Z Is For...Z (1969)

From https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfZHyaAqEiBaX8i9-JyFsQAp4biTlbELOSjwxb3jbE_6lkcjoizdecJrgLYKbB-IRS3SbLE9i4-iC71MSWpG_5fyXosgB1pJpTRWVRNZj9deyGEtVjX_-QNeM_gdXro_xWO7wk4cM2QaI/s1600/Z-poster-4.jpg

Dir. Costa-Gavras

The final film for this series. Hopefully you, the reader have gotten a lot from this. It has been a long, difficult project to complete; to write about these films required some thought and possibly more consideration than some that I have covered on my blog or Videotape Swapshop. The following choice befits the series, a reminder that this type of cinema also deals with the upfront, actual reality of the world it was made in and made to tackle. Its a reminder, as the film depicts the political turmoil of Greece in the early Sixties through hints, that the ability to have free speech is a tenuous one, that it can easily be lost. Art like the films I've covered could be lost. As much as I joked about this series being an antidote from Hollywood blockbusters at the introduction of the series, there are constant grim reminders that this kind of uncensored thoughts can be suffocated. It is not just war and political strife that can cause this, but also compliance and complicity, not just conservative but also liberal complicity, numbing of culture and a watering down of entertainment and art in favour of the insipid. The lack of courage, the lack of balls to be blunter, the lack of courage to be controversial, to take the easy way out. These films I have covered, even the ones made in the mainstream business of cinema, are not creations of pleasing the widest audience possible. They're not shrieking violets. They haven't been made to tick off checklists. They're not be made to please the troubling mindset of most cinema viewers now that it should be the equivalent of message porn, to make you concerned for the world only for a brief amount of time, like a perverse high from one's guilt, only to be able to push it to the side and not learn from it at all. Even something like The Holy Mountain (1974), embraced by cult audiences, is spiked with a mentality that, in the film, mocks the potential compliance of the supposed radicals, manufactured art, disco-shotguns and all. 

Films I considered rewatching for the series included Angel's Egg (1985), Begotten (1990), Un Chien Andalou (1929), Herostratus (1967), Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997), and On the Silver Globe (1988). I recommend them all to you to see after those that were covered. I may review them all some day too. Films I wished to see for the first time for the series included Dandy Dust (1998), Mind Game (2004), Midori (1992), Pola X (1999) and X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963). I hope to still see them even if its not now.

Until then, I will be able to take a rest. Coming up in October is the next Halloween series. I will see you all then.

Review Link - http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/14697/z-is-for-z-1969-director-costa-gavras/

From http://magazine.ufmalmo.se/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/z21.jpg

Y Is For...You, The Living (2007)

From http://www.videostoreonline.it/portale/upload_pc/film/12630.jpg

Dir. Roy Andersson

Now its time for some tragic absurdity. When the elevator's full before you get to it, the road is jammed with traffic, and your dinner party trick not only fails but will be something you completely regret afterwards. I'm still waiting for Andersson's next film A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014?), the film to close off the absurdist trilogy that started in 2000, but rewatching You, The Living showed how rewarding it was itself.

Review Link - http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/16078/y-is-for-you-the-living-2007-director-roy-andersson/

From http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews39
/you%20the%20living/you%20the%20living%20PDVD_015.jpg

X is For...Xala (1975)

From http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lutx3rgz7H1qzb9ano1_500.jpg

Dir: Ousmane Sembene

Nearing the end of this series. The only thing that cause a problem with continuing this next year is finding films for all twenty six letters of the alphabet again. Xala, while very much a satire too, is something a little different for me to cover as being more of a dramatic film, but its great to include it and expand the range of films and countries I've covered a little further.

