In response to Spacebar’s post.
She had to rush back to work after meeting him. An hour later, all critical issues taken care of, she hurried to the breakroom and opened the envelope. There they were, nestled in a neatly folded sheet of paper that looked like a program guide, two passes for Bergman In Retrospect, that was to run a whole week, starting tonight. He would never give up, would he?
In the few months she had known him, nothing was guaranteed to cause as many stormy arguments as their tangential movie preferences. Everything was negotiable, except Films. Then again, they had hardly known each other for two months.
She loved the languorous lusciousness of Wong Kar Wai. And the animated vibrancy of Almodovar. For him, it was always Bergman and Tarkovsky. They were just too brutal and harsh for her. Of course they had a shared list of film-makers they liked. For Instance, who in their right mind didn’t love Truffaut?
Was this his way of having the final word? Not one but two tickets! Once he was gone, who was she supposed to watch Persona or Winter Light with? Other friends refused to ‘be subjected to art films’ (yes, with the inverted commas) and he knew that. With just two days left, she might even consider watching these films with him, for him. But once he was gone… Did he really expect her to go around begging someone to go with her? She turned a ticket over to read the fineprint. Of course they were non-refundable. Bah!
Finally, she goes online, calmly orders all the Almodovars she can find (including that one, with Banderas, he abhors) and ships it off to his new address – express mail. They will wait for him in his new apartment. Ah!
B l a c k M a m b a 
ALL the Almodovars she can find? Poor guy. That is so cruel.
That’s Tie Me up Tie Me Down or Women On The Edge? Banderas is in both. And I like the thought of everything being negotiable except films!
Falstaff: Just living up to the stereotype. Aren’t women supposed to be EVIL?! So it will be ALL, of course.
Space Bar: Oh right. Though I was thinking of Tie Me Up – that is one movie that might actually cause a nervous breakdown in a Bergman fan.
As a certified Bergman fan, I have to say I rather enjoyed Tie Me Up. It was silly, but amusing. The Almodovar films that make me cringe are things like Live Flesh and Bad Education (despite the delectable presence of Gael Garcia Barnel in the latter). I quite like the man when he’s being funny. It’s when he tries to be serious that I find him mediocre.
Oh, and Space Bar – there’s also Laberinto de pasiones, where Banderas has a part.
Falstaff: See you also like Almodovar. I mean a Bergman fan who can’t stand him .
Tie Me Up had even me on the edge, so one could only extrapolate.
This is totally tangential, but I’m trying to think of a hypothetical film buff who would like a Bergman or a Tarkovsky and have deep revulsion for Kar-wai or Almodavar.
I think once you’ve attained film buffdom, anything is worth a watch with a good deal of close attention; likes and dislikes have nothing to do with it.
Wait! Is that Maggie Cheung on the what-do-you-call-it at the top?
Spacebar: arrey baba, this is for people who are not even close to film buff nirvana. This is about aam junta who are just starting to dip their toes.
For instance, the second Bergman film I watched left me so depressed, I decided to get back to his films only after covering all other directors I like, as I inch toward nirvana. That wouldn’t be an option for someone who has watched a vast majority of the rest.
Also some Almodovar movies are borderline cringe-worthy. I can see someone refusing to watch them.
And, it is never mentioned that He had a deep revulsion for Kar-wai.
Thanks for noticing the Custom Image Header. :-) Not Chung but Faye Wang in Chungking.
Oh shit, yes. I it Faye Wong. What’s wrong with me? I had a feeling it was Chungking, btu then I sadi, no MAggie in it, can’t be. How one can delude oneself…
Oh shit, yes. It is Faye Wong. What’s wrong with me? I had a feeling it was Chungking, but then I said, no Maggie in it, can’t be. How one can delude oneself…
Bah. I need to learn how to type.
BM: “the second Bergman film I watched left me so depressed, I decided to get back to his films only after covering all other directors I like”
You know, the irony is that the first two Bergman films I watched put me off him for a while as well, for precisely the opposite reason. I’d heard all this great stuff about how dark and uncompromising Bergman’s films were and then I watched Smiles of a Summer Night and The Magic Flute and while I liked both, I couldn’t see what all the fuss was about. It was years before I finally got around to watching Skammen and realized what everyone else had meant.
Falstaff, potato, patattah / tomato, creole tomata… you get the idea.
Only I had no idea what to expect. Veena had seen some Bergman films and highly recommended them. I walk into the Library and pickup the two that were available – both weren’t the ones recommended to me. Fanny och Alexander – which was all good. Very pleasing, though in a melancholy sort of way. But the second was outright depressing and stark. I mean, I can wait a bit before going back them.
Ideally I should have watched the one she had recommended – The Seventh Seal, I think.