An anniversary viewing, a film I try to pop into the DVD player each April 14th.
Which means of course a repeat viewing, this time with commentary by Don Lynch, author, and Ken Marschall, illustrator, of "Titanic — An Illustrated History."
Even with eyewitness accounts at the time, the common belief was that Titanic went down intact. It wasn't until discovery of the wreckage in 1985 that evidence of the ship breaking into two became known. Here, based on a book of interviews with dozens of survivors, it is shown sinking intact.
Movies must be lit in order for an image to be onscreen -- and the commentary includes thoughts on how over-dramatically the ship was lit while going down. In reality, with a moonless night and water to the horizon in every direction, I would have to imagine that visibility was no more than a couple of hundred feet, so no wonder both the British and American inquiries determined that the ship went down in one piece.
The commentary also notes the film's attention to detail: would people wear hats during lunch? Is that lamp on a table actually the sort of lamp used on the ship?
My favorite detail of the film: the sets were mechanically jacked up at one end to create a tilting visual effect. And when the sets starting moving, they started creaking and popping and howling, creating sound effects so effective and dramatic that they were kept in the final soundtrack.
My most unfavorite detail: 19 people on a lifeboat built for 65. Sigh.
Showing posts with label Commentary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Commentary. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
2001: A Space Odyssey
Happy 18th(?) birthday today, HAL 9000! You were quite the troublemaker in your youth, but hopefully now that you've reached adulthood in this year of 2010, you'll settle into a nice groove of responsibility...?!?!
Like any Kubrick film, there's controversy even over HAL 9000's origins. Did HAL 9000 become operational in 1997, 1992, or 1991? Depends on if you prefer the book, the film, or the online transcriptions of the original script. I went with the film, because ... well, duh!
Here's Roger Ebert gushing and Stanley Kubrick sniping the way the pros do it regarding these matters:
http://www.boraski.com/obelisk/cyberfest/s_virgshow.html
Among its many accolades was an Academy Award nomination for "Best Screenplay." Not too shabby for a movie with no dialogue at all in the first 25 minutes, or the final 35 minutes.
Until a couple of years ago, I had never seen this on home video, only in theaters (one of which was the Cinerama Seattle, in 70mm, in the year 2001). The Warner Director's Series box made it worth my while to pick up the DVD. The box doesn't include Paths of Glory, Spartacus or Dr. Strangelove, but I have those anyway. Barry Lyndon, Lolita, Killer's Kiss, et al will have to wait for another FOSPL sale or maybe a library or Scarecrow Video rental.
A repeat viewing, this time with commentary by actors Gary Lockwood and Keir Dullea. Each of them shared insights about the Tao of Kubrick, who really was a great guy if you just did it his way, and who sadly did not make it to the year 2001. My recollection tells me that 2001 was not exactly a banner year for the evolution of mankind, and I wonder what Kubrick would have created later had he experienced it himself.
Like any Kubrick film, there's controversy even over HAL 9000's origins. Did HAL 9000 become operational in 1997, 1992, or 1991? Depends on if you prefer the book, the film, or the online transcriptions of the original script. I went with the film, because ... well, duh!
Here's Roger Ebert gushing and Stanley Kubrick sniping the way the pros do it regarding these matters:
http://www.boraski.com/obelisk/cyberfest/s_virgshow.html
Among its many accolades was an Academy Award nomination for "Best Screenplay." Not too shabby for a movie with no dialogue at all in the first 25 minutes, or the final 35 minutes.
Until a couple of years ago, I had never seen this on home video, only in theaters (one of which was the Cinerama Seattle, in 70mm, in the year 2001). The Warner Director's Series box made it worth my while to pick up the DVD. The box doesn't include Paths of Glory, Spartacus or Dr. Strangelove, but I have those anyway. Barry Lyndon, Lolita, Killer's Kiss, et al will have to wait for another FOSPL sale or maybe a library or Scarecrow Video rental.
A repeat viewing, this time with commentary by actors Gary Lockwood and Keir Dullea. Each of them shared insights about the Tao of Kubrick, who really was a great guy if you just did it his way, and who sadly did not make it to the year 2001. My recollection tells me that 2001 was not exactly a banner year for the evolution of mankind, and I wonder what Kubrick would have created later had he experienced it himself.
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