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  • #247089

    Dear all,

    After reading about the novels which served, one way or another, as an underlying source of inspiration for CasP theory, I was wondering if we could come up with movie suggestions as well.

    It would be interesting to share some lists of movies which can relate to the main themes of CasP theory.

    Right off the top of my head, perhaps:

    Orson Welles – Citizen Kane (1941) [it surely involves themes about wasteful dépense, subjective alienation, ecc.]

    Fritz Lang – Metropolis (1927) [this one is quite trivial!]

    Charles Ferguson – Inside Job (2010) [on the 2007-8 financial crisis]

    etc.

    Hope you find this worth expanding!

     

     

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    • #247105
      jmc

        This is definitely worth expanding! Jonathan’s list of novels inspired me to build a list of films about a mode of power. What I have so far.

        Title Director Year Runtime
        Ace in the Hole Billy Wilder 1951 111
        Ali, Fear Eats the Soul Rainer Werner Fassbinder 1974 93
        Army of Shadows Jean-Pierre Melville 1969 145
        Badlands Terrence Malick 1973 93
        Bamboozled Spike Lee 2000 135
        Barton Fink Joel Coen 1991 117
        Battle of Algiers, The Gillo Pontecorvo 1966 120
        Beau Travail Claire Denis 1999 90
        Belle de Jour Luis Buñuel 1967 101
        Black Girl Ousmane Sembène 1966 55
        Black Narcissus Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger 1947 101
        Blue Velvet David Lynch 1986 120
        Caché Michael Haneke 2005 118
        Canoa: A Shameful Memory Felipe Cazals 1976 115
        Carlos Olivier Assayas 2010 338
        Chinatown Roman Polanski 1974 131
        Come and See Elem Klimov 1985 142
        Daisies Věra Chytilová 1966 76
        Death Race 2000 Paul Bertel 1975 82
        Do The Right Thing Spike Lee 1989 120
        Dogtooth Yorgos Lanthimos 2009 97
        Dry White Season, A Euzhan Palcy 1989 107
        EO Jerzy Skolimowski 2022 88
        Eating Raoul Paul Bertel 1982 83
        Executioner, The Luis García Berlanga 1963 90
        Firemen’s Ball, The Miloš Forman 1967 73
        Four Lions Chris Morris 2010 97
        Friends of Eddie Coyle, The Peter Yates 1973 102
        Germany, Year Zero Roberto Rossellini 1948 78
        Godfather Part II, The Francis Ford Coppola 1974 200
        Godfather, The Francis Ford Coppola 1972 177
        Harakiri Masaki Kobayashi 1962 133
        Heaven’s Gate Michael Cimino 1980 219
        High and Low Akira Kurosawa 1963 143
        Hunger Steve McQueen 2008 96
        Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion Elio Petri 1970 115
        Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles Chantal Akerman 1975 201
        L’Argent Robert Bresson 1983 83
        La Haine Mathieu Kassovitz 1995 98
        Last Emperor, The Bernardo Bertolucci 1987 163
        Leopard, The Luchino Visconti 1963 185
        Magnificent Ambersons, The Orson Welles 1942 88
        Man Push Cart Ramin Bahrani 2005 87
        McCabe & Mrs. Miller Robert Altman 1971 121
        Medium Cool Haskell Wexler 1969 110
        Memories of Murder Bong Joon-ho 2003 131
        Modern Times Charlie Chaplin 1936 87
        My Beautiful Laundrette Stephen Frears 1985 97
        Naked Mike Leigh 1993 131
        New World, The Terrence Malick 2005 150
        Night of the Hunter, The Charles Laughton 1955 92
        Night of the Living Dead George A. Romero 1968 96
        No Country for Old Men Joel Coen and Ethan Coen 2007 122
        Parallax View, The Alan J. Pakula 1974 102
        Parasite Bong Joon-ho 2019 132
        Player, The Robert Altman 1992 124
        R.M.N. Cristian Mungiu 2022 125
        Repo Man Alex Cox 1984 92
        Rome, Open City Roberto Rossellini 1945 105
        Smooth Talk Joyce Chopra 1985 91
        Soleil O Med Hondo 1970 98
        Sullivan’s Travels Preston Sturges 1941 94
        Sátántangó Bela Tarr 1994 439
        There Will Be Blood Paul Thomas Anderson 2007 158
        Thin Red Line, The Terrence Malick 1998 170
        This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese 2019 120
        Touch of Sin Jia Zhangke 2013 130
        Touki Bouki Djibril Diop Mambéty 1973 95
        Tree of Life, The Terrence Malick 2011 139
        Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me David Lynch 1992 134
        Two Days, One Night Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne 2014 95
        Vagabond Agnès Varda 1985 105
        Wages of Fear, The Henri-Georges Clouzot 1953 148
        White Ribbon, The Michael Haneke 2009 144
        Wind That Shakes the Barley, The Ken Loach 2006 126
        Working Girls Lizzie Borden 1986 93
        Z Costa-Gavras 1969 127
        Zéro de conduite Jean Vigo 1933 44
        • This reply was modified 3 years ago by jmc. Reason: added films
        • This reply was modified 3 years ago by jmc. Reason: up to 50 films
        • This reply was modified 3 years ago by jmc. Reason: added more films
        • This reply was modified 2 years, 12 months ago by jmc.
        • This reply was modified 1 month ago by jmc. Reason: Added more films
      • #247165

