Although I know I have become more mellow when watching movies, I did not expect such plain evidence: a year ago I would have hated Café Lumière (2003); not only do I have the patience for it today, I find that I (almost) kind of love it.
I really liked the girl's hat. I liked both characters and connected with the urban isolation theme. I like Japanese houses and wish I had stuff like what's in them (especially those knee-high tables). I like trains. I like long shots and the general detachment from the characters (the external camera I've talked to you about). I like the ease and slacked tension of the story. It's easy to be drawn to young people in an urban environment, and I suspect that if I haven't been drawn to his work before, it's because I've only seen his earlier films which are concerned primarily with the past in less-urban settings.
But that doesn't really hint at what's changed in me. I think before I would have demanded the film work on my own pet cinematic interests, and I could right now be complaining about the camera, which I felt was not as static as it should be (this is, after all, an Ozu homage). Or I could be complaining about the inconsistent use of music. Or whatever. I don't think I care about that anymore.
So when it comes to personal choices, no, I'm not really at home in today's art cinema; but I'm no longer at war with it, I think. I'm fine living by its side and find that it can be a welcome friend at times.
4 comments:
That's all?
It doesn't have to be. What more do you want?
What did you like about it? Are you warming to modern (art) cinema in general? I'm interested in changes of this sort.
I really liked the girl's hat. I liked both characters and connected with the urban isolation theme. I like Japanese houses and wish I had stuff like what's in them (especially those knee-high tables). I like trains. I like long shots and the general detachment from the characters (the external camera I've talked to you about). I like the ease and slacked tension of the story. It's easy to be drawn to young people in an urban environment, and I suspect that if I haven't been drawn to his work before, it's because I've only seen his earlier films which are concerned primarily with the past in less-urban settings.
But that doesn't really hint at what's changed in me. I think before I would have demanded the film work on my own pet cinematic interests, and I could right now be complaining about the camera, which I felt was not as static as it should be (this is, after all, an Ozu homage). Or I could be complaining about the inconsistent use of music. Or whatever. I don't think I care about that anymore.
So when it comes to personal choices, no, I'm not really at home in today's art cinema; but I'm no longer at war with it, I think. I'm fine living by its side and find that it can be a welcome friend at times.
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