Follow-up

Seven Samurai

[Criterion collection #2] I hate to be uptight and say that Netflix did not have a streaming widescreen version or a Blu-Ray available so I had to watch this epic 3 hour movie on a square screen. The horror, the horror, I know.

I’m trying to be of the mindset that these very old classic movies are something that I have to sit through, despite my contemporary tastes and attention span, just as a self-imposed requirement that I begin to have a foundation of cinematic understanding based on all the good epic movies that inspired so many future films. Just when I was getting antsy and thought I was sitting through a movie that was made for a different audience and time, Seven Samurai has the breadth and patience enough to give you some out of nowhere characterizations that get me paying attention once again. The whole farmers vs. warriors class dynamic created some very unique tensions. I think what puts me a little off are the battle scenes. While epic and important to the story, they also drag on for a while. I believe that’s my reaction to just being accustomed to that kind of dynamic epic violence being so easy to view in any number of filmed mediums. Back in 1954, I bet the movie-going audiences without televisions were willing to watch battles as long as possible on the big screen.

Diversion aside, this film’s length made it a struggle to watch, but no doubt was this an important and entertaining movie.

Irreversible

Probably close to the most disturbing and brutal movie I’ve ever seen. In regards to The Human Centipede, which might now be the runner-up in this category, there are inventive ways to shock and awe by depicting a horrible torture fantasy in the most realistic way possible. It’s quite another thing to portray something horrible that is realistically possible and structure a movie in the most incredibly jarring way, so the audience can’t really gain a comfortable distance from the movie because they are so incredibly disoriented that they can’t tell what’s going on, who the characters are, and what their motivations for acting in the most extreme way possible. I’m so glad (if you could call that an appropriate emotion allowed in this movie) that while I knew there was going to be a pivotal and brutal scene going in, I didn’t read the Wikipedia entry or any reviews further than that. What I experienced was a film whose very form, function, and style, allowed for the themes and story to hit you deeply, in ways that the most bloody, disgusting, straightforward horror film never could. I only think I’ll be watching Irreversible again for plot clarification, because there are parts I never want to see again unless I feel like showing a very trusted friend the absolute edge I’m willing to go when watching movies.