Gene Tierney

Jean Pierre Leaud

In the October issue of Sight and Sound there is an article 'Jean Pierre-Leaud - Lord of the Left Bank', p36-p39.

Film and stage beauties # 13: Ina Brown

Reverse reads:

A series of 54, No. 35, Ina Brown.

A series of real photographs now being issued with Black Cat Medium Cigarettes. Carreras Ltd (ESTD 1788) Arcadia Works, London, England.

Coming attraction: More from Masters of Cinema

Above: Cover of current Masters of Cinema Catalogue
Below: Buster Keaton in the abandoned first version of 'The Electric House' (1921), inside front cover of Masters of Cinema Catalogue.



Is this the best UK DVD label for cineaste's?

I certainly think so, their current catalogue; 2006/2007 already bursting with great films is about to get a lot more exciting. Their release schedule includes a Mikio Naruse box set (November) 'Diary of a Lost Girl' directed by G.W. Pabst and 'Woman in the Moon' and 'Die Niebungen' both directed by Fritz Lang, two Maysles Brothers (also available via Criterion) but most exciting of all they have scheduled eight Mizoguchi's for 2007. This is incredibly good news for fans who have been hopelessly served by Mizoguchi currently on DVD. Artificial Eye have released two in UK and Criterion put out a lovely 2 disc set of 'Ugestu Monogatari' but apart from that in the UK at least we are starved and they are never shown on television. In Spain however there are 2 six disc box sets, sadly they are in Japanese with Spanish subtitles only.

The copy in the back of the catalogue states "Some of the films to be released in 2007:"

Miss Oyu (Oyu-sama; 1951)
Ugestu Monogatari; 1953)
Gion Festival Music (Gion bayashi; 1953)
Sansho Dayu; 1954
The Woman of Rumour (Ulwasa no onna; 1954)
Chikamatsu Monogatari; 1954
The Empress Yang Kewi Fei (Yokihi; 1955)
Street of Shame (Akasen chitai; 1956)

Link
Eureka's Masters of Cinema series, link.

Filmwaves

I think this magazine has had a redesign as I didn't recognise it when I first saw it. Anyway current issue has an article on 'The Passenger' which is why I bought it.

Link
Filmwaves Magazine, link.

Coming attraction: Max Ophuls DVD's

Exciting news, four new DVD's from Second Sight in their new 'Max Ophuls Collection' - released last week - 18th September.

'The Reckless Moment'
'Letter from an Unknown Woman' (also being shown on BBC4 this evening)
'Le Plaisir'
'Madame de...'

All with extras, for example 'The Reckless Moment' and 'Le Plaisir' have introductions from Todd Haynes.

From the archive

Okay, so I admit it's not from the archive as much as a new release but I stumbled on this new 7" from Charlotte Gainsbourg at my local record emporium.
Anyway the single is really rather good and there is an album out there now too.

Links
Charlotte Gainsbourg's new album on Wikipedia (didn't even know they were doing albums on there), link.
Charlotte Gainsbourg on IMDB, link.

Jack Cardiff in Conversation at the National Gallery

Above: Jack Cardiff's autobiography 'Magic Hour' - with the portrait of Monroe by Cardiff.
Below: The event as described in the National Gallery leaflet.



On Wednesday night I attended the Jack Cardiff 'lecture' at the National Gallery. Ian Christie was interviewing the recently turned (18th Sept) 92 year old Cardiff. The evening was excellent. I arrived just in time and managed to get a seat vaguely near the front.

Christie was an excellent interviewer and asked intelligent probing questions with excellent visual aids that took the form of images from the National Gallery collection, stills from Cardiff's work as well as clips, on set photographs and portraits that Cardiff had taken including the one of Marilyn Monroe that graces the cover of his autobiography (above).

