Saturday, February 04, 2006

Two Links

This sounds like something direct out of Flaubert's Parrot. No prizes for guessing who wrote it!

Also a very sharp and intelligent review of Cache in Slate.

4 comments:

wildflower seed said...

"But Haneke lacks Kieslowski's instinctive warmth and empathy, the basic unshakable faith that people deserve a home."

Agree 100%. Cache is very good but its a tad overrated, imho.

Alok said...

I don't think comparing Haneke with Kieslowki will be helpful because not only their basic worldviews but also their concerns and styles are radically different. Unlike Kieslowki, who is essentially a humanist, Haneke is more of a scientist observing his subjects with clinical detachment. Hope, empathy, redemption etc are concepts which are too vague for him. I don't know a less humourless or a more pessimistic director currently working :)

About Cache, I think its political conclusions might be a little simplistic and predictable (although personally I don't think so) but its style is something totally new to me. At least in a thriller. The characters are psychologically authentic and each scene is heavy with hidden meaning and you are always at your toes to find out what really is happening beneath the surface.

May be, you didn't like it because there was no music (not even a single tune, not even in the titles!) in the film. Ha ha just joking :)

wildflower seed said...

Alok
:) You could be right, you know. Films speak to our innermost prejudices in mysterious ways. If I were to break down exactly what it is about the films of Tarkovsky that move me so, then I'd have to have much more self-knowledge than I can lay claim to.

Alok said...

Yes that is true. I think the best art can do is to take you close to yourself. Changing oneself or getting rid of one's prejudices might not be entirely possible but understanding them definitely is!