temptation is a 1946 american thriller film noir directed by irving pichel starring merle oberon , george brent , charles korvin and paul lukas .

the film was based on robert smythe hichens 's novel bella donna .

the 1923 film bella donna , starring pola negri , which was directed by george fitzmaurice is also based on that novel .

other versions were filmed in 1918 and 1935 .

temptation ( 1946 film )

temptation ( 1946 film ) <EOT> temptation is a 1946 american drama film noir directed by irving pichel . the drama features merle oberon and george brent .

a two - for - one movie review by dan stumpf : bella donna ( 1934 ) and temptation ( 1946 ) .

» a two - for - one movie review by dan stumpf : bella donna ( 1934 ) and temptation ( 1946 ) .

5 responses to “a two - for - one movie review by dan stumpf : bella donna ( 1934 ) and temptation ( 1946 ) . ”

( “the temptation of st . anthony” ) starkly depicts this using very modern musical gestures .

epstein , jean . l’intelligence d’une machine . paris : jacques melot , 1946 .

temptation . universal pictures , 1946 . merle oberon , george brent , charles korvin , paul lukas , lenore ulric , arnold moss . based on a novel by robert hichens . director : irving pichel .

the temptation of saint anthony is an often - repeated subject in history of art and literature , concerning the supernatural temptation reportedly faced by saint anthony the great during his sojourn in the egyptian desert . anthony ' s temptation is first discussed by athanasius of alexandria , anthony ' s contemporary , and from then became a popular theme in western culture .

we don ' t have enough data to suggest any movies based on temptation . you can help by rating movies you ' ve seen .

matthias grünewald , inner right wing of the isenheim altarpiece depicting the temptation of st . anthony , 1512 - 1516 ( oil on panel )

perhaps the book was simply better timed than the film . again , the film was a success , raking in five million dollars throughout 1946 and ' 47 . still that number is less than half of what

the story was remade in hollywood in 1946 as temptation , directed by irving pichel , with merle oberon as the femme - would - be - fatale , who marries george brent over the objections of paul lukas and subsequently falls for charles korvin . temptation seems to have set the pattern for subsequent victorian noir films like ivy ( 1947 ) and so evil my love ( 1948 ) but it also shows the sad censorial effects of its time :

o . s . s . was presented on lux radio theatre november 18 , 1946 . the adaptation starred ladd and veronica lake . [ 9 ]

pudovkin , vsevolod . film technique and film acting . new york : bonanza books , 1949 .

in 1946 the david l . loew - albert lewin film production company held a contest for a painting on the theme of saint anthony ' s temptation , with the winner to be used in the film the private affairs of bel ami . various artists produced paintings on this subject , and contest was won by max ernst , whose work was duly shown in the film . however , the most well - known of these paintings is a failed contestant , salvador dalí ' s version .

in 1946 , gilbert cohen séat published the first monograph on the philosophy of film ( essai sur les principes d’une philosophie du film ) . jean epstein’s l’intelligence d’une machine , a truly philosophical book on film , appeared in the same year . in 1948 , the interdisciplinary parisian école de filmologie began approaching film from a sociological , psychological , and philosophical angle . filmology can be considered as a precursor of the semiology of cinema .

the studio had hoped to cast sterling hayden who had served in the oss in real life . however he was still in uniform in early 1946 so the film was assigned to alan ladd , whose casting was announced in january 1946 . it was one of three movies being made about the oss in hollywood around this time , the others being 13 rue madeleine and cloak and dagger . [ 4 ] [ 5 ] this resulted in filming taking place in extreme secrecy .

russell , bruce . “the philosophical limits of film” in film and philosophy , special edition , 2000 , pp . 163 - 167 .

by way of report : presented by the royal air force by a . h . weiler . new york times ( 1923 - current file ) [ new york , n . y ] 03 mar 1946 : x3 .

o . s . s . is a 1946 war film starring alan ladd and geraldine fitzgerald about the office of strategic services , directed by irving pichel , who would soon be blacklisted and written by richard maibaum , a world war two vet who would later write 12 of the first 15 james bond films .

paramount ' s ' oss ' to star alan ladd : film is one of three by major studios on same subject - - four arrivals in week of local origin special to the new york times . . new york times ( 1923 - current file ) [ new york , n . y ] 07 jan 1946 : 16 .

carroll , noël . philosophical problems of classical film theory . princeton university press .

despite some critics poking fun the razor ' s edge did receive an academy award nomination for best picture in 1947 , but lost to what was undeniably the film of the moment , the samuel goldwyn company ' s post - war triumph the best years of our lives ( 1946 ) . the razor ' s edge never stood a chance .

maibaum and ladd later collaborated on another oss - related film , captain carey usa .

bordwell , david . narration in the fiction film . london : methuen , 1985 .

buckland , warren . the cognitive semiotics of film . cambridge university press , 2000 .

stam , robert . film theory : an introduction . oxford : blackwell , 1999 .

