tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294916540840535575.post8050498454376208032..comments2024-03-22T08:29:01.459-07:00Comments on Are the hills going to march off?: The American (2010) A Film by Anton CorbijnCarson Lundhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10164962777812861110noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294916540840535575.post-69074618226283759772010-09-22T07:26:40.654-07:002010-09-22T07:26:40.654-07:00Carson, I pretty much agree with everything you ju...Carson, I pretty much agree with everything you just said, it's just one of those things that it would be easy to take too far, and sometimes I think it is. FIlm is a subjective experience, so if a film bores you, it would make sense that it would be a starting point for discussion and analysis of some kind. It should never end there, but I think it can start there, and any discussion around a film kind of should always start with that first, unfiltered experience of the film. It's not hard to make a jump from "boring is not a critical argument" to "boring is not a valid reaction," but that's not a jump that should ever be made, and that was my primary point.<br /><br />"I also don't think it's a sin to be put to sleep by a film; sometimes it's a calculated effect by the filmmaker, a lulling atmosphere."<br /><br />Completely agreed, and it makes action and movement so much more jolting and tangible.Peter Lenihanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02321136631371064331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294916540840535575.post-77559298844976962412010-09-22T06:50:19.741-07:002010-09-22T06:50:19.741-07:00Mattson, I agree about the violence. I loved how t...Mattson, I agree about the violence. I loved how the film was in constant anticipation of violence, yet it rarely ensued, so that when it did it was overwhelming. <br /><br />Peter, you're right to say that a film can never really resemble real life. I'm fully aware of that. But it strikes me as Corbijn's choice here to at least approximate the flow of reality, even if it is peppered by a somewhat dreamlike atmosphere. It reminded me of the Austrian film <a href="http://arethehillsgoingtomarchoff.blogspot.com/2010/06/revanche-2008-film-by-gotz-spielmann.html" rel="nofollow"><i>Revanche</i></a>.<br /><br />I find Tuttle's argument useful, to an extent, because he's referring to a specific kind of film, not even necessarily anything quite like <i>The American</i>. Something like Costa. But I think it's still relevant here, that one cannot simply say that something is boring and leave it at that. Boring is a useless subjective term, and it assists more to illuminate, as you said, the specific features that made it inaccessible or off-putting. I also don't think it's a sin to be put to sleep by a film; sometimes it's a calculated effect by the filmmaker, a lulling atmosphere. Art is too complex to reduce something to "boring".Carson Lundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10164962777812861110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294916540840535575.post-37749523387147989742010-09-22T05:52:42.620-07:002010-09-22T05:52:42.620-07:00I liked both Control and The American a lot, and C...I liked both Control and The American a lot, and Corbijn strikes me as a very talented moviemaker. I don't think any film can really resemble real life because movies aren't like real life (not even a single take film like Russian Ark), but I certainly can understand what you're talking about here.<br /><br />I think the premises of your article are really interesting though. I'm not familiar with Tuttle or his writing, and while that a film is boring may not be a critical argument, it is a reaction that many often have to a film, and I don't think it's helpful to alienate those people from a discussion by treating those feelings as invalid, as the quote here seems to be implying. And a critical argument could be built around those kind of feelings very easily. For example, one could talk about a lack of economy or craft or structure, and how that fails to hold audience interest or cheapens its storytelling. Which, I should emphasize, I don't think is at all true in this film's case, but I'm not sure how helpful Tuttle's dismissal here is in encouraging all different kinds of thought around a film.Peter Lenihanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02321136631371064331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-294916540840535575.post-800254166358590162010-09-21T20:59:24.973-07:002010-09-21T20:59:24.973-07:00A great take on a great film. I have almost no co...A great take on a great film. I have almost no complaints about this film. Certainly not its pacing and storytelling. <br /><br />It was, I found, refreshing, to delve into what felt more like a sober documentary than a narrative film. Unfortunately, when people see a poster of George Clooney with a gun, there is a certain expectation.<br /><br />This film, however, really had me on the edge of my seat, especially with its violence. As someone who knows a lot about movie violence, being a filmmaker, and has seen a lot of real life violence, this film scared me, because I processed the violence as being real violence. The physics, the speeds, the clumsiness, everything about it registered as reality- which is something people seem to be having a harder time recognizing as they see it.MThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05203400260160541629noreply@blogger.com