This?

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

What comes after the new wave?



(Higher-res version at the link.)

For some surprising reason - not that it's really surprising, but I am nonetheless surprised - a lot of the more interesting work in computer animation (both for film and online) have come out of France.

Take today's Rambler Helper, for example. This is a student film (originally in French, but translated to English for out viewing enjoyment). And while I don't doubt that a lot of student work of equal quality has been produced in recent years in the U.S. and other countries, I'm kind of stunned at both the effortless quality of this film and the complete and total immersion in a vision that is the stamp of directorial authority.

And while it is effectively a universal story in the film, there's something in the education that is uniquely French. I don't mean the voice of the boy, although that's a small part of the flavor. I mean some large ephemeral thing that's difficult to put your finger on, but you know it when you see it. It completely suffused The Triplets of Bellville, as well.

I guess it's the flavor that playing with the expectations of the form will bring - not metacontextual, necessarily, but these French auteurs like to find what's unique about the form in which they're working, and comment on it in some subtle but deeply salient way.

I don't know. You tell me.

D.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did my huge Gram Parsons phase come before or after we stopped talking?

Do you remember me talking about the Flying Burrito Brothers and Gram Parsons at all?

If not, what do you think of the Flying Burrito Brothers? Ever hear Gilded Palace of Sin and Parsons' first two albums: Grievous Angel and GP?

About a couple of years ago I went through a HUGE parsons phase.. then as quick as it came it went.. still love the albums though..

Dave Kopperman said...

You might not recall this, but at one point you disliked Parsons so much, you actually gave me your copies of GP & Grievous Angel (one CD).

I love Flying Burrito Brothers, because it's got Chris Hillman really making it work. The band cooks. I've tried with all my might to love Parsons' solo albums as much, but like is the best I can muster. He sounds beat to shit and the songs aren't as good as what he'd written before - and I'll never, never ever like Emmylou Harris.

I'm vaguely annoyed with Parsons, and I shouldn't be. It totally frustrates the shit out of me that The Byrds has now been reduced in the critical lexicon to 'the band that got Parsons for one album.' And I hate feeling that way, because I do love Sweetheart of the Rodeo, a lot. I have three CD versions of it!

My chief source of frustration with Parsons is that he thought just knowing old songs and wanting to spread a vibe was enough to actually make for good music. Sometimes, he was right - but not often enough.

But "Hickory Wind" and "100 Years From Today" always work - because McGuinn and Hillman gave Parsons the needed discipline to make genius songs be perfectly recorded.

D.

D.

Anonymous said...

Yeah I discussed that in today's album side...

http://www.walruscomix.com/albumsides.html

I hated it.. hated his voice and thought he was a privileged phony.. At this point Ive kind of reverted back to just liking it.. for some reason I really connected with it a while back..

emmylou harris IS terrible she cant sing I dont understand it.. other than she was pretty good looking what was the big shit about her?

Dave Kopperman said...

Was she good looking? I always thought she looked like a skinny, damp rat.

D.

Anonymous said...

Yeah me too.. I never found her attractive either.. but she was considered to be a great beauty..