langer , susanne . “a note on film” in r . d . maccann ( ed . ) , film : a montage of theories . new york : dutton , 1966 .

the william s . hart ( 1864 – 1946 ) collection consists 35 film scripts and 9 boxes of photographs documenting hart ' s professional life as both actor and director in hollywood from 1917 to 1921 . the images include portraits , production stills , credits , sketches , and background photos and were assembled by le roy stone , who produced many of hart ' s features .

future learning and skills – giving everyone the opportunity to build a lifelong relationship with film .

balász , béla . theory of the film . new york : arno press , 1972 .

mulhall , stephen . on film : thinking in action . london : routledge , 2002 .

paramount buys harvesting story : studio will produce houston branch ' s ' the big haircut ' - - lead to alan ladd special to the new york times . . new york times ( 1923 - current file ) [ new york , n . y ] 11 may 1946 : 34 .

article 3 - - no title : not - so - secret only the title remains hollwood - - chapter ii continued next week frend and spurs by fred stanley . new york times ( 1923 - current file ) [ new york , n . y ] 31 mar 1946 : 49 .

while the degrees of “philosophicality” vary within different interpretations of films , it is safe to assume that any reflective study of the nature of film is philosophical . whenever scholars attempt to spell out what film is ( is film an art ? how is film different from other arts ? ) , their discourse becomes necessarily philosophical . this reflective study is not limited to film , but is true for any academic field ( it becomes most obvious in philosophy of science ) .

balázs , béla . early film theory : visible man and the spirit of film ( trans . rodney livingstone , ed . by erica carter ) . new york : berghahn , 2010 .

jacques aumont , in a quoi pensent les films ? , insists that “film has the power of thinking” . in the introduction of this article , the idea to see film as a form of thinking has been addressed as an important part of the philosophy of film that begins with eisenstein .

eagle , herbert . russian formalist film theory . ann arbor : michigan slavic publications , 1981 .

important note : strictly speaking , film noir is not a genre , but rather the mood , style , point - of - view , or tone of a film . it is also helpful to realize that ' film noir ' usually refers to a distinct historical period of film history - the decade of film - making after world war ii , similar to the german expressionism or the french new wave periods . however , it was labeled as such only after the classic period - early noir film - makers didn ' t even use the film designation ( as they would the labels " western " or " musical " ) , and were not conscious that their films would be labeled noirs .

para - philosophical studies have also been conveniently labelled as ‘film theory’ . strictly speaking , film theory , which develops concepts like ‘narrativity’ , ‘diegesis’ , ‘genre’ or ‘authorship’ is not a unique philosophy , but is very often part of it . although parts of film theory and philosophy of film do overlap in both traditions ( and since münsterberg and arnheim many film theorists have maintained that what they do is also related to the philosophy of film ) , it is wrong to characterize every “theoretical” reflection on film as philosophical because film theory can also be limited to the analysis of mere technicalities or textual analysis . here , film theory is not different from literary theory where reflections on authorship or analyses of narrative and genre occur most typically without necessarily receiving the label “philosophy” unless they are imbedded in more “philosophical” considerations . the contemporary anglophone philosophy of film sees this perspective slightly differently since longstanding reflections on these subjects ( by cavell , carroll , bordwell , gaut , and branigan ) are usually classified as philosophy .

carroll , noel . philosophical problems of classical film theory . princeton : princeton university press , 1988 .

shaw , daniel . film and philosophy : taking movies seriously . london : wallflower press , 2008 .

wartenberg , thomas e . thinking on screen : film as philosophy . london : routledge , 2007 .

the four movies that nino frank cites in his primordial 1946 essay are “the maltese falcon , ” “laura , ” “murder , my sweet , ” and “double indemnity . ” all of them were made during the second world war ( though “the maltese falcon” was made in 1941 , before the united states was involved in combat ) . the film historian sheri chinen biesen makes a convincing case , in her book “ blackout , ” that there are two separate strains of film noir—one arose during wartime , the other followed it :

by way of report : fox drops oss from ' 13 rue madeleine ' - - metro to reissue old hits - - addenda up for reissue kilroy turns critic a trend ? by thomas m . pryor . new york times ( 1923 - current file ) [ new york , n . y ] 25 aug 1946 : 52 .

allen , richard and murray smith . film theory and philosophy . oxford : oxford university press , 1997 .

andrew , dudley j . major film theories : an introduction . oxford : oxford university press , 1976 .

loewy , hanno . béla balázs – märchen , ritual und film . berlin : vorwerk 8 , 2003 .

rushton , richard & gary bettinson . 2010 . what is film theory ? london : open university press .

shaw , spencer . film consciousness : from phenomenology to deleuze . jefferson , nc : mcfarland , 2008 .