Review Link - http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/16002/x-is-for-xala-1975-director-ousmane-sembene/

From http://filmfanatic.org/reviews/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/xala-doctor.png

W Is For…Wax, Or The Discovery Of Television Among The Bees (1991)

From http://sharetv.org/images/posters/wax_or_the_discovery_of_television_among_the_bees_1992.jpg

Dir: David Blair

I will openly admit my gratefulness for the internet. The director of this film has, thankfully, released a hypertext version of this film on his own site, but the original feature film version of Wax... is difficult to find. I confess I am grateful for the internet for making it possible for me to view and review this film, hoping that one day a version is released more commercially for more people to be able to see it. Its the kind of film you want to discover and talk about on a film blog, and even if its a small review, I hope this encourages more people to go out and track it down. Maybe if enough people are interested Wax... could get a great reappraisal from attention like this.

Review Link - http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/15720/w-is-for-wax-or-the-discovery-of-television-among-the-bees-%E2%80%93-1991-director-david-blair/

From http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/123/541/12354136_640.jpg

V Is For...Vixen! (1968)

From http://www.impdb.org/images/e/ee/Vixen1.jpg

Dir. Russ Meyer

My third ever Russ Meyer film, and he is very much his own entirely unique director. It was great to cover something like this in the series because an idiosyncratic director, even if they made exploitation films, could be unconventional and confrontational even where revealing in the nudity.

Review Link - http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/15741/v-is-for-vixen-1969-director-russ-meyer/

From https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtMgIiCoeFHMFbGF2Y0csrgDp397_3PgqbSljdxRmVTqN05ovxfGqkrX68Af8x96QVDzhRi3esupTUjMWYzZDqlvbZ8Vn11N7xVRQHtmEhox5loqMnEGdvq-hoUeHOcQXftdtmi18t9p3P/s400/vixen.jpg

U Is For...Underwater Love (2011)

From https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgGOBQe-cOqUkxT1FKOnFtiAz8RrTMTqkXW8tHtELj7_3ExQ1K1xVZABPK5Km-8nTFkdBEfqbaA7lcIO7lbXqt80Y31wmN-KP1cKramnsTwdwOPYw2jc7vf-3tOBQ3SEaXqgD53u60Q5U/s1600/Undlo.jpg

Dir. Shinji Imaoka

Something a little pink, a little tasty, and fun. Erotica is worth covering and worth viewing in general, but its good to see one that was just fun and light. Admittedly its release in the UK from Third Window Pictures was a limited release of a certain amount of copies, but I'm grateful for it and the bonus soundtrack CD of Stereo Total's score in the same case. It will be interesting to see where this area of Japanese genre cinema goes when I dig deeper into it. Some of it I am hesitant about viewing. Some it will hopefully be great. Some of it will be incredibly well made and good looking. But I will gladly look into more of Shinji Imaoka's work at least.

Review Link - http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/15609/u-is-for-underwater-love-%E2%80%93-2011-director-shinji-imaoka/

From http://fantasiafestival.com/transfert/2011films/Underwater%20Love%201.jpg

T Is For...The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

From http://dailygrindhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/The-Texas-Chainsaw-Massacre-2-1986.jpg

Dir. Tobe Hooper

More pulpier and ridiculous than previous entries, this nonetheless shows that any film can be potentially subversive, even one made by Cannon Group. Also there's the likelihood that I'll cover most, if not all, the films in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series over the following years. At least one will be painful to sit through again, two I've never seen, and yet it won't be as bad as you think, and I will even defend one of them if any.

Review Link - http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/15420/t-is-for-the-texas-chainsaw-massacre-2-1986-director-tobe-hooper/

From http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/10/108875/3034689-0938893114-tcm2b.jpg

S Is For...Separation (1968)

From http://infini-tropolis.com/reviews/images/separationHEADER.jpg

Dir. Jack Bond

Probably one of the more divisive films for me in this series, but Separation managed to still have some great virtues of it. This review will probably show me becoming more admiring of the film if I was to see it again. It'll probably be like The Otherside of the Underneath (1972), the sole, single directorial credit for Seperation's main actress Jane Arden, another difficult experimental film uncovered from British cinema history I will have to ruminate on.

