tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592985394059172101.post613250267696134390..comments2023-10-07T06:24:05.693-04:00Comments on Lost in the Movies (old website): The SacrificeJoel Bockohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592985394059172101.post-65749759757664324982010-01-21T20:46:43.435-05:002010-01-21T20:46:43.435-05:00Wonderful. MovieMan. Works so well as a eulogy too...Wonderful. MovieMan. Works so well as a eulogy too. It feels as if Tarkovsky wanted to say out once and for all what had been restrained in his previous films (A seer once told him that he would make exactly 7 films!). The long take, as you eloquently describe, does wonders. We actually feel the dread instead of sitting there wondering about the shot.Just Another Film Buffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17880550053788464732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592985394059172101.post-71113600220610520032010-01-22T06:56:15.321-05:002010-01-22T06:56:15.321-05:00Indeed a wonderful review. Tarkovsky is for me tru...Indeed a wonderful review. Tarkovsky is for me truly one of the greats (and there are only three or four directors I would call great).<br><br>I would put Mirror, Stalker and Ivan's Childhood at the top of his accomplishments. The final sequence is too 'bravura' for me - a stand-out showpiece separate from the whole and in which the camera feels too separated from the people.<br><br>It started to become a little silly / unconvincing in the movements of the actors. It's too studied. There is a time in the works of all auteurs who have carved their own niche in Cinema when the niche may turn into a rut and a unique style may fall into self-parody.<br><br>The image of the house on fire has a brute force much like that in Mirror but something about the story didn't gel. I love the bit where the camera pans from the house down to the identical model of the house, though. So powerful.<br><br>Tarkovsky was a great loss to serious, thoughtful and spiritual Cinema. <br><br><br>P.S. <br>MovieMan, would you mind if I link to your dancingimage review of Spirited Away for a post of animated links in a week or two?Stephenhttp://checkingonmysausages.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592985394059172101.post-60916133385082119752010-01-22T19:53:05.838-05:002010-01-22T19:53:05.838-05:00No, of course, link away, and don't worry abou...No, of course, link away, and don't worry about asking in the future - though if you want to let me know so I can catch the piece in question lest it slip through the cracks, that's certainly welcome.<br><br>You are right that the fire sequence is perhaps too "bravura" for the whole film but that's why I liked it - and liked it more than the film as a whole. Also quite liked that shot you mention - where for a moment it seems like Erland might be God (when you just see his foot next to the house).<br><br>There is a moment in the fire sequence which didn't work for me on first viewing, though I didn't mind it as much this time. Initially, I thought it broke the spell - up till then in felt in the thrall of genius. I think I know why too: it's the moment when the camera pans back to the house from the ambulance, and it's the first time the movement of the camera is not motivated by anything in the frame.<br><br>But that's nonetheless a quibble with an otherwise masterful piece of cinema. As for the movie as a whole, as I suggested, Tarkovsky-doing-Bergman doesn't quite work for me, though the results are intriguing at least.MovieMan0283http://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592985394059172101.post-65476231736265354012010-01-22T19:53:05.837-05:002010-01-22T19:53:05.837-05:00jAFB, did you see the special feature on the DVD t...jAFB, did you see the special feature on the DVD too - speaking of feeling the dread during the shot? If not, check it out!MovieMan0283http://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592985394059172101.post-42862647786785907832010-01-23T02:43:18.092-05:002010-01-23T02:43:18.092-05:00Thanks, MovieMan"where for a moment it seems ...Thanks, MovieMan<br><br>"where for a moment it seems like Erland might be God"<br><br>Yes indeed.Stephenhttp://checkingonmysausages.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3592985394059172101.post-53388717480500339572010-01-24T22:27:42.844-05:002010-01-24T22:27:42.844-05:00It is a great review indeed of a film I've alw...It is a great review indeed of a film I've always admired, even if it's an unapologetic homage to Bergman. I prefer ANDREI RUBLEV, THE MIRROR and SOLARIS, but this is an important work as well. That's an ominous revelation of course that Tarkovsky's impending illness in his 50's, seemed to make this seem like a film from a "dying director."Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.com