in the 1960’s and 1970’s , many principal theoretical discussions ( such as auteur theory and genre theory ) were developed in the parisian journal les cahiers du cinéma , co - founded in 1951 by andré bazin . it was in this journal that french philosophy of film began to produce its characteristic mixtures of structuralism , semiotics , psychoanalysis , and marxism . paradoxically , the affiliation of filmology with semiotics and psychology – provocative as it might have seemed – provided the philosophy of film access to academia in the 1960’s . for european state - financed universities , film studies could never have been the economic boon as they have been in the united states . french philosophy departments remain resistant in the 21 st century and permit the teaching of the philosophy of film only in institutions that are considered off the mainstream or within the newly founded – relatively small – discipline of aesthetics . while the “sociological temptation” exists , overall , french philosophy of film has remained very distinct from the sociology of cinema .

edward small made the film in collaboration with columbia studios , using an old commitment he had with louis hayward .

livingston , paisley . cinema , philosophy , bergman : on film as philosophy . oxford university press , 2009 .

more recently , daniel frampton has added a brick to the wall called “film as thought” by insisting that film does not narrate or show things , characters , or actions . instead , it thinks them . when watching a film we observe a thinking process . in his book filmosophy ( 2006 ) frampton attempts to grasp this cinematic thinking process with the help of newly coined concepts such as ‘film - thinking’ and ‘filmind’ and assigns to ‘filmosophy’ the task of “conceptualizing all film as an organic intelligence” ( p . 7 ) . film - thinking is not a metaphorical way of arranging reality , but “the filmind has its own particular film - phenomenology , its own way of attending to its world” ( p . 91 ) . there is a film - like way of thinking . philosophers like bachelard , for example , were able to produce “a flow that weaves discourses together , yet still with rigor and meaning” ( p . 179 ) . although philosophers can learn from film - thinking , frampton insists that “film has its own kind of thinking” ( p . 23 ) , that it “cannot show us human thinking , [ but that ] it shows us ‘film - thinking’” ( p . 47 ) . thinking is radically removed from the activity of merely processing data .

aitken , ian . european film theory and cinema : a critical introduction . bloomington : indiana university press , 2001 .

branigan , edward . projecting a camera : language - games in film theory . new york : routledge , 2006 .

curran , angela & thomas wartenberg ( eds . ) . the philosophy of film . london : blackwell , 2005 .

sobchack , vivian . the address of the eye : a phenomenology of film experience . princeton university press , 1992 .

philosophy of film cannot be seen only as a subfield of aesthetics or of the philosophy of art . philosophy of film also should not be labeled as ‘film aesthetics’ . philosophy of film is able to approach a spectrum of questions so broad that its link with aesthetics can sometimes be maintained only by purely formal reasons . bergson’s philosophy of film , which has attained a central position in contemporary philosophy of film , was not developed out of an aesthetic interest at all ; but film would have served bergson as merely an illustration for his general philosophical ideas . it is even possible to say that the philosophy of film , just because of its readiness to undertake paradoxical fusions that contrast aesthetics against fields other than aesthetics , develops a discourse that stands out in the entire body of philosophy . treating , for example , psychoanalytical or cognitive problems as aesthetical phenomena bears an immense critical potential that does not exist to the same extent in other sub - disciplines of philosophy .

films are similar to dreams and much of what the philosophical tradition has said about the “reality of the outer world” and its skeptical evaluation can be demonstrated through reflections on film . here film theory maintains a strong contact with philosophy . the distinction between appearance ( that is , dream and poiesis ) and reality has been on the agenda of film theory for almost eighty years . the “reality and dream” problem is not limited to the subjectivist approach that perceives film as a manifestation of fantasies and hallucinations . however “realists” like andré bazin have classified film as real , because film is able to capture an authentic reality independent of human subjectivity ( see below ) . comparisons of films and dreams can reveal new concepts of space and time because dreams seem to take place in an intermediary domain of abstractness and concreteness . film is not , according to amédée ayfre , a thesis about the world ; rather it presents the world . any abstractly existential stance contained in this presentation makes film a philosophical phenomenon . psychoanalysis represents another approach towards dreams and has a status within the philosophy of film which will be explained below .

the documentation on the subject is ample and fascinating , as provided in a richly detailed historical post by m . e . holmes at a web site devoted to the french critic nino frank , who coined the term in 1946 . holmes’s meticulous discussion of the use and rise of the term cites frank’s work liberally , and highlights what he found so remarkable in the films in question :

metz , christian . “fiction film and its spectator : a metaphysical study” in new literary history 8 : 1 , 1976 .

ann savage ( 1921 – 2008 ) appeared in a number of low budget films such as saddles and sagebrush ( 1943 ) , renegade girl ( 1946 ) and the woman they almost lynched ( 1953 ) for columbia , republic and the “poverty row” studios , but she is primarily known today for her role as the sneering cigarette smoking femme fatale in the classic film noir detour ( 1945 ) . savage ' s collection includes scripts , correspondence , posters , lobby cards , film stills and 16mm prints of some of her films including detour . of particular note is savage ' s script for detour , the only copy known to survive .

