><a href="http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/books/view-Book,id=4861/">Directory of World Cinema: France</a></i>, which includes an essay of mine on the French New Wave. With this newest adventure, I simply wanted to try out a longer, freer form of film writing than the film reviews and blog posts I am so used to, to really explore and put into words what fascinates me about these films and the wider legacy of art and culture they are a part of that has gripped my heart and imagination for so long. As I go along, I'm certainly discussing their historical contexts and special places in cinema history, but I'm also taking a more philosophical approach and reflecting the things about life, love, work, history, travel, and more that they communicate. I hope that, as a result, the essays are appealing to readers who lie beyond the cinephile crowd, perhaps intriguing them to discover some of the films for themselves.<br />
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As of right now, five of the essays are more or less complete (the one I'm now in the process of wrapping up is about the life and work of Jean Vigo); I'm expecting to wind up with twelve in total when I'm finished. When that will be, I'm not exactly sure. This is definitely something that I know will take a fair amount of time, which is how I want it to be. I want to make sure each essay reflects the point I am at with my current writing ability, but at the same time, I simply want to have fun with the whole process - researching, thinking, watching, writing, editing. This is very much a labor of love for me, and I intend to enjoy every moment of it. When, one day, I do reach the point where I think this thing is complete and polished enough to put out in the world, I think I'll call it <i>Riches Upon Riches: A Personal Journey Through French Cinema</i>. As of right now, I have absolutely no idea which avenues I'll be taking in terms of publication (if you have any ideas, I'm open to hearing them!), but I'll certainly work towards making something that folks will appreciate and enjoy as they read what I've written.<br />
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I have shown some of the pieces in varying states of progress or talked about the overall project to a few of my friends so far - you know who you are, are I am most thankful for the advice and feedback you've given me. And for those who might offer their interest, support, or input further along the road that I'm treading with this thing, I offer in advance my thanks to you as well. And now, as I leave you with these behind-the-curtain shots of the notebooks I've been using to write the essays, please wish me luck as I continue onwards!<br />
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<br />Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-21329479451674914352013-08-08T08:14:00.001-07:002013-08-08T08:14:16.512-07:00Feminist FrequenciesHello all. I wanted to use this latest break between writing projects and personal commitments to promote some fascinating and important projects I have been enjoying recently that look at certain aspects of pop culture through feminist and female-centric angles. While many of them discuss serious problems in the representation and treatment of women in films, television shows, and video games that sadly persist in wide (sometimes suffocating) abundance even now, in <i>2013</i>, the very existence of these conversations and analyses provide welcome measures of hope - hope that more challenges and alternatives to damaging mainstream works will keep surfacing and shaking things up. At the very least, these pieces do a fantastic job of "taking the temperature" of the contemporary pop culture landscape in terms of feminist values, thus prompting readers to think a little more carefully when sitting down to the latest Marvel blockbuster, video game, or indie hit.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>· </b></span>Matt Brown of the excellent movie and pop culture podcast <a href="http://www.mamo.ca/">Mamo!</a> (co-hosted with Matt Price) has been doing some fine work as a columnist for the film site <a href="http://twitchfilm.com/">Twitch</a>. For two pieces in a row in his column, Destroy All Monsters, he has spoken up about the male-centric slant of two significant zones of contemporary nerd-dom: <a href="http://twitchfilm.com/2013/07/destroy-all-monsters---icky-tricky-wonder-woman.html">the first one</a> discusses the troubling reasoning explaining why it is unlikely we will be seeing a Wonder Woman movie in the near future even though superhero movies of (nearly) all stripes have perhaps never been hotter while <a href="http://twitchfilm.com/2013/08/destroy-all-monsters-there-will-never-be-a-female-doctor-who.html">the second one</a> explains the factors that prevent the patriarchal realm of <i>Doctor Who </i>from accommodating a female Doctor. Both are well worth a gander.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>· </b></span>Despite <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/08/how-free-should-speech-be-on-twitter.html">a vile outpouring of hateful and sexist comments</a> from its earliest beginnings as a Kickstarter campaign, pop culture critic Anita Sarkeesian's <i>Tropes vs. Women in Video Games </i>video series has been going strong since its launch earlier this year with its feminist analysis of popular video game conventions. Having just recently posted its third episode, which continues the previous two's multi-faceted exploration of the "damsel in distress" character, Sarkeesian provides an impressively thorough, intelligent, and entertaining breakdown of the various ways in which feminist values are hindered and neglected in the video game world. Even though (or, perhaps, because) I'm not all that well-acquainted with that world, I find Sarkeesian's work here to be extremely illuminating, and I eagerly await the future episodes of her series. For now, included below are the first three entries, which tackle the various incarnations of the "damsel in distress" trope.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="217" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/X6p5AZp7r_Q?list=PLn4ob_5_ttEaA_vc8F3fjzE62esf9yP61" width="385"></iframe>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="217" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/toa_vH6xGqs" width="385"></iframe>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>· </b></span>Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the newly launched <a href="http://cleojournal.com/">feminist film journal <i>cléo</i></a>, which recently posted its second issue. Each issue of this quarterly online publication is focused on a specific theme, the first two featuring articles inspired by the subjects of "flesh" and "home." So far, <i>cléo </i>has been showcasing some terrific talent in recent film criticism via pieces on films as varied as <i>Zero Dark Thirty</i>, <i>Vagabond</i>, <i>Holy Motors</i>, <i>Wuthering Heights</i>, and <i>Oblivion </i>- and these are still early days for this fantastic new haven for smart and creative feminist film criticism.<br />
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Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-56791954012802634862013-06-28T20:38:00.001-07:002013-10-24T10:05:17.749-07:00Duncan Field's "Softcover"<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Softcover" logo illustration by Victoria Louise Egan</td></tr>
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Hello, all. I know it has been a while since I last posted here - I have been fairly busy tackling a number of commitments in writing, job hunting, and matters regarding family and friends. In this post, I'd like to highlight another tremendously talented friend of mine who has been producing some fascinating work. Duncan Field and I used to work together at Chapters Oakville, and since then have kept in touch as friends and fellow writers. He runs his own blog, <a href="http://www.softcover.ca/">Softcover</a>, which showcases his thought-provoking opinion pieces and stunning photography as well as pieces from guest contributors. I am proud to have been one of those guest contributors, having submitted to the site <a href="http://www.softcover.ca/the-empty-blue-room">a little piece that describes my personal motivations as a writer</a> (illustrated, of course, by examples plucked from cinema). More recently, Duncan has posted <a href="http://www.softcover.ca/down-rabbit-hole-part-one-the-red-pill">the first part of a free-spirited exploration of the internet</a> that touches upon a troubling (and down-right imbecilic) sub-culture of sexual typecasting and a marvellous short story of his, "<a href="http://www.softcover.ca/dog-days-in-the-kibble-krisis">Dog Days in the Kibble Krisis</a>," that was distinguished with an Award of Excellence for the Stephen Leacock Association's student competition for humour writing in 2011.<br />
<br />Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-64401805057827163712013-04-09T14:43:00.003-07:002013-04-09T14:43:55.263-07:00My Debt and Gratitude to Roger<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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To me, Roger Ebert was always,
first and foremost, a great writer. To this day, I have only ever seen a
handful of clips of his famous televised critiques with Gene Siskel, and have
not yet listened to the audio commentaries he recorded for such films as <i>Casablanca</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, </span><i>Citizen Kane</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, and </span><i>Floating Weeds</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. His
greatest influence upon me as a growing film viewer and critic was made through
his invaluable collections of </span><i>Great Movies</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> essays, which for me still represent a high watermark of clear and
intelligent writing. They exemplify that ideal goal of doing proper justice to
what you observe in writing by grasping the various aspects and nuances of a
noteworthy film and examining what makes it “great” with enthusiasm, insight,
and eloquence. Those essays made me first curious, then excited to seek out
films like </span><i>Belle de Jour</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, </span><i>Dr.
