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Post by Eva Yojimbo on Mar 1, 2017 19:46:24 GMT
ITT: RFAS members reveal what a collectively terrible taste in movies they have. Seriously, that obnoxious, overblown DeMille mess and Gibson's torture porn aren't worthy of even being on the same list as Dreyer's Joan of Arc and Ordet, Bresson's Balthasar, or Wenders's Wings of Desire... not even remotely on the same level. Get some taste, people! I haven't seen those movies, so you're being accurate again.
Fixed.
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The Lost One
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Post by The Lost One on Mar 2, 2017 13:17:40 GMT
I voted for Noah and Prince of Egypt. Also would have voted for Quo Vadis and Jesus Christ Superstar had they been options.
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chasallnut
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Post by chasallnut on Mar 2, 2017 13:32:45 GMT
I voted for Noah and Prince of Egypt. Also would have voted for Quo Vadis and Jesus Christ Superstar had they been options. Quo Vadis, forgot that one. Good film, good call!
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chasallnut
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Post by chasallnut on Mar 2, 2017 13:38:45 GMT
ITT: RFAS members reveal what a collectively terrible taste in movies they have. Seriously, that obnoxious, overblown DeMille mess and Gibson's torture porn aren't worthy of even being on the same list as Dreyer's Joan of Arc and Ordet, Bresson's Balthasar, or Wenders's Wings of Desire... not even remotely on the same level. Get some taste, people! Good call on Wings of Desire. Bruno Ganz, terrific actor. Not seen the others but having read the synopsis for Balthasar and Ordet I will add to my watch list
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Post by Aj_June on Mar 2, 2017 14:28:00 GMT
ITT: RFAS members reveal what a collectively terrible taste in movies they have. Seriously, that obnoxious, overblown DeMille mess and Gibson's torture porn aren't worthy of even being on the same list as Dreyer's Joan of Arc and Ordet, Bresson's Balthasar, or Wenders's Wings of Desire... not even remotely on the same level. Get some taste, people! Good call on Wings of Desire. Bruno Ganz, terrific actor. Not seen the others but having read the synopsis for Balthasar and Ordet I will add to my watch list
I strongly recommend Ordet. One of the best movies ever made. The movie is set in 1920s Denmark and you actually feel like living in that time when watching the movie.
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chasallnut
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Post by chasallnut on Mar 2, 2017 14:29:22 GMT
Good call on Wings of Desire. Bruno Ganz, terrific actor. Not seen the others but having read the synopsis for Balthasar and Ordet I will add to my watch list
I strongly recommend Ordet. One of the best movies ever made. The movie is set in 1920s Denmark and you actually feel like living in that time when watching the movie.
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Post by Aj_June on Mar 2, 2017 14:37:51 GMT
Winter Light, Seventh Seal, Diary of a Country Priest, Tree of Life, and Andrei Rublev should be on the list. From that list: 1. The Passion of Joan of Arc is one of the handful of films I could consider the best film ever made on any given day. Just overwhelmingly powerful, and hasn't lost an ounce of its sublimity despite being almost 90 years old. 2. Ordet is a close second. Amazing to think that the same guy, Carl Theodor Dreyer, made both this and Passion of Joan... The ending is still one cinema's most transcendent moments. 3. Au Hasard Balthasar is, as Jean-Luc Godard said, the entire world in 90 minutes. Amazing how much humanity Bresson captured through the simple parable of a donkey's relationship with his many owners. 4. The Gospel According to St. Matthew is far and away the best cinematic rendering of The Passion. The fact that it's a word-for-word adaptation with nothing extraneous added or nothing important subtracted means it captures the full richness of the text, and Pasolini's stark, Dreyer-esque style was the perfect approach. 5. Tough last choice, but I went with Wings of Desire, even though I don't really consider it "religious." It's more an existential meditation that just happens to involve angels. Still a gorgeous film. Last Temptation of Christ and Noah would get HMs from me. Both excellent indeed, and I was surprised by how moved I was by the latter. Have you seen Vredens dag (1943), Eva? I am really fascinated by that movie. I felt as if Dreyer was trying to tell us that witchcraft was real thing through that movie. Will appreciate your thoughts on that film. I wouldn't have seen Ordet if not for Vredens dag.
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Post by Eva Yojimbo on Mar 2, 2017 16:48:00 GMT
I think I've seen all of Dreyer's at this point; last year I saw Leaves from Satan's Book, which I think was the last of his I hadn't seen. Day of Wrath is superb; probably my 3rd favorite behind Joan and Ordet, though it's close with Vampyr. It's probably been too long since I've seen it to really answer your question, but I don't remember ever having the sense that the film portrayed witchcraft as real; I got more a sense of how oppressive that society was when so many were obsessed with it. I thought the focus was more on the suffering the irrational belief caused to everyone involved; the belief wasn't really portrayed as a malicious thing, just an unquestioned belief that was socially acceptable and that ended up creating the very problem it was so concerned about eliminating. I also got the sense that the sense of sexual oppression was strongly tied to the notion of witchcraft, since it was only once the affair happened that she was accused of it. Do you recall anything specific that made you think the film was suggesting witchcraft was real? My memory on it is fuzzy.