carroll , noël . mystifying movies : fads and fallacies in contemporary film theory . new york : columbia university press , 1988 .

kawin , bruce f . mindscreen : bergman , godard and first - person film . princeton : princeton university press , 1975 .

philos - sophia can see film as one of its subjects , but film can also be its object , that is , film can be a philosophy through which a thinker attempts to see the world in other words , film can establish its own stances about essence , truth , or beauty . theoretically , this can be done with any art form : it is also possible to see painting , literature , or dance as philosophical activities . however , film has been found much more apt for such models because its integrative mode of time , space , images , and movement brings it much closer to thinking ( as will be developed below ) .

there are two terrific film - noir series taking place in new york right now , one at film forum , “femmes noir , ” the other , at the museum of modern art , “lady in the dark : crime films from columbia pictures , 1932 - 1957 . ” but only the film forum series uses the word “noir , ” and moma ’s avoidance of the term makes perfect sense .

this list collects every film from the starting list that became they shoot pictures don ' t they ' s 1000 greatest films . this…

french philosophy of film is a unique phenomenon ; no other european country has produced a similarly philosophical output on film . in italy , umberto eco and pier paolo pasolini published writings on film in the 1960s that would quickly be integrated into the french discourse . in germany , the journal filmkritik ( launched in 1957 ) , was the german equivalent of the cahiers du cinema , though earlier writings by frankfurt school members siegfried kracauer and walter benjamin turned out to be most compatible with french philosophy of film . different from french and american postwar developments , in germany , film studies never became institutionalized nor have they developed a consistent link with the praxis of film . german filmwissenschaft ( filmology ) – most prominently represented by thomas elsaesser – developed along the lines of comparative literature , theater science , and art history rather than plunge into an adventurous speculative discourse . it would be absorbed into academia through the disciplines of media - and communication science . the activities of filmwissenschaft are diverse though its dominant tendency may be characterized as sociological whereas systematical film analysis is highly empirical . aestheticians working in german philosophy departments ( where the main tendency is analytical ) continue the philosophical considerations of film , though hermeneutic film analysis has had some impact .

the novel also includes an additional scene with sophie where maugham runs into her on the french riviera after she ' s slipped again . upon first meeting sophie again in europe maugham expertly describes her in the book as looking " more of a slut than any woman there and i had a suspicion that she was not only drunk but doped . " in the later chapter sophie is open to maugham about her drug use . but the foul - mouthed sophie of the novel tells maugham what led to her final fall in a scene that was once again better done in the film when we ' re shown how isabel has lured sophie to temptation .

selznick began liquidation of sip in 1940 , forming david o . selznick productions the same year and then vanguard films in 1942 . he continued to produce his own pictures but also supported his enterprise by selling developed projects and loaning out his contract stars to other studios . in 1946 , selznick created his own distribution company , selznick releasing organization . he entered into european coproduction beginning with the third man ( 1949 ) , and he produced a live television special celebrating the sixtieth anniversary of electricity , light ' s diamond jubilee , in 1954 . a farewell to arms ( 1957 ) marked the last film selznick personally produced , though he continued to keep an active interest in the film business until his death in 1965 .

smith , murray & thomas wartenberg ( eds . ) . thinking through cinema : film as philosophy . malden , ma : blackwell , 2006 .

žižek , slavoj . the fright of real tears : krszystof kieślowski between theory and post - theory . london : british film institute , 2001 .

the earliest paintings to employ the scene were italian frescoes of the 10th century . the later european middle ages one saw accumulation of the theme in book illumination and later in german woodcuts . about 1500 originated the famous paintings of martin schöngauer ( ca . 1490 ) , hieronymus bosch ( ca . 1505 ) and mathias grünewald ( 1512 - 1516 ) . in the modern era the theme has been treated by the spanish painter salvador dalí and the french author gustave flaubert , who considered his 1874 book the temptation of saint anthony to be his master work .

philos - sophia , the ancient greek term for ‘’love of wisdom’’ , can be understood as an immense attempt at interpreting or questioning human existence and the world in its entirety . logically , film can be one of its subjects . when this is the case , the approach towards film usually exceeds the label of mere interpretation and places film in a relationship with classical philosophical questions such as ( its own ) essence , truth , or beauty .

kawin’s contribution to film theory consists of examining the validity of the dream screen ( or mindscreen ) in cinema providing clues to particularities of the narrative structure of film . in bergman’s persona , for example , there is “an impression of the mindscreen’s being generalized , ” so that the film’s self - consciousness appears to originate from within . being identified neither with a specific character nor with the filmmaker , the “potential linguistic focus” takes on the characteristics of a mindscreen : “the film becomes first - person , it speaks itself” ( kawin , pp . 113 - 14 ) . kawin anticipates frampton’s ‘filmind’ .

goodnow , katherine j . kristeva in focus : from theory to film analysis . fertility , reproduction & sexuality . new york : berghahn , 2010 .

