Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

esotika, wednesday, 2015, friday, sunday, june, 2009, 2008, erotica, psychotica, may, 24, 2023, saturday, march, 28, february, 05, 2010, 21, 14, november, 12, july, 25, about, me, info, blogs, forums, previous, posts, archives, an, canon, for, franco, golden, productions, arrebato, ivan, zulueta, 1979, landscape, suicide, james, benning, 1986, institute, benjamenta, stephen, timothy, quay, 1995, lucifer, rising, kenneth, anger, 1972,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (488), film (161), that (150), and (140), this (77), with (66), but (56), for (52), films (50), are (44), what (42), there (35), more (31), his (30), not (30), anger (28), into (28), narrative (28), about (27), from (27), all (27), cinema (25), something (24), was (21), has (21), perhaps (20), which (19), than (18), any (18), like (18), when (17), first (17), pedro (17), present (16), can (16), out (16), while (16), time (15), through (15), world (15), these (15), they (15), level (14), images (14), also (14), movie (14), franco (13), esotika (13), one (13), idea (13), viewer (13), jose (13), 2007 (12), institute (12), most (12), without (12), way (12), being (12), have (12), well (12), genre (12), she (12), such (12), benjamenta (11), horror (11), two (11), both (11), only (11), often (11), work (11), could (11), think (11), perfect (11), who (11), find (11), always (11), her (11), each (11), abjection (11), experience (11), landscape (10), some (10), important (10), itself (10), does (10), now (10), jakob (10), very (10), half (10), feel (10), benning (9), art (9), magick (9), camera (9), music (9), same (9), still (9), canon (8), video (8), mike (8), between (8), within (8), nature (8), many (8), rather (8), despite (8), much (8), sort (8), beautiful (8), then (8), life (8), death (8), 2008 (7), lucifer (7), rising (7), arrebato (7), state (7), comments (7), posted (7), ideas (7), other (7), literally (7), elements (7), scenes (7), score (7), abject (7), specific (7), shots (7), fact (7), over (7), nothing (7), once (7), experimental (7), concept (7), because (7), different (7), entire (7), almost (7), would (7), point (7), protti (7), subject (7), seen (7), space (7), love (7), looking (6), power (6), necessary (6), makes (6), begins (6), know (6), been (6), reality (6), attention (6), however (6), people (6), everything (6), see (6), best (6), instead (6), sense (6), desperation (6), entirely (6), works (6), should (6), even (6), why (6), brilliant (6), here (6), upon (6), watch (6), how (6), story (6), emotional (6), yet (6), its (6), considered (6), obsession (6), object (6), alive (6), duras (6), hotel (6), may (5), 2015 (5), golden (5), productions (5), jess (5), last (5), exists (5), aesthetics (5), hyper (5), pop (5), air (5), static (5), scene (5), soundtrack (5), where (5), hypnosis (5), become (5), image (5), techniques (5), just (5), larger (5), already (5), get (5), myself (5), our (5), seems (5), though (5), years (5), feature (5), before (5), year (5), saw (5), completely (5), better (5), new (5), outside (5), voice (5), screen (5), cinematic (5), shot (5), actual (5), perfectly (5), own (5), had (5), since (5), relationship (5), real (5), intensity (5), physical (5), favorite (5), export (5), eroticism (5), times (5), trauma (5), impossible (5), blog (4), march (4), february (4), june (4), kurosawa (4), kenneth (4), quay (4), you (4), pure (4), contemporary (4), taking (4), colors (4), points (4), man (4), going (4), don (4), beausoleil (4), another (4), element (4), provides (4), plays (4), sure (4), himself (4), part (4), ostensibly (4), ennui (4), initially (4), oeuvre (4), making (4), writing (4), watching (4), make (4), core (4), poetry (4), anything (4), medium (4), offers (4), filmmaker (4), structure (4), again (4), material (4), watched (4), manner (4), fraulein (4), him (4), takes (4), tension (4), far (4), dead (4), end (4), really (4), say (4), considering (4), movies (4), gein (4), second (4), place (4), woman (4), viewers (4), consider (4), text (4), together (4), developed (4), recognize (4), face (4), heroin (4), early (4), example (4), longer (4), blue (4), few (4), light (4), actually (4), list (4), zulawski (4), dumont (4), prince (4), satan (4), women (4), feels (4), character (4), femme (4), seyrig (4), 2009 (3), november (3), july (3), alain (3), case (3), blogs (3), moon (3), mind (3), view (3), filmic (3), ancient (3), order (3), audience (3), primary (3), every (3), moments (3), events (3), hallway (3), them (3), move (3), tracking (3), calm (3), atmosphere (3), bit (3), brought (3), utter (3), repetition (3), directly (3), hypnotic (3), forth (3), dream (3), esoteric (3), thing (3), occult (3), repeatedly (3), throughout (3), importance (3), problem (3), structural (3), inherent (3), beyond (3), details (3), reveals (3), terms (3), start (3), thought (3), violence (3), happened (3), understanding (3), moving (3), least (3), snow (3), etc (3), qualities (3), ago (3), length (3), off (3), day (3), suffer (3), either (3), never (3), let (3), shown (3), construction (3), forced (3), herr (3), offer (3), set (3), made (3), mysterious (3), located (3), constructed (3), via (3), leads (3), murderers (3), little (3), long (3), terror (3), prolonged (3), establishing (3), serve (3), banality (3), various (3), murders (3), eventually (3), after (3), flat (3), interview (3), during (3), answer (3), playing (3), interesting (3), presence (3), presents (3), articulate (3), terrifying (3), accompanied (3), non (3), exist (3), behind (3), left (3), act (3), movement (3), keep (3), helps (3), short (3), drives (3), ontologically (3), men (3), representation (3), person (3), cut (3), becomes (3), else (3), holds (3), website (3), director (3), personal (3), similar (3), sato (3), breillat (3), note (3), above (3), position (3), want (3), watkins (3), pornographic (3), secrets (3), affect (3), joy (3), philosophical (3), late (3), someone (3), limit (3), desire (3), manages (3), kairo (3), fabio (3), testi (3), plot (3), universe (3), gange (3), india (3), young (3), vie (3), nouvelle (3), 2023 (2), 2010 (2), january (2), teenage (2), kiyoshi (2), 1972 (2), stephen (2), timothy (2), 1995 (2), suicide (2), james (2), 1986 (2), ivan (2), zulueta (2), 1979 (2), hello (2), friends (2), forums (2), culture (2), invisible (2), fever (2), rare (2), reviews (2), san (2), francisco (2), intersection (2), spectacle (2), ritual (2), gods (2), progressive (2), spectator (2), ritualistic (2), form (2), appealing (2), artifice (2), frame (2), banal (2), suddenly (2), generally (2), aforementioned (2), encountered (2), tempo (2), happen (2), soon (2), composed (2), drone (2), recognized (2), simply (2), coupled (2), 60s (2), ironic (2), extent (2), role (2), major (2), pulsing (2), subconscious (2), their (2), term (2), sets (2), boredom (2), single (2), allowing (2), mentioned (2), past (2), remains (2), read (2), historical (2), simple (2), demands (2), certain (2), control (2), camp (2), attain (2), purpose (2), uses (2), sexual (2), diegetic (2), expect (2), reputation (2), editing (2), put (2), totally (2), necessarily (2), indicative (2), system (2), reading (2), artist (2), further (2), exploration (2), culmination (2), obsessive (2), objects (2), easy (2), back (2), come (2), will (2), common (2), brother (2), enigmatic (2), classick (2), friday (2), lost (2), conception (2), exactly (2), aesthetic (2), hyperbolic (2), emotionality (2), excess (2), contained (2), immediacy (2), sound (2), known (2), thanks (2), paul (2), turn (2), too (2), high (2), probably (2), changed (2), doesn (2), specifically (2), multiple (2), viewings (2), special (2), exciting (2), repeated (2), wanted (2), escape (2), speaking (2), must (2), seem (2), meaning (2), parts (2), utterly (2), brilliance (2), awkward (2), narration (2), happening (2), contain (2), walls (2), suggests (2), running (2), willing (2), dynamic (2), classical (2), occurs (2), comes (2), three (2), related (2), arrival (2), lead (2), virtually (2), nor (2), closed (2), suppose (2), trying (2), wednesday (2), hearing (2), lives (2), due (2), full (2), landscapes (2), normal (2), copy (2), expectations (2), old (2), bernadette (2), killed (2), reason (2), knows (2), fragmented (2), crime (2), suburbs (2), midwestern (2), sky (2), following (2), rooted (2), encounters (2), stares (2), questions (2), actors (2), dialogue (2), drawn (2), unable (2), motivation (2), feeling (2), inspired (2), trance (2), remarkably (2), sad (2), song (2), sunday (2), initial (2), subtitles (2), having (2), rhythms (2), several (2), ways (2), secondly (2), primarily (2), uncanny (2), allowance (2), materiality (2), necessity (2), performing (2), insistence (2), achieve (2), finding (2), worlds (2), construct (2), kristeva (2), blood (2), excrement (2), thus (2), taken (2), drive (2), rapture (2), mystical (2), introduced (2), shoot (2), eating (2), watches (2), down (2), until (2), weeks (2), lover (2), formerly (2), key (2), development (2), explained (2), intense (2), dependent (2), heighten (2), action (2), live (2), rhythmic (2), diegetically (2), compelling (2), article (2), symbolic (2), traumatic (2), corpse (2), confront (2), human (2), interested (2), sit (2), signifier (2), quite (2), able (2), right (2), word (2), said (2), philippe (2), grandrieux (2), zwartjes (2), cosmatos (2), werner (2), fassbinder (2), cavallone (2), pommereulle (2), raynal (2), pretty (2), please (2), iglesia (2), marienbad (2), were (2), 80s (2), phil (2), bizarre (2), introduction (2), simultaneously (2), payne (2), characters (2), found (2), attractive (2), corporeal (2), function (2), self (2), stories (2), book (2), corruption (2), couple (2), hermetic (2), fugue (2), spend (2), speak (2), zanzibar (2), group (2), mention (2), experimentation (2), political (2), play (2), 70s (2), vite (2), question (2), mode (2), dominating (2), theme (2), disorientation (2), regularly (2), mil (2), sexos (2), tiene (2), noche (2), head (2), bresson (2), means (2), permutation (2), hors (2), based (2), played (2), italian (2), malady (2), might (2), arguably (2), strange (2), deep (2), body (2), longing (2), explicitly (2), queer (2), driven (2), performance (2), came (2), iciness (2), asked (2), singular (2), believe (2), diegesis (2), speaks (2), choreography (2), amour (2), texts (2), exclusively (2), black (2), formal (2), continues (2), course (2), mystery (2), cosmic (2), synth (2), network (2), haunts (2), interior (2), precedence (2), memory (2), circling (2), serves (2), pentimento (2), wife (2), cannot (2), take (2), erotica (2), psychotica (2), showhype, entertainment, rankings, december, october, september, august, april, archives, zabbadoing, carl, andersen, 1988, loft, 2005, traitement, choc, jessua, 1973, previous, posts, cinehound, forum, lovelockandload, european, review, nocturna, mobius, dvdmaniacs, latarnia, dmtls, merzbau, main, gauche, groovy, age, ombres, blanches, documents, jahsonic, exploding, kinetoscope, desistfilm, devil, honey, worldweird, tomb, concern, celluloid, cesspool, gutter, watchblog, giallo, flickhead, killing, style, popcorn, sticky, floors, cinebeats, velvet, morning, screening, log, wishlist, index, info, complete, profile, goodreads, portfolio, solar, luxuriance, press, location, name, gains, figuratively, juxtaposing, mythological, egyptian, thelemites, delineates, divorced, esotericism, exemplary, pervasive, permeate, shockingly, electrified, negative, brief, highlighting, phenomenon, lightning, volcanic, eruptions, birth, alligator, lizard, exclamation, tour, absently, shuffling, deck, cards, throws, fixed, angle, leading, finally, tableau, steady, echoed, anxiety, arises, telling, bobby, prison, cell, instance, produced, excluding, jagger, grating, rest, popularly, 50s, irony, excellent, piece, married, psychedelic, ambient, echoing, naturalistic, evocations, pensive, internal, psychedelia, pivotal, elevating, subtle, changes, feeds, cracks, raoul, ruiz, discusses, chapter, shamanic, apt, fall, asleep, result, opens, expanded, begin, mesh, unity, alchemist, colliding, connections, brings, thelemite, follower, crowley, ignored, intended, magickal, working, intending, open, wider, field, sublime, effects, history, relates, earlier, delineation, unknowable, knowledge, repetitions, geometric, shapes, shattered, popped, stoic, profiles, egypt, classified, costuming, significant, whereas, using, languid, extension, worth, noting, aim, ensnarement, goal, pulling, voyeur, locus, popular, less, odds, generated, large, lacks, map, devoid, pioneered, homosexual, avant, garde, gets, lumped, ridiculed, campy, costumes, merely, signifiers, conduits, discredited, magician, surface, accurately, learned, fetishism, sensory, religious, strain, permeates, exercise, series, classicks, obscure, usually, decorate, revisiting, exemplify, spirit, moonchild, edited, jack, hunter, poetic, invocation, demon, reaction, mimetic, romantics, hegemonically, discovered, eschewed, favor, look, terribly, muffled, recorded, vito, acconci, conceptual, occasionally, dismiss, motion, pictures, used, shouldn, exclude, forces, reconsider, consistently, overlooked, examples, michael, stan, brakhage, greenbergian, modernism, originally, perfection, shines, sharits, strobing, awful, obnoxious, reflection, roundabout, definite, leave, seven, 5am, headed, junior, school, night, seeing, 