Todd Haynes' "I'm Not Here"

According to Variety, Todd Haynes' new film "I'm Not Here" has been picked up for distribution by the Weinstein Brothers. The film is an unconventional 'biopic' about Bob Dylan in which Haynes takes a unusual approach of employing different actors- Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger- to embody a different phase of Dylan’s career. According to the article, Dylan has endorsed the film, and his music will be included along with covers from other artists including Yo La Tengo who scored "JuneBug."

Hayne's “Safe” is one of the best films of the 1990's, although it is largely underappreciated by film scholars and unknown to the larger film viewing community. My first encounter with him was his experimental film "The Carpenter Story," another biopic that tells the sad story of Karen Carpenter through the use of Barbie Dolls. Despite the puppet show aesthetic, the film has been condemned by the Carpenter estate and is not for sale. I enjoyed his homage to Douglas Sirk in "Far From Heaven," and hopefully "I'm Not Here" will be released in the near future. Go watch "Safe" and listen to "Visions of Johanna."

Here's a link to Senses of Cinema's write-up on Haynes.

Von Trier and P.T. Anderson Interview

I ran across this interesting article on p.t anderson fansite cigarettes and vines. Von Trier and Anderson discuss actors, America, writing, and David Bowie.

I remember watching “Dancer in the Dark” in an undergraduate film course and thinking that it was the most depressing film I have ever seen. I walked away convinced that Von Trier was a cynical filmmaker and a first-class manipulator of emotions (I’ll save this for another day, but outright cynical filmmakers belong to the same shameful class as sentimentalists like Speilberg). If anyone has seen the film, I’m talking about the climatic ending where Bjork meets her sad demise in a sensational violent spectacle. I vowed to never see any of his films again, and I made sure to interject in any conversation in which his name was mentioned by proclaiming the whole Dogme95 endeavor was a pretentious marketing scam.

I’ve since seen “Breaking the Waves” and “Dogville,” which have both changed my mind about Von Trier. Although he deals with dark subject matter, including deceit and corruption, these films are filled with humanist brushstrokes. It is a common mistake to confuse dark subject matter with cynicism, and Von Trier never shows any disdain for his characters. His film style— quick cuts accenting gestures and emotional shifts— is performance based. In turn, he casts his characters upon a pragmatic world without focusing on a singular point of view. He doesn’t supply simple answers to complex human situations by offering psychological insights or character motivations.

On the other hand, Anderson was a director who really turned me on to film. I remember being left in a complete daze after first seeing "Magnolia," and then immediately watching it three more times. Unfortunately, the aura of his work has recently eroded. I like “Sydney” (Hard Eight), but the excessive “Boogie Nights” is a superficial amalgamation of Altman's huge cast constructions and Scorsese's frentic style. “Magnolia” is a cynical film in the same vain as Altman, and contemporary Todd Solondz. Characters are rendered as pathetic caricatures that are laughed at (William H. Macy’s characters) rather than observed intelligently. “Punch Drunk Love” was a turn in the right direction since it avoids the romanticized cynicism of his other films. Here’s hoping “There Will Be Blood” will continue in the same vain as “Love.”