Strangelove</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, </span><i>Fargo</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, </span><i>M</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, </span><i>McCabe
& Mrs. Miller</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, </span><i>Pulp Fiction</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, </span><i>Raging Bull</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, and so many others, so compelling were the words Ebert wrote about them.
But far more importantly, he taught me with those essays how to properly study,
process, and look at a film, then communicate my thoughts on it in a readable,
down-to-Earth manner. Ebert’s writing is always inherently accessible and
unpretentious, the ideal counterpoint to stuffy, over-analytical, dense
academic writing. Ebert was certainly someone who had a keen understanding and
appreciation of cinema’s unique qualities as an art form, but always strove to
share his insights on the medium with the average reader, so that they may
easily gain a better appreciation or understanding of a given film or
filmmaker. He certainly had that effect on me, and it was through him that I
learned to pick up on and savor certain things like the rich flavor of Quentin
Tarantino’s dialogue or the strategies of directors like Krzysztof Kieslowski,
Yasujiro Ozu, and Martin Scorsese or the subtleties at work in films like </span><i>Fargo</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, </span><i>Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, </span><i>The Rules of the Game</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, and </span><i>The Music Room</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. As a result, I grew in both my film tastes and my
confidence in writing about what I saw. Ebert’s razor-sharp senses of
perception and generous willingness to share his findings helped me and
countless others better understand the mechanics of cinema, and the simple,
straight-forward, yet incredibly wise writing style he used to communicate his
thoughts has been a lasting and irreplaceable source of inspiration for
virtually everything I’ve ever written.</span></div>
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Simply
through the incredible voice of his writing, which, poignantly, continued loud
and clear for years after his real voice was cruelly stolen from him, Ebert
became one of the best teachers I ever had – and I still very much feel that I
have so much more to learn from him. While it is with a heavy heart that I
accept that there will be no more new reviews or <i>Great Movies</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> essays, I am so looking forward to catching up with
the wealth of material Ebert left behind. I can’t wait to read those </span><i>Great
Movies</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> essays that I haven’t yet read. I’m
about to order his book on Martin Scorsese, one of his favorite filmmakers, and
I can’t wait to read that. I want to read and use his rice cooker cookbook, </span><i>The
Pot and How to Use It</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, which looks
positively delightful. And most of all, I want to read his praise-lauded
autobiography, </span><i>Life Itself</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, and
more of the pieces he wrote that venture beyond the movies into bigger, more
philosophical topics like youth, memory, and the various things he believed
makes life meaningful and special. And with every page turned, there will be my
deep gratitude for all that he left behind for us to take pleasure in, learn
from, and incorporate into our own lives. He was quite right to use the term
“leave of presence” in his final blog post before his death, for he’ll never
really go away – he’ll still be with us in the words he wrote and the lessons
they will continue to impart. For all that we’ve learned and have yet to learn
from you, Roger, thank you. Thank you.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-26753194561978776692013-03-30T10:11:00.000-07:002014-03-02T12:46:41.755-08:00The Case for a Gentler Cinema<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
“Art imitates life, and life
imitates art. I don’t think you have to choose between the two, and I think…I
think we’re a violent people.” James Gillham says this to his co-host Matt
Gamble about an hour into a recent episode (4.3 – “At the Movies”) of their
podcast <a href="http://wherethelongtailends.com/podcast-2/">High & Low
(Brow)</a> in which they discuss, among other things, the role violence plays
in contemporary media. It is a very wise statement, and it neatly sums up a few
things that have been on my mind for some time now – especially recently, what
with the increased discussion of gun control in the USA following such horrific
incidents as the Aurora, Colorado movie theatre shooting and Sandy Hook Elementary
School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking
about my personal tastes in films and how they have changed over the years, but
also about peculiar little things I’m taking greater stock of – like how, in
the midst of the talks and debates about gun control, while the abovementioned
incidents are still fresh in people’s memories, films like <i>A Good Day to Die
Hard</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, </span><i>Olympus Has Fallen</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, and </span><i>G.I. Joe: Retaliation</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> keep filling the multiplexes.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
Now,
to be clear, this is <i>not</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> one of those
pieces that places the blame for violent incidents on violent films. In the
High & Low (Brow) episode, Matt is quite right when he explains that
focusing exclusively on violent films and other entertainments does not help
the situation at all and only takes critical attention away from the real key
factors of the problem: gun accessibility and mental health. Getting help to
those who need it and making it tougher for ill or dangerous individuals to get
their hands on and keep weapons and ammunition are absolutely the most
important areas to focus on. However, I can also see where James is coming from
when he questions the proliferation of violent entertainment and its impact on
consumers amidst such troubling times. As he indicates in the quote above and
his additional comments in the discussion, it is worth considering just what
kind of role violent media </span><i>does</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
play and reevaluating what the abundance and endorsement of so much violent
entertainment really means nowadays.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
For
me, I think the matter boils down to two words: healthy intake. Instead of
debating whether media violence should be labeled as cause or symptom of real
violence, I think it is much more productive to think about how media violence
affects us as both people (individuals) and <i>a</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> people (society). And personally, I don’t really think it’s all that
healthy. Now sure, a great many of my favorite films contain and, in some
cases, focus in great detail on screen violence, and, similarly, a great many
of my favorite filmmakers have relied on violence to express their views on
bigger themes in their work. More on that later, but for now, isn’t it a little
funny just how much violence has been fixated upon and worshipped for so long
in cinema – particularly North American cinema? Back in 2007, Tom Carson wrote
an especially illuminating piece for </span><i>GQ</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> on this matter entitled “In Violence We Trust” which explores how the
vast majority of American filmmakers have largely avoided mature takes on sex
and romance out of fear, embarrassment, or disinterest while going the opposite
route and devising ever more lavish, over the top, shock-inducing, and gravely
serious portrayals of blood, gore, death, and destruction. He’s right on the
money too – from </span><i>Taxi Driver</i><span style="font-style: normal;">’s
orange-tinted climactic shootout and </span><i>Raging Bull</i><span style="font-style: normal;">’s geysers of blood to the messy massacres in such
recent films as Nicholas Winding Refn’s </span><i>Drive</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> and Quentin Tarantino’s </span><i>Django Unchained</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, violence and artistic merit have long been the
closest of bedfellows when it has come to films permeating the pop culture
current and becoming identified as exemplary specimens of cinematic
craftsmanship.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
In
the past, I’ve been just as involved as anybody else in this area. Tarantino
was one of the very first filmmakers whom I identified as an auteur, and <i>Reservoir
Dogs</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, </span><i>Pulp Fiction</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, and </span><i>Kill Bill</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> were among the first films I looked at from an artistic perspective,
from a perspective besides the one that regards films as entertainments and
nothing more. To this day I still enjoy Tarantino’s work, and have lapped up </span><i>Inglourious
Basterds</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> and </span><i>Django Unchained</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> with just as much enthusiasm as I did for his
earlier works. But I will admit: lately, I have been getting tired of Quentin.
