It's been ten years since we last dedicated part of our Zomerfilmcollege to Jean-Luc Godard, but JLG tends to be inescapable, so he has popped up frequently over the years.
It goes without saying that he couldn't be excluded from @cineriogent 's 'Ex Machina' series, celebrating cinematically bold films, each highlighting an exceptional use of one filmic device. You could probably choose a Godard film for every one of these devices, but the choice fell on the close-up, one of Godard's most intricate formal strategies. And if you want to talk about Godard's use of the close-up, you can't ignore 𝙑𝙞𝙫𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙖 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙢: 𝙁𝙞𝙡𝙢 𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙯𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙭 (1962).
This film consists of—as its title announces—12 'tableaux', each tableau exploring one or more ways to film the human face, using a flimsy B-movie plot as an excuse. The face in question being that of Anna Karina, Godard's then partner, making this film a love letter to the human face, the face of Anna Karina and the face of cinema itself.
VIVRE SA VIE, soon at Ciné Rio
September 28th, 11:00 @dekoergent
With an introduction by Bart Versteirt.
#jeanlucgodard #vivresavie #zomerfilmcollege #filmhistory #arthistory #filmschool #summerfilmschool
De zomer is voorbij en onze wekelijkse publicaties hervatten straks met een tekst over Kapital Europe, de nieuwe film van @benderaes . In afwachting is er de oogst van de eerste snede. Een terugblik op een drietal teksten:
🎙 Om eigen ongemak te vermijden bewaakt het festival van Cannes de grenzen van de rebellie die welkom is op het grootst denkbare forum, als verzet in de marge of liever wordt buitengehouden.
Een terugblik op een Cannes-bezoek, met @eliasvoskamp .
🔎 Deze zomer toonden @filmfestgent en @eye_film de restauratie van High and Low van Akira Kurosawa. Michaël Van Remoorte schreef: "Het is binnen een dynamiek van licht en schaduw, van verborgen en gedwongen blootgeven, van openlijke protserigheid en verholen wrevels dat we de plotwendingen en kleurschakeringen van High and Low dienen te begrijpen."
💬 Tijdens het festival @mooovfilms in Brugge nam een groep jonge filmliefhebbers deel aan onze workshop filmkritiek. Federica Alexakis ( @fedetje ) keek toen de kracht van sterke personages in de ogen.
[eerste beeld: The Seasons van Artavazd Peleshian (1975)]
In 2018, Éric Rohmer’s work was the focus of Zomerfilmcollege, but L’AMI DE MON AMIE (1987) was missing from the programme. Now, @cinea_be and @fc_dollyshot are righting that wrong with a screening of this sophisticated comedy, in which Rohmer dissects in his characteristic manner the amorous entanglements between four young adults in the Parisian town of Cergy-Pontoise.
The film, part of Rohmer’s ‘Comédies et Proverbes’ series, shows his ability to connect (seemingly!) light-hearted romantic situations with sharp observations on moral dilemmas and social conventions. The dialogues—typically Rohmerian in their natural rhythm and philosophical undertones—gradually reveal the complexity of the characters and their interrelationships.
L’AMI DE MON AMIE, soon at Filmhuis Klappei.
April 25th, 20:15, @filmhuisklappei
With an introduction by Bart Versteirt.
#éricrohmer #ericrohmer #lamidemonamie #zomerfilmcollege #filmhistory #arthistory #filmschool #summerfilmschool
« Nouveauté n'est pas originalité ni modernité. »
— Robert Bresson
(The ‘Pickpocket ending’, from Robert Bresson [1959] via Paul Schrader and Susan Sarandon [Light Sleeper, 1992] to Adam Sandler [That’s My Boy, 2012])
« Et même si rien ne devait être comme nous l’avions espéré / cela ne changerait rien à nos espérances »
— JLG
(Image from Max Ophüls’ ‘Le Plaisir’, 1952)