A torture test for serious cinema lovers

Films/DVD Asylum

Movies from comedy to drama to your favorite Hollyweird Star.

Invite a few of similarly-minded friends and put on the ultimate turture combo: Alexander Sokurov's "Molokh" and "Telets". You will have a truly special evening... promise...
Sokurov is most definitely not a household name here. But look at his filmography and you will see things like this:
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0245209
See the Credited Cast? Have you ever seen ANYTHING like this? He-he...
Anyway, Sokurov has planned a series of four films of which the Molokh/Telets are the first two. They are about Hitler and Lenin respectively, and they are not for someone seeing cinema as entertainment.
Watching films is hard work.
They are filmed using some "special technique", which is apparently some road mud over the camera lense, so you can tell the difference between the characters, but you can't see much more than this.
I found the best part of both being their ends. Not surprising when the first torture goes for well over two hours. It starts with naked Eva Braun dancing around the castle for about half an hour. Not too bad, except again, you can't see much. The scene where she playfully directs the music with her legs is precious.
Both films have their humorous moments. In the Molokh it is when she is kicking the daylight out of Adolf screaming: "I'll show you - Papa Hitler... Mama Hitler...!!!"
The Telets by comparisson is like a walk through the park. It is only 95 or so minutes, but still two parts, don't ask me why.
Anyway, the humorous moment here is when the half-paralized from syphilis leader of the world proletariat crawls away in tall grass and the whole group is looking for him. Too much you say? Then you better stick to Hollywood stuff, as this is some serious cinema going on here.
Actually, looking back I think I found the Telets mildly enjoyable, and not just for its shortness. It was much more to the point and the director's idea shined through much more clearly.
So now I feel I belong to some elite club. How many people can even get access to these, let alone sit through them? Forget your Bergman. Forget Tarkovsky - his Stalker by comparisson is super-charged and feels like Friday the 13th. Invent new word for "meditation", you will need it.
Sokurov is apparently still working on two more films. I presume they too will have the warning at the begining: "The film is done using "special techique" (see above), do not try to adjust the picture quality on your TV, as this will surely destroy its artistic merit".
I don't regret getting these. There is somethign indescribable about them. Not sure what yet, will probably take me few weeks to sort the things out, but it is definitely in there.
Can't wait for his new works...

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Topic - A torture test for serious cinema lovers - Victor Khomenko 06:24:18 01/07/02 (1)

Re: A torture test for serious cinema lovers - bubbahotep 01:43:06 01/08/02 (0)

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