Part of it simply has to do with the annoying egoism and smugness he emanates
(yes, he’s got talent as a filmmaker, but he’s the kind of guy who wants to be
absolutely sure you know it, who wants to be sure you see that big, juicy </span><i>Written
and Directed by</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> credit over his name at the
end of his film, who wants you to be keeping track at home of how many films he
has under his belt to date, etc.), but a part of it also has to do with how he
continues to use screen violence to a fetishistic degree in his filmmaking,
leaning on it like a crutch even when digging into such big historical subjects
as World War II and the American slave trade (which, granted, are topics mired in violence). That, as well as certain other qualities of his work (specifically
the countless references to and precious emulations of his favorite films and
genres) at times make it somewhat difficult to take him and his work seriously.
I do admire </span><i>Inglourious Basterds</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
and </span><i>Django Unchained</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> for
providing fresh insights into their respective topics (e.g. </span><i>Basterds</i><span style="font-style: normal;">’ depiction of the cultural and linguistic diversity
in WWII-era Europe; </span><i>Django</i><span style="font-style: normal;">’s
commendable, bravely confrontational exploration of the slave trade), but as
they coast along and hit their B-movie beats, there are times when they simply
can’t be taken all that seriously and are in fact pretty embarrassing to behold.
This is because the films are strictly set in Quentinland, and thus are chiefly
designed to offer up highly entertaining and visceral cinematic experiences via
Tarantino’s now well-established tools of choice: flowery dialogue, flamboyant
characters, impeccable fusions of music and imagery, and, of course, elaborate
displays of violence. I perfectly understand that these traits are what
Tarantino’s films are all about – they’re simply what defines his distinctive
voice, making him the filmmaker I and many others know and love. And yet, I’m
growing increasingly weary and agitated by both the public adoration that
violent works like </span><i>Django</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> (which
recently snagged two Oscars, including one for Tarantino for Best Original
Screenplay) continue to attract and, especially, the nature of many filmmakers’
relationships with violence as a part of their storytelling vocabulary, which
I’d argue is a little too over-dependent for comfort.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
While
people frequently seek out films for entertainment and escape, I have long felt
that a main goal of cinema should be to chronicle and explore universal human
experiences. After all, what better way to connect with an audience and provide
further insight into the human condition than to pick apart the stuff of
everyday life in all of its beauty and complexity? Through this lens, the
abundance of violence in film becomes unspeakably perverse – exactly how
essential is violence to illuminating the human condition if so few of us have
actually encountered serious forms of it with our own eyes? For how long have
we been tricked into thinking that murder is a useful tool for examining
so-called universal truths – that murder is, in fact, one of those universal
truths? On a few occasions, I have spoken with my close friend <a href="http://easy-item.blogspot.ca/">Chris MaGee</a> about the use of violence
in cinema and its relationship to real-life violence. The last time we had a
discussion on the topic, we both agreed that the average North American will
fortunately pass through his or her life without ever having to kill anybody.
Shortly afterwards, Chris showed me a documentary on Youtube that featured
Vietnam veterans talking about their experiences in the war – specifically, the
extreme trauma they went through as a result of killing other human beings
years ago. That documentary plainly illustrated the real effects of violence –
the true nature of violence. To hear those veterans’ stories, then contemplate
how Tarantino and other filmmakers use violence in their work is more than a
little off-putting, to say the least – in some cases, it simply feels wrong. To
see a detached, obsessive fanboy like Tarantino orchestrate his gleeful killing
sprees set to pop or rap music behind the argument that “it’s only movie
violence” feels wrong and irresponsible – again, not because having so much
violence in a film will turn viewers into killers, but instead because it
doesn’t afford any respect to those who have actually had to face murder and
death in their own lives. That’s why you would never want to see <i>Inglourious
Basterds</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> sitting next to a World War II
veteran – a situation like that makes the insulting nature of the film clear as
day. Chris has also convinced me how a man like Samuel Fuller is infinitely
more entitled to make a film about war than Tarantino simply because of how
much life the man has seen. Fuller lived a truly extraordinary life in which he
not only served as an infantryman in World War II, but also worked as a crime
reporter and novelist before making a name for himself in filmmaking. Fuller
constantly drew from his own life when making his raw, honest films – he had a
rich field of experience he could consult to inform the stories he told. Next
to him, people like Tarantino who seemingly learned everything they know about
the world just from watching movies are simply too detached from real life, and
as a result come across as pitiful phonies.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
I’m
not saying that in order for a film to have any credibility or meaning to it,
it has to be based on actual experiences lived by one or more of its key
authors. However, after not only observing Tarantino and other filmmakers flush
away human life onscreen in such a flippant manner, but also seeing how
ubiquitous and commonplace such films have become, I think it would only be a good
thing to see a) more work that is based on something thoughtful and genuine
(like actual experiences) rather than detached, adolescent fantasy, b) violence
handled in a more serious light more often in cinema, and c) more filmmakers do
away with violence altogether in their storytelling. Regarding point b), I not
only think of Tarantino (who has long been a favorite punching bag for
arguments like the ones presented here), but also other filmmakers whose use of
violence comes across as childish, grotesque, and stupid. Many have commented
on the increasingly nihilistic worldview of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight
trilogy; I myself can’t help but think of the video game-like anonymity of the
gun-wielding goons who threaten <i>Inception</i><span style="font-style: normal;">’s
team of dream hackers – yes, they’re only dream figments, but it’s still
unsettling to see how casually they are first conjured, then eliminated
throughout the film. Then there are the Robert Rodriguezes and Michael Bays of
the world – true juveniles whose fascination with noisy, obnoxious destruction
serves no constructive purpose and leaves no room for anything resembling a
responsible or positive worldview. Sure, these directors are clearly invested
in providing escapism, not contemplation, but is this really the kind of escapism
people want? Are they really so eager to lose themselves in films that are so
sorely lacking in conscience?</span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
And
really, that’s what it boils down to for me. I’m just so weary and tired of
filmmaking that lacks a conscience, and utilizes death so thoughtlessly and
frequently, positioning it as the ideal way to resolve conflict. Just to get
away from the nastiness and cynicism that saturates so much of film culture, I
have been taking more comfort in filmmakers who in fact don’t feel they need to
rely on screen violence to tell interesting stories in interesting ways, and I
feel so much better for it. They have meaningful things to say about the world
that are grounded in easily relatable experiences and come across as so much
more positive and compassionate than the majority of the messages I’d be likely
to find in a heavily violent film. Along these lines, I’m specifically thinking
of filmmakers like Jean Renoir, the humanist <i>par excellence</i><span style="font-style: normal;">; Jacques Tati, the gentle clown of French cinema;
and François Truffaut, whose relatively rare uses of violence in his films
often, significantly, come across as rather clumsy – sometimes to great effect,
as in </span><i>Shoot the Piano Player</i><span style="font-style: normal;">;
sometimes to poor effect, as in </span><i>The Bride Wore Black</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. In any case, he is better remembered for sunnier,
stronger films like </span><i>Stolen Kisses</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
</span><i>Day For Night</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, </span><i>The Wild
Child</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, and </span><i>Small Change</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. More recent efforts from Asian cinema have created
an interesting dichotomy: while Park Chan-wook has been lavished with praise
for his prettily framed studies of violence and its harmful consequences right
up to </span><i>Stoker</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, others like Hou
Hsiao-hsien, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Hirokazu Kore-eda have been at work
making some of the most peaceful and light-hearted films you could hope to
find. If there is a cinematic father figure for these modern masters, it is
surely Yasujiro Ozu, whose calm, orderly family dramas say so much without
resorting to outlandish scenarios – indeed, they hardly ever leave the
households, office buildings, bars, and train platforms of a bygone – yet still
familiar – Tokyo. A number of his contemporaries in the Japanese film industry
– Hiroshi Shimizu, Mikio Naruse – likewise remained quite content with the
stuff of everyday life. As for Akira Kurosawa, while he is well known for
creating some of the most striking scenes of violence in all of cinema, one
need only think of films like </span><i>Rashomon</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, </span><i>Seven Samurai</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, or </span><i>Ran
</i><span style="font-style: normal;">to understand that Kurosawa’s violence is
nearly always in service to his critiques of mankind’s stupidity and savagery.
Kurosawa did not use violence lightly, and made sure to put it to some
constructive purpose in his films.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
Kurosawa
was another big gateway filmmaker for me, but these days I’m more likely to
turn to Ozu. It’s not that I have lost sight of Kurosawa’s greatness, nor have
I grown scared of or extra-sensitive to screen violence – hell, if anything,
I’ve developed a pretty high tolerance level of all manner of movie gore. But
that’s part of the point I’m making here – how did it reach that point where I
and so many other viewers are unshaken by the carnage we see in so many films?
How wide is the disconnect between the seemingly harmless, fantastical violence
of the movies and the real thing? I’m not passing any judgments on anyone’s
tastes, nor am I saying that I’m done with violent films forever. I’d just like
to take a bit of a break and lessen my intake of violent cinema for a bit – and
why not? The way I see it, having more playful, compassionate, and
conscientious films in my viewing intake can only be a good thing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><br />
Yet while this is a personal choice in the way I watch and think about film, it
would be interesting to see more filmmakers follow this route as well – to see
them challenge themselves by turning away from violence and murder and towards
more relatable and commonplace subject matter for their stories. There is a
delightful documentary tribute to Ozu called <i>Talking with Ozu </i><span style="font-style: normal;">(available on the Criterion edition of </span><i>Tokyo
Story</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> as well as on Youtube in separate
parts) in which such filmmakers as Hou, Claire Denis, Wim Wenders, and Lindsay
Anderson share their personal connections to the Japanese master. In it,
Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki offers up his words of gratitude and
affection, at one point voicing his admiration for Ozu’s aversion to violence:
“What I respect most is that Ozu never needed to use murder or violence to tell
everything that’s essential about human life.” While he admits in his typically
self-deprecating manner that he will never reach Ozu’s level, Kaurismäki can
rest easy: a deeply conscientious filmmaker in his own right, he rarely resorts
to violence, and only ever lets it play a small part in his nourishing humanist
tales. </span><br />
<span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="217" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7ZPpnd4hTVw?list=UU_C9rYiX8RQLP39rWOEXeUA" width="385"></iframe>
<span style="font-style: normal;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-style: normal;">But what about other filmmakers? Are there any who would be willing to
take up the Ozu challenge and ease off of the bloodshed in their own films?