When talking about the masters Cardiff remarked that Vermeer would have made an excellent cinematographer and that Caravaggio was a master of movement. Cardiff, it transpired used to visit to the National Gallery often to view these paintings drawing inspiration as one of only four UK based cinematographers using the Technicolor process. He joked that Natalie Kalmus, wife of Herbert T Kalmus (one of Technicolor's founders) could be something of a pain and quite directional in terms of how the equipment should be used. Cardiff, took the Technicolor camera out into the field to shoot 'Western Approaches'.

The whole evening was filmed, not for use on a DVD but for uploading after editing to the National Gallery's website so that those who missed the event can see the whole evening. I was pleased as I managed to briefly meet Mr Cardiff afterwards and get my stuff signed. I also met up with my new friends from The Powell & Pressburger Appreciation Society and had a drink with them afterwards and met David Parker who took on the films of Powell & Pressburger as his specialist subject on BBC's Mastermind as well as the other cinema enthusiasts who are members of the group.

Links
Western Approaches on IMDB. A clip was shown and it looks like a very interesting film and is available on DVD, link.
Jack Cardiff, A Source of Light - article on Sense's of Cinema by Maximilian Le Cain, link.
List of questions posed to David Parker on BBC's Mastermind, link.
The Powell & Pressburger Pages - the Powell & Pressburger Appreciation Society, link.
My earlier post on this event, link.

Blow-up exhibition at The Photographers' Gallery

Cover of The Photographers' Gallery magazine (above) and inside the gallery (below).

Coming attraction: Eros

This film opens next weekend here. I'd only heard about it when I saw a magazine advertisement last month. I've heard mixed things but am still excited to see how this works with these three directors.

Links
Earlier post for 'Eros', link.
IMDB entry for 'Eros', link.

London Film Festival

Link
London Film Festival, link.

Firecracker - Nite Movies

Raindance Presents: Beyond Structure

From the leaflet; "The most popular screenwriting course in Los Angeles and New York comes to London. A masterclass with David Freeman Saturday/Sunday 23/24 September 2006."

Link
David Freeman's website, link.

Another Film Festival

Okay, granted this one ends today but another Film Festival in London in September is or rather was the 2006 Taiwan Film Festival, 14th-17th September, held at the excellent Riverside Studios in Hammersmith.

Coming attraction: Keane

This film get's released here next Friday, 22nd September however on Wednesday 20th September at 18.30 there will be a preview screening with Damian Lewis at Curzon Soho, Shaftesbury Avenue.

Like 'Eros' this film, according to IMDB is from 2004 so I'm unsure why it's taken so long to get to these shores.

Link
IMDB entry for 'Keane', link.

Coming attraction: Sunday French Classics

Cine Lumiere at Institut Francais has published the list of French films it will show on Sunday's at 2pm.
Organised in collaboration with Wallflower Press, publishers of 'The Cinema and France' and the forthcoming book 'The French New Wave'.

List of films

10 Sept - Le Mepris

17 Sept - Seire Noire
24 Sept - Fort Saganne
1 Oct - Le Nom de la Rose
8 Oct - Jules et Jim
15 Oct - Quai des Orfevres
22 Oct - Boudu Sauve des Eaux
29 Oct - Lola
5 Nov - Les Dames du Bois de Bologne
12 Nov - La Femme Infidele
19 Nov - Le Boucher
26 Nov - Cesar
3 Dec - Le Temps Retrouve
10 Dec - India Song
7 Jan - Remorques
14 Jan - La Nuit Fantastique
21 Jan - Goupi Mains Rouges
28 Jan - Les Visiteurs du Soir
4 Feb - Le Mariage de Chiffon
11 Feb - Douce

Link
Cine Lumiere at Institut Francais, 17 Queensbury Place, SW7 2DT. Nearest tube: South Kensington, link.

Spanish, Brazilian and Asian Film Festivals

During September London plays host to three film festivals celebrating films from different countries or regions.

Links

• The 2nd BrazilianUK Brasilian Film Festival (pictured) - 20th-24th, link.
  
• London's Asian Film Festival - Firecracker Showcase - 14th-24th, link.
  
