I Want To Write My Random Thoughts And Feelings
Today comes easing into being over, had a lovely day, lots of sharing, shared my top 2 Schroeter's to one who falls instantly asleep to aesthetically rich things,,or things that are intense, i think it's a physiological response mechanism to save him from thinking outside the box, one comment was "it doesn't make much sense" and "that was weird", so true, from the mouths of babes comes truth.
Synopsis of The Death of Maria Malibran
[quote]Werner Schroeter mixes Stravinsky, Beethoven, Brahms, Maria Callas and Janis Joplin in this delirious biography of the doomed nineteenth-century mezzo-soprano, which he singled out as his most enduring masterpiece.[/quote]
One of my absolute favorites, on Letterboxd i tried to verbalize my awe of it in this way
This is simply phenomenal, the visual, sonic, editing the whole thing is exquisitely wonderful and strange and deeply felt, the faces captured in such a way only geniuses long ago have brought to life. Werner Schroeter was aesthetically inspired by the likes of Kenneth Anger, this is Werner's Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, it is exotic and filled with opulent qualities human speech will always struggle to encapsulate. This is one of the true grande greats of cinema which i term as juicy, it is like eating a delicious rare dessert, the long takes that lovingly caress the faces and scenes are meant i believe to help the viewer savor what is on display. This is not what cinema usually does, cinema usually tries to make you forget about techniques and tries to keep you following an ever evolving narrative. This film on the other hand is meditative, it worships the beauty, it is a holy film, as it is also obscene, but mostly holy in my opinion. I have seen this many times, and it still holds treasures for me, of particular mysterious interest to me is the sequence in the snowy outdoors, what is that about, i wonder to myself, are they liberally quoting from literature sources there, Kleist perhaps, my mind grasps for possible answers, maybe an exotic source that has not yet been translated into english. There is so much to talk about in this film, whoever writes a good review of it must be commended highly, more people must know about Herr Schroeter, more of his films must see a proper release.
Stammering of a fool, here is how Amos Vogel described it
[quote]This bizarre film by one of the most original directors now working in Germany is hermetic, expressionist, oblique, and of a creative perversity that bespeaks the presence of a genius. Purporting to deal with a real-life 19th century diva 'whose popularity was such that over-exertion led to her death while singing,' the film is actually a grisly series of frozen or tortured tableaux (predominantly lesbian in implication) of heavily rouged, frequently ugly women who, pretending to sing heavy opera, go through contorted, icy attempts at communication that lead nowhere. The lip-sync is off; the singing is off-pitch; mouths are frequently open while no sound issues forth, or closed, with mellifluous arias or cheap popular songs heard on scratchy renditions of old records. Neither burlesque nor slapstick, the film's intent, at least in the beginning, is nevertheless ironical and subversive, though mysteriously so. However, it grows increasingly dark and more threatening, with screams, faces bathed in Vaseline, red, wet mouths, smeared eye shadows, and dehumanized figures. One cannot 'explain' Schroeter's work, other than recognize his debunking of opera as a metaphorical rejection of bourgeois society; but one trembles in recognition of a prospective major talent."[/quote]
A piece of paradise it is, in the living room with the sun splashing inconsiderately in .... happy day and night to my fam here, enjoy the simple things, the simple is actually the most wonderful intricate creations, that are so well put together it looks so breathlessly easy, we may take it for granted sometimes, but maybe it's never to late to give in and enjoy wholly, let oneself go so to speak and surrender to the whispering enticements that feel so exotic as they are so rare, how indeed could mind enhancing instances ever be commonplace even if ocurring every single moment, they are always fresh and new. Guten nacht! *_*
Synopsis of The Death of Maria Malibran
[quote]Werner Schroeter mixes Stravinsky, Beethoven, Brahms, Maria Callas and Janis Joplin in this delirious biography of the doomed nineteenth-century mezzo-soprano, which he singled out as his most enduring masterpiece.[/quote]
One of my absolute favorites, on Letterboxd i tried to verbalize my awe of it in this way
This is simply phenomenal, the visual, sonic, editing the whole thing is exquisitely wonderful and strange and deeply felt, the faces captured in such a way only geniuses long ago have brought to life. Werner Schroeter was aesthetically inspired by the likes of Kenneth Anger, this is Werner's Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome, it is exotic and filled with opulent qualities human speech will always struggle to encapsulate. This is one of the true grande greats of cinema which i term as juicy, it is like eating a delicious rare dessert, the long takes that lovingly caress the faces and scenes are meant i believe to help the viewer savor what is on display. This is not what cinema usually does, cinema usually tries to make you forget about techniques and tries to keep you following an ever evolving narrative. This film on the other hand is meditative, it worships the beauty, it is a holy film, as it is also obscene, but mostly holy in my opinion. I have seen this many times, and it still holds treasures for me, of particular mysterious interest to me is the sequence in the snowy outdoors, what is that about, i wonder to myself, are they liberally quoting from literature sources there, Kleist perhaps, my mind grasps for possible answers, maybe an exotic source that has not yet been translated into english. There is so much to talk about in this film, whoever writes a good review of it must be commended highly, more people must know about Herr Schroeter, more of his films must see a proper release.
Stammering of a fool, here is how Amos Vogel described it
[quote]This bizarre film by one of the most original directors now working in Germany is hermetic, expressionist, oblique, and of a creative perversity that bespeaks the presence of a genius. Purporting to deal with a real-life 19th century diva 'whose popularity was such that over-exertion led to her death while singing,' the film is actually a grisly series of frozen or tortured tableaux (predominantly lesbian in implication) of heavily rouged, frequently ugly women who, pretending to sing heavy opera, go through contorted, icy attempts at communication that lead nowhere. The lip-sync is off; the singing is off-pitch; mouths are frequently open while no sound issues forth, or closed, with mellifluous arias or cheap popular songs heard on scratchy renditions of old records. Neither burlesque nor slapstick, the film's intent, at least in the beginning, is nevertheless ironical and subversive, though mysteriously so. However, it grows increasingly dark and more threatening, with screams, faces bathed in Vaseline, red, wet mouths, smeared eye shadows, and dehumanized figures. One cannot 'explain' Schroeter's work, other than recognize his debunking of opera as a metaphorical rejection of bourgeois society; but one trembles in recognition of a prospective major talent."[/quote]
A piece of paradise it is, in the living room with the sun splashing inconsiderately in .... happy day and night to my fam here, enjoy the simple things, the simple is actually the most wonderful intricate creations, that are so well put together it looks so breathlessly easy, we may take it for granted sometimes, but maybe it's never to late to give in and enjoy wholly, let oneself go so to speak and surrender to the whispering enticements that feel so exotic as they are so rare, how indeed could mind enhancing instances ever be commonplace even if ocurring every single moment, they are always fresh and new. Guten nacht! *_*
SW-User