Jul
29
The Early Films of Peter Greenaway 1
Filed Under DVD, Experimental, Peter Greenaway, Short Films | Leave a Comment
| The Early Films of Peter Greenaway 1 |
|
| Year | 1960s-1970s |
| Director | Peter Greenaway |
| Actors | None |
| Disc Layers | 1 |
| Source | DVD |
| Image Quality | Very Good |
Peter Greenaway’s artistic and painterly approach to filmmaking is polarizing. Most of us get our first exposure to Greenaway through one of his feature films (typically one from the 1980s) and we pretty much know right away whether we like him or not.
His early films manage to be both entertaining and tedious, with Greenaway’s admittedly self-conscious style in full effect. Here we see his experiments with superimposed text, a fascination with paintings and other forms of art, and the way in which he combines documentary-style imagery with quirky, often ludicrous narrative.
Included on this DVD are the beautifully preserved films:
A Walk Through H - (40min) - In this film, the longest on the DVD, the narrator takes us on a journey through the fictional town of “H” by presenting several painted maps he has collected over the years. The maps have been organized and displayed by his friend, Tulse Luper, and the narrator delivers many personal stories about how he obtained the map, what its relevance is, and what eventually happened to it. The paintings were actually painted by Peter Greenaway and make for an interesting film.
H Is For House - (9min) - An exploration of the alphabet and how it brings together unrelated words in its fairly simple organizational structure.
Windows - (3min) - Shots of windows with narration about the number of people who died after falling out of windows “last year.”
Intervals - (6min) - Lessons in Italian are delivered over black and white shots of Italy.
Dear Phone - (17min) - Humorous tales of telephone obsession are told over shots of various English telephone boxes. Interesting both for its visuals and its narrative.
Water Wrackets - (11min) - A difficult-to-understand study of some type of water creatures is discussed over poorly lit and boring close-ups of stagnant lakes.
The DVD also includes two incredible galleries of Greenaway paintings, as well as a 15 minute introduction in which Greenaway discusses these films and his early experiments. The best way to watch this disc is to go to the “Special Features” and select the option to view each film’s introduction, followed by each individual film.
On a side note, I once drove several hours to see Greenaway present a screening of The Pillow Book which, at the time, he didn’t think would be picked up for distribution in the United States. I missed the earlier, snobby showing at the American Film Institute and instead caught a much later (and I imagine much more enjoyable) screening at a local theater that night.
Apr
26
Bottle Rocket (1994 short film)
Filed Under Short Films, Unknown | Leave a Comment
| Bottle Rocket (1994 short film) |
|
| Year | 1994 |
| Director | Wes Anderson |
| Actors | Owen Wilson Luke Wilson Robert Musgrave |
| Disc Layers | 1 |
| Source | Unknown |
| Image Quality | Fair |
Clocking in at a brief 13 minutes, this short film would later be developed into the masterpiece of the same name, launching Wes Anderson and the Owens brothers into super-stardom. Here, more than ever, their talent is on display as the dialogue and delivery shine through the grainy, black and white, hand-held image.
Watching this film, it seems as if the feature script was already written, then pared down to its basics for the short. It shares much of its dialogue with the feature, and two years later, many of the scenes would be refilmed almost identically - with a modest, but much larger budget.
A great treat for fans.