        Cinema

        Shimshon Bichler and Jonathan Nitzan
        Jerusalem and Montreal, November 2021

        First posted on The Bichler and Nitzan Archives.

        Unlike books, cinema directs and controls our attention and leaves less to the imagination. But that’s why we love it: it grabs us. And even if it isn’t always as deep as books, it can still teach us plenty. Here is a list of movies and series we liked, along with their directors/creators and the year/s in which they first screened.

        1.  8½ (Federico Fellini, 1963)
        2.  12 (Nikita Mikhalkov, 2007)
        3.  12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957)
        4.  1900 (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1976)
        5.  2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)
        6.  ’71 (Yann Demange, 2014)
        7.  A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, 1971)
        8.  Across the Universe (Julie Taymor, 2007)
        9.  All About My Mother (Pedro Almodóvar, 1999)
        10.  Amadeus (Miloš Forman, 1984)
        11.  Amarcord (Federico Fellini, 1973)
        12.  American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999)
        13.  Amores Perros [Love is a Bitch] (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2000)
        14.  Angel Heart (Alan Parker, 1987)
        15.  Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979)
        16.  Arabian Nights (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1974)
        17.  Bagdad Café (Percy Adlon, 1987)
        18.  Ballad on Naryama (Shôhei Imamura, 1983)
        19.  Barry Lyndon (Stanley Kubrick, 1975)
        20.  Bedrag [Follow the Money] (Series, Jeppe Gjervig Gram, Jannik Tai Mosholt, Anders Frithiof August, 2016-)
        21.  Being There (Al Ashby, 1979)
        22.  Betrayed (Costa-Gavras, 1988)
        23.  Black Cat, White Cat (Emir Kusturica, 1998)
        24.  Blood Simple (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1985)
        25.  Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985)
        26.  Breaking the Waves (Lars von Trier, 1996)
        27.  Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
        28.  Brother (Aleksey Balabanov, 1997)
        29.  Burn! (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1969)
        30.  Céline (Jean-Claude Brisseau, 1992)
        31.  Chernobyl (Series, Craig Mazin, 2019)
        32.  Chocolate (Claire Denis, 1988)
        33.  Cinema Paradiso (Giuseppe Tornatore, 1988)
        34.  City Lights (Charles Chaplin, 1931)
        35.  Cyrano de Bergerac (Jean-Paul Rappeneau, 1990)
        36.  Dances with Wolves (Kevin Costner, 1990)
        37.  Danton (Andrzej Wajda, 1983)
        38.  Darwin’s Nightmare (Hubert Sauper, 2004)
        39.  Das Boot (Wolfgang Petersen, 1981)
        40.  Das Experiment (Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2001)
        41.  De Bruit et de Fureur [Sound and Fury] (Jean-Claude Brisseau, 1988)
        42.  Defiance (Edward Zwick, 2008)
        43.  Deliverance (John Boorman, 1972)
        44.  Departed (Yôjirô Takita, 2008)
        45.  Devs (Series, Alex Garland, 2020)
        46.  Diva (Jean-Jacques Beineix, 1981)
        47.  Dog Day Afternoon (Sidney Lumet, 1975)
        48.  Dogville (Lars Von Trier, 2003)
        49.  D.O.A. (Annabel Jankel & Rocky Morton, 1988)
        50.  Donna Flor and her Two Husbands (Bruno Barreto, 1976)
        51.  Down by Law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986)
        52.  Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
        53.  Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg, 2007)
        54.  El Norte (Gregory Nava, 1983)
        55.  Europa Europa (Agnieszka Holland, 1990)
        56.  Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999)
        57.  Falling Down (Joel Schumacher, 1993)
        58.  Fahrenheit 11/9 (Michael Moore, 2018)
        59.  Fargo (Joel and Ethan Coen, 1996)
        60.  Fauda, (Series, Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff, 2015-2018)
        61.  Fellini’s Casanova (Federico Fellini, 1976)
        62.  Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
        63.  Fog of War (Errol Morris, 2003)
        64.  Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis, 1994)
        65.  Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick, 1987)
        66.  Gadjo Dilo [The Crazy Stranger] (Tony Gatlif, 1997)
        67.  Gangs of New York (Martin Scorsese, 2002)
        68.  Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