Pedro Costa voices a similar wish at the end of <a href="http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/some-violence-is-required-a-conversation-with-pedro-costa">a
recent interview for MUBI.com’s <i>Notebook</i></a> in which he imagines a
version of David Fincher’s <i>The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> devoid of any violence: “Let’s avoid every single murder, killing, weapon. That’s the challenge.” It’s challenges in cinematic
storytelling like that that I’d be very happy to see more of. After all,
there’s something to be said for the filmmaker whose idea of an essential prop
is a red teapot rather than a human skull.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZTqVm3h-ucAOF9pBddODpXd1-zJrGpuaCO1ajYeGk3VDWN85bxwVcgQtqFZppRJGw7CbTlD-2RZ6IxkEEpicJ4PBRfRO3OUT6sEeclca-AppDGpjZ0A8K_2LiwkpfnXiAQAiEJq9oa_S/s1600/OZU+Equinox+Flower+teapot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVZTqVm3h-ucAOF9pBddODpXd1-zJrGpuaCO1ajYeGk3VDWN85bxwVcgQtqFZppRJGw7CbTlD-2RZ6IxkEEpicJ4PBRfRO3OUT6sEeclca-AppDGpjZ0A8K_2LiwkpfnXiAQAiEJq9oa_S/s400/OZU+Equinox+Flower+teapot.jpg" height="285" width="385" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yasujiro Ozu's <i>Equinox Flower</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4umryAwK7bmBfdWb7AxJxHRFv8dahJLS_oNNZHIROY_v-I3ZqNfzT0Rt4w91w174RFhyMhk0fRBHXpytSb5QnNQAIT6n5kscPktBhTYsnRkwdbp081svkkVVjke5pSM5YlU5uFQmK-py/s1600/Django+Unchained+DiCaprio+skull.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV4umryAwK7bmBfdWb7AxJxHRFv8dahJLS_oNNZHIROY_v-I3ZqNfzT0Rt4w91w174RFhyMhk0fRBHXpytSb5QnNQAIT6n5kscPktBhTYsnRkwdbp081svkkVVjke5pSM5YlU5uFQmK-py/s400/Django+Unchained+DiCaprio+skull.jpg" height="250" width="385" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quentin Tarantino's <i>Django Unchained</i></td></tr>
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Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-83628553445413744022013-03-20T11:42:00.000-07:002013-03-20T20:14:30.384-07:00Early 2013 Activity: Rotterdam, Picks of 2012, RIP Donald Richie, ShinsedaiHello all. I come to you today with a gathering of pieces, most of which I wrote, that have been recently posted:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>· </b></span><a href="http://sensesofcinema.com/2013/festival-reports/along-the-tiger-path-the-42nd-international-film-festival-rotterdam/">My report on the 42nd International Film Festival Rotterdam</a>, which I attended in January and February, has just been posted in <a href="http://sensesofcinema.com/issue/66/">Senses of Cinema's 66th issue</a>. In it, I talk about a healthy portion of the films I saw, from <i>The Master</i>, <i>Stoker</i>, and the Kaurismäki-Costa-Erice-de Oliveira-directed omnibus film <i>Centro Histórico</i> to such pleasant surprises as Manuela Morgaine's <i>Foudre</i>, Carlos Lechuga's <i>Melaza</i>, Alex Pitstra's <i>Die Welt</i>, Sebastián Hofmann's <i>Halley</i>, and Anand Gandhi's <i>Ship of Theseus</i>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilICoSnIf7Js41urqQqpN5X9v94j9oae8Ca5kJFxLl8_gvpM3Y6nWbuLBZ5ZYgW44GctiK-1OwxPwrEJnFu-ZPw8lBofnWaJrA46O_2HZptiE4D3ghF2eEuAtbQerGZm1yJ29Uw9oy30w9/s1600/Halley_Film_still_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilICoSnIf7Js41urqQqpN5X9v94j9oae8Ca5kJFxLl8_gvpM3Y6nWbuLBZ5ZYgW44GctiK-1OwxPwrEJnFu-ZPw8lBofnWaJrA46O_2HZptiE4D3ghF2eEuAtbQerGZm1yJ29Uw9oy30w9/s400/Halley_Film_still_4.jpg" width="385" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sebastián Hofmann's <i>Halley</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0VvTNUKf3ZXg2JB-_wv720_vBzeh-Hrx0N4Pp8yqsApDE7UbIpAfofiKaYVzofWfj5zXBMfWzCcOdNnkpZOaXwNFMvsmMDcXtyUu6bySl4884Uh5qU6R-DjK021fqh_oK6amfzISLLAm3/s1600/Ship_of_Theseus_Film_still_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0VvTNUKf3ZXg2JB-_wv720_vBzeh-Hrx0N4Pp8yqsApDE7UbIpAfofiKaYVzofWfj5zXBMfWzCcOdNnkpZOaXwNFMvsmMDcXtyUu6bySl4884Uh5qU6R-DjK021fqh_oK6amfzISLLAm3/s400/Ship_of_Theseus_Film_still_3.jpg" width="385" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anand Gandhi's <i>Ship of Theseus</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQgMJjFOauZe_aDtirEn8trrBOqPOOiv1dz7k6jRdbIsudQwhLlhYRZbqQpGGVRGFQYBVhciVE6ISAZ6nyLklYoZh4zu4wR9rBwcLPYuVKQSnaESZQeDeMg7OBPx-jgk1BbpK7oNGQ0SUx/s1600/Centro_Historico_Film_still_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQgMJjFOauZe_aDtirEn8trrBOqPOOiv1dz7k6jRdbIsudQwhLlhYRZbqQpGGVRGFQYBVhciVE6ISAZ6nyLklYoZh4zu4wR9rBwcLPYuVKQSnaESZQeDeMg7OBPx-jgk1BbpK7oNGQ0SUx/s400/Centro_Historico_Film_still_2.jpg" width="385" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aki Kaurismäki's segment from <i>Centro Histórico</i></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>· </b></span>I was kindly invited to join a few of my other colleagues in Japanese cinema studies, including Chris MaGee and Julian Ross, in sharing my thoughts on the passing of Donald Richie, who was truly legendary for his contributions to writing on Japanese film and culture. <a href="http://www.midnighteye.com/features/remembering-donald-richie-1924-2013/">Click here</a> to view the group obit.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>· </b></span>The 2013 edition of the Shinsedai Cinema Festival, which has been showcasing independent Japanese films in Toronto every summer for the past four years, and which I have been personally involved with for just as long, has been officially cancelled due to a shortage of funds and sponsors. Read the announcement from Chris, the festival director, <a href="http://www.shinsedai.ca/latest-news/113-the-shinsedai-cinema-festival-2013-cancelled">here</a>.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>· </b></span>Finally, at both <a href="http://sensesofcinema.com/2013/65/2012-world-poll-part-three/#16">Senses of Cinema</a> and <a href="http://www.midnighteye.com/features/midnight-eyes-best-and-worst-of-2012/">Midnight Eye</a>, I listed and wrote about my favourite films of 2012.<br />
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Thanks for reading - and happy first day of spring!<br />
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<br />Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-35906982316614396772013-03-07T14:48:00.001-08:002013-03-07T19:31:09.258-08:00Book Plug: Directory of World Cinema: France<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello all. Today, I'd just like to mention another film book project I've contributed to that will be arriving in bookstores shortly*: the <i><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Directory-World-Cinema-Tim-Palmer/dp/1841505633/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1362686706&sr=1-1">Directory of World Cinema: France</a></i>, edited by Tim Palmer and Charlie Michael. This is the latest in <a href="http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/">Intellect Books</a>' <i>Directory of World Cinema</i> series, which consists of volumes of essays and reviews that cover cinema from countries as diverse as Italy, Spain, Finland, Germany, Iran, China, and the USA (I have previously contributed to the <i>Japan</i> and <i>Japan 2</i> volumes, and will have an essay on Hirokazu Kore-eda in the upcoming <i>Japan 3</i> - all of which edited by John Berra).<br />
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This volume provides a pretty far-ranging look at the rich body of work that makes up French cinema. With chapters that cover such areas as horror, comedy, the avant-garde, and documentaries and reviews tackling films as diverse as <i>Last Year at Marienbad</i>, <i>Port of Shadows</i>, <i>Rififi</i>, <i>Amélie</i>, <i>The 400 Blows</i>, <i>The Beaches of Agnès</i>, <i>Zero for Conduct</i>, and <i>Un Chien Andalou</i>, lots of ground is covered while room is still left for future volumes to explore.<br />
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As for my contributions, I wrote the framing essay on the chapter that tackles one of French cinema's most well-known phenomena, the French New Wave, as well as the effects that it had on the French film industry. I also wrote three of the book's film reviews - the ones covering Jean-Pierre Jeunet's <i>A Very Long Engagement</i>, François Truffaut's <i>The Last Metro</i>, and Jacques Tati's <i>Play Time</i>, all films that are very close to my heart.<br />
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All in all, I'm very happy with how the book turned out, and I'm extremely thankful and flattered that Tim and Charlie included me in the project. Thanks guys, and for any film folk who choose to pick up the book, thank you as well and happy reading.<br />
