Directed By: Daniele Huillet, Jean-Marie Straub
Written By: Friedrich Engels, Daniele Huillet, Mahmoud Hussein, Jean-Marie Straub
HELP FROM OVERSEAS: 2 of 2
Before I rip into this movie, let me just reiterate how gracious I am to Ray for being so trustworthy toward me and allowing me to borrow a couple of his movies and spending the money to ship them all the way from the UK. Thank you a thousand times over Ray. Now then...
I'm not even going to bother trying to summarize the events of this because it's barely able to be summarized. All I can tell you is that it's one hour and forty five minutes of very long takes of images and landscapes, accompanied by voiceover narration by Daniele Huillet and Mahmoud Hussein, who can barely speak English. The narration takes about revolt and gives certain facts about impoverished villages and why revolution was eventually necessary. I have to be completely honest with you here, I wasn't really paying much attention to the narrator. I TRIED to give the movie my undivided attention, but there were times when my mind would wander elsewhere and I couldn't help it. I watched every image - every long, dull image - and tried my best to make heads or tails out of the narration that I was paying attention to, but between barely being able to understand the speakers and being clueless as to the subject that was being discussed, I didn't pick up on much.
If there is ANYONE out there who watched this and actually found something in it, gave it a '7/10' or higher or found some sort of enjoyment out of watching these images, please come here to the blog and fill me in on what I'm apparently missing. I beg you to fill me in. I don't expect you to rip into my negative opinion, nor will I rip into your positive one. I just want some sort of insight into why on Earth this film would've been chosen as one of 1001 movies that one must see before one's death. It is the opinion of this author that "movies" like this, should not be included in a book, THE BOOK, next to movies that have actual actors, characters and plots. In my opinion, this isn't even really a movie, it's simply a man with a camera, shooting images and talking over them, something that literally anyone can do. The images weren't even particularly good looking, they were just vague, almost random, uninspiring images, that held no special meaning - to me anyway. Okay, so obviously I didn't like the movie and for obvious reasons, so there's no need to keep on about it.
RATING: 1/10 By far, THE WORST of the season, thus far. One last big 'thank you' to Ray, who as we speak has me one more hard to find movie in the mail.
MOVIES WATCHED: 631
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 370
March 10, 2013 11:19pm
Saying 'told you so' is bad form, whatever the circumstances.. Si won't.
ReplyDeleteIf you think you wasted an evening, I paid good money to but this thing.
If this was meant to be a political polemic, why have such a dead pan voice over? You will be too young to remember the days of Radio Moscow that had a very simular delivery in the 60's / early 70's.
This film was so bad at putting it's revolutionary point, at times i started to suspect it was a CIA funded film to send classes of earnest potential revolutionaries to sleep.
But, as ever, I guess it has a place in a list of representative films to see. I just feel there could have been something better out there.
A brief note to other readers.. the help is not one way.. Andrew has sent me a couple of very useful direct links to 'missing' films.. noteably 'Deseret' and 'Puppet master'. For which I am every bit as greatful.
Ray
You're welcome Ray
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