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I voted for Chinese popular cinema because I know the audience will get the most opportunity and enjoyment out of watching along at home.
I feel that "Scandinavian" is used here to describe the Nordic countries so there is no use in discussing semantics (Finland is not a part of Scandinavia). When that's said I would love to hear your take on one of Norway's best up and coming directors; Joakim Trier. His first English spoken film ”louder than bombs" was in the main competition in Cannes last year. I would like to hear what you think of his to other movies "Reprise" and "Oslo 31. August".
When I go to a film festival, I always focus on foreign films and documentaries, and of the foreign films Scandinavian films are always my first choice. So my choice was easy.
Sorry to tell you guys but Finland is actually not a part of Scandinavia so Kaurismäki is not an option.
Maybe if you do one about the nordic countries ;)
If it comes to Scandinavian films it would be great to see a film from Finland in the running. Kaurismäki is the grand old man of Finnish movie but to be really contemporal I'd take a director from the younger generation like Klaus Härö on the list.
Guys, just make Sean Gilman and the rest of us happy and do a Johnnie To marathon!
I'm only half kidding, but if you are considering a To film for the popular category I highly recommend the more personal THROW DOWN (2004) or SPARROW (2008) over his more obvious (but still terrific) genre work.
I'm also going to second some of the above comments about these categories being too broad -- Hong Kong, China and Taiwan are each deserving of their own individual marathons, not to mention spin-off marathons to represent each era. I think Taiwan's Second New Wave (Edward Yang, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Ang Lee, Tsai Ming-liang) or perhaps Hong Kong post-independence (Johnnie To, Tsui Hark, Stephen Chow) could be ideal Chinese-language entry points.
p.s. Edward Yang's A BRIGHTER SUMMER DAY has just received an overdue Criterion release and it's one of the greatest films of all-time
As a one time curator on a Germanic Language Film Series, I have to ask: are you going toward the linguistic definition of Scandinavia, which is Sweden, Norway, and Denmark (Germanic Languages all) or a more geographical sense, which would include Finland as well (not even a remotely Germanic language)? I know nothing at all of Finnish film, so that'd be a fun blindspot to fix, even if this is the route y'all take (or you guys, or whatever 2nd person plural you prefer).
As for me, your recent episode featuring a Top Five dedicated to wuxia films curated by the amazingly knowledgeable Sean Gilman has me voting for Contemporary Chinese Cinema (popular!). Gilman threw off so many names and influences to those wuxia films, including not only headliners like Tsui Hark and Johnnie To, but also a bunch of other filmmakers that I had never even heard of that it seemed like a personal marathon was inevitable at some point. But hey, if you are throwing this open to voting, let's all go on that journey together. We've already laid a foundation for this popular cinema idea, lets run with it and build that house . . . or something, my metaphors seem to be running away from me. But you get the idea, I hope.
Being a huge Roy Andersson, Ruben Östlund and Tomas Alfredson fan and also a Swede, how could I not vore for Scandinavian cinema? I would love to hear your opinions on some of my favorite directors.
For a great introduction to Roy Andersson, do a YouTube search for World of Glory, one of his short films in the same style of his latest trilogy. It can be found with English subtitles. His beautiful set design and cinematography, with it's forced perspective shots and flat, dream-like lighting is like nothing else. This combined with his ability to make my cry out of laughter and complete anguish at the same time makes Andersson a truly unique director. Even his short ketchup commercials he's making to finance building his sets in his studio at Sibyllegatan 24 in Stockholm are better than most feature films.
Once upon a time I had this idea that I was going to be an anthropologist and was eventually going to spend time in China because they have lots of important archeological sights. So 20 some years ago as I was taking my anthropology classes, I decided to take Mandarin Chinese as my foreign language requisite and take a few Chinese history classes.
