Brian De Palma's PASSION ::: 30 August 2013

Great news about Donaggio, if true. Donaggio > Marianelli.

Sharky wrote:

Is reverse snobbery towards snobs still snobbery?

Absolutely.

What I find annoying is when anyone who likes stuff outside of the mainstream is written off as a snob. Doesn't tie into this, just sayin' it.

What may be an Italian podcast on the De Palma and Donaggio partnership.

http://www.giacomozito.com/onair/Destini-Incrociati/pino-donaggio-e-brian-de-palma

I say may be as I can't understand a fucking word.

And do we have any translators for that podcast link that Sir Ambler posted?

The fact that Rachel McAdams has the sense of humour to be in a violent De Palma thriller with nudity makes her even more attractive.

Gonna pull a j7wild and say that I wanna have De Palma direct a scene with those two hugging eachother naked. In a bathtub.

Not in a bathtub, that'll obscure the action. In outer space, zero gravity.

Maybe an underwater ballet sequence like in PIRANHA 3D. Basically skinny dipping.

Reminds me of an early 90s thriller. Can't wait to see this.

So great to get another episode of RED SHOE DIARIES, but where's Duchovny?

It took awhile, but it finally has a US release date. August 30th. However, it's going to be available on demand and on iTunes on August 1st. I didn't think it would be a hit in the US, but putting it available digitally awfully soon sounds like a compromising move for its domestic theatrical run. :| I also saw the new trailer, but am kind of worried it might spoiled it. I didn't know too much about the film, for anyone who's already seen it in Europe, did the domestic trailer give away too much info?

The trailer gives away too much, though the movie's best stuff is not in the trailer.

Folks who enjoy RAISING CAIN will get a kick out of this. Those iffy on De Palma should stay far away.

Watched this at Lincoln Center last night.

The first half doesn't even feel like a De Palma film. However, I loved the second half. It's not a very well written movie and the performances aren't that great, but it should please De Palma fans. There's also a brilliant split-screen sequence that compares to some of his greatest works. There are nods to CARRIE, BODY DOUBLE, and RAISING CAIN. Music lovers will appreciate Donnagio's score, too.

I agree with Harms, too. If you're not a fan of De Palma, you'll probably hate it. I took my girlfriend and she wanted to leave 40 minutes into the film (to hell with that).

I got my $13 worth.

The theater was packed, too. I think I was the youngest person there.

Passion went straight to DVD in the UK making it hard not to feel that De Palma's entering Dario Argento territory in terms of career trajectory. Potentially there's an interesting book to be written on the parallels in their lives both artistically and commercially.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Passion went straight to DVD in the UK making it hard not to feel that De Palma's entering Dario Argento territory in terms of career trajectory. Potentially there's an interesting book to be written on the parallels in their lives both artistically and commercially.

It's out on DVD? I've been sat here like a retard waiting for a UK theatrical release date, which I thought might happen after seeing a Harmony Korine film at a Showcase earlier this year. I'll probably wait to see if the US distributor brings it out on blu. At this point I'm just mad that I won't be seeing it in a theatre.

Armond wasn't impressed.

http://cityarts.info/2013/08/29/trash-rehash-and-innovation/

There aren't any showings nearby my area, now I kind of doubt there will be. Then there's that bullshit about it being released on iTunes a month ago, which is still weird.

The lack of a UK theatrical release is even more shocking, come to think of it, given that De Palma seems to getting a lot of overdue attention on the home video market. Arrow, who are fast becoming the foremost quality label in the country, are putting out stacked editions of as many of his films as they can - there should be six once Sisters and Phantom... come out - and the studios are even putting out minor works (I think a Snake Eyes blu is forthcoming).

Hard to really pinpoint where he stands in British film culture. The internet is very good to him, and I think audiences are too, but official cultural organs like the BFI are probably still more concerned with Laura Mulvey's lack of a cock.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Passion went straight to DVD in the UK making it hard not to feel that De Palma's entering Dario Argento territory in terms of career trajectory.

In the US, this direct-to-DVD/direct-to-streaming path is becoming more and more common for independent films. Independent distributors are finding such models more cost effective than rigging up theatrical presentations in arthouse theaters (they've been more or less shut out of the big theaters, which almost exclusively show the big, mainstream releases).

Erica Ambler wrote:

Potentially there's an interesting book to be written on the parallels in their lives both artistically and commercially.

I found it interesting that in recent interviews, De Palma denies any real fondness for Argento or giallo horror cinema, noting that the only Argento film he can recall is THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, which Scorsese showed him back when he, Scorsese, Lucas, et. al. were all just friends making their start.

FWIW, De Palma's next project is pretty high-profile, at least for the US (the sure-to-be-controversial HAPPY VALLEY, with Al Pacino and Frank Langella).

Largo's Shark wrote:

Armond wasn't impressed.

http://cityarts.info/2013/08/29/trash-rehash-and-innovation/

White sells PASSION short here (which is surprising, given that he's been one of De Palma's advocates over the years). PASSION isn't a true-blue masterpiece, but there's more going on in it than White gives him credit for. It's the first film to truly take on our surveillance culture, and De Palma does it with humor and elegance. White also really misses the "point" of the split-screen sequence (which is pretty darn impressive, and one of De Palma's best uses of the technique).

PASSION is an old man's film, which is to say that it's both retrospective (the film itself isn't terribly self-referential, until the coda, which plays like De Palma's Greatest Hits) and relaxed. It feels like De Palma's equivalent of the films Coppola has been doing lately: small-scale and made largely for personal pleasure, but with complete artistic control.

