CINEMANIA:

My Year in Film Studies (Part Five)

For those of you who missed it, you can find part four here.

And so now given that my aim was to use the films of Kubrick to launch into a study of the auteur theory, the task is to pick another film by the ex-pat New York photographer that would show the scope of his genius, while also allowing us to see how the man's films have a unity of style and substance that distinguishes his work from others in his field. Despite the fact that Kubrick only made 13 feature films, and most people only have access to the final eleven (Fear and Dsire and Killer's Kiss are not readily available), his films clearly enjoy many consistencies that make his work ideal for a study of the auteur theory.

My Year in Film Studies (Part 4)

For those who missed it, here is part 3

And but so now for my next trick....

My rationale for taking on 2001: A Space Odyssey next:

Up to now, we'd spent a fair bit of time looking at cinematic techniques and film narrative, with a minor devotion to the conventions of genre, so at this point in the course, I felt it was time to get into some serious auteur theorizin'.

Team America: World Police (2004, USA, Trey Parker)

Meisters of the savage skewer, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, whose South Park TV show has, since 1997, set the standard for balancing hilarity and misanthropy, and whose debut feature film, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut upped that particular ante in rather staggering fashion, have apparently decided that the best way to face up to the dreaded sophomore jinx is to avoid comparison to their first film and skin a cat of an entirely different

Primer (2004, USA, Carruth)

A little Memento mixed with a smidgen La Jetee, Primer is the first film I’ve seen since David Lynch’s nearly-impenetrable but clearly-brilliant Mulholland Dr. that I have wanted to re-watch IMMEDIATELY. I have restrained myself from doing so, and this review is based upon a single viewing, so forgive me if I get some things wrong; this is just the sorta film that will do that to you.

2046 (2004, Hong Kong, Wong Kar Wai)

Those of us who fell in love with the seductive and luscious In the Mood for Love have been waiting a loooooong time for this one, Wong Kar-Wai’s much-anticipated follow-up to perhaps the most highly-regarded film of this millennium. The famously meticulous director debuted his latest film at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2004, with Wong Kar-Wai reportedly working on the final cut a mere days before the festival’s launch.

Downfall (2004, Germany, Oliver Hirschbiegel)

Hitler’s last days, as told through the eyes of his young and relatively naïve secretary Trudl Junge (Alexandria Maria Lara), is the premise of Downfall. Apparently the first German-made film to attempt to understand these the darkest days of recent history, the film, despite some structural defects and tonal inconsistencies, proves worthy of the accolades heaped upon it.

North Country (2005, USA, Niki Caro)

The road to Hell may or may not be paved with good intentions, but it is most certainly littered with the battered corpses of a mediocre movie or two. North Country, unfortunately, is just such a film.

Code 46 (U.K., 2005, Michael Winterbottom)

Complex and cold, intelligent and aloof, fascinating and off-putting, Code 46 is one of 2004's most interesting films, with images and ideas that will stick with you for days, even if the movie lacks the sort of emotional resonance we might hope for in our masterpieces.