10th, criteria, sentimental, attachment, tried, avoid, tie, particular, paying, careful, oppressive, stunning, line, alice, krige, mutters, labored, vocal, intonation, dialog, mark, rylance, whole, gravitate, dare, big, clown, funeral, claims, design, magical, antiquated, deer, stag, decorating, corridor, doorway, texture, lensed, nic, knowland, got, shooting, john, lennon, yoko, ono, cinematography, recalling, textured, sascha, vierny, betrays, told, inner, chambers, goldfish, eyes, privy, subterranean, accessed, doorways, center, sometimes, created, drawing, concentric, circle, blackboard, walking, blindfolded, imagination, wild, under, domain, repression, accept, subversion, arriving, climax, denoument, leaving, coincidentally, tells, arguable, closure, reducing, reductive, context, reach, realize, aiming, clarify, amazing, good, fascinated, combination, structuralist, hesitant, understand, tendency, tend, experiments, filmography, averages, hour, organizing, decided, ignore, examines, classmate, discernible, infamous, fan, prototype, manifestations, ranging, norman, bates, leatherface, approaches, source, segments, examining, approached, beginning, call, tone, six, minutes, practicing, tennis, representative, useless, extended, desolate, overcast, plantlife, void, subculture, posh, heartland, information, delivered, hint, matter, meat, segment, murderer, reconstructed, court, transcripts, icy, acquires, posed, interviewer, unemotional, inhuman, proves, media, assume, transcription, impersonal, delivery, actress, highlights, confusion, adolescence, cheerleader, acquaintance, externalize, language, truly, confused, stoicism, clear, fairly, terrified, albeit, grief, fragment, punctuating, understood, including, somewhat, girls, talks, excitedly, phone, cats, latent, 1950s, housewife, archetype, dances, herself, patsy, cline, tennessee, waltz, impression, draw, parallel, reads, tainted, impact, resonate, uneasiness, manipulation, manipulative, objective, circumstance, implication, texas, chain, massacre, psycho, missing, wonderful, communities, sprung, stronger, acquired, bootleg, english, mesmerizing, gives, potentially, describe, sublimity, super, populates, characterize, foremost, loci, met, particularly, intersects, fantastic, performative, assumed, hollywood, threshold, foot, meshed, theoretical, julia, discussing, letting, dismembered, arm, perspective, amputee, viscera, semen, hair, urine, ourselves, forms, bits, remain, selves, literal, translation, semi, heightened, pause, developing, refers, sleeping, fucking, shitting, periods, hysteria, wildly, crying, fragments, humanity, help, dusty, dust, addict, unfolds, structurally, embedded, collapse, vampire, visually, dissatisfied, arrives, home, apartment, gone, forever, parcel, containing, reel, super8, audio, cassette, sits, listen, tape, retells, interactions, alchemy, meeting, isolated, ally, cause, haunted, obvious, remarks, likes, presented, akin, satisfied, done, worse, addicted, addiction, paralleled, ana, quickly, devolved, bond, subplot, denouement, return, sentence, appears, captures, neither, presupposes, roberto, curti, share, ontological, filmed, simulacra, original, vampiric, sucked, ideological, jump, removing, actor, away, metaphysical, afterlife, felt, die, red, pauses, prepares, faces, desperate, severe, beauty, footage, representations, crossing, penis, erecting, flora, bloom, clouds, erasing, mask, white, pulse, bloodstream, keeps, echos, calling, storyline, cull, active, quotions, pertaining, http, www, artandpopularculture, com, according, situated, inherently, faced, likely, repulsed, violently, cast, cultural, encounter, beings, daily, isn, capable, existing, mortality, repulsion, rot, constitutes, living, international, posting, redesigned, future, severin, significantly, continue, hard, write, wanting, exploratory, process, responding, highlight, respond, interests, listed, below, microcosms, variable, indicate, largest, fascination, tied, mechanics, titles, lists, defining, whatever, coherent, imperfection, dedicated, privileged, capital, similarly, those, attracted, privilege, consequence, comfortable, post, ufos, unidentified, konstantin, lopushansky, harry, kumel, frans, marguerite, grigori, kromanov, pascal, laugier, panos, andrzej, valie, rainer, hisayasu, catherine, alberto, bruno, daniel, jackie, wouldn, otherwise, establishes, suggestions, comment, robbe, grillet, benazeraf, jean, rollin, renato, polselli, vicente, aranda, michele, soavi, lamberto, bava, álex, eloy, eurohorror, weakened, guiding, notion, occupied, raymonde, carasco, gradiva, esquisse, resnais, brothers, permutations, vienna, actionists, adam, robitel, deborah, logan, lucio, fulci, manhattan, baby, peter, collinson, none, indications, expansive, dark, nasty, liminal, york, city, dripping, precisely, low, budget