An Evening with Dr David Bowman of 2001: A Space Odyssey

The best things happen when you least expect them. Yesterday evening, there was this special screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey at the movie theater very near my house. A local movie club was organizing it. I went there expecting just to see my most favorite film, and unarguably one of the greatest films ever made, one more time on the big screen. But not in my wildest dreams, I had imagined to see among the audience the famed Dr David Bowman of 2001, the Hollywood actor Keir Dullea himself! Mr Dullea was actually invited by the movie club to be a part of this screening.

Spielberg vs Kubrick.. comforting answers vs more Questions?

Terry Gilliam of the brilliant Brazil fame talks about the difference between the cinema of Stanley Kubrick and that of Spielberg.

Originality and Jim Jarmusch

 

Jim Jarmusch is one of those extremely few American filmmakers who have found success without any big studio backing. He has complete control over his films and Hollywood’s best actors want to work with him. I wrote an earlier post about him here.

Time and again, I read Jim Jarmusch’s golden rules on filmmaking

What he says in one of those rules, regarding ‘originality’, is something which I never forget.

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery—celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from—it’s where you take them to.”

Story: How it starts?

I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean. – Socrates

Of late, I have been thinking a lot regarding how the story of any film begins in the mind of a writer/filmmaker. In various scriptwriting books, courses, workshops etc, we learn about various things related to any good story; the structure, various acts, conflict, interesting characters, beats, plot points, resolution and so on. The book, “Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting“ authored by the ultimate screenwriting guru, Robert McKee, is considered Bible in screenwriting. I cannot write enough that how much this voluminous 500 page book has taught me. Unlike most other books on screenwriting which focus more on the mechanical aspects of a story structure, Mckee’s Story turns inwards into human psychology to explain in minute detail how great dramas unfold on screen. He writes, “We need a rediscovery of the underlying tenets of our art, the guiding principles that liberate talent.” His book, Story, is a path to that rediscovery. In it, McKee offers so much sound advice, drawing from sources as wide ranging as Aristotle, Casablanca, Stanislavski and Chinatown, that it is impossible not to be influenced by this book when you start your journey into screenwriting.

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

Coen Brothers’ The Hudsucker Proxy teases you. The film teases because you cannot decide when Coens are serious and when they are spoofing. If you start taking the film or it’s characters seriously, you might realize that you, just like the main character Norville in the film, are being taken for a big ride by the Coens; and if you relax and treat it as a spoof, soon you start getting this uncomfortable feeling that you are missing many layers beneath the ‘dont take me seriously’ narrative. Actually, Coens, as is their wont, are doing both. It’s your prerogative what you prefer to see in the movie.

Cousins?

Jim Jarmusch is one of the most successfull independent filmmakers of Hollywood. Jarmusch’s first major film, Stranger Than Paradise, was released in 1984 to much critical acclaim. The film broke many conventions of traditional Hollywood movie-making, and is still considered a landmark work in modern independent film. Jim Jarmusch’s films, quite a few times, are compilation of different short films within a film; all stories binded by a common theme. Coffee and Cigarattes and Night on Earth fall under this category. I particularly liked ‘Coffee and Cigarettes’ for it’s multi-layered stories which, in a very strange funny way, tell us a lot about human nature. But, the humor here is not direct or instant laugh types…it stays with you for long. The common theme in these eleven different shorts/stories is different actors talking over coffee and cigarettes.

My favorite among the segments is Cousins, starring the actors Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan, both playing themselves in this short. Molina has asked for the meeting. Coogan is not sure why and grows more condescending as, the polite and perhaps less successful of the two, Molina explains the reason. Almost till the end, Molina is at the receiving end of Coogan’s snobbery, and then, the tables are turned around. Right from the start till the end, this short film is simply hilarious. The original length of this short is bit longer than the video below, so let me explain the story till the point where this video starts:

The Cinema of Stanley Kubrick

This post contains my notes from the book, “The Cinema of Stanley Kubrick” by Norman Kagan. Here, I have tried to sum up those important plus interesting ideas from the book which concern Kubrick’s overall approach to filmmaking. I will take further references from this book as and when I happen to talk about his individual movies. The bolded parts of this post contain words taken from the book. The non-bolded parts contain my take on ideas expressed in the book, mostly in context of my current knowledge of his films. This post may not seem to be of much value to those readers who havent watched his films yet, but I think it still could provide some introduction to his genius & also perhaps motivate some of you to see his work.

Stanley Kubrick once said that writers or painters or filmmakers dont do what they do because they have something particular to say. Instead, they have something that they feel. And they like the art form; they like words, smell of paint, photographic images or just working with actors. “I dont think that any genuine artist has ever been oriented by some didactic point of view, even if he thought he was”, He said.