The avoidance or frequent absence of history on the Internet is often a problem, but I’ve rarely seen it exploited so shamelessly and cripplingly as it is in a post supposedly “celebrating” Godard’s 82th birthday that quotes fifteen filmmakers on the subject of Godard, including Godard himself, arranged alphabetically from Chantal Akerman to Wim Wenders.
Let’s start with the first sentence in the first quotation, from Akerman: “You can see him excluding himself from the world in an almost autistic manner.” Is this the Godard of For Ever Mozart, the Godard of Film Socialisme, or a much earlier Godard? It’s impossible to understand, much less evaluate what Akerman is saying, without knowing the answer to this question. Pretend that this doesn’t matter and you’re pointlessly sliming both Akerman and Godard, for no good reason.
Five quotes later, we get, “Luis Buñuel: I’ll give him two years more, he is just a fashion.” Obviously, this statement was made when Buñuel was still alive, which means he had to have said it at some point between, say, 1960 and 1983. Lots of leg room in there — about 30 features’ worth.
And one quote later, from Godard himself: “I am not an auteur, well, not now anyway.” Read more
From Monthly Film Bulletin, November 1974 (Vol. 41, No. 490). — J.R.
Bedlam
U.S.A., 1946 Director: Mark Robson
London, 1761. Attempting to escape from the St. Mary of Bethlehem lunatic asylum, commonly known as Bedlam, a poet named Colby is forced by Sims, the apothecary general in charge, to drop from a railing, and he falls to his death. Lord Mortimer and his ‘protégée’ Nell Bowen, passing by in a carriage, question Sims about the incident, and are assured it was an accident. After subsequently paying a visit to the asylum, Nell is appalled by the living conditions and Sims’ sadistic treatment of the inmates, and appeals to Lord Mortimer to make a charitable donation. But Sims dissuades the latter from doing so. When Nell joins forces with John Wilkes to turn the cause into a political issue, Sims contrives to have her declared insane and committed to Bedlam. Frightened for her safety — and securing a trowel from Hannay, a sympathetic Quaker brickmason, for protection — she none the less elicits the respect and loyalty of the other inmates, and when Sims locks her in a cage with a supposedly dangerous lunatic, she successfully placates her cellmate. Read more
From Monthly Film Bulletin, November 1974, Vol. 41, No. 490. — J.R.
Portiere di Notte, Il (The Night Porter)
Italy, 1973
Director: Liliana Cavani
Cert—X. dist—Avco-Embassy. p.c—Lotar Film. A Robert Gordon
Edwards/Esa De Dimone production. A Joseph E. Levine presentation
for Ital Noleggio Cinematografico. p—Robert Gordon Edwards. p. staff—
Umberto Sambuco, Dino di Dionisio, Roberto Edwards, (Vienna) Otto
Dworak. asst. d–Franco Cirino, Paola Tallarigo, (Vienna) Johann
Freisinger. sc–Liliana Cavani, Italo Moscati. story–Liliana Cavani,
Barbara Alberti, Amedeo Pagani. ph–Alfio Contini. co1–Technicolor;
prints by Eastman Colour. col. sup–Ernesto Novelli. ed–Franco Arcalli.
a.d–Nedo Azzini, Jean-Marie Simon. set dec–Osvaldo Desideri. m/m.d—
Daniele Paris. cost–Piero Tosi. sd. ed–Michael Billingsley. sd. rec—
Fausto Ancillai. sd. re-rec–Decio Trani. post-synchronisation d–Robert
Rietty. sd. effects–Roberto Arcangeli. l.p–Dirk Bogarde (Max),
Charlotte Rampling (Lucia), Philippe Leroy (Klaus), Gabriele Ferzetti (Hans),
Giuseppe Addobbati (Stumm), Isa Miranda (Countess Stein), Nino
Bignamini (Adolph), Marino Mase’ (Atherton), Amedeo Amodia (Bert),
Piero Vida (Day Porter), Geoffrey Copleston (Kurt), Manfred Freiberger
(Dobson), Ugo Cardea (Mario), Hilda Gunther (Greta), Nora Ricci
(Neighbour), Piero Mazzinghi (Concierge), Kai S. Read more
