Subject: Tarantino's appraisal of John Ford Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:31 pm
QTs hate for Ford is well-documented. It is a rather odd one, because as far as I know, he does admire Riefenstahl, whose own background certainly isn't any less questionable.
Leni reacting to the execution of Polish Jews:
I do believe some of Fords westerns are a bit thematically anemic, however great the widescapes might look. In spite of that, he did define much of the cinematic vocabulary. (Hence Welles famous quote).
Yet I personally would put Hawks a rung above him. Ford never made a western as good as "Red River". In fact, an unkind interpretation of "The Searchers" might be that it's a shameless rip-off of Hawks movie.
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Subject: Re: Tarantino's appraisal of John Ford Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:03 pm
John Ford was not just a great director, but a humanist artist. It's no surprise that with Taranitno's Aspie focus on style and plot mechanics he can't see the wood from the trees.
I'd love to have heard what Lindsay Anderson might say about Tarantino. It wouldn't have been kind.
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Subject: Re: Tarantino's appraisal of John Ford Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:20 pm
Most of Tarantino's objections seem to center around the fact that he played the role of a KKK member in Griffiths "The Birth of a Nation".
Yet Griffith himself tried to make up for the negative perception of his character (him being a racist/bigot) with "Intolerance" and "Broken Blossoms".
Last edited by Salomé on Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:33 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Subject: Re: Tarantino's appraisal of John Ford Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:30 pm
As Ford did in his last decade with CHEYENNE AUTUMN.
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Subject: Re: Tarantino's appraisal of John Ford Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:35 pm
Interesting that Spielberg is far more kind. Of course he's old enough to have met Ford personally.
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Subject: Re: Tarantino's appraisal of John Ford Wed Sep 17, 2014 1:38 pm
Ford is one of Spielberg's heroes, that's pretty well established. SS is probably the truest successor to Ford's vision.
Maybe when QT's balls drop he'll reappraise Ford.
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Subject: Re: Tarantino's appraisal of John Ford Wed Sep 17, 2014 5:33 pm
Off topic, but what's this mean, Oppers? "Leni reacting to the execution of Polish Jews:"
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Subject: Re: Tarantino's appraisal of John Ford Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:11 pm
I included that image to illustrate the more obvious issues with Riefenstahl. She was well aware of the regime's atrocities as she witnessed them first-hand. It makes Tarantino's issues with Ford for essentially being an extra on Griffith's film seem trivial at best.
Does your question mean you do not approve of the inclusion of said photograph in my post?
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Subject: Re: Tarantino's appraisal of John Ford Wed Sep 17, 2014 9:58 pm
Did you mean to ask what specifically I was referring to, Ambler? Not entirely clear to me...
If so, this should explain the moment the photograph was taken:
Quote :
While accompanying German troops near Konskie, the filmmaker witnessed the execution of Polish civilians shot in retaliation for a partisan attack on German troops. Riefenstahl apparently left her filming that day in order to make a personal appeal to Hitler against such arbitrary violence. The incident may have planted a seed of doubt in Riefenstahl's mind, but it did not prevent her from filming Hitler's triumphal parade into Warsaw just weeks later.
Apparently it wasn't just hangers-on like Riefenstahl, several of Hitler's upper echelon were apparently not too fond of being exposed to the bloody reality of their policies.
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Subject: Re: Tarantino's appraisal of John Ford Wed Sep 17, 2014 10:33 pm
Salomé wrote:
Did you mean to ask what specifically I was referring to, Ambler? Not entirely clear to me...
If so, this should explain the moment the photograph was taken:
Quote :
While accompanying German troops near Konskie, the filmmaker witnessed the execution of Polish civilians shot in retaliation for a partisan attack on German troops. Riefenstahl apparently left her filming that day in order to make a personal appeal to Hitler against such arbitrary violence. The incident may have planted a seed of doubt in Riefenstahl's mind, but it did not prevent her from filming Hitler's triumphal parade into Warsaw just weeks later.
Apparently it wasn't just hangers-on like Riefenstahl, several of Hitler's upper echelon were apparently not too fond of being exposed to the bloody reality of their policies.
Yes, no sinister intent in my question, Ops. Just hadn't seen the photo before. Not sure what's on the people's faces, but it's not joy.
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Subject: Re: Tarantino's appraisal of John Ford Wed Sep 17, 2014 10:44 pm
Erica Ambler wrote:
Yes, no sinister intent in my question, Ops. Just hadn't seen the photo before. Not sure what's on the people's faces, but it's not joy.
Quite. Hence why Himmler and Heydrich established specialized units (the so-called Einsatzgruppen) for the butchery quite early on in the war. Because the indiscriminate killing of civilians was having a terrible effect on the morale of their regular troops.
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Subject: Re: Tarantino's appraisal of John Ford Thu Sep 18, 2014 8:50 am
Salomé wrote:
the indiscriminate killing of civilians was having a terrible effect on the morale of their regular troops.
The line that the Wehrmacht were essentially decent honourable soldiers while the SS were butchers is an invention. It was considered necessary so that FGR could be rearmed to fight against the Soviet menace. In fact, the ordinary German solider committed many terrible atrocities in their occupation of Europe. They've been forgotten all too quickly.
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Subject: Re: Tarantino's appraisal of John Ford Thu Sep 18, 2014 9:44 am
Erica Ambler wrote:
Salomé wrote:
the indiscriminate killing of civilians was having a terrible effect on the morale of their regular troops.
The line that the Wehrmacht were essentially decent honourable soldiers while the SS were butchers is an invention. It was considered necessary so that FGR could be rearmed to fight against the Soviet menace. In fact, the ordinary German solider committed many terrible atrocities in their occupation of Europe. They've been forgotten all too quickly.
Except that is not what I said. Of course the Wehrmacht was guilty of many war crimes.
Yet the creation of the Einsatzgruppen is matter of historical record.
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Subject: Re: Tarantino's appraisal of John Ford Thu Sep 18, 2014 10:07 am
As is Tarantino's Rape of Belgium. Oh wait. Wrong war, wrong thread. I'm going for a Twix.
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Subject: Re: Tarantino's appraisal of John Ford Thu Sep 18, 2014 8:03 pm
Well the Rape of Belgium was obviously pure propaganda, but at the same time, the advancing German army did commit a lot of war crimes. To my shame I have to admit that I only recently found out about some of the shameful bloodshed in smaller towns and villages. I think most Belgians with a modicum of historical nous are aware of the atrocities committed against civilians in cities like Dinant and Louvain.