Friday, July 08, 2011

Cannes 1986: More Big Guns



I'm posting this entry as a place to leave comments about The Sacrifice, a film I suspect many of you have seen. My review is posted here, as is another review of Ménage (Tenue de soirée), a polyamorous French farce with lots of nasty edges. Michel Blanc scooped up half of the Best Actor gong for Ménage, and The Sacrifice made off with prizes from the Ecumenical Jury and the International Critics, a special citation for Sven Nykvist's majestic cinematography, and the Grand Jury Prize that is colloquially known as the runner-up prize for the Palme. These are key films for this year's festival, and whether or not you've seen the films recently, or even at all, I hope you'll enjoy the pieces and/or track down the movies. I'd love to hear what you think.

Enjoy the weekend, and with any luck, Tarkovsky aside, the world won't end yet! Though the ads for Zookeeper do make you wonder...

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3 Comments:

Blogger Robert said...

Your review of The Sacrifice was a great read. It's always interesting for me to experience a more objective take on this film since it's one of the few films that was such a personal experience for me, that I cannot view it objectively (yes you can make an argument that this is always the case, but I digress).

The Sacrifice was my gateway to Tarkovsky (who would become my favorite director) and came to me at a time following the death of a close family member when I, quite frankly, needed to see something about death, family and well... sacrifice. Something beautiful and boorish, unsubtle, over-the-top and strange. A film about how the world is equal parts haunting and perplexing and how as we're terrified of it, we spend most of our time struggling to stay in it.

It was the perfect film to see in my circumstance because it tried neither to make me feel better nor worse, just patiently work me through my pain. Maybe any Tarkovsky film would have done or maybe not. The person who died did always have that sorrowful/dignified quality of a Bergman actor. That didn't hurt either.

And so, while I see the flaws clear as day, I also admit that I have, with no other film, quite an intimage relationship. So that,s for taking some time out to feature it. Much appreciated.

5:12 PM, July 08, 2011  
Blogger NicksFlickPicks said...

That is a huge compliment, Robert, and even more than that, a humbling and thought-provoking story about what the film means to you, and why. Some of my favorite films I'm not sure why they mean so much to me, and some I know exactly why - and wouldn't ever be able to extricate them from the time and the circumstances when I took them in. I can see why The Sacrifice would be both intimidating and invaluable in the context you're talking about. Truly, thanks for sharing this.

5:36 PM, July 08, 2011  
Anonymous web development bangalore said...

I have watched a several times.Nice movie.A bit interesting and little boring part.Can watch it once.

6:11 AM, July 12, 2011  

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