Friday, January 18, 2019

5 Off My Head: Righting Scorsese's Wrongs

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Making lists is a futile sort of business. The second you've made one, and every single second thereafter, ten things you totally forgot about stampede across the roof of your brain, having their way with you. It's utter torment. It's probably one of the mid-levels of Hell, like the staircase between the third and fourth ring. So I forgive Martin Scorsese for forgetting some vitals when he listed "The 39 Essential Foreign Films"...
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Before you ask no, I do not know the context of that note - who he was sending it to or why. I guess it's to "educate" someone - hence there being no films later than the 1970s. Anyway laying the blame on forgetfulness when it comes to the titles "missing" is awfully brassy of me - perhaps it stands to reason that Martin Scorsese, a 76 year old heterosexual film-maker from Queens, might have different tastes than I do? I suppose it's possible! Anyway I figured I'd take a little of Marty's torment on and make my own (far less substantial) list and give us...

5 Foreign Films I'd Add To Marty's List

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
-- directed by Jacques Demy --

In the Mood For Love (2000)
-- directed by Wong Kar-Wai

Persona (1966)
-- directed by Ingmar Bergman -- 

Jeanne Dielman, 23 Commerce Quay, 1080 Brussels (1975)
-- directed by Chantal Akerman -- 

Belle de Jour (1967)
-- directed by Luis Buñuel -- 

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Of course I could go on and on,
which is part of the problem in the first place.
So y'all give me your five in the comments to keep it going...
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8 comments:

  1. Pierce10:34 AM

    Scorcese’s choices:
    Metropolis
    Nosferatu
    Napoleon
    Grand Illusion
    Rules of the Game
    Children of Paradise
    Open City
    Bicycle Thieves
    La Belle et la Bete
    Tokyo Story
    400 Blows
    Shoot the Piano Player
    Breathless
    Band of Outsiders
    Blow-up

    Your additions:
    Umbrella of Cherbourg
    Persona
    Belle de Jour

    Mine:
    The Bride Wore Black
    Nights of Cabiria
    Aguirre: the Wrath of God
    La Strada
    Wings of Desire
    Battleship Potemkin
    Pather Panchali
    Throne of Blood
    The Last Metro
    The Seventh Seal
    Smiles of a Summer Night

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like he's not into Bergman at all... My choice would be "Winter Light".

    ReplyDelete
  3. In the spirit of what you said about the futility of lists, I'll simply list the first 5 movies that came to my mind that neither you nor Scorsese mentioned:

    2046
    La Dolce Vita
    L'Eclisse
    Summer Hours
    In the House

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would add "Au Revoir Les Enfants" and "Hiroshima, Mon Amour"

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous1:07 PM

    Sei donne per l‘assassino - Mario Bava
    Un tranquillo posto di campagna- Elio Petri
    Satyricon - Federico Fellini
    Rosso Profondo - Dario Argento
    Saló - Pier Paolo Pasolini

    Bonus round
    Viridiana - Luis Buñuel
    Black Narcissus - Powell & Pressburger
    Black Lizard - Kinji Fukasaku
    Le Locataire - Roman Polanski
    Hour of the Wolf - Ingmar Bergman

    ReplyDelete
  6. No Wong Kar Wai is a disappointment.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous8:08 AM

    Which "Weekend" do you think he's referring to?

    ReplyDelete