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*Amazon.ca lists the release date as April 15th, and Amazon.co.uk pegs the release a little earlier on April 3rd.</div>
Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-44802389409106795202013-03-01T13:33:00.001-08:002013-03-01T18:27:15.175-08:00Bryan Dickie PhotographyHello all. In this post, I'd like to shed some light on another friend of mine - one whom I haven't seen since our high school days, save for some random meetings here and there (the last one far too briefly taking place on a GO train between Toronto and Oakville). Over the past few years, Bryan Dickie slipped off my radar, and for a time I didn't really know what he was up to.<br />
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Well, now I do, and it seems he has been quite busy not only travelling the world with his camera, but venturing into some of the most incredible, harrowing, and haunting places on the globe. A peek at <a href="http://dickiephotography.com/">his online portfolio</a> provides a taste of his adventures as well as his formidable talents when it comes to capturing those perfect observational moments within the blur of everyday life. Among the topics he has covered are the Karen ethnic group's ongoing fight against the Myanmar military regime's agenda of abuse and eradication (which Bryan addressed in <a href="http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/ghosts-of-the-jungle-0000315-v19n8">a story for VICE Canada</a>), the small Asian nation's steady crawl towards democracy, the Arctic Ocean's shrinking quantities of ice, the Inuit community of Pond Inlet, and the turbulent, Toronto-situated G20 summit of June 2010 marked by its overblown police presence and the destruction dealt out to businesses and property.<br />
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Bryan has some truly fantastic work to show for all of his globetrotting, and it is clear that he has both the skill and the sheer guts to venture into and document those far-flung places that many of us (definitely including myself) wouldn't dare to tread. I very much look forward to seeing where his adventurous spirit will take him next.<br />
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I wholeheartedly recommend everyone check out Bryan and his photography at:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·</b> </span><a href="http://dickiephotography.com/">His main website</a>, where a healthy selection of his photo essays can be found<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·</b> </span><a href="http://dickiephotography.tumblr.com/">His Tumblr blog</a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·</b> </span>His Twitter account, <a href="https://twitter.com/Dickiephoto">@Dickiephoto</a><br />
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To close out this post, have a gander at this short trailer for his work:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="300" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/58561536?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="400"></iframe>Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-87469300933635740432013-02-26T09:22:00.001-08:002013-02-26T09:22:36.429-08:00"MOTE" - A New Film from Chris MaGeeHello all. A short while ago, <a href="http://www.subtitleliterate.blogspot.ca/2012/12/new-experimental-film-by-chris-magee.html">I posted about <i>NOXLUX</i></a>, an experimental film my buddy Chris MaGee created. Since then, he has been busy tinkering with fresh ideas for other works. He has released a second film, <i>MOTE</i>, which you can view below, and currently has a third one in the works. Personally, I'm really enjoying these small, soothing films, and it's always a pleasant surprise to see what Chris has come up with.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="217" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0FjagQ76vzY?list=FLni6HSfq4OE58yvouPs5Yvg" width="385"></iframe>Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-49014386292582238562012-12-24T13:29:00.000-08:002012-12-24T15:08:29.373-08:00Marc's Reads of 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello all. In this most recent post, I wanted to list the books I read throughout 2012. While I attempted to fulfill my personal "50 Book Pledge," I sadly still came up woefully short at just twenty-four - an improvement over 2011's seventeen, but I still could have picked up the pace a bit with my reading habits. Still, the past year in books was a very enjoyable one for me, as I kept hitting one satisfying volume after the next (I love it when you hit a chain of good reads like that) - overall, a fantastic selection of talented authors and compelling subjects.<br />
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Since so many of my reading experiences this year were positive ones, I thought I'd present them here not in any ordered list, but instead in special categories that both compliment the books themselves and illuminate some of the thematic and stylistic similarities certain books shared with each other.<br />
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So, without further ado...<br />
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<b>Peering Across History and Lifetimes</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>The Bad Girl</i> by Mario Vargas Llosa<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>Fire in the Blood</i> by Irène Némirovsky<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>Touch</i> by Alexi Zentner<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet</i> by David Mitchell<br />
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<b>Worthwhile Rereads</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>A Moveable Feast</i> by Ernest Hemingway<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>A Clockwork Orange</i> by Anthony Burgess<br />
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<b>The Film Books</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>Zona: A Book About a Film About a Journey to a Room</i> by Geoff Dyer<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>Robert Bresson (Revised)</i> edited by James Quandt<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>Olivier Assayas</i> edited by Kent Jones<br />
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*For a more detailed write-up on these film books, head over to <a href="http://www.torontofilmreview.blogspot.ca/2012/12/marcs-reads-of-2012-film-books.html">my guest post at Toronto Film Review</a>.<br />
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<b>Most Disappointing Film Book</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>Jean Renoir: Projections of Paradise</i> by Ronald Bergan<br />
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<b>Japanese Literature</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>Spring Snow</i> by Yukio Mishima<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>1Q84</i> by Haruki Murakami (read <a href="http://bookshelfreaderreviews.blogspot.ca/2012/12/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-ja-x.html">my capsule review at bookshelf.ca</a>)<br />
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<b>Existential Literature</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>Point Omega</i> by Don DeLillo<br />
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<b>Wanderlust</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>The Art of Travel</i> by Alain de Botton<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>The Global Soul: Jet Lag, Shopping Malls, and the Search for Home</i> by Pico Iyer<br />
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<b>D.H. Lawrence 101</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>Out of Sheer Rage</i> by Geoff Dyer<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>Lady Chatterley's Lover</i> by D.H. Lawrence<br />
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<b>Literary Paris</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>The Emperor of Paris</i> by C.S. Richardson<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>The Belly of Paris</i> by Emile Zola<br />
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<b>Ecstatic Wordcraft</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>Chronic City</i> by Jonathan Lethem<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>Lisey's Story</i> by Stephen King<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>Telegraph Avenue</i> by Michael Chabon (read <a href="http://bookshelfreaderreviews.blogspot.ca/2012/12/telegraph-avenue.html">my capsule review at bookshelf.ca</a>)<br />