in 1946 , gilbert cohen - séat published the first monograph on film which bears the word “philosophy” in its title ( essai sur les principes d’une philosophie du film ) . the revue internationale de filmologie was founded soon afterwards and cohen - séat’s name remains linked to filmology . arguably , his most important contribution to film studies was the distinction between “filmic facts” and “cinematic facts” : “the filmic fact consists of the expression of life ( the life of the world , the spirit , the imagination , of beings and things ) through a system of combined images ( visual - natural or conventional - and auditory - sounds and words ) . the cinematic fact , instead , consists of social circulation of sensations , ideas , feelings , and materials that come from life itself and that cinema shapes according to its desires , ” ( essai… , p . 57 ) . cohen - séat’s scientific approach made him a precursor of the semiotics of cinema .

vsevolod illarionovitch pudovkin ( 1893 - 1953 ) elaborated in the late 1920s and early 1930s on a theory of film based on narrative and spatiotemporal continuity . in kinorezhisser i kinomaterial ( 1926 ) , kinoszenarii : teoria szenarija ( 1926 ) , and akter v fil’me ( 1934 ) ( published in english as film technique and film acting ) , pudovkin examines such devices as contrast , parallelism , and symbolism . several of pudovkin’s formulations influenced rudolf arnheim ( see below ) .

bordwell , david and noël carroll , ( ed . ) . post - theory : reconstructing film studies . madison : university of wisconsin press , 1996 .

storylines were often elliptical , non - linear and twisting . narratives were frequently complex , maze - like and convoluted , and typically told with foreboding background music , flashbacks ( or a series of flashbacks ) , witty , razor - sharp and acerbic dialogue , and / or reflective and confessional , first - person voice - over narration . amnesia suffered by the protagonist was a common plot device , as was the downfall of an innocent everyman who fell victim to temptation or was framed . revelations regarding the hero were made to explain / justify the hero ' s own cynical perspective on life .

reflections on the relationship between the spectator and the film have become particularly central in french film theory since the publication of christian metz’s le signifiant imaginaire : psychoanalyse et cinéma ( 1977 ) and metz’s lacanian developments as well as the writings of jean louis baudry . for psychoanalysis , the proximity between film and dream is essential because film interpretation is seen as a sort of freudian dream interpretation . almost half a century after arnheim’s above remark , psychoanalytical film theory is still struggling to explain the ways in which unconscious elements obstruct the reception of films and to understand how films spark unconscious or irrational processes . this approach can be understood as diametrically opposed to that of cognitive science which is also interested in how spectators make sense of and respond to films , but which observes the viewer’s conscious processing of films .

' s star , merle oberon . some scenes in the film were shot on location at red rock canyon , in california ' s mojave desert . according to

, are a 1915 paramount film , directed by edwin s . porter and hugh ford , starring pauline frederick , thomas holding and julian l ' estrange ( see

the ‘bakhtin school’ theorists mikhail m . bakhtin , pavel n . medvedev , and valentin n . voloshinov developed elements of formalism by emphasizing the dialogical and polyphonic character of texts and cultural phenomena . though the bakhtin school did not write explicitly on film , it should be mentioned here for two reasons . first , mikhail bakhtin’s ( 1895 - 1975 ) writings had indirect influence on the film semiotics of julia kristeva and tzvetan todorov . bakhtinian concepts of dialogism and polyphony are crucial because they can help to address fundamental questions about film form and reception . second , film is an extremely good example for polyphony . while in the novel we most typically encounter the monologic narrator , in the film , the narrative , the character’s appearance , the dialogues , and several other elements appear simultaneously within one time frame ( cf . vice , p . 142 ) . also , bakhtin’s central notion of the chronotope exemplifies the fusion of time and space that is typical for film .

roland barthes’ influence on film theory is similar to that of the bakhtin school . though having written almost nothing on film , his narratology that strives to see theatre , photography , and music as texts has deeply influenced our ways of seeing film as the interplay of voices or codes . paradoxically , this thinker who mused so much about “floating signifiers , ” found very disturbing the fact that in films , signifiers are in motion : “the filmic , very paradoxically , cannot be grasped in the film ‘in situation’ , ‘in movement’ , in its natural state’ , but only in that major artifact , the still” ( 1977 , p . 65 ) .

classic film noir developed during and after world war ii , taking advantage of the post - war ambience of anxiety , pessimism , and suspicion . it was a style of black and white american films that first evolved in the 1940s , became prominent in the post - war era , and lasted in a classic " golden age " period until about 1960 ( marked by the ' last ' film of the classic film noir era , orson welles ' touch of evil ( 1958 ) ) .

