WEEK 3

3. IMITATION OF LIFE, dir. DOUGLAS SIRK, 1959

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watching our last film got me thinking about melodrama, perhaps terrain i wanted the lost weekend to fully enter.
the dictionary definition here feels shockingly biased --
melodrama: a dramatic form that does not observe the laws of cause and effect, and that exaggerates emotion and emphasizes plot or action at the expense of characterization.
can perhaps also be thought of as the linking of music and drama, to enter a new realm?
melodrama as a concept makes me think of the artist charlotte salomon, born in berlin in 1917, and creating 769 paintings before her death in auschwitz in 1943. the bones behind her work were inspired by the teachings of a man she called 'daberlorn', and his ideas regarding the elevation of life to a form of theatre, 'a form of existence in art that has more meaning than mere life.'

here, douglas sirk's most successful and last commercial film. i've never seen it, have you?

WEEK 2

2. THE LOST WEEKEND, dir. BILLY WILDER, 1945
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wilder said that it was only after THE LOST WEEKEND that people started to take him seriously. and thank god that they did. a harrowing, alcoholic classic. let's watch.

WEEK 1

i have been meaning to see this for awhile. watch it with me. already seen it? see it again.

1. LORD LOVE A DUCK, dir. GEORGE AXELROD, 1966
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the aim of this blog will be to, week by week, implement a structure for film-viewing. this will, in turn, help to open thought that will then be applied to other areas. what we watch will inform what we want to read, what we want to make, what we think, etc. it will become self-sustaining, and life-sustaining (esp. in cold and colder winter months). JOIN IN. we will post the new film to be seen the first monday of every week. you will have a week until the next film is posted, hopefully this allows time to track down the film and watch. post to say that you saw it +/or reactions to the film in the comments section, as well as suggestions for future films and further reading, etc.