One of these classes was focused on the Cultural Revolution and to help us understand this event, we watched a handful movies from the "Fifth Generation" filmmakers. The only ones that I can remember watching are The Story of Qui Ju by Zhang Yimou from 1992 and The Blue Kite by Tian Zhuangzhuang from 1993. I really liked and enjoyed these movies and the early exposure to foreign cinema it gave me. It also opened my eyes to just how much a government can effect cinema and what some directors have to go through in order to make their movies. The experience from this one college class had an impact on my relationship to movies and the need to take in/pay attention to international and foreign film.
All of this being said, I did not end up in China, had to drop Mandarin by the third quarter because it was way to hard for my brain, and never came close to finding a job to go along with my Anthropology degree. But thank goodness for the exposure to a different culture. SO my vote is for Chinese Cinema and the art house side of it.
There is so many levels to the massive work of Tsui Hark and Johhny To. DO IT!
We never get action reviews on this show! I think you need a palate cleaning for all of the art-house.
I recently ordered a year-long subscription with MUBI (thanks for the link, you guys) and watcthed Diao Yi’Nan’s NIGHT TRAIN, which is currently on MUBI for 5 more days. It was an interesting piece of cinema to say the least. I then watched Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s THE ASSASSIN, another great Chinese arthouse film. Since I am currently getting my toes wet in Chinese cinema and don’t have much direction as of right now, I’d love to explore the genre with you guys.
Luckily, there’s really no losing in this poll, since I am also interested in Scandinavian film.
Of these three, the genre which (I'm guessing) receives the least attention from Filmspotting is Chinese-language "Popular" - so that's where I drop my ballot. In general, discussion here trends away from lowbrow, populist stuff, which I'm fine with. The trend seems to extend to foreign cinema as well: if we're talking about a buzz-worthy title from South Africa, China or Poland, it's probably one with boasting a certain prestige. Granted, that's what I come here for... but it occurs to me that serious Scandinavian and Chinese movies are likely to get the occasional mention *without* the benefit of a marathon dive. Let's mix it up.
Count my vote for Scandinavian Cinema--and I would be fine if it was just limited to just Swedish films. I would love to hear Adam and Josh talk about Ruben Ostlund's "Force Majeure," which is one of my absolute favorite films over the past few years. I am also a big fan of "We are the Best!" which I only caught up with in the past 6 months or so. And I consider the original "Let the Right One In" nothing short of a masterpiece. (I was thrilled to revisit this recently on MUBI!) I keep being blown away by the Swedish films that happen to make their way into my consciousness. I would love to be exposed to more beautiful Swedish films--and to take them in alongside the rest of the filmspotting audience!
I'd been very keen to explore Scandanavian cinema.
I am really excited that the show is going to do the marathons more regularly. But the term "Chinese-language art/popular" seems too broad to me. In the popular section, it only includes three Hong Kong directors. I think "Hong Kong genre cinema" might be a better name for this choice. And in the art section, it has two directors from Taiwan and one from China. I would suggest that a better choice would be either a marathon on the Taiwanese new wave( you can include Edward Yang, instead of Jia), or on The sixth generation in Chinese cinema.
I do not buy DVDs to follow along with your marathons, so this is a question about what I am more familiar with or what is a bigger part of the "unseen" section of my collection of DVDs and TV recordings. The answer to both of these questions is: Scandinavian cinema.
Michael from Kiel, Germany
I think hosts and listeners alike would greatly enjoy a discussion of Kaurismäki's films. He's one of the best we've got.
For me, this was a hard choice between the two Chinese-language options. Haven't seen that much Scandinavian stuff so Chinese for me.
But popular or arthouse? Well, To is goddamn amazing - I would really love a To marathon. I've also really enjoyed the Chow films I've seen. Never seen a Hark film.
But THAT arthouse section! Tsai is bloody amazing, the Hou I've seen was amazing, and the Jia I've seen - it was amazing! I have to vote arthouse here - really love Rebels of the Neon God and I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, The Assassin and A Touch of Sin!
I wouldn't mind the popular option either though - judging from the four To films I've seen he's one of the most consistently brilliant filmmakers working today.