Review Link - http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/15730/s-is-for-separation-%E2%80%93-1968-director-jack-bond/

From http://s3.amazonaws.com/auteurs_production/images/film/separation/w448/separation.jpg?1289466373

R Is For... Rabbit (2005)

From http://www.animateonline.org/stillsfull/rabbit01.jpg

Dir: Run Wrake

Another short. I remember learning about this one from a television program which showed clips from various British made short films, mostly all animated in some form to my memory. If there one good thing about the British film culture, short films, while not getting enough attention they deserve, do still get some. They are/were shown on non-cable TV, are available online, and in some cases are shown before films at certain cinemas. What they need now is some sense that they can be just as significant and powerful as feature length films, and this already existing structure would help bring a potential renaissance in short form animation and live action works. The quality of the shorts themselves  depend on each short individually, but the following from the late director is a great example of what they can be like.

Review Link - http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/15835/r-is-for-rabbit-2005-director-run-wrake/

From http://pivot.glenbow.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Rabbit-3_2005-Run-Wrake6.jpg

Q Is For… Quattro Volte, Le (2010)

From http://www.newwavefilms.co.uk/assets/directory/49/Le_quattro_volte_quad_vs5.jpg

Dir: Michelangelo Frammartino

I have fond memories of viewing this the first time. I was lucky enough to see this at the cinema at the Showroom in Sheffield. Unfortunately my geographical location means that I have to watch most of my non-mainstream cinema at home on DVD. The availability of this sort of non-studio cinema outside of metropolitan areas or large, middle class cultural centers is disappointing. It has probably forced a lot of film viewers living out of these areas to have to find these areas through DVD, streaming, import or even illegally, thus denting the potential cinema box office for these films. And it could seem snobbish to say this, but in most cases the best films are even not the blockbusters, or even the indie American films released by the studios but the films like Le Quattro Volte, which means that unfortunately people couldn't say that their best films for that year where seen on a big screen. 

Thankfully, despite the prices and time that have to be dealt with for me to go to the Showroom for one day, I've managed to see some great films there. In fact nearly every film has been great, the rarity of going there meaning I go when I desperately want to see something, or has been a memorable moment. I saw Harmony Korine's Trash Humpers (2009) there. This has even more importance to it since, viewing it with an older brother who doesn't watch art cinema let alone knew what he was expecting, we had a lengthy debate all the way back to his apartment that, even if he was offended by the film, was constructive and led to us bonding over the idea of someone, somewhere, humping a bin in the city at the same time. I saw Uncle Boonmie Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010), the film this post is about, Holy Motors (2012), and at the beginning of this year, Bullhead (2011). Its also where I've had my only experience of a film festival, seeing two films at last year's Sheffield Documentary Festival, one of which was where I saw Planet of Snail (2011). Not only a great documentary from South Korea, but the experience taught me an important lesson, when shaking the director Yi Seung-jun's hand but baffling him with my thoughts on what I saw, that the viewer can over interpret a film or a creation when the creator's view on it was so much more upfront in it already. This causes one to ask whether film critics have the same problem, and the realization, alongside given me a hilarious anecdote I can look back on fondly, really helps with viewing cinema even as a hobby without having to write an amateur review about it. Even if all the other films I saw were terrible, this moment would make those rare trips to the Showroom completely worth it.

And with that, it adds a great deal of fondness to viewing this film over and over again. But Le Quattro Volte certainly holds up incredibly well even if these memories were separated from it.

