Tag: Experimental Cinema

Funeral Parade of Roses (Japan – 1969 – 4K Restoration)

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for Cinetalk.net

Apparently acknowledged by Stanley Kubrick as an influence on A Clockwork Orange, Toshio Matsumoto (1932-2017)’s Japanese cult film, Funeral Parade of Roses (1969), is released theatrically in a brand new 4K restoration.

Shot in glorious black and White, Funeral Parade of Roses follows the adventures of Eddie, a popular transgender figure active at nightclub Genet,  in the infamous Shinjuku district.  Eddie befriend a group of young revolutionaries, artists and filmmakers during a period of social unrest.

A personal rendering of the Oedipus myth (one sequence features the Japanese poster to Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Oedipus Rex),  Funeral Parade of Roses has much to do with avant-garde and contemporary art in portraying the subculture of 1969 Tokyo, especially Shinjuku. It uses constant fractured narrative (Matsumoto was Continue reading →

by Categories: Classic and Art-HouseTags: , , , Leave a comment

3 Films by Lav Diaz

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Pascal Grenier for Cinetalk.net

Film director  Lavrente Indico Diaz  (born 1958) just won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival with his latest epic The Woman Who Left. The Filipino independent was probably contemporary cinema’s best-kept secret. Until now . His body of work includes  more than 25 films ( with more than 15 features ).

Since his debut  in 1998,  Lav Diaz productions were rarely shown outside  the film-festival circuit. One reason is the length. Some  run over 10 hours, many running over 300 minutes long !  A multi-awarded versatile artist (he is also a poet and musician) Diaz’s  distinctive style is  highly contemplative, with a dash of documentary-style approach and sometimes a heavy dose of experimentation.  His films are deeply-rooted into the Philippines history.

Lav Diaz may be on the verge of a well deserved recognition as one of the most  singular director working today.

 

1 – The Criminal of Barrio Conception (Serafin Geronimo: Kriminal ng Barrio Concepcion-1998)

Lav Diaz  feature debut is loosely-based on Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment.

Seraphin, a poverty-stricken farmhand , takes part in a Continue reading →

by Categories: Contemporary CinemaTags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

The private life of a cat (1944)

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for Cinetalk.net

An Academy Award winner, Austrian filmmaker Alexander Hammid, a creator of the Czech avant-garde movement of the 1930’s, director of the classic of experimental cinema Meshes of the Afternoon (which he created with Maya Deren),  shot and edited The private life of a cat in 1944.

The private life of a cat is a B&W silent short, part narrative, part documentary, a 22 minutes account on the lives of a Cat family. Meeting,  Mating (no graphic sex scene, so the principle of immaculate conception is an option even for cats), etc. And you get to see Continue reading →

by Categories: Documentaries, Animation & Experimental FilmsTags: , , , , Leave a comment