Just in case you're interested. Was trawling the Tarkovsky threads and it had a link to his top 10 favourite films (as featured in a recent issue of Sight and Sound). Made for very interesting reading. Chaplin's 'City Lights' was on there too!
"Come on Homer, you might like Japan. You liked Rashomon." "That's not how I remember it."
I was not able to find the list - could you, please, post link to it here? I've heard Diary is Tarkovkij's favorite movie before, but I would like to check the rest.
01. Le Journal d'un curé de campagne 02. Winter Light 03. Nazarin 04. Wild Strawberries 05. City Lights 06. Ugetsu Monogatari 07. Seven Samurai 08. Persona 09. Mouchette 10. Woman of the Dunes (Teshigahara)
I'm not at all surprised to see three Bergman's on his top ten. I have long suspected he was a disciple of Bergman, but here is the proof in writing. I imagine it must have been a moment of great pride for him to hear Bergman speak so highly of him, calling him the greatest filmmaker, and the man who had the keys to the room that Bergman had been trying to enter for years, but could only view through a keyhole...
It is interesting that no Russian films made his top ten, though not entirely suprising given that he borrows much more from the northern europeans than from his own comrades in style.
I know that he respected Kurosawa very much, and its intersting to see him highlight one of Kurosawa's more action-packed films, rather than one of his more meditative ones.
Seven Samurai is very meditative. That's a very believable list, I can see Tarkovsky's touch. I'm surprised he didn't list Parajanov's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors which he admired.
The best list ever to come out by a director. I'm not a huge Tarkovsky admirer but this list pay hommage to 3 of my very favourite movies of all time: Le Journal, Winter Light and Woman in the Dunes.
Tarkovsky is a genius. Andrey Rublyov is a cinematic masterpiece. Tarkovsky actually got me more into Bresson. I love this, Mouchette, A Man Escaped, and Pickpocket. I'd like to add Fellini, Truffaut, Bergman, , Kubrick, Herzog, and Kurosawa as the elites. I love this movie, but I'd say I prefer Bergman's 'Winter Light'. (Which I think is Tarkovsky's 2nd favorite).
Not sure if I´d describe it as a love story, but Diary sure made its big, fat mark with me. Unlike most other films heavy on Real Serious Talk (like, for instance, Rohmer´s Claire´s Knee I saw earlier yesterday - although this one, unlike that Maud number, leaves out broader philosophy as well as religion), this one´s handled with uncommon grace and power, with the visuals and the general feel of the thing giving all the ruminations a special gravity; I particularly like the way, in the first half of the film, the story is told in relatively short scenes preceded and followed by fadeouts. By and large, it´s indeed not too much unlike a Tarkovsky (I did sort of wonder why he was so big on Bresson on the basis of A Man Escaped or Pickpocket... not anymore). Meanwhile, that Claire picture struck me as merely pretty.
But I´m also thinking if I really might be more receptive, or more inclined than I thought, towards this kind of more overtly tragic material - after all, both this as well as Balthazar are much more emotionally charged than those Escape & Pickpocket... After all, I was no less taken with De Sica´s Umberto D just a few days ago (although, of course, neither Diary nor Umberto aren´t what one would call "sentimentalist", exactly... Diary, for one thing, is far too austere & clinical for that).
Have you seen any Tati btw? Playtime´s outstanding (I ´have´ been pretty lucky with my film selections lately... but perhaps that´s just the kind of thing that might happen when you give 1950´s B-horror a rest for a while...)
Well, I always had a strong feeling that it could be the one Bresson that you could end up loving the most - it has way too much going for it (for one, it doesn't stumble for a second with the weight of those "overtly serious" topics resting firmly on its back). Reading your praises for it convinces me I need to experience that again.
Of Tati, I have only seen Mon Oncle (on your recommendation, I think) and I thought it was an amusing satirical portrait of an upper-class family. Great stuff. You reckon I should check out Play Time next?