        69.  Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood, 2008)
        70.  Homeland (Series, Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, 2011-2020)
        71.  House of Sand and Fog (Vadim Perelman, 2003)
        72.  Icarus (Bryan Fogel, 2017)
        73.  In Darkness (Agnieszka Holland, 2011)
        74.  In the Mood for Love (Kar Wai Wong, 2000)
        75.  Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010)
        76.  IP5 (Jean-Jacques Beineix, 1992)
        77.  Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino, 1997)
        78.  JFK (Oliver Stone, 1991)
        79.  Jules and Jim (François Truffaut, 1962)
        80.  King of Devil’s Island (Marius Holst, 2010)
        81.  La Battaglia di Algeri [The Battle of Algiers] (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966)
        82.  La Dolce Vita (Federico Fellini, 1960)
        83.  La Notte di San Lorenzo [The Night of the Shooting Stars] (Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, 1982)
        84.  Lady Vengeance (Chan-wook Park, 2005)
        85.  Land of Mine (Martin Zandvliet, 2015)
        86.  Le Bal (Ettore Scola, 1983)
        87.  Le Couperet (Costa-Gavras, 2005)
        88.  Le Dernier Combat [The Last Battle] (Luc Besson, 1983)
        89.  Le Dernier Métro [The Last Metro] (François Truffaut, 1980)
        90.  Le Retour de Martin Guerre (Daniel Vigne, 1982)
        91.  Le Roi et L’oiseau [The King and the Mockingbird] (Paul Grimault, 1980)
        92.  Le Souffle au Cœur [Murmur of the Heart] (Luis Malle, 1971)
        93.  Le Temps des Gitans [Time of the Gypsies] (Emir Kusturica, 1998)
        94.  Les Misérables du XXeme siecle (Claude Lelouch, 1995)
        95.  Les Plouffe (Gilles Carle, 1981)
        96.  Les Valseuses [Going Places] (Bertrand Blier, 1974)
        97.  Letters from Iwo Jima (Clint Eastwood, 2006)
        98.  Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014)
        99.  Life is Beautiful (Roberto Benigni, 1997)
        100.  Lili Marlene (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1981)
        101.  Little Big Man (Arthur Penn, 1970)
        102.  Locke (Steven Knight, 2013)
        103.  Mad Max (George Miller, 1979)
        104.  Man of Iron (Andrzej Wajda, 1981)
        105.  Man of Marble (Andrzej Wajda, 1977)
        106.  Man on Wire (James Marsh, 2008)
        107.  Matewan (John Sayles, 1987)
        108.  Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000)
        109.  Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927)
        110.  Midnight Cowboy (John Schlesinger, 1969)
        111.  Midnight Express (Alan Parker, 1978)
        112.  Mississippi Burning (Alan Parker, 1988)
        113.  Modern Times (Charles Chaplin, 1936)
        114.  Mon Oncle [My Uncle] (Jacques Tati, 1958)
        115.  Montenegro (Dusan Makavejev, 1981)
        116.  Moneyball (Bennett Miller, 2011)
        117.  My Left Foot (Jim Sheridan, 1989)
        118.  Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch, 2001)
        119.  Music Box (Costa Gavras, 1989)
        120.  Narcos (Series, Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro, 2015-2017)
        121.  Network (Sidney Lumet, 1976)
        122.  Nikita (Luc Besson, 1990)
        123.  Nobody Speaks (Brian Knappenberger, 2017)
        124.  Noce Blanche [White Wedding] (Jean-Claude Brisseau, 1989)
        125.  Norma Rae (Martin Ritt, 1979)
        126.  No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)
        127.  No Direction Home: Bob Dylan (Martin Scorsese, 2005)
        128.  O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2000)
        129.  Of Mice and Men (Lewis Milestone, 1939)
        130.  Oldboy (Chan-wook Park, 2003)
        131.  Once Were Warriors (Lee Tamahori, 1994)
        132.  One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Miloš Forman, 1975)
        133.  Our Daily Bread (Nikolaus Geyrhalter, 2005)
        134.  Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)
        135.  Paths of Glory (Stanley Kubrick, 1957)
        136.  Peaky Blinders (Series, Steven Knight, 2013-)
        137.  Platoon (Oliver Stone, 1986)
        138.  Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino, 1994)
        139.  Ragtime (Miloš Forman, 1981)
        140.  Rashômon (Akira Kurosawa, 1950)
        141.  Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992)
        142.  Rivers and Tides (Thomas Riedelsheimer, 2001)
        143.  Robocop (Paul Verhoeven, 1987)
        144.  Roger & Me (Michael Moore, 1989)
        145.  Roma (Federico Fellini, 1972)