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<b>Most Life-Affirming</b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>Looking for Alaska</i> by John Green<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6; font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><i>The Fault in Our Stars</i> by John Green<br />
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<br />Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-1706082716795914282012-12-20T12:02:00.000-08:002012-12-20T12:03:31.482-08:00New Experimental Film by Chris MaGeeOne of the highlights of my final year as an undergrad at the University of Toronto was Professor Bart Testa's course on avant-garde and experimental cinema. Every week, he would take us a few steps further into a strange yet incredible realm of cinema that felt rich with possibility and imagination. Sure, I loved my Truffaut, Bergman, Fellini, and Wong (I still do), but those artists who decided to leave the frameworks of narrative behind completely did things that seemed to <i>really</i> dig into the true capabilities of cinema, taking their viewers to remarkable places where the contrivances of character and plot would only get in the way of the pure psychological experiences they achieved.<br />
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Sadly, in recent years I've somewhat neglected to keep exploring avant-garde cinema as I had promised myself I would do after finishing Professor Testa's course, but last night I saw a film that made me want to catch up on my Brakhage, Baillie, Anger, and Frampton. Entitled <i>NOXLUX</i>, it is a ten minute-long minimalist piece that slowly, mesmerizingly shifts from one pattern to the next, all of which viewed through a vertically striped frame that, as the image swells and flows, plays strange tricks on the eyes not unlike those old 3D posters we all had as kids. The film was made by none other than my good friend Chris MaGee, editor-in-chief of <a href="http://www.jfilmpowwow.blogspot.ca/">the Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow</a> and programmer of <a href="http://shinsedai.ca/">the Shinsedai Cinema Festival</a>. I think he has made something pretty cool here - not to mention refreshingly different from his other substantial pursuits in the world of film - and I really hope he continues to forge ahead in this new direction.<br />
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For now, though, you can enjoy the film below - which, I'd recommend, works best with the video switched to full screen, the lights turned off, and the headphones on. Settle in and enjoy...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="217" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Az3Hfl9g1z0" width="385"></iframe>Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-39142124794513087472012-12-18T10:31:00.001-08:002012-12-18T10:52:46.730-08:00November / December 2012 ActivityHello all. In this post, I thought I'd bring you up to date on my recent goings-on in film writing. Firstly, a few months ago <a href="http://www.subtitleliterate.blogspot.ca/2012/09/introducing-my-new-french-film-column.html">I announced the start of a new column over at Row Three called Cinephilia Française</a> that, I'll freely admit, has recently been somewhat dormant. This is due to a few things, namely my family's move away from the Greater Toronto Area and the emergence of some new writing projects. Right now, between those new projects, related travel plans for 2013, and a readjustment of a few personal goals of mine for the new year, I'm thinking that French film column may continue to remain dormant - sorry if I got anyone's hopes up. I'll still certainly be writing about and maintaining my interest in French cinema; just not in the form of that weekly column.<br />
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Now, as for what I <i>have</i> been up to recently:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0880f6;"> </span></b></span><a href="http://sensesofcinema.com/issue/65/">Issue 65 of Senses of Cinema</a> is now online. Among the impressive selection of fresh pieces on filmmakers like Michael Haneke, Marcel Hanoun, Nicolas Rey, James Gray, and the late Koji Wakamatsu, there is <a href="http://sensesofcinema.com/2012/feature-articles/the-kids-are-not-all-right-fanny-and-alexander-thirty-years-later/">my essay on one of my favourite films, Ingmar Bergman's <i>Fanny and Alexander</i></a>, written in honor of its thirtieth anniversary (it was first released theatrically in Sweden on December 17th, 1982). Now's probably the best time of the year to revisit this fantastic masterpiece (which boasts one of the best Christmas sequences ever filmed) - I know I'll be re-watching it within the week.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>· </b></span>Over at my friend David Davidson's blog Toronto Film Review, <a href="http://www.torontofilmreview.blogspot.ca/2012/12/marcs-reads-of-2012-film-books.html">I talk about the film books I read this past year</a>, including James Quandt's impressive <i>Robert Bresson (Revised)</i>.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>· </b></span>At Row Three, I posted <a href="http://www.rowthree.com/2012/11/17/now-playing-at-the-row-three-rep-the-nazi-occupation-triple-bill/">my dream triple bill of European arthouse classics dedicated to the Nazi Occupation of Italy and France</a>.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>· </b></span>Finally, I've been busy tending to some other business for Senses of Cinema: come January and February, I will be traveling to the Netherlands to cover for them <a href="http://www.filmfestivalrotterdam.com/en/">the 42nd International Film Festival Rotterdam</a>. I'm pretty excited about both the opportunity to travel to the Netherlands for the first time and the festival itself, which has a great reputation. Stay tuned for my report after the festival, which should be included in the journal's first issue of the new year.<br />
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Until then, cheers and happy holidays!<br />
<br />Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-66103582219586544472012-10-30T13:59:00.001-07:002012-10-30T14:05:29.732-07:00October 2012 Activity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello all. As some might have noticed, things have been relatively quiet over here - this is mainly due to a few things I've been tackling recently on my end, not least of all an upcoming move. While I <i>have</i> been working on a few assignments for certain publications, they're all currently still in the pipeline, but will hopefully emerge before too long. But I did manage to make it out to a couple of Toronto events in the past month, both of which I reported on over at <a href="http://www.rowthree.com/">Row Three</a>. For your convenience, they are gathered below:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·</b></span> <a href="http://www.rowthree.com/2012/10/16/shorts-that-are-not-pants-october-2012/">The latest edition of James McNally's Shorts That Are Not Pants screening series</a> was a fantastic success on all fronts - audience turnout, quality of films, overall enjoyment of the evening. If this bunch of hugely enjoyable shorts is any indication of things to come (in addition to STANP's already firmly-established and steadily growing reputation), Toronto audiences are going to want to stay tuned for the series' next edition, due for January 2013.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"><b>·</b></span> <a href="http://www.rowthree.com/2012/10/23/toronto-after-dark-2012-crave/">Charles de Lauzirika's debut film, <i>Crave</i></a>, made its Toronto premiere at the 2012 Toronto After Dark Film Festival. While I had some issues with certain aspects of its story (mainly its main character, a not-quite-all-there crime scene photographer with an overactive imagination), I still found plenty to enjoy about this very well-made crime/relationship drama.<br />
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That's all for now, folks - cheers, and happy Halloween!<br />
