a trip to the theater: the charge of the light brigade,1968 (directed by tony richardson)


lincoln center is in the middle of their woodfall film series that is showcasing works from the studio that changed british cinema in the 60's. with the majority of editing complete on "the evolve documentary" - i was finally able to head uptown to partake in the series.

being that the original 1936 film based on the alfred lloyd tennyson poem is my father's favorite movie, i decided that the film for me to see was tony richardson's 1968 version. also of interest was the fact that vanessa redgrave would be introducing the film.

the mix of styles (animation,19th century) and moods (silly, devastating realism) make the film slightly off balance, but luckily it doesn't so much matter. the charge of the light brigade is a film you see and feel to understand the point..and while there may be moments of confusion about the direct path of the story, perhaps that's the point - as war itself is never without an underlying sense of befuddlement.

here is a small clip of vanessa redgrave and her brother corin talking briefly about what made the film revolutionary - unfortunately (or not) i ran out of memory right as corin launched into a very dramatic monologue of sorts that seemed to deal with acting and the importance of the film....

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a trip to the theater! : rescue dawn (directed by werner herzog)

last night eric and i went to see a special screening of werner herzog's new film rescue dawn hosted by variety and the museum of the moving image. i went into the film knowing very little except that it dealt with the vietnam war era, is the narrative version of a documentary (little dieter needs to fly, also by herzog) and that it was supposed to be intense.

i have never seen little dieter needs to fly - a decision i made when i learned that herzog was embarking on a narrative version of the story. to me, seeing a narrative is almost always better with the least amount of knowledge of the story as is possible, trailers and reading ahead can often give away ending clues or provide the audience member with predisposition that ruins the magic of watching something as "blindly" as possible. and while my viewing of the documentary will no doubt be without the same tension - i think i will still be able to benefit from and enjoy seeing the non-fiction version of dieter's journey, albeit in a different way.

i enjoyed the film immensely. the performances and look of rescue dawn help to break the barrier between reality and fiction. herzog actually takes you places, instead of digitizing them for you and watching christian bale has proven to me once again that he is one of, if not the best actor working today. what struck me most about the film was that despite the time and location that we find ourselves in, rescue dawn is less a look at times of war or patriotism, but instead encapsulates the human spirit and the power we all possess when it comes down to the wire. it's a story of survival and of our ultimate desire to live.

here is a little video clip of steve zahn talking about supposed tensions on the set and working with werner

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a trip to the theater! : strange culture (directed by lynn hersman-leeson)

in an effort to change things up : VIDEO!

this was taken at the human rights watch film festival at the june 18 screening of strange culture: the film highlights the recent events of artist steve kurtz. kurtz was preparing for an exhibition which would allow participants to test food for the presence of GMOs, scheduled to appear at the MMOCA in 2004, his wife tragically died from heart failure. distraught he called 911, but when the medics arrived and saw the scientific materials for the exhibition—all legally purchased—they called the FBI. dozens of agents in haz-mat suits searched his home, impounded his computers, books, cat, and even his wife's body, and held kurtz as a suspected bio-terrorist. three years later, kurtz has been released, but he still faces up to 20 years in prison on mail and wire fraud charges relating to his acquisition of materials for the art exhibit.

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