#art cinema

[harrybyharry]

Wanda, dir. Barbara Loden, 1970

[bitter69uk]

“Well, it would be a crowded world if we didn’t have death to re-arrange the scenery.”

/ Kenneth Anger interviewed by Purple Magazine in 2018 /

Funny how shocking it feels to type the words “His Satanic Majesty Kenneth Anger (3 February 1927 – 24 May 2023) has died”.  (Sprueth Magers Gallery announced his death earlier today via Twitter). The pioneering experimental underground filmmaker, author and occultist was, after all, 96 years old! I always assumed whatever pact Anger made with the devil invested him with immortality (or that he’d at least reach 100). Repeatedly seeing Anger’s homoerotic masterpieces like Scorpio Rising (1964) and Kustom Kar Kommandos (1965) at an impressionable age (often at the much-missed Scala Cinema in London) made a profound impact on me, and his two salacious wildly irresponsible volumes of Hollywood Babylon are like sacred religious texts! What a total original Kenneth Anger was. His art will live forever. Pictured: portrait of Anger in his youth in the 1950s by Edmund Teske.

[imtheswanqueen666]

she’s so me

[mythologyofthepoetandthemuse]

In loving memory of Irene Papas (1926-2022). Photography from Michael Cacoyannis' "Iphigenia", 1977.

[poemiskiller]

Yakuza Justice: Erotic Code of Honor (Tatsumi Kumashiro, 1973)

[kraminos]

"Voy a quedarme aquí todo el tiempo que haga falta. Estoy esperando la casualidad de mi vida, la más grande, y eso que las he tenido de muchas clases".

Porque, a veces, las mayores historias de amor son las que nunca llegan a serlo...

Los amantes del círculo polar (1998)

[nowimnothing-inc]

‘Closer to God’

[uncannyarchive]

The Colour of Pomegranates (1969), dir. Sergei Parajanov

[possession1981]

LAETITIA CASTA Visage, dir. Tsai Ming-liang [2009]

[maysshortmoviereviews]

Mast Mein Rehne Ka (2023)

A man chooses an old widower's home for his first robbery, kicking off a set of events that have them both look at life in a new way and with new companions in the starkness of the city of Mumbai.

An original, heart felt, thought provoking and simple story about getting old, friendships, lost opportunities and struggle to survive. I absolutely loved it. It is certainly original and these days when it is hard to come across something new, this must be commended. The two leads, as usual, are great but I was very impressed by Abhishek Chauhan and Monika Panwar. I hope I see more work by them in the future. They were very good in their role.

I highly recommend this if you are looking for something original, authentic and has a heartfelt message. It is on Amazon Prime.

[laconicsquid-blog]

Himiko [1974] ‘卑弥呼’ Directed by Masahiro Shinoda

A freestyle, imagined telling of the life of shaman queen Himiko, who falls in love with her half-brother, making her powers weaken thus putting her position to risk.

[harrybyharry]

The antagonistic presence of men in Cléo de 5 a 7, dir. Agnès Varda, 1962

[bitter69uk]

“When I grow up, I know exactly how I want my hair to look. Like Anouk Aimee's in La Dolce Vita." From "Introducing Rock 'N' Roll's Lady Raunch: Patti Smith" by Amy Gross, Mademoiselle, September 1975

“I was so fucked-up-looking in school, but it just didn't matter. Besides me wanting to be an artist, I wanted to be a movie star. I don't mean like an American movie star. I mean like Jeanne Moreau or Anouk Aimee in La Dolce Vita. I couldn't believe her in those dark glasses and that black dress and that sports car. I thought that was the heaviest thing I ever saw. Anouk Aimee with that black eye. It made me always want to have a black eye forever. It made me want to get a guy to knock me around. I'd always look great. I got great sunglasses.” From “Patti Smith: Can You Hear Me Ethiopia?" by Scott Cohen, Circus Magazine, December 1976

Born on this day ninety-two years ago: that most feline and inscrutable of mid-twentieth century French actresses, Anouk Aimée (née Nicole Françoise Florence Dreyfus, 27 April 1932). She’s a haunting, sensual and Garbo-like presence in the glory days of European art cinema. My favourite performances by Aimée: Les Amants de Montparnasse (1958), La Tête contre les murs (1959), La Dolce Vita (1960) – unforgettable as the most elegant jaded rich nymphomaniac in cinema history (pictured)! – Lola (1961), Model Shop (1968) and Justine (1969). But hell, I also love Aimée as the cruel lesbian queen in trashy sword-and-sandal biblical epic Sodom and Gomorrah (1962), with her voice dubbed by an American actress! It’s fascinating to contemplate that at the height of her international fame in the sixties, Hollywood considered Aimée for two high profile roles: the part played by Faye Dunaway in The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) – and The Baroness in The Sound of Music (1965)!

[ceevee5]

Art cinemas are missing a trick. Do a Saturday afternoon double feature of “High School Musical” and “The Iron Claw.”

[thatstephc]

Art movie icons

[poemiskiller]

Ma Mère, Christophe Honoré, 2004