Showing posts with label James Ivory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James Ivory. Show all posts
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Picasso and the Cinema
Picasso was inspired by the cinema (Charles Chaplin, etc.). The cubistic and the montage connections between Picasso and the cinema are of the essence. - Henri-Georges Clouzot's masterpiece Le Mystère Picasso is one of the handful of the very best films made on painting. The priceless document focuses on Picasso's process of painting: the process is primary, the result is secondary. - Orson Welles's F for Fake includes an affectionate homage to Picasso ("art is a lie that can expose the truth") and cubism. There is an ironic commentary on forgery. Elmyr de Hory created fake paintings in styles of Picasso, managing at first to fool Picasso, himself. Picasso's astonished comment: "I can forge Picasso, myself, as well as anybody". - James Ivory's Surviving Picasso (1996) is based on the story (though not the memoir book) of Francoise Gilot. Anthony Hopkins is great as Picasso, Natascha McElhone is Francoise Gilot, Julianne Moore is Dora Maar, and Joss Ackland is Matisse. Ivory was not allowed to use Picasso's work! The heirs usually deny the permission. The film displays Elmyr de Hory -style fake Picassos in an interesting way. The Guernica sequence is amazing, as we never see the painting. - But if I were to select one film to represent the Picasso inspiration, it would be Jean Cocteau's Le Testament d'Orphée.
Tuesday, April 14, 1998
Quartet
090207 / 16 / GB / 1981 / Ivory, James / / drama
Quartet / Neljä kohtaloa / Kvartetti (TV3). © National Film Trustee. P: Ismail Merchant. D: James Ivory. SC: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - based on the novel by Jean Rhys. DP: Pierre Lhomme. PD: Jean-Jacques Caziot. ”The 509” and ”Full-Time Lover” performed by Armelia McQueen. CAST: Isabelle Adjani (Marya Zelli), Alan Bates (H.J. Heidler), Maggie Smith (Lois Heidler), Anthony Higgins (Stephan Zelli). 101’. 1,66. English and French dialogue. Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Eija Pokkinen / Maya Vanni. SEA / EuropaVision print viewed in Helsinki, SEA, Cinema Orion, Tuesday 14 April 1998. *** Paris, 1927. The reconstruction of the ambience is far superior to Alan Rudolph (The Moderns) or Philip Kaufman (Henry and June). The atmosphere is so exciting, the film can be enjoyed as a pure visual spectacle. It is a story of relationships based on exploitation. Sophistication is only a shield for sordidness. The character portrayed by Alan Bates is based on Ford Madox Ford.
Quartet / Neljä kohtaloa / Kvartetti (TV3). © National Film Trustee. P: Ismail Merchant. D: James Ivory. SC: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - based on the novel by Jean Rhys. DP: Pierre Lhomme. PD: Jean-Jacques Caziot. ”The 509” and ”Full-Time Lover” performed by Armelia McQueen. CAST: Isabelle Adjani (Marya Zelli), Alan Bates (H.J. Heidler), Maggie Smith (Lois Heidler), Anthony Higgins (Stephan Zelli). 101’. 1,66. English and French dialogue. Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Eija Pokkinen / Maya Vanni. SEA / EuropaVision print viewed in Helsinki, SEA, Cinema Orion, Tuesday 14 April 1998. *** Paris, 1927. The reconstruction of the ambience is far superior to Alan Rudolph (The Moderns) or Philip Kaufman (Henry and June). The atmosphere is so exciting, the film can be enjoyed as a pure visual spectacle. It is a story of relationships based on exploitation. Sophistication is only a shield for sordidness. The character portrayed by Alan Bates is based on Ford Madox Ford.
Friday, April 10, 1998
The Europeans
088839 / G / GB / 1979 / Ivory, James / / drama
Europeans, The / Eurooppalaiset. © National Film Trustee Co. Ltd. P: Ismail Merchant. D: James Ivory. SC: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - based on the novel (1878) by Henry James. CAST: Lee Remick (Baroness Eugenia Münster), Robin Ellis (Robert Acton), Tim Woodward (Felix Young), Wesley Addy (Mr. Wentworth), Lisa Eichhorn (Gertrude Wentworth), Nancy New (Charlotte Wentworth), Norman Snow (Mr. Brand). 91’. 1,85. Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Anna-Lisa Holmqvist. A somewhat worn Valio-filmi / SEA print viewed in Helsinki, SEA, Cinema Orion, on Good Friday 10 April 1998. *** Let’s list the successful films based on Henry James: The Lost Moment (1947, based on Aspern Papers), The Heiress (1949, based on Washington Square), The Innocents (1961, based on The Turn of the Screw), The Bostonians (1984), The Wings of the Dove (1997) - and this one. The production is simple and elegant. It’s filmed on location in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The autumn colours are delightful. The actors of the ensemble carry their roles soberly. The dialogue is sharp, the characters grow, and there is a great sense of humour in the vision which is brought to the screen.
Europeans, The / Eurooppalaiset. © National Film Trustee Co. Ltd. P: Ismail Merchant. D: James Ivory. SC: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala - based on the novel (1878) by Henry James. CAST: Lee Remick (Baroness Eugenia Münster), Robin Ellis (Robert Acton), Tim Woodward (Felix Young), Wesley Addy (Mr. Wentworth), Lisa Eichhorn (Gertrude Wentworth), Nancy New (Charlotte Wentworth), Norman Snow (Mr. Brand). 91’. 1,85. Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Anna-Lisa Holmqvist. A somewhat worn Valio-filmi / SEA print viewed in Helsinki, SEA, Cinema Orion, on Good Friday 10 April 1998. *** Let’s list the successful films based on Henry James: The Lost Moment (1947, based on Aspern Papers), The Heiress (1949, based on Washington Square), The Innocents (1961, based on The Turn of the Screw), The Bostonians (1984), The Wings of the Dove (1997) - and this one. The production is simple and elegant. It’s filmed on location in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The autumn colours are delightful. The actors of the ensemble carry their roles soberly. The dialogue is sharp, the characters grow, and there is a great sense of humour in the vision which is brought to the screen.
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