        146.  Room (Lenny Abrahamson, 2015)
        147.  Rosewood (John Singleton, 1997)
        148.  Run Lola, Run (Tom Tykwer, 1998)
        149.  Running on Empty (Sidney Lumet, 1988)
        150.  Satyricon (Federico Fellini, 1969)
        151.  Schindler’s List (Steven Spielberg, 1993)
        152.  Searching for Sugar Man (Malik Bendjelloul, 2012)
        153.  Secrets and Lies (Mike Leigh, 1996)
        154.  Serpico (Sidney Lumet, 1973)
        155.  Seven Beauties (Lina Wertmüller, 1975)
        156.  Seven Samurai (Akira Kurosawa, 1954)
        157.  Shine (Scott Hicks, 1996)
        158.  Sicario (Denis Villeneuve, 2015)
        159.  Sleeping with the Enemy (Joseph Ruben, 1991)
        160.  Starred Up (David Mackenzie, 2013)
        161.  Straw Dogs (Sam Peckinpah, 1971)
        162.  Such a Long Journey (Sturla Gunnarsson, 1998)
        163.  Sunshine (István Szabó, 1999)
        164.  Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002)
        165.  Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
        166.  The Act of Killing (Joshua Lincoln Oppenheimer, 2012)
        167.  The Band’s Visit (Eran Kolirin, 2007)
        168.  The Big Kahuna (John Swanbeck, 1999)
        169.  The Bridges of Madison County (Clint Eastwood, 1995)
        170.  The Bureau (Series, Éric Rochant, 2015-2020)
        171.  The Celebration (Thomas Vinterberg, 1998)
        172.  The Century of the Self (Series, Adam Curtis, 2002)
        173.  The China Syndrome (James Bridges, 1979)
        174.  The Coca-Cola Kid (Dusan Makavejev, 1985)
        175.  The Commitments (Alan Parker, 1991)
        176.  The Cook, The Thief His Wife & Her Lover (Peter Greenaway, 1989)
        177.  The Crying Game (Neil Jordan, 1992)
        178.  The Dear Hunter (Michael Cimino, 1978)
        179.  The Emerald Forest (John Boorman, 1985)
        180.  The English Patient (Anthony Minghella, 1996)
        181.  The Full Monty (Peter Cattaneo, 1997)
        182.  The General (John Boorman, 1998)
        183.  The Godfather (I, II and III) (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972, 1974, 1990)
        184.  The Killing Fields (Roland Joffé, 1984)
        185.  The Last Emperor (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1987)
        186.  The Life of David Gale (Alan Parker, 2003)
        187.  The Lives of Others (Florian Hanckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)
        188.  The Man Who Planted Trees (Frédérick Back, 1988)
        189.  The Matrix (Lana Wachowsky,1999)
        190.  The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)
        191.  The Piano (Jane Campion, 1993)
        192.  The Return (Andrei Zvyagintsev, 2003)
        193.  The Road Warrior (George Miller, 1981)
        194.  The Salt of the Earth (Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, 2014)
        195.  The Sheltering Sky (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1990)
        196.  The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
        197.  The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)
        198.  The Stoning of Soraya (Cyrus Nowrasteh, 2008)
        199.  The Syrian Bride (Eran Riklis, 2004)
        200.  The Tin Men (Barry Levinson, 1987)
        201.  The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998)
        202.  The Unbearable Lightness of Being (Philip Kaufman, 1988)
        203.  The Vanishing (George Sluizer, 1988)
        204.  The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)
        205.  The Wire (HBO series, 2002-2008)
        206.  Thelma & Louise (Ridley Scott, 1991)
        207.  There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)
        208.  Titus (Julie Taymor, 1999)
        209.  Trafic (Jacques Tati, 1971)
        210.  Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958)
        211.  Underground (Emir Kusturica, 1995)
        212.  Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992)
        213.  Up (Series, Paul Almond and Michael Apted, 1964-2019).
        214.  Vitus (Fredi M. Murer, 2007)
        215.  Waltz with Bashir (Ari Folman, 2008)
        216.  Waste Land (Lucy Walker, 2010)
        217.  Week-end (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967)
        218.  When Father was Away on Business (Emir Kusturica, 1985)
        219.  Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Mike Nichols, 1966)
        220.  Z (Costa Gavras, 1969)
        221.  Zazie dans le Métro (Louis Malle, 1960)
        222.  Un Zoo la Nuit (Jean-Claude Lauzon, 1987)

