“the torch” #31 - Death or Humour?

All the world is a stage – and death no joker! (But in film, a good joke can be a killer.) To keep us entertained with their movies, a filmmaker has to bear in mind the first principle whereby excess is not advisable, but moderation is: healthy and safe. While the latter is arguably true, the conviction that a taste for health is what gets us into those seats sounds considerably less convincing; how much appeal insanity has in store is the very formula each thriller of whatever genre tries to calculate anew – and results should differ. An extension of this line of thinking would have to ask where exactly the aimed for emotive value can be found in balancing the distribution of film’s strongest assets (narrative devices both): death and humour. Whether to factor out, or in, and to what degree, this is the calibrating task between fun and credibility you absolutely have to get right with your audience if you want your film to do well and connect.
Interested in finding out more about what we want from our movies? Get “The Torch”: here.

(pic©mo)

quote of the week

“Life is all about good-byes.”
(Sukiyaki Western Django, Miike Takashi (2007))

quote of the week

“'You'd better hurry home,' Naeko said when she noticed the bits of white particles. You could not call it snow. Sleet perhaps – but the white particles vanished and reappeared.
The valley, dark for the time of day, suddenly turned chill.”
(Kawabata Yasunari, The Old Capital (1962))

“the torch” #30 – in the crux: literary adaptation

When words and images collide – there are most certainly going to be all losers in that game. To write for film, or to film after writing – is it merely a priority issue and your classic master-slave situation calling for good guidance and decisive action? Or is there a real conflict at play, more challenging and possibly less likely to be swiftly resolved by good will alone? This week’s edition of “The Torch” makes it an unambiguous case for the latter notion, and arguing that without the right amount of mutual respect for the art form of literal or visual representation respectively, there can be no coming-together in any way convincing and fruitful. If “know thy neighbour” be a rightful command with some grounding in past experience (learning from mistakes, that is), then the crafting of a good literary adaptation of a deserving text affords both sides involved to heed the rules of each profession alike and honour their differences. For what is incongruous by nature can only be overcome by real creativity, never force. Your point is: here.

(pic©mo)

quote of the week

“I tried to invent new flowers, new stars, new flesh, new tongues. I thought I was acquiring supernatural powers. Well! I must bury my imagination and my memories! An artist's and story-teller's precious flame flung away! I! I who called myself angel or seer, exempt from all morality, I am returned to the soil with a duty to seek and rough reality to embrace! Peasant! Am I mistaken? Would charity be the sister of death for me? And last, I shall ask forgiveness for having fed on lies. And now let's go.”
(Arthur Rimbaud, A Season In Hell (1873))

quote of the week

“Doubtless, he had to steel himself to do it, for he had a tender heart; but he was more of a pleasure-seeker than a lover and he had easily persuaded himself that duty itself demanded harshness.”
(André Gide, The Counterfeiters: A Novel (1925))

“the torch” #29 – Your Berlinale blueprint

‘Size does matter’ – we all know about this truism’s worth, one way or another, and have learnt how to live with it. In terms of publicizing and creating a buzz about a product to raise the level of public awareness, possibly turnover and revenue, film marketing has to go by the rules like any other business. But then again, we are talking about an art form as well, and it is in this respect that more important factors than only short term success need to be taken into consideration when promoting a movie that also aspires to be taken seriously as an act of self-expression. The festivals around the globe, self-serving as they are, provide of course the necessary platform to do just that, and when it comes to the Berlin International Film Festival (aka Berlinale), arguably one of the industry’s top events on the calendar each year, prestige, recognition, appreciation, exposure, business and a bit of calculation too, all together they form that special cocktail which has aspiring people from all over the world flock to the city with great expectations. And what presumptions exactly can tell a marvellous little lie or simple line of wisdom – at times you don’t even have to wait until the lights come down and the projection starts to figure this out. For vanity is a strategist who will not be surprised – and thus, to get yourself prepared, visit this week’s edition of “The Torch”: here.

(pic©mo)