Thursday, December 24, 2009

2009 book-keeping

As usual, a list that represents moments which were important to me this year, as marked by the movies I've seen during those times. It also includes traumatic moments- discoveries/rediscoveries, inspirations in form and in spirit-

The Long Day Closes (Terrence Davies, 1992)
Hélas Pour Moi (Jean-Luc Godard, 1993)
Beyond the Forest (King Vidor, 1949)
To Have and Have Not (Howard Hawks, 1944)
Bird (Clint Eastwood, 1988)
Pola X (Leos Carax, 1999) + The Lovers on the Bridge (Leos Carax, 1991)
Paisan (Roberto Rossellini, 1946)
In the City of Sylvia (José Luis Guerín, 2007)
The Inner Scar (Philippe Garrel, 1972)
À Nos Amours (Maurice Pialat, 1983)
The Rink (Charles Chaplin, 1916)
J'Entends Plus La Guitare (Philippe Garrel, 1991) + The Frontier of Dawn (Philippe Garrel, 2008)
Femme Fatale (Brian DePalma, 2002)
Out 1: Spectre (Jacques Rivette, 1974)
Revolutionary Road (Sam Mendes, 2008)
Shirin (Abbas Kiarostami, 2008)
The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock, 1935)
The Terrorizers (Edward Yang, 1986)
There Was a Father (Yasujiro Ozu, 1942)
Fanny and Alexander (Ingmar Bergman, 1982)
Notre Musique (Jean-Luc Godard, 2004)
Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
Two Lovers (James Gray, 2008)
Orphée (Jean Cocteau, 1950)
Ali (Michael Mann, 2001)
La Réligieuse (Jacques Rivette, 1966)
Sombre (Philippe Grandrieux, 1998)
L'Amour Fou (Jacques Rivette, 1969)
The Yards (James Gray, 2000) + Notorious (Alfred Hitchcock, 1946)
The Dead (John Huston, 1987)
Battle in Heaven (Carlos Reygadas, 2005)
The Brown Bunny (Vincent Gallo, 2003)
Buffalo '66 (Vincent Gallo, 1998)
Last Days (Gus Van Sant, 2005) + Emergency Kisses (Philippe Garrel, 1989)
A Page of Madness (Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1926)
At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (José Mojica Marins, 1964) + This Night I Will Possess Your Corpse (José Mojica Marins, 1967)
Fitzcarraldo (Werner Herzog, 1982)
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (Elio Petri, 1970)
The Passion of Joan of Arc (Carl Th. Dreyer, 1928)
Vincere (Marco Bellocchio, 2009)
Ne Change Rien (Pedro Costa, 2009) + Colossal Youth (Pedro Costa, 2006)
Sicilia! (Danièle Huillet & Jean-Marie Straub, 1997) + Where Does Your Hidden Smile Lie? (Pedro Costa, 2001)
M (Fritz Lang, 1931)
Miami Vice (Michael Mann, 2006)
Trouble in Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch, 1932)
The Sex Garage (Fred Halsted, 1972) + L.A. Plays Itself (Fred Halsted, 1972)
The Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir, 1939)
Bad Lieutenant (Abel Ferrara, 1992)

Always a moral vision; no separation between ethics and aesthetics, the personal and the political.