         

      • #247169

        I’ll see how many of those movies I can find on N. and S.  Are there any services which might show other interesting cinema? Let’s say the films of Ingmar Bergman and Sergie Bondarchuk as examples.

      • #247176
        jmc

          I’ll see how many of those movies I can find on N. and S. Are there any services which might show other interesting cinema? Let’s say the films of Ingmar Bergman and Sergie Bondarchuk as examples.

          N. and S.? Netflix and … ?

          For me (in Canada) I have used Kanopy (which you can sync with a public library or university subscription) and the Criterion Channel (paid subscription, but worth it in my eyes). MUBI is CC’s closest alternative. One can assume there are still lots of streamers/torrents out there.

          Bergman –> there is always this beast.

          • This reply was modified 3 years ago by jmc.
        • #247287
          CM

            Thanks Jonathan, Shimshon, and James for the lists. Lots of films I have not heard of. In terms of good films about power, I recently watched Lone Star, a John Sayles film. I thought it was a brilliant depiction of the complexity of small town power relations, and touched on a wide variety of issues (race, class, US imperialism, the politics of prison-building) while remaining at its heart, an incredibly sympathetic study of the human condition.

            • #247289
              jmc

                You’re welcome! I love talking cinema and sharing recommendations.

                I’ll add Lone Star to my need-to-watch list. Sayles’ Matewan, which is in Jonathan’s list, is a very good story of class war in a mining town. Sayles also wrote a book about the making of Matewan, called Thinking in Pictures.

                • #247607
                  CM

                    I’ll have to rewatch  Matewan, I watched it a long time ago. It is merged in my memory with The Molly Maguires.

                    It’s great to know Sayles has written about his process – he definitely has a special talent.

              • #247291

                Loving this list.