susanne langer’s philosophy of film drew very much upon the analogy of film and dream . langer was an american pragmatist philosopher close to the continental tradition . she was also a frequent reference point in analytic philosophy of film ( for example , in carroll ) . for langer , cinema is an art that has introduced the “dream mode” as its main artistic expression , a mode that finally enables cinema to establish itself as an independent medium . still , film is not a daydream – which is but a wilful imitation of a dream . in her essay “a note on film , ” langer wrote : “ [ film ] is not any poetic art we have known before ; it makes the primary illusion—virtual history—in its own mode . this is , essentially , the dream mode . i do not mean that it copies dream , or puts one into a daydream . not at all , no more than literature invokes memory , or makes us believe that we are remembering’’ ( p . 200 ) .

the idea of “philosophy of film” is a little like kant’s “critique of pure reason” because it implies two ideas at the same time . kant’s title can be understood as ( 1 ) “pure reason being criticized” and as ( 2 ) “pure reason doing the criticizing . ” in the first case , pure reason is a passive object of research undergoing the scrutiny of critical thought while in the second case pure reason is actively imposing its standards on this critical thought . the same is true for the phrase “philosophy of film , ” which can mean ( 1 ) that film is undergoing a philosophical examination and ( 2 ) that film itself helps to develop a certain type of philosophical thinking that will subsequently be imposed upon various subjects of research . strictly speaking , any outline of the philosophy of film should be divided into two parts : ( 1 ) a philosophy about film and ( 2 ) film as an philosophy . the latter occupies a prominent place in many recent continental and anglo - american discourses , and has been defended by wartenberg ( 2006 ) , mulhall ( 2002 ) , frampton ( 2006 ) , and smuts ( 2009 ) , and has been criticized by russell ( 2000 ) , murray smith ( 2006 ) , livingston ( 2009 ) , and davies ( 2009 ) . however , in the practice of much of philosophy of film , both approaches often intermingle . film as a philosophic experience or philosophy as a filmic experience often appear as two sides of the same coin .

read , rupert and jerry goodenough ( eds . ) . film as philosophy : essays on cinema after wittgenstein and cavell . new york : palgrave macmillan , 2005 .

analytical philosophy of film has profited greatly from its rich tradition of analytical aesthetics . a significant part of this philosophy has attempted to push its studies in the direction of evidence - based scientific models . continental thought has typically been inspired by the softer fields of humanities and has displayed a solid amount of political engagement . in the former soviet union , a complex discourse on the semiotics of film , inspired by a russian formalist heritage that has a natural affinity with film , has made numerous philosophical statements .

according to metz , cinematic language ( langage ) is not constituted by all elements that appear in a film , but only by those things that can only appear in film . film analysis should highlight only those signifying figures that are truly cinematographic . metz questioned eisenstein’s vision of cinema as a langue because a langue is a highly organized code , whereas language covers a much broader area . film should not be seen as langue because cinematic signs are reinvented or are updated in every film ( essais sur la signification , p . 47 ) . some might find metz’s approach anti - philosophical because it so vehemently denies the possibility of phenomenological considerations . on the other hand , metz’s work can be considered as philosophical because it deals with ethical implications ( employing marxist themes ) and it extensively discusses the matter of reality and of dreams through a freudian perspective .

' 40s and ' 50 ' s film noir with some early influences from the ' 30 ' s , plus some late stragglers , homages and significant neo - noirs .

many sources have claimed that director boris ingster ' s and rko ' s stranger on the third floor ( 1940 ) was the first full - featured film noir . the expressionistic film starred peter lorre as the sinister ' stranger ' ( cast due to his creepy performance in m ( 1931 ) ) , in a story about the nightmarish after - effects of circumstantial testimony during a murder trial . others claim orson welles ' masterpiece citizen kane ( 1941 ) was also an early and influential pre - film noir .

i’m not sure that the distinction is as precise or as clear as she suggests . for instance , i don’t think that there’s a difference in kind between siodmak’s “phantom lady , ” from 1944 , and “criss cross , ” from 1949 , or between lang’s “the woman in the window , ” from 1944 , and “while the city sleeps , ” from 1956 . but i do think that she’s right to call attention to the historical specificities on which the genre ( if , indeed , it’s a genre ) thrived . many of the crime dramas of the nineteen - thirties had much to do with the depression ; those of wartime reflected the war ( though it’s a critical temptation to read the war into any film contemporaneous with it ) , and those that came after the war—well , by definition , they reflect postwar life .

the primary moods of classic film noir were melancholy , alienation , bleakness , disillusionment , disenchantment , pessimism , ambiguity , moral corruption , evil , guilt , desperation and paranoia .

and created her screen name merle oberon for her . her most critically acclaimed performance was in the 1939 film adaptation of wuthering heights as cathy , starring alongside laurence olivier’s heathcliff .

carroll , noël . “film / mind analogies : the case of hugo munsterberg“ in journal of aesthetics and art criticism 46 : 4 , 188 , pp . 489 - 499 .

smuts , aaron . “film as philosophy : in defense of a bold thesis” in journal of aesthetics and art criticism 67 : 3 , 2009 , pp . 409 - 420 .

