Dagmar Versus 1001 Movies: October 2018

Introduction

1001 movies you must see before you die. Must I? Let's see.

My name is Dagmar and I am from Czech Republic. I have a bachelor's degree in screenwriting. I study movies. I watch movies. I write about movies. I kind of mention movies a lot. I even cross stitch things I like in movies. My views on cinema could be described as peculiar. My views on the "1001 movies" list as complicated. It happens a lot that I get the feeling it wasn't that necessary to see some particular movies. Sometimes I'm really grateful I saw them. And there are also times when I don't watch any new movies for six months straight. And they keep adding new movies every damn year so I might have to never die to watch them all.

What's the score right now?

606/1245 - That's 639 left to see.

I started this experiment on July 3rd 2009 and the latest update was made on April 19th 2023.

You can find the full list here.

Tuesday, 30 October 2018

The Red and the White (1967)

Csillagosok, katonák
Hungary/Soviet Union
directed by: Miklós Jancsó
written by: Gyula Hernádi, Miklós Jancsó, Valerij Karen
starring: András Kozák, Krystyna Mikołajewská, József Madaras
commented on 30th October, 2018

Whenever I say that somebody understands me like none other, it's the highest compliment I can ever give to an artist/creator. And Jancsó is the OG recipient of this compliment from me. I have seen "The Red and the White" for the first time seven years ago in a local cinema and I fell in love immediately and intensely. I know that my film taste changes slightly (a lot) as the time flies, and I was therefore very curious how/whether my perception of Jancsó's ruthles handling of a film medium like a sculptor's clay changed after all these years. He manipulates it, he bends it, he torments it to get every last detail to be exactly the way he wants it to be, brutal and brutish. And just by describing it this way I can know for sure that my love him is as strong as ever and I am also ready to say that what he makes András Kozák do (here and also in Így jöttem/My Way Home) in the ultimate role of being HUMAN is probably my favourite acting performance of all time.

Monday, 29 October 2018

Reds (1981)

USA
directed by: Warren Beatty
written by: Warren Beatty, Trevor Griffiths
starring: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson
seen on 29th October, 2018

-"What the hell you doing?" -"Me? I write." -No. You wrong."

Oh boy, this was such a confident creative gesture that I have no need to nitpick even though there were things I objected to or would have liked to see done differently. I guess it goes naturally with such a heavy subject that Beatty has to make this massive film to literally build the world around his viewers and bewitch them into thinking his make-believe reality is tangible and well... real. I especially like the way he writes dialogues. But, as with all biopics, god knows what does that Hollywood-man really knows about revolutionarys.

-"I'll walk you home." -"Why? I won't hurt anyone."