                Some Comedy entries I think could be added

                Clueless (1995): because it is a story about how a ruling class girl constantly interferes with the lives of others, especially those that are ‘beneath’ her station. A good allegory for how absentee owners creorder society today. (it is technically a modern retelling of Jane Austin’s Emma, which explains the very pertinent Power Dynamics)

                Office Space (1999): because it very viscerally looks at the hierarchical inequalities of power, and the constant resistance to power. How small acts can cause serious damage to power structures. But ultimately, without constant pressure, the system rebounds, and is ultimately reinforced by systems co-opting resistance

                American Psycho (2000): because it satirically represents the capitalist need for enacting violence on others in order to externalize the pain of constantly having to internalize the unempathic interactions of capitalism, and the superficial expression of intellectualist musical artistic critique.

              • #247602
                Ron

                  I would add this one:

                  Kin-dza-dza! (1986, USSR, Georgiy Daneliya) – This movie is a great social critique of almost all aspects of life: social status, consumption, power institutions, corruption, and government.

                  The story takes place in a remote galaxy called Kin-dza-dza. The inhabitants of the galaxy have very advanced technology (such as teleports) but their social technics (using Mumford’s terminology) are absolutely primitive and despicable.

                  The galaxy has even its own Universal Unit of Account – the Ketse (simple wood matchsticks). The owners of Ketse enjoy social power, can pay bribes, and enjoy a higher social status. The social status is differentiated by the color pants (conspicuous consumption).

                  Some English reviews of the movie:

                  https://www.russianartandculture.com/kin-dza-dza-1986-by-georgiy-daneliya-images-from-a-distant-future-or-of-our-gloomy-earthly-present/

                   

                  In praise of Kin-dza-dza! – the best sci-fi film you’ve never heard of

                   

                  • This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by Ron.
                  • #247604

                    Thank you Ron! I’m going to watch it soon and then come back to you!

                    It sounds so intriguing from what I’m reading in those links you provided.

                    • This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by YuriDL.
                  • #247618
                    jmc

                      I’m with Chris; this sounds awesome. For a good comparison, 1970s American sci-fi before Star Wars is filled with wild ideas and radical political themes. Unfortunately, they are not always great as cinema.

                      Death Race 2000
                      Rollerball
                      A Boy and His Dog
                      Westworld
                      The Crazies

                  • #247991

                    Not sure if this is the right forum for such questions.

                    To set the scene: It is possible to watch a movie on Youtube on your internet connected TV these days. One worth watching I think is,

                    “Beethoven’s Eroica” – A film by Simon Cellan Jones – BBC 2003.

                    Q1. This is on Youtube at a reasonable quality (to an old guy without perfect eyes or perfect ears). One annoying thing is Youtube now adds a poor quality sub-title translation. The movie is in English. I don’t need it. How to turn this off?

                    Q2. Is there a good visual quality set of copies of Sergei Bondarchuk’ s films of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” on Youtube? I can find a poor quality one equal to a very old download I have.

                    Q3. How concerned (morally) should a Marxian / CasPian be about creative copyright? I mean stuff Hollywood, stars and studios, but what about Indies, talent that needs enough pay to work, live on and so on? Interested on opinions about this.

                    Also, I am open to any other suggestions of Youtubed movies to watch if you regard this as an okay thing to do.

                    • This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by Rowan Pryor.
                    • This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by jmc.
                    • #248028
                      jmc

                        Hi Rowan,

                        I merged it with the current thread on movies.

                        My current streaming setup is Criterion Channel and Kanopy. Kanopy is free with a library subscription, including public libraries. YouTube certainly has some gems. MOSFILM’s channel has recently uploaded a lot of Soviet-era films for free, likely in the attempt to get someone, somewhere out there, to consume Russian art in 2022.

                        Justification for piracy is a twisted web of morals, which we can theorize and debate, and sales data, the details which we need are hidden. The MPA often presents astronomical numbers to estimate the economic effects of piracy, but they also don’t provide the data to debunk their claims.

                        Distributors are anti-piracy on principle, and I do not know of a studio that has accepted any argument that free access to content can written down as promotion for other content (back in the Napster days I remember the big counter-argument being that music piracy raises music sales).