, sleaze, epics, appeal, vitriol, recreated, slide, cheesy, sleazy, disturbing, hilarious, george, inhabits, sadistic, energy, compare, klaus, kinski, paynefully, response, guaranteed, features, differently, hold, pathos, revelation, abel, ferrara, schrader, sensual, derangement, nightmarish, journey, visualized, corridors, hidden, doors, indebted, slow, slidings, midnight, heat, roget, individually, unquestionably, dreams, figure, dore, nekes, stand, sin, praise, garrel, elliptical, along, astutely, smart, challenging, renegotiation, materialist, bring, unique, attraction, brocani, marcel, hanoun, unnameable, quadrant, collide, mid, lit, vierge, deux, fois, things, carried, somnolent, peaks, peak, flattens, subtitled, transfer, bizarrely, blown, saturated, helped, deserving, doing, period, game, except, firmly, established, compared, underpinnings, use, rewarding, sell, subjects, multiples, saying, variations, tit, quinquin, jesus, humanité, seeming, infinitely, theory, practice, exceptionally, tackles, angles, masquerading, exploitation, nightmare, spaced, amped, exterior, violation, safe, difference, inside, metaphor, inescapability, collides, smartly, apparently, missed, critique, adapt, books, rights, wrote, turned, accusations, homophobic, reinforce, patriarchal, endowed, porn, star, rocco, siffredi, refuses, pornocracy, anatomy, hell, bona, fide, warrant, chose, double, paired, remembered, gore, fest, house, pepper, pinku, display, devastating, effect, frying, orgasmically, responsive, piercing, flesh, jewels, pieces, recede, ether, comparison, father, disappears, burst, family, trip, son, leaves, spends, scientific, success, debt, absence, incomplete, communicates, telepathically, cactus, ends, route, arrive, kirlian, witness, naked, deeply, manifestation, manipulates, lust, creates, citadel, final, stringent, revolt, against, lazy, binaries, commonplace, traffics, masculinity, positing, supremacy, captain, stud, nero, displays, variant, repressed, unattainable, querelle, revolutionary, refusal, settle, definable, markedly, maintaining, heterosexual, female, protagonist, grand, explodes, shocking, tire, male, dominated, antidote, exhaustion, adversaries, toss, given, give, overarching, extends, incredibly, fine, tuned, 2001, technology, discussed, circles, lately, anthropocene, carry, simultaneous, heavy, masterpiece, flatten, hierarchy, interchangeable, virtual, players, geocosmic, humans, unimportant, picture, didactic, cure, refer, putting, difficult, countless, sentiment, others, loved, complicated, explanation, moreso, extremity, mise, abyme, weaved, romy, schneider, choreographed, dance, unbelievably, save, braque, szamanka, publique, possession, est, aimer, theater, 100, quality, architecture, realm, appreciate, heshers, break, pleasure, unnecessary, consideration, cult, learns, clearly, obsessed, stealing, tarantino, lineage, rainbow, interest, surprise, questionable, opinion, positioned, brain, stayed, belongs, archetypes, pull, bait, switch, coming, exact, maintain, viewing, twist, movements, musical, latter, informed, former, redirects, importantly, borrows, incidents, tweaking, complain, fit, current, bataillean, gravitas, imperfect, montage, top, threatens, disrupt, martyrs, murder, isolation, storm, decorated, neon, ballrooms, filled

Text of the page (random words):
s as such the movie is entirely his own it has a lineage but it is entirely contemporary to the present l important c est d aimer andrzej zulawski i refer to this when i m asked as my favorite movie of all time the way i view film makes putting a singular film into that position difficult but after a few years and countless re watches it seems that the sentiment remains i was asked once why it was this film more than any of zulawski s others that i loved the most it s a complicated answer but there are two key points i believe that offer some sort of explanation first perhaps moreso than any other film like it everything in the diegesis of the film occurs at a limit as such it s perhaps one of the most important limit texts in all of film there is an extremity a desperation present the mise en abyme of the film also speaks worlds about the nature of art and performance while this is weaved into an impossible relationship that drives the core of the film the impossible love that fabio testi s character feels for romy schneider s character movement in a zulawski film always feels choreographed like dance but here the choreography is an emotional choreography secondly fabio testi s character fabio testi himself is just