There are those directors who are giants in the field. They tower over everyone else. Fellini is one, Bunuel, another. I’ve frequently pondered what makes it so. How it is that they achieve their effects, and how often it is elusive and not obvious. You can say that their films create their own worlds, but many directors and films do - perhaps one should say they create their own universes, because their worlds are so much deeper more complex and rich.
Another key is that they feel extremely real psychologically. The characters feel like real human beings, not movie characters. They seem to address Humanity at such a depth that however deeply you think about those characters and events, they feel to be fully dimensional. For some reason, many Hollywood films lack this dimensionality, and partly perhaps for a worthy reason. There is an ethos in Hollywood (or was), that no scene, no action, no character, no prop should ever make an appearance unless it propels the film forward. That has a certain admirable economy and discipline about it. But it also causes these films to sometimes feel very two dimensional, as if they have no life outside of the screen and cannot really stand too much scrutiny, because they’re paper thin - it’s like a surface graphic application of “wood” on a particle board, versus real wood - it looks the same, but you better not scratch it. The set, versus real building. The back lot, where there is just enough scenery, sky, trees, building facades to give an impression of a real world but with nothing but construction wood behind it and you don’t dare frame the camera off by an inch or it’ll reveal how hollow it all is.
There of course has been an evolution away from that ethos in Hollywood, but sadly not because they wanted to add depth, but due to simple incompetence - they’re often incapable of such economy so they waste a lot of footage on imprecise and sloppy sequences. This is a very different situation with the films of those giants - there is no wasted movement, it all has a purpose, it’s just that the purpose doesn’t hit you immediately over the head, but the effects work on a much more subtle level.
—————-SPOILER ALERT—————
And so Viridiana is an exhilirating film. It’s not simply because it’s shot so nicely, the use of music, the brilliant acting by Silvia Pinal and other actors. It’s because it tells such deep truths about what it means to be human. I raved about Joker not long ago, but also acknowledged that it wasn’t exactly a true representation of Society and Humanity - the character was a bit simplistic, but then again, it was a cartoon world and character. Here we have the opposite - full depth and depth at such a level that it exposes the LIES that we all tell ourselves in all the major thought systems that govern our society from religion (the film was banned by the Vatican), to the Humanitarian worldview. It takes no sides, it just depicts with searing clarity - Bunuel is neither of the Left, nor of the Right, he is an observer of Humanity. And as those LIES are exposed here, it’s an exhilirating effect - there is no ringing of the bells, just calm exposure. He doesn’t preach, just shows. And does it all with such biting wit. I found myself often laughing out loud and sighing at the same time.
And the power and confidence of his narrative is such that you are deeply touched by how it all seems to work on a whole other level compared to ordinary films. When he shows suicide, murder and rape - he doesn’t dramatize or shock the audience, he doesn’t amp up effects, those events happen casually almost as if in passing - that alone elevates him above 99.99999% of fillmmakers out here, who would never be able to resist showing the “shock” of murder or rape - it’s outside of their capabilities because it’s outside of their intellectual horizons.
And so many of his scenes and sequences are shot with a feeling of deeper purpose beyond the immediate effects - take the example of the walking nuns at the convent in the beginning. You don’t fully understand what you’re seeing, but it has a deeper effect and echoes far beying its time on the screen. This is truly the highest manifestation of the art of film.
Yes, for me, one of those “desert island” films, something that can be treasured forever. YMMV, all IMHO.
Another key is that they feel extremely real psychologically. The characters feel like real human beings, not movie characters. They seem to address Humanity at such a depth that however deeply you think about those characters and events, they feel to be fully dimensional. For some reason, many Hollywood films lack this dimensionality, and partly perhaps for a worthy reason. There is an ethos in Hollywood (or was), that no scene, no action, no character, no prop should ever make an appearance unless it propels the film forward. That has a certain admirable economy and discipline about it. But it also causes these films to sometimes feel very two dimensional, as if they have no life outside of the screen and cannot really stand too much scrutiny, because they’re paper thin - it’s like a surface graphic application of “wood” on a particle board, versus real wood - it looks the same, but you better not scratch it. The set, versus real building. The back lot, where there is just enough scenery, sky, trees, building facades to give an impression of a real world but with nothing but construction wood behind it and you don’t dare frame the camera off by an inch or it’ll reveal how hollow it all is.
There of course has been an evolution away from that ethos in Hollywood, but sadly not because they wanted to add depth, but due to simple incompetence - they’re often incapable of such economy so they waste a lot of footage on imprecise and sloppy sequences. This is a very different situation with the films of those giants - there is no wasted movement, it all has a purpose, it’s just that the purpose doesn’t hit you immediately over the head, but the effects work on a much more subtle level.
—————-SPOILER ALERT—————
And so Viridiana is an exhilirating film. It’s not simply because it’s shot so nicely, the use of music, the brilliant acting by Silvia Pinal and other actors. It’s because it tells such deep truths about what it means to be human. I raved about Joker not long ago, but also acknowledged that it wasn’t exactly a true representation of Society and Humanity - the character was a bit simplistic, but then again, it was a cartoon world and character. Here we have the opposite - full depth and depth at such a level that it exposes the LIES that we all tell ourselves in all the major thought systems that govern our society from religion (the film was banned by the Vatican), to the Humanitarian worldview. It takes no sides, it just depicts with searing clarity - Bunuel is neither of the Left, nor of the Right, he is an observer of Humanity. And as those LIES are exposed here, it’s an exhilirating effect - there is no ringing of the bells, just calm exposure. He doesn’t preach, just shows. And does it all with such biting wit. I found myself often laughing out loud and sighing at the same time.
And the power and confidence of his narrative is such that you are deeply touched by how it all seems to work on a whole other level compared to ordinary films. When he shows suicide, murder and rape - he doesn’t dramatize or shock the audience, he doesn’t amp up effects, those events happen casually almost as if in passing - that alone elevates him above 99.99999% of fillmmakers out here, who would never be able to resist showing the “shock” of murder or rape - it’s outside of their capabilities because it’s outside of their intellectual horizons.
And so many of his scenes and sequences are shot with a feeling of deeper purpose beyond the immediate effects - take the example of the walking nuns at the convent in the beginning. You don’t fully understand what you’re seeing, but it has a deeper effect and echoes far beying its time on the screen. This is truly the highest manifestation of the art of film.
Yes, for me, one of those “desert island” films, something that can be treasured forever. YMMV, all IMHO.