Harmsway wrote:

PASSION is an old man's film, which is to say that it's both retrospective (the film itself isn't terribly self-referential, until the coda, which plays like De Palma's Greatest Hits) and relaxed. It feels like De Palma's equivalent of the films Coppola has been doing lately: small-scale and made largely for personal pleasure, but with complete artistic control.

As you know, White wasn't fond of YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH and TETRO whereas De Palma is. That disparity is important in understanding White, since he's not afraid to criticise the old masters when he sees complacency, idleness or "selling out" (see Spielberg with LINCOLN). It is a limiting view, but it gives his writing a certain consistency and an internal logic.

As to the old masters, I don't mind them being critiqued. But there's much to be said for the wisdom of age, though, and this sometimes shines through in the films of older masters, as it does in the films of Resnais (who White still admires).

PASSION is less a grab-bag of De Palma tricks, as White seems to indicate, than it is De Palma reformatting his style and obsessions to produce a satirical vision of our age. And what is startling is that De Palma's personal fascinations make more sense now than they did in the 70s and 80s: we live in a world where surveillance and voyeurism are ubiquitous. PASSION is a movie about a world where the video image has become a source of power, where a cell phone video can cut just like a knife.

Harmsway wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

Potentially there's an interesting book to be written on the parallels in their lives both artistically and commercially.

I found it interesting that in recent interviews, De Palma denies any real fondness for Argento or giallo horror cinema, noting that the only Argento film he can recall is THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, which Scorsese showed him back when he, Scorsese, Lucas, et. al. were all just friends making their start.

Anyone who's seen Raising Cain might like to compare it to the far superior Tenebrae: - De Palma recalled that well enough. Easy to forget now that Hitchcock was so impressed by Crystal Plumage that he felt Argento was the only director who seriously threatened him.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

I found it interesting that in recent interviews, De Palma denies any real fondness for Argento or giallo horror cinema, noting that the only Argento film he can recall is THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, which Scorsese showed him back when he, Scorsese, Lucas, et. al. were all just friends making their start.

Anyone who's seen Raising Cain might like to compare it to the far superior Tenebrae: - De Palma recalled that well enough.

Is that where the closing shot of RAISING CAIN is supposed to have originated? I haven't seen TENEBRAE, so it's an honest question.

FWIW, De Palma is usually pretty honest and frank about his process and the origins of his material in interviews (refreshingly so when talking about his own weaknesses and the compromises he's made in working in the Hollywood film industry), so I'm inclined to believe him when he says CRYSTAL PLUMAGE is the only Argento film he remembers. But you never know. After years of dealing with accusations that he's nothing but a mere copycat, it wouldn't be surprising if he is doing his best to downplay the influences of other filmmakers.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Easy to forget now that Hitchcock was so impressed by Crystal Plumage that he felt Argento was the only director who seriously threatened him.

In Dumas' UN-AMERICAN PSYCHO, he notes that Hitchcock regarded Antonioni's BLOW-UP with similar jealousy.

Harmsway wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

Anyone who's seen Raising Cain might like to compare it to the far superior Tenebrae: - De Palma recalled that well enough.

Is that where the closing shot of RAISING CAIN is supposed to have originated? I haven't seen TENEBRAE, so it's an honest question.

That's the one. I'm surprised to read that De Palma denied it as it's such an obvious steal. I assumed it was affectionate, in the same way his thefts from Michael Powell and Hitchcock are well intentioned.

Erica Ambler wrote:

Harmsway wrote:

Erica Ambler wrote:

Anyone who's seen Raising Cain might like to compare it to the far superior Tenebrae: - De Palma recalled that well enough.

Is that where the closing shot of RAISING CAIN is supposed to have originated? I haven't seen TENEBRAE, so it's an honest question.

That's the one. I'm surprised to read that De Palma denied it as it's such an obvious steal. I assumed it was affectionate, in the same way his thefts from Michael Powell and Hitchcock are well intentioned.

He actually reuses the same shot in PASSION.

Here's De Palma on Argento, which is the first time I've actually seen anyone ask him about Argento:

Quote :

Yeah, obviously the Hitchcock connection comes up a lot, but who I always curious to ask you about was Dario Argento. Certainly his early movies very much remind me of your work in that he takes that Hitchcock grammar and heightens it to a European sensibility with certain extra flourishes like unmotivated camera moves for atmosphere.

De Palma: Actually, the only Dario Argento movie that I really know is The Bird With The Crystal Plumage. That’s the only one that I remember seeing. I think that was in the 70s right?

Yeah, I think even 69.

De Palma: Right, that’s the one. I’m not a big follower of Dario Argento. I know I get compared to him, but the giallo cinema I’m not a student of at all. I know that they think I look at all these films and take ideas from them, but believe me, the only one that sticks in my mind is The Bird With The Crystal Plumage. And Mario Bava, I remember Marty [Scorsese] showing me some of his movies in the 70s and I couldn’t even tell you what titles are now.

The elevator scene in Dressed To Kill always really reminded me of the elevator sequence in The Bird With The Crystal Plumage.

De Palma: I don’t even remember the elevator scene. Could be from it. Who knows? I haven’t seen that in 30-40 years.

In the same interview, he freely talks about how he studied Hitchcock's narrative and formal tropes and how he intended to steal from INCEPTION for a sequence in PASSION, so it wouldn't seem that he's being entirely cagey about his debts.