In Andrei Tarkovsky‘s Mirror (1975) we follow the history of a dying poet, told through his dreamlike memories. It’s one of Tarkovsky’s most personal films and is semi-autobiographical. His older mother appears in the film, and he includes poetry by his father, Arseny Tarkovsky. Alternating between black-and-white and color film, as well as Russian archival footage, the film is nonlinear. Different characters are at times played by the same actor, like the younger version of his mother and his wife.
The visual poetry of the film captures something universal that is hard to describe in words, but is very affecting. Mirrors, reflections, flooding, fire, a gust of wind- even just watching the condensation from a cup disappear from a table- there’s so much to take in and contemplate.
Filled with his famous long takes, time moves more slowly in Mirror, and provides a much-needed break from our often too fast-paced world.
Alice Bag performing with the Bags for “The Decline of Civilization I”
Ozzy Osbourne from “The Decline of Civilization II: The Metal Years”
Street kids from “The Decline of Civilization III”
From 1979-1998 director Penelope Spheeris made three films documenting the music scene in Los Angeles for the trilogy, The Decline of Western Civilization. All three combine interviews with musicians and their fans with live footage from the shows. Spheeris is able to capture the unique energy of the different scenes and present the participants she interviews without judgment.
The first, released in 1981, and probably the strongest, features concert footage of X, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Bags, and the Germs, among others. Many of these artists continue to perform to this day, like Pat Smear of the Germs who would go on to play with several bands- including Nirvana and Foo Fighters.
It’s also fun to see a young Phranc (pictured below) playing in Catholic Discipline. She would later switch to folk music and creating fun cardboard sculptures. At the same time it’s sad seeing Darby Crash behind the scenes knowing he would die by suicide in 1980 before the film was released.
X (Exene Cervenka and John Doe)
Phranc
Darby Crash
Pat Smear
The second installment, The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, changes tone quite a bit as Spheeris covers the heavy metal scene in the late 1980s. Big hair, big hopes, and lots of makeup mark a big change from the previous punk era, both in attitudes and musical style. Several big names show up along with the lesser known bands including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy from Motörhead, Poison, Aerosmith, and Alice Cooper. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley from KISS also make appearances, the latter filmed on a bed surrounded by women.
Two members of Poison
The third installment, released in 1998, returns to punk music twenty years later. It also returns to the style of the first installment, but this time focuses more on the “gutter punks”- homeless kids living on the streets of Hollywood. There are several scenes of them panhandling, partying, and talking about their rough upbringing. These scenes are mixed with band footage and interviews with some of the musicians from the previous punk scene, like Flea and Rick Wilder (of The Mau Maus), who provide their perspective on the changes. Spheeris was so moved by the stories these kids told, she went on to be a foster parent after making the film.
Rick Wilder of the Mau Maus
All of these films were released in a box set with the help of Spheeris’s daughter Anna. They are also available on several streaming sites.
Wim Wenders‘ 2023 film Perfect Days, stars Kōji Yakusho as Hirayama, a toilet cleaner in Tokyo who leads a solitary but seemingly contented life. He spends his time outside of work reading, listening to music on cassette tapes, taking care of his plants, and taking analog photos of trees. This simple life begins to change as smaller and larger moments with others expand his world and alter his routines.
The quiet film focuses on a few of these people- including his coworker and later the surprise arrival of his niece. Watching them together as they spend his previously solitary days mirroring each other unconsciously, is especially lovely. After her departure there is another interaction that leaves the viewer to wonder if Hirayama will continue to live this simple life or embrace potential changes to his “perfect days”.
The pictures of the trees throughout the film capture the Japanese word “komorebi”. The word is defined at the end of the film, after the credits, as “the shimmering of light and shadows that is created by leaves swaying in the wind”. These images continue in Hirayama’s black and white dreams, created by Wenders’ wife Donata.
Wim Wenders is currently showing two bodies of work at Howard Greenberg Gallery in NYC- Written in the West, from his roadtrip to the American West in 1983 and Once, a series of works from his travels and encounters with Hollywood. This exhibition will be on view until 3/15/25.
This weekend I revisited 2011’s TheTree of Life, directed by Terence Malick. The film unfolds like a visual poem and the cinematography is breathtaking. It’s a beautiful meditation on all aspects of life including family, love, death, suffering, grace, nature, and God.
It received mixed reviews at the time, and the narrative may not come together for everyone, but the performances and ambition of the film make it worth a watch.
What if you could only take one memory with you for eternity- what would you choose? This is the question at the heart of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 1998 film, After Life.
The beautiful and touching film follows several recently deceased people as they arrive at a processing center to be interviewed, choose a memory, and then have it recreated for them before they move on. The film also combines the scripted interviews with actors with those of real people reminiscing about their lives.
The 2016 documentary The First Monday in May, follows chief curator of The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Andrew Bolton as he prepares the 2015 exhibition China: Through the Looking Glass. The film also follows Anna Wintour as she prepares for the Met Gala party that accompanies the exhibition. Bolton’s work on the show with director Wong Kar Wai, as well as the negotiations and logistics behind creating it are fascinating.
Ingmar Bergman’sPersona, from 1966, explores the relationship between an actress who has become mute, played by Liv Ullman, and the nurse who is in charge of her care played by Bibi Andersson. The pair travel to a cottage on the beach where their personalities begin to conflict and blend.
The unsettling film contains several experimental elements, as well as images that are outside of the main narrative, that provide more questions than answers.
Famous French actor Alain Delon passed away on Sunday, 8/18.
The stills above are from his film Le Samourai from 1967, directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. The beautifully shot film follows a mostly silent Delon as an assassin trying to discover who is trying to kill him. It also stars his then wife Nathalie Delon.
After hearing the sad news of Shelley Duvall’s passing, I decided to watch a few films from her filmography and started with 3 Women, released in 1977. Based on a dream writer/director Robert Altman had, the film follows Duvall and Sissy Spacek as their lives and identities intertwine in the California desert. Later a third woman played by Janice Rule, becomes more important in the pair’s world.
Using reflections, water, mirrors, mirrored actions, and twins, Altman creates a mysterious space for these women to inhabit. Adding to the unsettling energy of the film are a series of murals created by artist Bodhi Wind (Charles Kuklis).
It’s definitely worth a watch, with an ambiguous ending that has been subject to many interpretations.