so unbelievably attractive to me on such a deep level both physical an in terms of actual character i would like to note however that save for a few details some not explained here much of zulawski s work could sit in this position possession la femme publique szamanka or perhaps even l amour braque kairo kiyoshi kurosawa it s always a bit of a toss up between this film and kurosawa s cure on any given day i could perhaps give a different answer however there s something that feels so overarching about this film it feels like it extends into everything much of kurosawa s work has this feeling but in kairo it s incredibly fine tuned this came out in 2001 but the ideas of the film if not the technology feel so utterly contemporary for what has been discussed more in philosophical circles lately than the state of the anthropocene the development of ai i regularly find myself drawn to films which carry a simultaneous iciness and heavy emotional core at the same time kairo is a masterpiece because it manages to flatten out any hierarchy of importance between the characters they re all interchangeable virtual players in the geocosmic trauma of the world humans are unimportant when considered in the larger picture and i can t think of another film that manages to say this so well without being explicitly didactic invisible adversaries valie export export s film is revolutionary in its refusal to settle into anything definable it s markedly queer while maintaining a heterosexual female as its protagonist it s narrative driven despite the fact that there is no grand narrative dominating the film it explodes into moments of export s performance art i find it shocking that so few people tire of male dominated cinema at times and export s film is a perfect antidote to this exhaustion querelle rainer werner fassbinder this is on a deeply personal level the perfect cinematic manifestation of desire it manipulates lust and desire with more intensity than any pornographic film it creates a longing an ennui with narrative the artifice is necessary and perfect for how else could a citadel of eroticism be constructed within film fassbinder s final film similar to export s film is a stringent revolt against both lazy eroticism and the inherent binaries that drive a commonplace understanding of desire which is to say this is an explicitly queer movie that traffics in masculinity without positing it as a supremacy even the captain played so perfectly by that other stud of italian genre cinema franco nero in his longing displays a variant eroticism self driven eroticism that is not repressed but rather dependent upon the object being unattainable naked blood hisayasu sato sato is a director i have a bona fide obsession with as such there are many many films of his that warrant mention so one might question why i chose his arguably most well known film for the list before i re watched this last year as half of a brilliant double feature paired with the kirlian witness i remembered it as little more than a gore fest but the strange for want of a better word art house elements that pepper much of sato s pinku films are on full display here to devastating effect a woman deep frying and eating all the parts of her own body a woman who becomes orgasmically responsive to piercing her flesh with jewels these set pieces actually recede into the ether in comparison with the story that drives the film here a father disappears into a burst of light on a family trip and the son he leaves behind spends his life trying to attain a scientific success out of debt to the absence life is incomplete until a woman who communicates telepathically with a cactus is introduced it all ends in death as everything does but the route we re taken on to arrive there is beautiful and strange anatomy of hell catherine breillat breillat wanted to adapt duras s the malady of death which is one of my favorite books but could not get the rights so instead she wrote her own book based on the malady of death pornocracy and then turned it into a film it s a beautiful film i feel like this is a movie that reveals more about women than anything else accusations that the movie is homophobic are so entirely off point and only reinforce a patriarchal structure of understanding the man in this film played by the beautiful well endowed italian porn star rocco siffredi is not important this is a film about women for women breillat refuses to let men into the film and for that reason this film is not only necessary but also brilliant blue movie alberto cavallone there s a