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Being San Diego's source for all things indie in film we are dedicated to bringing you the newest in the American indie scene - mumblecore. So, hitting the shelves this Tuesday, Jan 29th, citizen video will proudly sport 3 copies of Dance Party, USA the latest mumblecore release by Aaron Katz (it's a dual release with his film Quiet City).
It ain't French New Wave, but mumblecore is its own special little collective and you can read a great New York Times article about it here and then come into citizen video and rent Funny Ha Ha, Mutual Appreciation, LOL, Kissing on the Mouth. And after you've done that you can come to our cinema lounge series with Sushi next month Tuesday, February 26 and see an actual mumblecore filmmaker in the flesh, Andrew Bujalski.
Read Jeannette Catsoulis' review of Dance Party USA which she calls a "remarkably delicate construction," that "captures the way sex and assorted substances distract from the creeping terror of life after high school." And if you want more, click onto this interview with Aaron Katz.
Yesterday I actually got to do something that I always had hoped my job title as video store owner would allow me to do - I watched a movie. A DVD actually. And I watched it twice through, one time right after the other just like I used to do in the good old days when I was in seventh grade and I had enough time to watch Breakfast Club six times in a row.
Except this time, I watched Jean-Luc Godard's Contempt, and media being a lot fancier than it was in say - oh 1984 - I was able to watch it the first time through just plain jane, and the second time through with audio commentary by film scholar Robert Stam.
So I can't even come close to downloading the wealth of information Stam did (you're just going to have to come in and rent it for yourself), but for the cliff notes versions, Contempt was filmed in 1963 and one of the big drawing powers for me pulling it off the shelf was that Bridget Bardot starred in it. And low and behold, if it weren't for that sex kitten, the whole film never would have even existed. It was Godard's first film in cinemascope and his first international film with a big budget funded big time producers. And Bardot was the caveat to getting the whole film produced. She had to be in it for the producers to sign on.
So here's where the fun begins because Contempt is one of those movies about the film making process. It is about a screenwriter (played by Michel Piccoli) torn between the demands of a proud European director (played by - wow - Fritz Lang) and an arrogant American director (played by - so hilarious - Jack Palance). So yes, it's one of those movies about the compromised sensibility of artist when thrust into the constraints of commerce. But rather than whine about it on screen Godard uses the movie as a vehicle to undermine the very people that funded it. He takes the producers demands and gives them what they want with a subtle twist, and he does it right from the beginning. Immediately after the credits role (which are spoken instead than written .... how brilliant), there it is Bridget Bardot's naked ass, exactly what those dang producers asked for. But instead of all hot and steamy, she and her husband (Piccoli) are talking about very erotic things in a very non-erotic way.
It all just gets better from here and its about time that I pay a small tribute to the fact that the great Fritz Lang also stars in the film. Don't know what more to say about that except it shows what a smutty little American I am to pick up the DVD to check out Bardot over Lang. But if the cast or the story line aren't a selling point for you, pick it up for the cinematography.
Having only dabbled in earlier "great" Godard films (Breathless, My Life to Live, Alphaville, Band of Outsiders) I was accustomed to the jerky hand held black and white style that was part of that French New Wave revolution. Here, Godard is using a new method of filming and you can tell he is so enjoying playing with the medium, just having fun doing the exact opposite of everything he has done before. The shots are long, with characters disappearing and reappearing in different parts of the frame as they negotiate their own disjointed relationships with one another. He shoots a 30 minute scene in Bardot and Piccoli's apartment and it's as if he's figured out 80 different ways to photograph two people against a white wall. And besides the apartment there are great locations like a famous film studio in Campania, Italy and a finale on the Isle of Capri.
Haven't even gotten to the second disc yet with great interviews, documentaries and short films, but I'm excited to do so. Personally, I love providing this kind of great "gems" for the South Park and Golden Hill community. I hope that this is what people turn to when all of our copies of Knocked-Up are out of stock.
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