Films/DVD Asylum

RE: " The condiments of Death smell like breaking Wind after a Souffl�"

93.194.200.21

patrickU

A

In Reply to: RE: " The condiments of Death smell like breaking Wind after a Souffl�" posted by Bambi B on March 02, 2010 at 14:13:41

Bonjour B.B...

While I see it as an intimist portrait of the self doubt of a man, his insecurity against adversity and the real courage one must upbring to act on his very own.
The vehicle is the excuse.
The hero here is forced to act, and the timing is written in the sky, Ask the Gods and they may answer.
His death penalty, is in the end his way to liberty.
It would has been any how. Anyway.

Follow Ups:

Movies with subtitles- how much is missed? - Bambi B 19:46:39 03/04/10 (1)
Patrick!,

It's a pity that I haven't seen "Un condamn� � mort" for so long- I only remembered the photography and the basic action.

I was thinking about the problem of seeing movies in a foreign language with subtitles recently when watching "Das Boot". This Wolfgang Petersen U-Boat story I think is a great movie on many levels- humanity, the tragedy and futility of war, the struggle to survive- unbelievable stress, comradeship, duty- and so on. However, the first time I saw it, I saw it in German without subtitles and of course, missed 75% of the dialogue- I was getting 1 in 4. I know some German, but it is almost all reading and writing- mein Unterhaltung als a dumb drei Jahre ist. I have some French too, but again it is from reading and writing- et mon conversation serait tres penible et un potage etrange- seulement des mots! And, in submarine movie dialogue is often very difficult to hear- all those depth chargers, water jets, and yelling makes conversation difficult to understand.

So, I end up seeing movies and missing the words! But, I treat this the same way as opera- focus on the visuals, sounds, music, and try to pick up emotional clues from expression and tone of voice. Then, find out what the hell happened later by reading the programme. Then, see it again.

With movies in languages of which I have some knowledge- some German, a tiny French, and microscopic Russian I always have to watch movies several times so that in the final viewing I can only try and understand the dialogue. I would never accomplish with the sloshy, noisy Das Boot, and never in millions of years with "Solaris"- the real one in Russian. Still, I was pleased to believe I was getting the story from one of my favourite Truffaut movies "L'Enfant Sauvage". Of course, most of the time, Truffaut is speaking in voice-over and in the character of a Doctor writing a journal, so the language is slightly formal and clear- like a lecture on the subject.

With movies in languages I don't know- all those great Italian, Japanese, Swedish, and Russian, I and forced to read the subtitles. But, all the reading and then flipping back to the images always annoys me and I find I don't even know whether I like the movie- I can only be intrigued.

This aspect of movies of giving proportion to the visuals, sound, and dialogue is always interesting. In "Avatar"- and remember that I owe you that cup of coffee for suggesting that you see it- the visuals were everything and the dialogue- quite a lot of which were in subtitles- was merely a notation to the visuals. No doubt in the sequel, "Pandora's Box: Where every Na'vi warrior has been" , we'll get all the history and philosophy that was hinted at in the original. Perhaps we'll have a prequel and we see what's her name frolicking in the tribe and her romantic first kiss- when she was only 2.4M tall. And she later finds out that she is the daughter of Luke Skywalker and and his sister Leia.

With so many great movies and knowing how much is missed, I really regret not speaking at least 10 languages!

How do you approach movies with subtitles? Do you believe that you fully comprehend movies in your second or third languages without subtitles?

Cheers,

Bambi B
- RE: It is a mixed blessing. - patrickU 07:03:00 03/05/10 (0)
  Bresson was a master photographer so no doubt the reason you remember that part by heart.
  I remember in " Au hazard Balthasar " one of the most erotic moment when Anne Wiazemsky is semi naked, the erotism between the eye ( Bresson ) and the object ( ! ) of desire is interacting so strong that its mark, indelible, will be engraved like letters made of fire on my retina.
  Das Boot is just utterly German, in every moment it is. The whole mentality and way of being is.
  Not one I love, but one I can contemplate from the distance between the action and me.
  An excellent film and very true.
  It may sound futile but when speaking of U boot films I love " Red October ", it just has that mix of action and solid craft I like.
  
  So but back to subtitles.
  
  The problem is you always will missing something. The spoken text which is always shortened as subtitles because of practical necessity, will divert you from the pictures, and trying to cope with both is an act of balance... Where I excel meanwhile...
  
  But with time and repeated viewing you will soon delete more and more that script as you knows it by heart.
  It will become more of a " canne " helping our semi blindness...
  Opera houses like the one in Paris have started long ago to project the text upon the scene, which is distracting but useful.
  
  Now we all have our own sensibility and way of interpretation for every work, which make it a kind of " Russian Roulette " as to really understand what the author in the end want us to share with us.r
  Bu the poesy of a work will always shine through and that is what matter, the whole and to an lesser extend the details.
  
  I see our ways are similar, that is also the reason why we can you and me communicate and feel the other.
  
  Ah! " L�enfant Sauvage " was made to sound like in a classroom, like a scientist explaining to a given public the rational of an experience, hence the clarity for you.
  YEs you put 100% like a lecture, I read.
  
  One don�t want to miss the plot, but one may also has confidence, living his uncertainty to hell, and trust oneself.
  
  Like a livret you once read and only retain the main lines.
  
  Avatar will be a forgotten movie I would like to think, but made history, wrongly as an old concept, for 3D, just look at Titanic at King Kong how its visual impact are unbelievable now-days! And the script, poor as one can be, is just �to laugh at.
  
  Remember the silent days in movies?
  That will be my answer.
  
  PS: Yes Star Wars redux.
  
  PPS: A Coffee anytime, and to no excuse, but with the uttermost pleasure.
  
  Bonne Journ�e,
  Patrick

Post a Followup:

FAQ

Post a Message!

Forgot Password?

Moniker (Username):
Password (Optional):
	Remember my Moniker & Password (What's this?) Eat Me
E-Mail (Optional):
Subject:

Message:	(Posts are subject to Content Rules)

Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Upload Image:
E-mail Replies:	Automagically notify you when someone responds.

To view your new posting or follow-up, click on the RELOAD or REFRESH button on your browser.

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Sonic Craft