003 Films From the Criterion Collection Made the Year I was Born

The Killer - Jon Woo, 110 min
For All Mankind - Al Reinert, 79 min
Do the Right Thing - Spike Lee, 120 min
Sweetie - Jane Campion, 99 min
Mystery Train - Jim Jarmusch, 110 min

(Do the Right Thing)

 Status - 2/5

002 The Fourth Wall

Dogville - Lars von Trier, 2003, 178 min
Synecdoche, New York - Charlie Kaufman, 2008, 124 min

Nesting frames, meta structures - physical and representational, interactive and passive. The self-aware can make living even more drowsy and dream-like. What would Denis Diderot have to say about the piercing of the Fifth Wall?

Olive: Dear diary, I'm afraid I'm gravely ill. It is perhaps times like these that one reflects on things past. An article of clothing from when I was young. A green jacket. I walk with my father. A game we once played. Pretend we're faeries. I'm a girl faerie. My name is Laura Lee. And you're a boy faerie. Your name is Tita Lee. Pretend, when we're faeries we fight each other, and I say "Stop hitting me I'll die!" And you hit me again and I say, "Now I have to die." And then you say, "But I'll miss you." And I say, "But I have to. And you'll have to wait a million years to see me again. And I'll be put in a box, and all I'll need is a tiny glass of water and lots of tiny pieces of pizza and the box will have wings like an airplane." And you'll ask, "Where will it take you?" "Home." I say.

Status - 1/2

001 Roy Andersson

Du Levande (You, The Living) - 2007, 95 min
World of Glory - 1991, 14 min
Something Has Happened - 1994, 24 min

 

(Songs From The Second Floor)

Tragi-comedy. King of the established shot and smoothly sewn vignettes. Of his, I first watched Songs From the Second Floor (I think I was recommended by Netflix) and was ecstatically delighted with how the established shot can lend itself to the mise-en-scène.

Status - 1/3