The Ten Megaton AoM: Anarch-O-Meter turns 10,000,000 part 0,001 (or "1")
When our ScreenAnarchy-O-Meter column reached number fifty we did something cool: ten writers gave a list with five of their favorite directors, creating one huge ScreenAnarchy-O-Meter which we lovingly called the MEGA-ToM. We tried to do something similar for when the ScreenAnarchy-O-Meter got to one hundred, but unfortunately this crashed and burned because (amongst other things) I cannot count properly.
However, the next big round number is already upon us: 128, which in binary is 10.000.000, so it's not a regular ScreenAnarchy-O-Meter we have here.
In fact, it's a 10 megaton MEGA-ToM!
Therefore this whole week will be devoted to a huge multi-article ScreenAnarchy-O-Meter. And this time the writers will give us their top 1,000 (or "8") of favorite movies. Starting with our Belgian correspondent Niels Matthijs a.k.a. Onderhond!
Take it away, Niels: the stage is all yours...
Hi, I'm Niels Matthijs. My addition is not so much a list of favorite films, but films that are very dear to me and got overlooked pretty badly. Not because us ScreenAnarchy people loathed them, but mostly because of their very limited visibility. So rather than come up with a bunch of familiar names, here's my selection of rarely watched masterpieces, begging for some spotlights.
Find them after the break!
0001. Umfeld
A perfect film for starting a debate about what makes a film “film”. It lacks any sort of narrative ground, some believe it’s a project more suited for a video exposition in a museum. At the same time, the film has a tighter audiovisual coherence than most other films, sculpting atmospheres and moods that run deeper than most narrative films. "Umfeld" is 99% abstract, loops through several chapters and is basically a string of images tuned to music, which in turn is tuned to the images. The music is purely electronic, somewhat experimental and pretty harsh, especially for a film score. It comes from the hands of Jochem Paap, old-time techno producer and most famous under his Speedy J moniker. The visuals are created by Scott Pagano, and I guess it’s fair to stay the both of them share equal praise as directors of this film. The chapter-like structure of "Umfeld" is the only negative comment I have, apart from that a definite recommend if you like your eyes and ears moved.
0010. Blessing Bell
There is not enough Hiroyuki Tanaka love in this world. Sure, the man has a cult following, but getting his best films on DVD is near impossible. I could’ve just as well picked "Monday", which is equally great, but "Blessing Bell" gives me a chance to give some extra credit to Susumu Terajima. Awesome actor, great sense of humor, strong facial expressions, yet he seems unable to land any major roles. You can spot him in a lot of big Japanese films, but always in a secondary role, blessed with little screen time. "Blessing Bell" puts him on the spot and Terajima does a tremendous job at carrying the film. "Blessing Bell" is beautifully shot, very funny and bears a superb cameo of Seijun Suzuki. A film not to be missed by fans of Japanese cinema.
0011. Kyoshin
I was able to see this one at the Dejima Film Fest, with English subtitles. Still wondering where that DVD is though. A complete change of style for Sogo Ishii, abandoning the raw punk realms and delving into more natural worlds. Funny how this follows Tsukamoto’s recent switch. Photography in this film is quite simply amazing. It features shots that are so ridiculously perfect that Ishii could’ve left everything else out just for the heck of it. But beneath all that beauty lies a touching drama not quite unlike the work of Hiroshi Ishikawa. Small, lingering but ultimately touching and beautiful. It’s a shame the full film is still not available for purchase in any understandable form (unless you understand Japanese of course).
0100. Tokyo.Sora
Hiroshi Ishikawa represents the best of Asian drama (at least for me he does). Brought up in the world of commercials, his films reflect nothing of that. Ishikawa is a master in showing regular, everyday scenes in a perfectly stylized environment. He likes skies and is one of the only directors I know where the horizon is often situated in the lowest quarter of the frame. His characters are silent and struggle with loneliness and communication, but they are never too desperate or depressed. Tokyo.Sora sports an amazing soundtrack by Yoko Kanno and some seldom seen performances from a cast which is not exactly A-class. The film might test your patience at first, but underneath that blanket of boredom lies a rich and amazingly stylized, warm and subtle film.
0101. Tsuburo no Gara
All Tsukamoto, Fukui and Sogo Ishii fans rejoice. "Tsuburo no Gara" is a tiny independent film which pushes all the right buttons for fans of Japanese punk cinema. A bit more subdued and less hectic than its peers, but every bit as intense and fetish-minded. A patient and his nurse are locked down in an underground facility. The patient has a big metal/scrap sculpture on his back. The little room is getting to them and they need to get out of their damp prison. Close-up shots of smoke, repeating sounds and movements, close-ups of skin and pearling sweat. You know the drill (no pun intended). Still not available with subs, another one I was able to catch at the Dejima film fest. There’s not too much dialogue, so adventurous spirits are welcome to try this one anyway.
0110. The Wall Passer
Taiwan has a rather strange (and stale) movie industry. At least from the outside it seems dominated by soft dramas with little else on display. "The Wall-Passer" isn’t anything like that. Although it starts of pretty subdued, once people start traveling through parallel cyber/dream worlds things become very, very different. Definitely a film with many faces, even visually, but always impressive and still coherent in a certain way. There’s a serious shift halfway through, another one at the end of the film. One of the few films that still managed to surprise me, and those kind are few and far apart.
0111. Mon Seung
I like Oxide Pang, and "Mon Seung" (or "Diary" if you wish) is by far my favorite Pang film. When he operates without his brother he seems more liberated and free to do as he pleases. Visually stunning, with a couple of scenes firmly stuck into my brain a good two years after watching the film. The story is pretty basic though, a regular mind-twister, through Pang goes through the roof about halfway through the film, making me believe for a good minute or so something was actually wrong with my DVD. Saying more would seriously spoil the effect, but I seriously love him for that. If you like visually impressive works with some nasty mind screwing, you have to give this one a try.
1000. Small Gods
Flemish cinema is on the rise, with a fair few good genre works floating to the surface these last couple of years. So far, "Small Gods" is my favorite of the bunch, but more than a good year and a half after it first appeared it cinemas there is still no DVD available. I’m literaly standing with 10, 15, yes even 20 euro in my hands here, waiting to spend them on that DVD. "Small Gods" is a perfect combination of road movie, mystery and horror film all packed into one very handsome package. It boasts some impressive visuals and a killer soundtrack, marking the talent of both Karakatsanis brothers (director and cinematographer). Here’s to hoping to get to their next film pretty quickly.