reality to cavallone seeming infinitely more interesting in theory than in practice but when his films work they work exceptionally well blue movie tackles trauma from so many various angles while simultaneously masquerading and at times performing as an exploitation film the film is a nightmare of closed spaced amped up because the only exterior scenes are scenes of violation as such there is no space to feel safe there can be no difference between inside or outside as a structural metaphor of the inescapability of trauma this is brilliant and the film collides such desperation and intensity with a smartly considered and apparently completely missed by most viewers critique another example of a cinematic limit text outside satan bruno dumont i was very late to the game with dumont but as i ve now seen all of his films except for humanité he has firmly established himself in my head as a completely necessary director while he s often compared to bresson for his philosophical political underpinnings and use of non actors i find dumont much more rewarding which is not to sell bresson short by any means in perhaps his contemporary subjects this is a man who is making films about what it means to be alive right now outside satan was my introduction to his work and as such holds a place of importance also since in many ways dumont has made the same film multiples times hors satan is perhaps my favorite permutation of that narrative it should go without saying that not all of his films are the same film but life of jesus hors satan p tit quinquin seems like variations on a theme mil sexos tiene la noche jess franco consider this film as a signifier of franco s entire golden productions period which for me is without question franco at his best i literally love work from all points of his oeuvre and there are still so many more films of his i ve yet to see but in considering what i m interested in film doing the golden productions serve that mode best mil sexos tiene la noche is perhaps my favorite due to two things 1 set almost entirely within a hotel 2 the dominating theme of hypnosis the entire film is carried by through a somnolent ennui peaks never quite peak the entire film flattens into fugue the first time i saw this was on a non subtitled transfer that had bizarrely blown out hyper saturated colors these elements helped serve the disorientation the film offers franco is someone regularly deserving of attention vite daniel pommereulle deux fois jackie raynal these two films for me stand in for all of the films of the zanzibar film group it perhaps could be seen as a sin to praise the zanzibar group without mention of philippe garrel but while i love la lit de la vierge pommereulle s elliptical and hermetic vite along with raynal s astutely smart challenging renegotiation of materialist film each bring something unique to cinema i feel a similar joy and attraction with the films of franco brocani marcel hanoun these are all films that are located in some unnameable quadrant where feature length narrative films collide with pure experimentation the political philosophical play of the late 60s and early to mid 70s the films of dore o werner nekes i know very little about either half of this power couple but i know that the films both were making individually and the films they made together are unquestionably beautiful and hermetic like fever dreams of affect the fugue of aesthetics at some point i will spend more time and perhaps figure out something more specific but this is all i can speak to for now the pornographic films of phil prince roget watkins these films are all dark and nasty yet they exist in the liminal space of an early 80s new york city that is dripping with something i can t articulate precisely what is about phil prince s bizarre low budget sleaze epics that appeal to me but there s such abjection and vitriol present on screen that a hyper space of eroticism is recreated as something no one could slide into without any sort of traumatic introduction it s the bizarre nature of his films that i find appealing they re simultaneously cheesy and sleazy disturbing and hilarious but what makes the films work best of all is the presence of george payne who inhabits the sadistic characters found in prince s films so perfectly there s an energy that i want to compare to that of klaus kinski it s that sort of screen presence note i also find payne almost paynefully get it attractive a corporeal response is always almost guaranteed watkins pornographic features function differently as they re far more