selznick , in partnership with john hay " jock " whitney , formed his first independent film production company , selznick international pictures , in 1935 . movies produced under the sip aegis include a star is born ( 1937 ) , the prisoner of zenda ( 1937 ) , nothing sacred ( 1937 ) , the adventures of tom sawyer ( 1938 ) , and gone with the wind ( 1939 ) . selznick was responsible for bringing the swedish actress ingrid bergman and the british director alfred hitchcock to hollywood . while under contract to selznick , hitchcock directed such movies as rebecca ( 1940 ) , spellbound ( 1945 ) , and notorious ( 1946 ) . the ransom center maintains sizable archives for these and other sip and selznick / hitchcock productions .

rudolf arnheim ( 1904 - 2007 ) published film als kunst ( film as art ) in 1932 , defending film as a form of art distinct from the productions of the entertainment industry . historically , arnheim’s main writings on film can be situated between münsterberg and balász . later arnheim founded a full - fledged aesthetics on the theory of perception and gestalt theory ( especially in art and visual perception , 1954 ) . comments on film are sparse in arnheim’s later work , but the following quotation , which links film interpretation to freudian psychology , is remarkable because it addresses a possible extension of the freudian vision of dream into arnheim’s own domain . in visual thinking ( 1969 ) , arnheim pointed to a fundamental link between film and dream that psychology should follow : “freud raises the question of how the important logical links of reasoning can be represented in images . an analogous problem , he says , exists for the visual arts . there are indeed parallels between dream images and those created in art on the one hand , and the mental images serving as the vehicle of thought on the other ; but by noting the resemblance one also becomes aware of the differences , and these can help to characterize thought imagery more precisely” ( p . 241 ) .

the collection of edward carrick ( edward anthony craig , 1905 - 1998 ) , who was head of the art department at rank studios , contains over fourteen hundred original designs by some of the most prominent production designers and art directors for the british ﬁlm industry from 1930 to 1950 . the collection includes designs for such films as the red shoes ( 1948 ) , oliver twist ( 1948 ) , brief encounter ( 1946 ) , and caesar and cleopatra ( 1945 ) . ( see also edward gordon craig , who was carrick ' s father , in performing arts . )

several russian formalists wrote on film mainly by establishing analogies between film and language . the idea to interpret film as language goes back , among other things , to shklovsky’s reaction to the writings of the ukrainian linguist alexander potebnja ( 1836 - 1891 ) who thought of poetry as “thinking in images . ” according to shklovsky , this leads to the false assumption that the creation of symbols is the main cognitive occupation . shklovsky suggested seeing the activity of thinking as a more abstract and relational way of thinking . this model of thinking comes close to a formalist idea of film . finally , all artistic activity should be seen as a creative reorganization of pre - aesthetic materials : art need not express new content but should make a strange habitualized form .

french philosophy has played an outstanding role in the development of a philosophy of film . henri bergson was the first philosopher who adopted film as a conceptual model for philosophical thought . cinema helped him to imagine the distinction between spatialized time and duration , an idea that would remain essential for his entire philosophy . though bergson’s ideas bear no relation with the more contemporary language - based models of reason ( and his interpreter gilles deleuze never used them in that way ) , bergson’s thought fused with the remaining field of french philosophy of cinema in an often paradoxical fashion . though french philosophy of film is composed of diverse elements , french or even continental philosophy of film can appear as amazingly coherent . deleuze’s bergsonian concept of the “time - image , ” for example , is very much compatible with ideas elaborated by the russian director andrei tarkovsky who derived his insights not from bergson , but from a critical evaluation of russian formalist film theory .

film noir films ( mostly shot in gloomy grays , blacks and whites ) thematically showed the dark and inhumane side of human nature with cynicism and doomed love , and they emphasized the brutal , unhealthy , seamy , shadowy , dark and sadistic sides of the human experience . an oppressive atmosphere of menace , pessimism , anxiety , suspicion that anything can go wrong , dingy realism , futility , fatalism , defeat and entrapment were stylized characteristics of film noir . the protagonists in film noir were normally driven by their past or by human weakness to repeat former mistakes .

for that matter , the term wasn’t even endemic in french cinephilic circles . when françois truffaut discussed his film “shoot the piano player” soon after its release , he spoke of it in terms of “b movies” and “gangster films” ; when jean - luc godard talked about “breathless , ” he said that he wanted to make a “gangster film” and also referred to “films policiers . ”

shooting ended in march and the film was rushed into release . [ 6 ] o . s . s . was the first of the three films to reach cinemas . [ 7 ]

kracauer , siegfried . theorie des films . frankfurt : suhrkamp , 1973 . engl . : theory of film : the redemption of physical reality . oxford : oxford university press , 1960 .

