54 replies to this topic

[Ryan H.]

As I prepare to revisit this wonderful film on DVD, I've been looking up other reviews of the film. Roderick Heath's review of MYSTERIES OF LISBON may be a bit summary-driven for my tastes, but it has some good insights into the film. At any rate, I'm in full agreement with him on this point:

There has been no shortage of superheroes on movie screens this year, and whilst this fare might seem light years from Thor or Captain America, it struck me while watching Mysteries of Lisbon that Dinis is another superhero, and by far the best of them.

[Ryan H.]

And here's a fascinating quote from Raul Ruiz about his vision for MYSTERIES OF LISBON, which I obtained from the liner notes of the DVD release:

When I read Carlos Saboga's adaptation for the first time, which struck me as excellent, I let myself be swayed by the narration, that's all. During the second reading, my attention focused on the sort of peace, the tranquility that enveloped the painful events suggested and illustrated by the story. It was like walking through a garden. In his novel The Cathedral, Joris-Karl Huysmans evokes an allegorical (but real) garden in which each plant, each tree, each flower represents either moral values or sins. This is how I imagined the film he wanted to make. Like Antonio de Torquemada's The Garden of Curious Flowers, like the Garden of Eden described by Saint Brendan when he returned from the beyond, like the garden in Dante's "Inferno" in which each flower, each plant, is a punished suicide.

Linné, the father of botany, believed that God punished each bad action with Dadaistic punishments: someone kicks a cat and then years later he sees his dear and beloved wife fall from a balcony and die under his eyes (see "The Divine Nemesis").

While I was shooting Mysteries of Lisbon, I often thought about Linné-- a garden is a battlefield. Any flower is monstrous. In slow motion, any garden is Shakespearean.

[Darren H]

Quote

In slow motion, any garden is Shakespearean.

I love that.

[Darren H]

FYI . . . Mysteries of Lisbon is now streaming on Netflix in the States.

[Ryan H.]

Darren H, on 20 March 2012 - 10:06 AM, said:

FYI . . . Mysteries of Lisbon is now streaming on Netflix in the States.

Time for me to start prodding my friends to watch it.

[Tyler]

Darren H, on 20 March 2012 - 10:06 AM, said:

FYI . . . Mysteries of Lisbon is now streaming on Netflix in the States.

It is the 4 1/2 hour version, too. The description says 119 minutes, but I started playing the movie and the full run time showed up.

[Anders]

Got this from the library on the weekend and finished part one with my wife (who is loving it, much to her surprise). I'm really digging it. I love what Ruiz does with narrative in his films that I've seen, playing with tellers and tales and thwarting expectations. This one reminds me a bit of THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT meets LES MISERABLES (even a bit of GREAT EXPECTATIONS), which is perfect!

Tomorrow night, part two!

[Ryan H.]

Did you finish it, Anders?

[Anders]

Yes, I did. It's fantastic. I'm hoping to do a bit of academic writing on Ruiz in fact.

I'm a big fan of these kinds of nested narratives - stories-within-stories. Reminded me of Cervantes, particularly Victor Hugo (which makes sense, because the author of the novel, Branco, was apparently inspired by Hugo in his early period). Some of his other films are a bit more Borges.

But most of all Ruiz reminds me of Welles in his camera work. And narratively, this is part KANE and part THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT, which I mentioned above.

Edited by Anders, 10 August 2012 - 01:38 PM.

[Ryan H.]

If you do write something on Ruiz, I would be delighted to read it.

Edited by Ryan H., 10 August 2012 - 03:05 PM.

[Nathaniel]

Anders, on 10 August 2012 - 01:38 PM, said:

But most of all Ruiz reminds me of Welles in his camera work. And narratively, this is part KANE and part THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT, which I mentioned above.

Sounds like you will have a field day with Three Crowns of the Sailor, which feels like late period Welles (particularly The Immortal Story) and spins one of the most insanely convoluted narratives in the history of cinema.

[Anders]

Nathaniel, on 11 August 2012 - 02:05 PM, said:

Anders, on 10 August 2012 - 01:38 PM, said:

But most of all Ruiz reminds me of Welles in his camera work. And narratively, this is part KANE and part THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT, which I mentioned above.

Sounds like you will have a field day with Three Crowns of the Sailor, which feels like late period Welles (particularly The Immortal Story) and spins one of the most insanely convoluted narratives in the history of cinema.

Oh, I did. It was the first Ruiz I watched and I think it's fantastic.

[Nathaniel]

Anders, on 11 August 2012 - 03:01 PM, said:

Nathaniel, on 11 August 2012 - 02:05 PM, said:

Anders, on 10 August 2012 - 01:38 PM, said:

But most of all Ruiz reminds me of Welles in his camera work. And narratively, this is part KANE and part THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT, which I mentioned above.

Sounds like you will have a field day with Three Crowns of the Sailor, which feels like late period Welles (particularly The Immortal Story) and spins one of the most insanely convoluted narratives in the history of cinema.

Oh, I did. It was the first Ruiz I watched and I think it's fantastic.

Ah, now I see. It was my first Ruiz as well (I've only seen 3 or 4), and I don't think I ever recovered from it. It certainly colored my reaction to his Proust adaptation. I still don't think Time Regained is a particularly good movie, but it's nevertheless a brave attempt at adapting the unadaptable.

[Anders]

Nathaniel, on 17 August 2012 - 12:44 PM, said:

Ah, now I see. It was my first Ruiz as well (I've only seen 3 or 4), and I don't think I ever recovered from it. It certainly colored my reaction to his Proust adaptation. I still don't think Time Regained is a particularly good movie, but it's nevertheless a brave attempt at adapting the unadaptable.

I haven't seen his TIME REGAINED. I've got SUSPENDED VOCATION on queue next from Ruiz.

When I see TIME REGAINED I'm sure my reaction will be coloured by the fact that my supervisor had a funny reaction to my wanting to do some work on Ruiz's films, by stating he didn't think Ruiz's Proust adaptation was very good. I'm not sure, but that might be one of the only Ruiz film he's seen.

[Nathaniel]

Anders, on 17 August 2012 - 01:26 PM, said:

Nathaniel, on 17 August 2012 - 12:44 PM, said:

Ah, now I see. It was my first Ruiz as well (I've only seen 3 or 4), and I don't think I ever recovered from it. It certainly colored my reaction to his Proust adaptation. I still don't think Time Regained is a particularly good movie, but it's nevertheless a brave attempt at adapting the unadaptable.

I haven't seen his TIME REGAINED. I've got SUSPENDED VOCATION on queue next from Ruiz.

When I see TIME REGAINED I'm sure my reaction will be coloured by the fact that my supervisor had a funny reaction to my wanting to do some work on Ruiz's films, by stating he didn't think Ruiz's Proust adaptation was very good. I'm not sure, but that might be one of the only Ruiz film he's seen.

I remember thinking it was a bit slack and full of overdecorative touches, but it's by no means terrible. It's still probably most people's idea of art house hell.