<br />Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-45855896169526428902012-09-28T09:21:00.002-07:002012-09-28T09:23:01.914-07:00Cinephilia Française: September<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello all. I hope the month of September has been kind to you. For myself, it saw the official launch of my new little French film review column over at <a href="http://www.rowthree.com/">Row Three</a>, <a href="http://www.rowthree.com/category/cinephilia-francaise/">Cinephilia Française</a>. Covering a new Olivier Assayas film featured at TIFF and three certified classics from before 1950, I think the column got off to a good start - I at least certainly enjoyed writing about all the chosen films, and I'm looking forward to keeping it up with more interesting picks. Likewise, I hope there are some readers out there who are inspired to check out some of these.<br />
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Anyways, September's Cinephilia Française reviews are gathered below. Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for more pieces throughout October over at Row Three!<br />
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<br />Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-86054760534839744072012-09-07T12:02:00.002-07:002012-09-07T12:02:27.364-07:00Introducing my New French Film Column, Cinephilia Française<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello all. Over the past week, I've been busy launching a new review column over at the film site <a href="http://www.rowthree.com/">Row Three</a> that should prove to be of particular interest if you're a fan of French cinema. Essentially, every week I'll be posting a fresh review of a film that is either affiliated with or can be considered part of France's filmmaking culture. Through this column, titled Cinephilia Française, I hope to re-charge my film reviewing batteries while conducting a fun and far-reaching tour of the rich cache of artistic diversity that has stemmed from France throughout film history.<br />
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I've recently posted the first couple of reviews for the column, which cover Jean Vigo's classic rebel yell <a href="http://www.rowthree.com/2012/09/05/cinephilia-francaise-zero-for-conduct-1933/"><i>Zero for Conduct</i> (1933)</a> and Claire Denis' lovely homage to Yasujiro Ozu <a href="http://www.rowthree.com/2012/08/28/review-35-shots-of-rum-2008/"><i>35 Shots of Rum</i> (2008)</a>. Click <a href="http://www.rowthree.com/category/cinephilia-francaise/">here</a> to check out all the French film reviews that have been (and, in the future, will be) filed under the Cinephilia Française category tab, and check back regularly at Row Three to see what films I'll be tackling in the weeks ahead. For the next little bit, I'll be bouncing off of <i>Zero for Conduct</i> and exploring certain films that provide a not-so-sunny vision of revolutionary spirit, including a new title being shown at this year's Toronto International Film Festival from one of the finest French filmmakers working today. Stay tuned!Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-55464742565563221812012-08-30T14:21:00.000-07:002012-08-30T17:32:27.941-07:00Olive Films to Release Region 1 DVD of Robert Bresson's "The Devil, Probably"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hello all. A few days ago, I stumbled upon a pretty great piece of news for anyone who is at all keen on French cinema and one of its most significant figures, Robert Bresson. One of the filmmaker's last and most important films, 1977's <i>The Devil, Probably</i> (<i>Le diable probablement</i>), is finally going to be getting <a href="http://www.olivefilms.com/films/the-devil-probably/">a release on Region One DVD on September 18th courtesy of Olive Films</a>. Now, I had the chance to see this as well as <a href="http://www.subtitleliterate.blogspot.ca/2012/02/robert-bresson-roundup.html">a few other Bresson films earlier in the year</a> at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, which ran a special retrospective of his work, and I will say that I'm not entirely enamoured with the film. However, its engaging narrative regarding a disillusioned young man who grows increasingly disturbed by the harmful forces around him and unusual craftsmanship as chosen by the ever-meticulous Bresson have certainly compelled me to think about it over time, and I am all too eager to give the film a second viewing. I've also read a number of illuminating pieces on it within the excellent volume <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Robert-Bresson-Revised-James-Quandt/dp/0968296955/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346360819&sr=1-1"><i>Robert Bresson (Revised)</i> edited by James Quandt</a>, which only further stress <i>The Devil, Probably</i>'s importance within both Bresson's body of work and world cinema (it had a great impact on Olivier Assayas, among other filmmakers). Thank you, Olive Films, for making it more readily available to us.<br />
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Shortly after the DVD is released, I will likely be writing a piece on the film that will be posted both here and at <a href="http://www.rowthree.com/">Row Three</a>. Until then, I will leave you with a trailer below. Be warned - like the film itself, it is fairly chilly, dissonant, and ends on some real downer notes.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="289" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/L7KMMZUSKnA" width="385"></iframe>Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-34263449720125914902012-08-20T16:49:00.000-07:002012-08-21T10:22:10.863-07:00Members of Toronto's Film Community Put Forth Their Greatest/Favorite Film Picks<div>
In one of the most recent reactions to <a href="http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time">Sight and Sound's newest list of the greatest films ever made</a> according to a poll of filmmakers, programmers, critics, and writers (you know, the one that, among other interesting variations from past results, replaced <i>Citizen Kane</i> with <i>Vertigo</i> in the #1 spot), David Davidson of Toronto Film Review took it upon himself to collect personal film selections from a healthy selection of Toronto's own filmmakers, critics, bloggers, and all-around cinema enthusiasts. I was most pleased to be able to contribute my own picks, which I simply chose according to what my gut and heart told me. Overall I'm very content with each of the ten films I put forth, which I think make up a good selection from the vast history of cinema.</div>
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You can check out my list as well as those of David, his girlfriend Arielle, filmmakers Kazik Radwanski, Igor Drljaca, Antoine Bourges, and Simon Ennis, film critics Adam Nayman, Christopher Heron, and Kiva Reardon, and many, many more <a href="http://www.torontofilmreview.blogspot.ca/2012/08/the-greatest-films-of-all-time.html">right here at Toronto Film Review</a>. As always with lists of this sort, diversity and discovery are the names of the game here...</div>
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Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-86941168342022870832012-08-05T10:16:00.000-07:002012-08-05T10:16:10.483-07:00Lime<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-72463971643018637372012-07-25T16:06:00.000-07:002012-07-25T16:06:04.551-07:00Coasting Onwards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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April 2011 - Frankfurt, GermanyMarc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-61664299225299455542012-07-22T15:47:00.000-07:002012-07-22T15:47:50.340-07:00"Pickpocket" by Bresson & BurialRobert Bresson and dubstep: two great tastes that taste great together? I think so.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="289" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xHvMXQlXw0E" width="385"></iframe>Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1253108521258230251.post-89307114488797660182012-07-21T04:56:00.000-07:002012-07-21T04:56:35.120-07:00Pyre<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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From Andrei Tarkovsky's <i>The Sacrifice</i> (1986)<br />
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"In the spring we made a boat<br />
Out of feathers, out of bones.<br />
We set fire to our homes,<br />
Walking barefoot in the snow."<br />
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-from Of Monsters and Men's "Your Bones"Marc Saint-Cyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06744019216439799084noreply@blogger.com0