• 2nd London Spanish Film Festival - 8th-20th, link.
  

Coming attraction: Paris Nous Appartient

BFI will release 'Paris Nous Appartient' and 'Celine and Julie Go Boating' (Jacques Rivette) later this month. The NFT recently kicked off their Rivette retrospective with a new print of this film, which to the best of my knowledge is the first time on DVD in the English speaking world and unlike 'Celine and Julie Go Boating' has not been shown on British TV in a long time.

Links
'Paris Nous Appartient' DVD, available from 25th September, link.
IMDB entry for 'Paris Nous Appartient', link.
Browse the BFI's collection online, link.

Firecracker Magazine, issue #2

The second issue of Firecracker is out featuring:
Features on the films of Wang Xiaoshuai, Ram Gopal Varma
Interview with Takashi Miike
Preview of the Firecracker Showcase - a short festival of Asian Cinema in London
Pinoy indies: The Philippines Movie Scene

Links
Firecracker Magazine's website, link.
London's Asian Film Festival - Firecracker Showcase, link.

Coming attraction: Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait

Gene Tierney

Recommended link

Filmbrain's 'Like Anna Karina's Sweater' has good news -'The Last Movie' is being shown in New York. He revisits the late Pauline Kael's comments on the film when originally released alongside 'The Last Picture Show'.

I just hope, like many others that there will be a wider re-release and a DVD of this sometime soon.

Link
Maybe Not the Last, But Certainly Not the Least - post on 'The Last Movie', link.

Spanish Festival

It seems probable that the new Spanish international film festival to replace the disgraced San Sebastian event will take place at Palma de Majorca in the Balearic isles. There are plenty of hotels and winter sunshine and the town is rich with tourism.
The things which attracts the Spanish film industry is that it will be possible to stage a European festival there before Cannes, possibly late March, and with luck and enterprise skim some of the celluloid cream from the French.

p43, Films and Filming, November 1966.

Does anyone know why San Sebastian was 'disgraced'? I actually was on the site earlier this week as this years festival is later this month.

Links
San Sebastian (Donostia is Basque name) International Film Festival site in English, link.
Wikipedia entry for San Sebastian International Film Festival, currently empty, link.

Film and stage beauties # 12: Cheryl Walker

Reverse reads:

A series of 54, No. 31, Cheryl Walker

A series of real photographs now being issued with Black Cat Medium Cigarettes. Carreras Ltd (ESTD 1788) Arcadia Works, London, England.

IMDB has come up trumps, turns out Cheryl was the (uncredited) double for Veronica Lake in 'Sullivan's Travels', amazingly trivial but also, to me very interesting.

Links
IMDB entry for Cheryl Walker, link.
Another picture of Cheryl Walker, link.

Antonioni's Blow Up exhibition

One of my favourite London gallery's has an exhibition taken by Don McCullin, perhaps best known for his war time photography, particularly the amazing photographs he took in Vietnam and Cambodia. McCullin, and I did not know this took the photos in the park scene, which kind of predate the photographs he was taking in the West Country in the 1980's.

If you plan on taking your children along there are exhibition notes for parents and teachers, details on the microsite.
The exhibition runs until 17th September.

Links
Wikipedia entry for Don McCullin, link.
IMDB entry for Blow Up, link.
The Photographers Gallery, link.
Antonioni's Blow Up - microsite, link.

Coming attraction: Mexican Cinema Now season

Link
National Film Theatre, London, 6th September to 18th October, link.

Firecracker Magazine, issue #1

A new free magazine distributed at participating cinemas Firecracker celebrates Asian cinema. The first issue contains:
Interviews with Seijun Suzuki, Fruit Chan, Prachya Pinkaew, Jet Li, Johnnie To and Kim Ki-Duk
A review of 'Branded to Kill' by Mike Atherton.
A feature on Anime by Jonathan Clements

Link
Firecracker Magazine's website, link.

Coming attraction: The Notorious Bettie Page