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Post by Aj_June on Mar 2, 2017 16:59:56 GMT
Thanks for your thoughts, Eva.
Even I saw this movie a long time back. I had immediately googled the movie reviews and also scanned the user comments and discussions when I had seen it first. Then I had a though that the movie might have tried to depict witchcraft as real. I can't recall what it was but I might give it a go again and will come back with reasons why I felt so. Would you recommend any other Dreyer movie apart from those you mentioned in your last post?
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Post by Eva Yojimbo on Mar 2, 2017 17:09:11 GMT
Thanks for your thoughts, Eva. Even I saw this movie a long time back. I had immediately googled the movie reviews and also scanned the user comments and discussions when I had seen it first. Then I had a though that the movie might have tried to depict witchcraft as real. I can't recall what it was but I might give it a go again and will come back with reasons why I felt so. Would you recommend any other Dreyer movie apart from those you mentioned in your last post? I think all of Dreyer's are at the very least interesting. Even his early works shows signs of his visionary ambition: Leaves is basically his take on Griffith's Intolerance, featuring a very unusual depiction of Satan (he's basically a character who "tempts," but is secretly hoping for someone to reject him so he can be freed). In Parson's Widow you can see traces of what will become films like Wrath and Gertrud; that combination of how a unique setting and the socio-cultural beliefs influence the people involved. Gertrud is a must-watch as well. Perhaps his most personal and intimate film, focused solely on the relationship of its principles. It's really Dreyer's precise, spare aesthetic brought to its pinnacle. Michael is an underrated gem as well. A bit more "traditional" than his other films, but extremely rich in its character detail and setting; it's also one of the first films I can think of that deals with homosexuality (even though it's implicit, it's fairly obviously so). I did just remember one Dreyer I haven't seen is Master of the House. Criterion brought it out a while ago and I have it but haven't watched it yet. Here's my Dreyer ratings if you're interested: 1. Passion of Joan of Arc 10/10 2. Ordet 3. Day of Wrath 9/10 4. Vampyr 5. Gertrud 8.5/10 6. Michael 7. Leaves from Satan's Book 8/10 8. Parson's Widow 7/10
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chasallnut
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Post by chasallnut on Mar 3, 2017 14:44:35 GMT
Good call on Wings of Desire. Bruno Ganz, terrific actor. Not seen the others but having read the synopsis for Balthasar and Ordet I will add to my watch list
I strongly recommend Ordet. One of the best movies ever made. The movie is set in 1920s Denmark and you actually feel like living in that time when watching the movie. Because of this conversation I watched Wings of Desire again last evening. I do love the transformation of Damiel to the wide eyed and childlike human he becomes. Ganz plays the part brilliantly. Solveig Dommartin is captivating in her role as Marion, and I was saddened to learn that she had passed away from a heart attack at the young age of 45. Peter Falk is also excellent as "himself".
I have Ordet and Balthasar so will watch them next week.
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bb15
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Post by bb15 on Mar 5, 2017 21:10:52 GMT
Of the choices available in the poll, here are my five picks.
La Passion de Jeanne D'Arc (1928) The Song of Bernadette Elmer Gantry The Last Temptation of Christ Wings of Desire
However I should note that I consider religion in film to go far beyond common Christian conceptions. - For instance Buddhism; Little Buddha - Islam; The Message (1976) [Also available in the poll but not quite as good as Wings of Desire imo] - Native American concepts; Windwalker - A bit of what is possible with Hinduism; Gandhi - Or a contrast/divide between Hinduism and Christianity; Black Narcissus - Conceptions of God and morality pondered and debated within Judaism; Crimes and Misdemeanours A Serious Man Exodus: Gods and Kings
- Outside of organized religion there are speculations of the existence of the afterlife. The Seventh Seal What Dreams May Come
- Then there are the dead religions which have moved to the category of 'just' myth. Yet in their time they were as real to their believers as any religion today. Clash of the Titans (1981) Gods of Egypt
- There has been so much written about Jesus that no 2 hour film imo could begin to describe the nuances of his story. And so; Jesus of Nazareth - mini series
- Finally a comedy about religion with a simple moral message; Bruce Almighty
Imo at least, BB ;-)
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camimac
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Post by camimac on Mar 5, 2017 21:30:10 GMT
King of Kings is my favorite religious movie.
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