A masterpiece of staggering beauty and cinematic aweOpens with a dream montage – incredible imagery, and then we’re off and running with the hunting scene starting with the camera aimed down at the stream and capturing a complex tracking shot. Iñárritu brings back a variation on the drum score from Birdman, the framing of character faces from I Am Cuba and low-angle work from WellesThe very next sequence is a complex battle tracking shot at magic hour—it is Saving Private Ryan meets The Thin Red Line and the best of both- muscular filmmaking- sumptuous photography and complex blocking/choreography The

A stylistic break for Visconti for the most part— there is some nice blocking and framing in the dining sequences (flowers galore), beach sequences (see below) but here- Visconti mostly uses the slow zoom as his major weapon--- giving us insight into Dirk Bogarde’s Gustav von Aschenbach’s mind, memory and gaze. Zooming in on his nuanced and often tortured face in dialogue-less long sequences and eyeing’s the young TadzioThe music of Mahler a character in the film for sureZooms in to show memory and reflectionDécor isn’t The Leopard or Visconti’s best work—but there’s a dedication to the floral arrangement

A very strong opening frame from Villeneuve and DP Roger Deakins—gorgeous picture of the woods and then the Lord’s prayer from Hugh Jackman’s Keller Dover A very strong opening frame from Villeneuve and DP “Roget Deakins—gorgeous picture of the woods and then the Lord’s prayer from Hugh Jackman’s Keller Dover Jackson’s performance is big—showy- but appropriately so as the religious survivalist but family man under incredible circumstances Gyllenhaal walks away with the film from a performance standpoint – and this is some feat with a cast that includes Terrence Howard, Viola Davis, the aforementioned Hugh Jackman, Paul Dano, Melissa

Made at the height of the era for the epic genre—Visconti’s masterpiece stakes a legitimate claim to be named one of cinema’s most beautiful films It opens with a series of sumptuous establishing shots of the castle where Burt Lancaster’s Prince Don Fabrizio Salina resides. It’s not quite an ellipsis in the editing but close--- we drift in through the door It opens with a series of sumptuous establishing shots of the castle where Burt Lancaster’s Prince Don Fabrizio Salina resides. It’s not quite an ellipsis in the editing but close--- we drift in through the door (not unlike

Alan Rudolph’s third film and the first of eight films in the archives Certainly Rudolph is the most Altman-like of all the Altman acolytes—he worked with him and on projects like Nashville and The Long Goodbye as second assistant director—this is “Robert Altman presents” before the title and heavily influenced by Nashville. It is an ensemble portrait of a town and time with music playing a central part (this has Richard Baskin- who wrote songs for Nashville pervading throughout the film, shots of him in a recording studio) The cast is all Altman, too—Geraldine Chaplin (Nashville), Keith Carradine (Thieves

Three viewings- two in theater in 2014 and again February 2020Utterly astonishing cinematography in the Bordwell definition of cinematography—the camerawork—audacious--- Iñárritu is a virtuoso--- it is Rope, Russian Ark, The Shining, I Am Cuba- Iñárritu talks about I Am Cuba and Ophüls but the hidden cuts here (16 visible edits) line up a bit better with Rope (even if I agree with him that the free flowing nature of the camera is closer to La Ronde or something). I actually admire how innovative each invisible edit is—whether they tilt the camera to the sky or use a blank canvas—each