narrative than prince s corruption and midnight heat hold as much pathos and revelation as any of abel ferrara or paul schrader s films corruption specifically offers a sensual derangement that leads to a nightmarish journey through the self as visualized with corridors and secrets behind hidden doors probably half the stories in my book slow slidings are in some way or another indebted to watkins related films that offer indications to an expansive sense of this personal canon and then there were none peter collinson manhattan baby lucio fulci the taking of deborah logan adam robitel the various permutations of the films of the vienna actionists institute benjamenta quay brothers last year at marienbad alain resnais gradiva esquisse 1 raymonde carasco the specific position of eurohorror though perhaps weakened in any sort of guiding notion is still occupied by alain robbe grillet jose benazeraf jean rollin renato polselli vicente aranda michele soavi lamberto bava álex de la iglesia eloy de la iglesia also to note i m always looking for new films to watch that i wouldn t otherwise watch i feel like the list above establishes what i m looking for pretty well so if you have any suggestions please comment posted by magick mike at 12 13 pm 3 comments friday february 05 2010 franco s golden productions my article on jess franco s golden films international productions is now live on the severin blog i ll be posting it on the redesigned esotika website in the future as well posted by magick mike at 10 13 am 3 comments sunday june 21 2009 arrebato ivan zulueta 1979 i have had this film for 3 or 4 years now and really i should have seen it long ago i was only missing out however thanks to the wonderful film communities that have sprung up stronger since i acquired my initial bootleg english subtitles now exist for the film as mesmerizing as its images are what gives this film its power are the ideas that are present the images are hypnotic having what the film itself could potentially describe as occult rhythms but without an idea behind the sublimity present in the super 8 film that populates the film we d be left with nothing but aesthetics there are several ways i would characterize my relationship to film first and foremost i am obsessive secondly i find that a story works best or is most interesting when rooted primarily in abjection and the uncanny i think abjection is an important term when considering this film for me the loci of abjection and the uncanny in cinema is met when genre film particularly horror intersects experimental this is an allowance of the fantastic with an allowance of materiality a performative necessity as in the film itself is performing an act as we the viewers are watching and an insistence that the qualities of film image music text movement narrative can achieve more than the inherent assumed qualities of what is considered the classical hollywood narrative achieve arrebato itself is at the threshold of genre and experimental cinema finding itself with one foot in both worlds meshed together perfectly it is a cinema of ideas a cinema of power it is a cinema of abjection we ll start with this it s easy to turn to the theoretical construct developed primarily by julia kristeva of abjection when discussing the horror genre a primary element of abjection is the idea of letting go of something we would still like to keep 1 a dismembered arm from the perspective of the amputee is abject horror cinema is often a cinema of viscera blood semen hair and excrement urine we recognize these as once being a part of ourselves thus these forms of the abject are taken out of our system while bits of them remain in our selves according to kristeva since the abject is situated outside the symbolic order being forced to face it is an inherently traumatic experience for example upon being faced with a corpse a person would be most likely repulsed because he or she is forced to face an object which is violently cast out of the cultural world having once been a subject we encounter other beings daily and more often than not they are alive to confront a corpse of one that we recognize as human something that should be alive but isn t is to confront the reality that we are capable of existing in the same state our own mortality this repulsion from death excrement and rot constitutes the subject as a living being in the symbolic order arrebato is located in the space of abjection it s narrative drive is the idea of the rapture the literal translation of arrebato a semi mystical state of heightened ...