                        Does piracy hurt artists or the “right” people we want to support? In the age of streaming, residuals are slim, so a lot of actors, writers and producers are not seeing any more dollars after their production fee. I’m not sure this makes piracy a clear-cut thing. I personally think films, much like science and literature, should be free to all, but I can’t ignore that, under capitalism, artists are fighting for more control over their art and their income.

                        • #248030

                          JMC,

                          Thanks for the reply. I will follow up on ideas and suggestions. The whole Russian issue is quite vexed now as you suggest. A significant proportion of Russian cinema and literature (historically) could remain acceptable (for want of a better term) in that it presents critiques  variously of bourgeois and petty bourgeois morality, as well as more direct critiques of capitalism, imperialism, monarchism, fuedalism etc. etc.  Artists seem always in rebellion, at least at some level, against the extant social and political mores and systems in which they find themselves, and very often with good reasons. The true artist (I hold) is not one-with-the-system though “bought” artists certainly sell their soul and their art to the system. Nevertheless, they often have to work in systems or they never work at all: they often cannot live on their art otherwise.

                          The Bergman “beast” I may yet suggest to my “financial comptroller” (aka my wife) as a combination Birthday/Xmas present. Currently, I am getting sick of Aussie based Netflix and Disney Plus subsscriptions. So much rubbish, so little worth watching. Any suggestions on how to find the genuinely good stuff (gems in the mud) on Netflix and Disney Plus would be much appreciated too.

                          However, “Dopesick”, on Disney Plus of all places, is well worth watching and right within the ambit of the “mode of power” and “capital as power” narratives.  I would add the two series called “Pandemics”, I think, which refer to USA’s Maryland Government Lab near-miss of nearly putting Ebola into the US population and the other series dealing with the Anthrax Mailer. Quite riveting.

                          No doubt Netflix’s “Power of the Dog” has its fans. I found it interesting but finally unsatisfying at a number of levels.

                    • #248041
                      jmc

                        Added to my above list:

                        Parallax View, The; Alan J. Pakula; 1974; 102
                        Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion; Elio Petri; 1970; 115
                        Touki Bouki; Djibril Diop Mambéty; 1973; 95
                        Canoa: A Shameful Memory; Felipe Cazals; 1976; 115
                        Parasite; Bong Joon-ho; 2019; 132
                        Memories of Murder; Bong Joon-ho; 2003; 131

                        • #248670
                          jmc

                            Added two more:

                            R.M.N.; Cristian Mungiu; 2022; 125
                            This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection; Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese; 2019; 120

                            And on the topic of films, Sight and Sound just released the 2022 version of its top 100 films of all time poll, which is only conducted every 10 years.

                            Lots of talk about Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles  being voted #1.

                             

                             

                            • This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by jmc.
                          • #250167
                            jmc

                              Added more to the list above:
                              Harakiri; Masaki Kobayashi; 1962; 133

                              A must watch. This is an incredible film about a samurai cunningly exposing the hypocrisy of a powerful house that allowed a destitute samurai to commit harakiri.

                               

                              L’Argent; Robert Bresson; 1983; 83

                              Counterfeit notes are passed around a French neighborhood and an innocent man becomes the victim.

                               

                              Vagabond; Agnès Varda; 1985; 105

                              With a mixture of styles, Varda forces the audience to come to terms with a woman’s vagrancy. Is her condition forced on her, or is she living according to her idea of freedom?

                          • #250066

                            Love the idea of compiling movie suggestions related to CasP theory! Citizen Kane and Metropolis are classic picks that definitely touch on some of the theory’s themes.
                            Adding to the list, you might find “The Corporation” (2003) intriguing. It delves into the power dynamics and influence of corporations, which ties into CasP discussions.

                          • #250067

                            Love the idea of compiling movie suggestions related to CasP theory! Citizen Kane and Metropolis are classic picks that definitely touch on some of the theory’s themes. Adding to the list, you might find “The Corporation” (2003) intriguing. It delves into the power dynamics and influence of corporations, which ties into CasP discussions.

                             

                            By the way, have you had a chance to peek at movies put right now? Sometimes, a trip to the theater can offer fresh perspectives or even inspiration for our academic pursuits.

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