Review Link - http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/15966/q-is-for-quattro-volte-le-2010-director-michelangelo-frammartino/

From http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6dkR9rBSSdw/TaOEyB943bI/
AAAAAAAAIFI/RS4dXYmN1Sg/s400/lequattrovolte2.jpg

P Is For...The Phantom of Liberty (1974)

From http://magnoliaforever.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/the-phantom-of-liberty.jpg

Dir. Luis Buñuel

It took many years for me to finally appreciate Buñuel as a film director, but I wouldn't have been surprised if I liked this film back when I thought he was overrated. It may have helped me love his films a lot more earlier. This and his autobiography My Last Breath would have helped me admire his craft immensely. In terms of my favorite of the director's, The Milky Way (1969) is his best for me so far, but this is just behind it. It does reach back the furthest to his origins in the Surrealistic art movement; research his past especially a project involving a giraffe and it makes a lot of the moments in this, including his obsession with strange bird life, even more significant. Its absurdity and sketch-like nature does make it an interesting film in his filmography in that it can both be seen as a very accessible movie and yet still difficult because Buñuel's sense of sketch comedy is completely dry and acidic. 

Review Link - http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/15354/p-is-for-the-phantom-of-liberty-1974-director-luis-bunuel/

From http://imageshack.us/a/img571/3017/thephantomoflibertyavi0.jpg

O Is For...Orpheus (1950)

From http://images.moviepostershop.com/orphee-movie-poster-1949-1020143787.jpg

Dir. Jean Cocteau

Another classic film covered for this series. In digging through the canonised films for this topic, I've realised how a lot of them do stay distinct and legitimately subversive still all these decades. Orpheus is a dreamlike fantasy, but it still feels completely unique all these years later. It proves how talented Jean Cocteau was.

Review Link - http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/15953/o-is-for-orpheus-1950-director-jean-cocteau/

From http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mebpqo5S6D1rib0hxo1_400.jpg

N Is For...Night of the Living Dead (1968)

From http://www.cinemasterpieces.com/92010a/night3.jpg

Dir. George A. Romero

A legendary film. And its amazing to think that its lead to zombie board games having their own stand in my local Waterstones bookstore when the origins of it is a film this sober and deathly serious. So much has happened in this form of horror cinema - Italian interpretations, porn versions, shot-on-video films in someone's backyard, and any profession being zombified - that to see its beginning is to see a film from an entirely different reality, something unique again when other films and pop culture have taken its ideas in such drastically different directions. For such a small movie, its done a lot for the history of the entirety of horror let alone cinema.

Review Link - http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/16107/n-is-for-night-of-the-living-dead-1968-director-george-a-romero/

From http://johndodge.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/livingdead.jpg

M Is For...Meshes of the Afternoon (1943)

From https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwpA93t7th4JkATlk62Fv-dqqaIi27wr4SAw9yst992tRtF2xzhu-66QmPZBAkDOGC9rzcyBIHM80glTnEv8PB8f-wl_ugjGazwOz9wNU_t2tN227YwFYSoPLEaMDPinmVbqnlYz3TMIcQ/s400/maya+deren.bmp

Dirs. Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid

A short review for a short film. Short films deserve to be included in this series as well, especially one as important as this.

Review Link - http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/15844/m-is-for-meshes-of-the-afternoon-1943-director-maya-deren/

From http://old.dokument-festival.cz/files/zk_pictures_232_1422_e0c685d9.jpg

L Is For... Last Year At Marienbad (1961)

From http://th04.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2011/240/e/a/last_year_at_marienbad_by_mamamatrix-d486es2.png

Dir. Alain Resnais

Last Year At Marienbad has been an interesting film to rewatch. I wasn't fond of it on the first viewing, but was compelled by how fantastic it looked and how it was made as well as it was. Viewing it again for this series, I'm still trying to grasp it, but its elusive nature mixed with the gorgeous production value grows in virtue. It is certainly a film that is more about the sensation of viewing it than a clear narrative, and far from a feeble defense of it, this proves to be its greatest virtue. To make every scene startle you while still adding a deeper connection to the fact that no one onscreen may be able to leave the situation and have to continue it continually...

Review Link - http://www.videotapeswapshop.co.uk/15183/l-is-for-last-year-at-marienbad-1961-director-alain-resnais/

From http://lisathatcher.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/last_year_at_marienbad.jpg