tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post3198854753948558156..comments2024-02-18T08:45:16.295-08:00Comments on The Film Connoisseur: VIVA LA REVOLUTION! PART II: ERNESTO ‘CHE’ GUEVARAFranco Macabrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-31811504948209966842011-11-25T04:59:30.858-08:002011-11-25T04:59:30.858-08:00Watching Oliver Stone's JFK is a grueling, sad...Watching Oliver Stone's JFK is a grueling, sad, desperate experience, and a real eye opener. An awesome movie experience and a very important film in my book, hope you get a chance to see it soon Jack. Oliver Stone was the best filmmaker I could have thought of to direct that film.Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-18722502182831205902011-11-23T13:25:07.684-08:002011-11-23T13:25:07.684-08:00Great article. Love the amount of detail you'v...Great article. Love the amount of detail you've gone into. I still haven't gotten around to watching JFK but caught both the Che movies last year. Thought Soderbergh did a superb job on them - he's showed who Che was rather than told everyone who he was. I like that he avoiding having an agenda which is some Oliver Stone often gets accused of.<br /><br />Thought both Che films made brilliant counter points. One is Che's birth as a revolution, the other is his death. The first part is slick and shot on REDOne, lots of wide shots. The second part is 16mm, gritty and shot almost entirely in close-ups.Jack Thursbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03101157160144955486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-26756975633836305112011-01-21T18:38:13.964-08:002011-01-21T18:38:13.964-08:00Nicely compiled, Fran! All three are exhaustive in...Nicely compiled, Fran! All three are exhaustive in their information. Well done.venoms5https://www.blogger.com/profile/13655919099947763891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-85705014621650033552011-01-06T12:36:37.550-08:002011-01-06T12:36:37.550-08:00@JD: Its true, I guess we'll never really know...@JD: Its true, I guess we'll never really know. But when you look at Kennedy's story, the way he was running things and his speeches as president, you can definetly see how he would rub certain people the wrong way. Wrong enough to have him wiped out. <br /><br />@Neil: Thanks for the kind words Neil. I tried putting a better effort in my writing, because its such a serious subject matter. But Im sure a mispell or two made their way into the articles. They ended up being such lenghty articles! I just couldnt help myself, I wanted to really let people know whats going on over here in respect to the abusive behavior. <br /><br />It is amazing that Gilliam managed to make BRAZIL with a mere 15 million dollars. That isnt really a lot when it comes to hollywood, but I guess back in those days it was enough to get such a complex film off the ground. <br /><br />I celebrate any film that adresses these themes because it shows we can still say something, we can still voice our opinions in the media. Im glad films like these can still be made, at least there is some freedom there I guess. I mean, governments try to control everything, and movies are controlled in many ways, but every once in a while films like BRAZIL or V for VENDETTA, thats when I know theres still some rebels out there willing to sticking to the establishment whenever needed. Judging by how many movies play with these themes, it is something that is affecting us on a global scale. <br /><br />Thanks for commenting guys!Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-37129088757921434882011-01-05T13:39:00.633-08:002011-01-05T13:39:00.633-08:00Another very impassioned and personal article here...Another very impassioned and personal article here, Franco. I’m so glad we collaborated on this project; you’ve delivered some of the best and most in-depth writing I’ve seen on The Film Connoisseur.<br /><br />It’s been good for me, too. After two months of wading through cheap, cheesy and sometimes outright awful exploitation movies during my Winter of Discontent season, I lost sight of how political, socially conscious, provocative and reactionary cinema can be. Watching ‘Brazil’ recently – the first time I’d seen it in ages – it blew me away that a film of that budget (about $15 million – back in the mid-eighties) and with a plethora of established actors in the cast could be so scathingly satirical and anti-establishment. Likewise ‘Network’ – a studio production with some heavy-weight names, and it pulls no punches. These are films worth celebrating. And this has been a project worth joining forces for!Neil Fulwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14686296295535235988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-89607436074726214442011-01-05T07:59:52.195-08:002011-01-05T07:59:52.195-08:00Well, with JFK, Stone has said that we wanted to c...Well, with JFK, Stone has said that we wanted to create a counter-myth to what he saw as the fabricated myth of the Warren Commission Report. Basically, I see his film as visual compilation of some of the biggest theories pertaining to the JFK assassination and really the film should be a jumping off point for one to do their own research and reading about what happened. Alas, we will probably never know what *really* happened.<br /><br />As for CHE, I couldn't agree more with your sentiments. It was a much more reflective Che that Soderbergh presented, except for the New York City/U.N. stuff which showed his more fiery side.<br /><br />And you're right about that type of revolution not being possible nowadays. I think someone now would have to be way more technologically savvy to pull something off.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08164105442273577128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-37888617731903458822011-01-05T06:44:16.078-08:002011-01-05T06:44:16.078-08:00True about JFK, its a well made film no matter wha...True about JFK, its a well made film no matter what you think really happened. Stone tries to keep things ambiguous most of the time with his films. He doesnt side with the rebels and throw hate on Americans. In HEAVEN AND EARTH, SALVADOR for example, both films about Vietnam we see both sides of the tale, and Stone doesnt side with neither, leaving it up to the viewer to decide what to think. <br /><br />But with JFK I think he had a one sided view of things, he was saying that JFK was assassinated by his own government. Bold statement, but its kind of hard to deny that this is what really happened. <br /><br />As for CHE, I loved both films, though they did feel kind of distant. We never get to close to CHE and he never speaks above a whisper. I read somewhere that Soderbergh never got too close to CHE in order to show the basics of communism, which was what CHE believed in. In the film we rarely see CHE alone, he is always with his troupe of soldiers, always thinking as a group. <br /><br />Most people thought they were going to get this CHE movie with CHE screaming and shooting, what we got was a quiet film focusing on how to lead and organize a revolution, and the troubles and difficult situations they had to deal with while hiding in the forests.<br /><br />I liked how both films are very different, one from the point of view of successful revolution, and the other one showing us a failed one. You could definetly feel the difference in attitude from the men CHE gathered on both camps. Cubans were ready to chop heads off, while the Bolivians were not so sure about joining CHE and his guerilla.<br /><br />These movies got me to thinking that the type of revolution displayed on these films could probably never happen today. Che gathered his army in the mountains and forests to hide...with todays satellite technology, this could never be done.Franco Macabrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10994905312221715861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8293273378239831747.post-55463551191593715592011-01-04T13:05:51.480-08:002011-01-04T13:05:51.480-08:00Another fantastic, passionate article! CHE and JFK...Another fantastic, passionate article! CHE and JFK are definitely among my fave political films of all time - hell, JFK is right up there as one of my all-time fave films! I always find it fascinating that Stone cites Costa-Gavras Z as an important influence on his film and you can certainly see elements of it in there. Whether you agree with Stone's politics/theories or not, you can't deny that it is a powerful film, complex by design with truly astounding cinematography and editing.<br /><br />CHE is another impressive film. I felt as if Soderbergh was channeling Terrence Malick - esp. in the first film with long takes and stunning cinematography. Of course, Malick was originally going to direct so maybe some of his influence seeped in. Some find CHE too slow of a film but the pacing is certainly deliberate and I think Soderbergh is trying to convey the tough slog it was for Che, Fideo and their group to make their way to the capital and seize control. It didn't happen over night and Soderbergh's film is really a nuts and bolts examination of what it takes to stage a revolution - both successfully and unsuccessfully.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08164105442273577128noreply@blogger.com