tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8121497265402071351.post1801159744392377550..comments2023-10-05T20:30:21.364-07:00Comments on Things That Don't Suck: The 25: Part 16/17: Aguirre The Wrath Of God/ A Personal Journey Through American Movies With Martin ScorseseBryce Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17040954580033470664noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8121497265402071351.post-87853440761257855322010-09-29T00:39:06.611-07:002010-09-29T00:39:06.611-07:00@ Neil: The shot that does that for me, is when th...@ Neil: The shot that does that for me, is when the raft of soldiers is caught in the rapids. <br /><br />It'd be unthinkable for an American film NOT to cut to a close up of panic action on the raft. Instead the film just observes in that medium long shot. So detached that eventually it becomes almost monotonous. <br /><br />And when they do die, the exact attitude is kept.Bryce Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17040954580033470664noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8121497265402071351.post-20494586189567790402010-09-28T15:54:03.230-07:002010-09-28T15:54:03.230-07:00Regarding 'A Personal Journey ...' - as Si...Regarding 'A Personal Journey ...' - as Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch's edition of the Oxford Book of English Verse is to an understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of poetry, so Scorsese's documentary to cinema as an art form.Neil Fulwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14686296295535235988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8121497265402071351.post-42202693153056259222010-09-28T15:52:25.073-07:002010-09-28T15:52:25.073-07:00'Aguirre' was the second Herzog film I saw...'Aguirre' was the second Herzog film I saw (after 'Fitzcarraldo'). I can't even begin to describe the effect it had on me, just minutes into the film, when Herzog holds on a medium shot of a raging torrent of muddy water surging downriver ... and holds ... and holds ... for what seems like an eternity, so long that the fervid intensity of the water becomes hypnotic.<br /><br />Then he cuts to a close-up and holds the shot for almost as long again!<br /><br />I was awestruck. Open-mouthed. I didn't know you could hold a shot for that long. Okay, I'd seen a couple of Tarkovsky's films by that time and I knew <i>he</i> could hold a shot for a hell of while, but even Tarkovsky's camera would follow someone, or have people wandering in and out of the frame; there'd be dialogue. Herzog simply pointed his camera at a fucking river. And let it roll. And the effect was visual poetry.<br /><br />I love Werner Herzog for many many reasons (hell, I named my blog in his honour) but he taught me to love the image for its own beauty, its own meaning and its own power. "Ecstatic truth" - right on, Werner!Neil Fulwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14686296295535235988noreply@blogger.com