Friday, November 4, 2011

Most Perfect Filmography Ever?

Head over to PopMatters and read my review for The Complete Jean Vigo. Also, do you agree with this post's title? Discuss!

6 comments:

Amir said...

I like your perspective.
I've only seen Taris and L'Atalante. Based on those two, I'd say I agree, but you gotta keep in mind (as you do in your article) that he died at 29 and made so few films.

My personal vote for the most perfect filmography always goes to Bunuel, though that's generally a really tough question to answer considering that there are very few directors whose entire filmography I've seen in the fist place.

P.S. I love that you brought up the sequence Truffaut borrowed from him. I love The 400 Blows and that sequence is one of its best parts.

Notas Sobre Creación Cultural e Imaginarios Sociales said...

Thanks for reading Amir. I've seen a couple of entire filmographies (Allen, Almodóvar, Truffaut, Fellini etc.) and they all have ups and downs, I believe that even if he died so young, Vigo would've just kept improving. I know we'll never know but it's a fun thought, no?

PS: I'm so unversed in Buñuel. Care to recommend some?

Amir said...

here's what I'd rank as my top five:
1- discreet charm of the bourgeoisie (favourite by far)
2- belle de jour
3- un chien andalou
4- viridiana
5- los olvidados

though, on a different day, i might change the fifth one with The Golden Age, That Obscure Object of Desire, or Tristana. I also really like The Exterminating Angel.

Though looking at his filmography on wikipedia, i realize there are three titles i don't recognize. haha
could they be so bad to change my mind? i hope not.

i've also watched pedro's entire filmography (caught up on it this past summer), but i have a long way to go with woody.
i've also seen tarantino, PTA, aronofsky, farhadi (of A Separation fame) and kiarostami's entire filmography.
that's really all i can think of.

Notas Sobre Creación Cultural e Imaginarios Sociales said...

Thanks for the recs.

How about Coppola (as in Sofia?) She's done very few movies, bet you've seen them all. I've also seen PTA, Anderson, Aronofsky, Luhrmann etc. but they also have made very few movies and they all have at least one so-so flick or an outright flop.

Amir said...

Actually, I haven't seen Virgin Suicides *shamefully looks down*
I forgot about Luhrmann though.
There's a lot of new-ish director if I think about it that I've seen everything from. But you're right. They all have something weaker.
Hard Eight is PTA's weak spot for me. The Fountain is Aronofsky's.
About Tarantino and Farhadi, there's not single movie I can point to that ruins their trend, but if the standards are as high as Vigo and Bunuel, Grindhouse can't qualify. haha

Notas Sobre Creación Cultural e Imaginarios Sociales said...

Check "Virgins" out! It's quite interesting and beautiful.

All this talk of filmographies makes me want to make some project on it hehe. Like complete entire oeuvres' i've yet to see. I'm only missing the missing Hitchcocks to have seen all his movies for example and I'm short on 2 Pasolinis. ugh I am such an OCD completist sometimes.