the popular noir couple were brought together again in george marshall ' s post - war crime thriller the blue dahlia ( 1946 ) , with an oscar - nominated screenplay by raymond chandler ( the only work he ever wrote directly for the screen ) . alan ladd portrayed returning war veteran johnny morrison who discovered that his wife helen ( doris dowling ) was unfaithful during his absence . when she turned up dead and he became the prime suspect , he was aided in the case by the mysterious joyce harwood ( lake ) - the seductive ex - wife of his wife ' s former lover .

that’s why it’s strange to think of film noir as a genre—at least , as an open - ended one . a western is a western is a western , whether it’s filmed by thomas h . ince in 1916 , by john ford in 1939 , or by clint eastwood in 1992 . the same is true of war films , comedies , and , yes , crime movies . but the film noir is historically determined by particular circumstances ; that’s why latter - day attempts at film noir , or so - called neo - noirs , almost all feel like exercises in nostalgia .

a significant amount of continental work developed around the british journal screen , which was very influential in the 1970s and has laid many of the foundations of lacanian and neo - marxist film theory .

i don ' t think isabel is ever wholly evil , just very human . she ' s driven by emotion and that takes on a tragic dimension when she ' s left to fend off the unsuitable sophie as larry ' s suitor . the first scene of the razor ' s edge establishes that sophie is from the wrong class . louisa bradley , isabel ' s mother , comments that sophie is only a last minute invitee to the party just to even out the seating . in that same scene sophie ' s small talk with maugham reveals that she may have a problem with alcohol . the key scene between isabel and sophie involves temptation over a bottle of zubrovka , the green - tinted flavorful liquor that elliott and isabel rave over .

deleuze ’s ( 1925 - 1995 ) analysis of cinema was founded on bergson’s work matière et memoire and c . s . peirce’s taxonomy of signs . deleuze’s engagement with both represents a rupture with the saussureian linguistic semiotic tradition . deleuze rejected “linguistic” as well as psychoanalytic models of film theorisation . like mitry , deleuze believed that film , as it represents and reflects on time , is incompatible with language ; for him , the pre - signifying ‘signaletic material’ that films are made of was not assimilable to models of semiotics . in this regard , deleuze anticipated a number of analytic - cognitivist film theorists .

another cinematic origin of film noir was from the plots and themes often taken from adaptations of american literary works - usually from best - selling , hard - boiled , pulp novels and crime fiction by raymond chandler , james m . cain , dashiell hammett , or cornell woolrich . as a result , the earliest film noirs were detective thrillers . film noir was also derived from the crime / gangster and detective / mystery sagas from the 1930s ( i . e . , little caesar ( 1930 ) , public enemy ( 1931 ) and scarface ( 1932 ) ) , but very different in tone and characterization . notable film noir gangster films , such as they drive by night ( 1940 ) , key largo ( 1948 ) and white heat ( 1949 ) each featured noir elements within the traditional gangster framework .

the collection of lester cowan ( 1907 - 1990 ) , independent hollywood producer of ten films from the 1930s - 1950s , contains material relating to the 1945 film the story of g . i . joe , based on the writings of the journalist ernie pyle . of particular interest is arthur miller ' s early work on the screenplay . miller was the first of several writers to work on the film .

analytical philosophy of film has been unwilling to identify psychoanalytical elements and some sociological elements , in particular approaches of critical theory or ideology critique , as “philosophical” because it deems that this theory does not satisfy more scientific standards . while a continental film scholar like christian metz would find the results of the french school of filmology relevant for the most scientific forms of experimental psychology , analytical philosophy usually rejects continental models based on language . these models are usually derived from the saussurean model of signification and are present in poetics , semiotics or lacanian psychology . instead analytical philosophy favors either cognition - based models or more “classical” questions related to problems such as the ontology of film , analyses of movement , realism , the nature of filmic representation , and explanations of our emotional engagement with fiction . further , there is in analytical philosophy a strong desire to limit work on the philosophy of film from critical theory and cultural studies practiced in english departments . this problem never occurred in the more eclectic and naturally open field of continental philosophy of film .

james l . neibaur of urltoken calls it : " one of the most interesting and important film books of the young year , " adding , " the documentation is original and significant . " full review .

some of the most prominent directors of film noir included orson welles , john huston , billy wilder , edgar ulmer , douglas sirk , robert siodmak , fritz lang , otto preminger , henry hathaway and howard hawks .

overbaked melodrama with lovely but stiff merle oberon playing a period femme fatale trying to poison her egyptologist husband ( george brent ) while relentlessly pursuing her faithless lover ( charles korvin ) . amazing what a long and distinguished career merle oberon enjoyed without an iota of acting chops instead relying on her beauty , an initial hookup with producer alexander korda and a pretense of " good breeding " ( which was later exposed ) . by the time she made this film she was married to lucien ballard who was the director of photography on the film and shoots her alluringly through shadows . campy film with no redeeming values as the silly protagonist makes no sense .

the future of continental philosophy of film will probably be developed in several areas . žižek’s lacanian approach , as long as it does not entirely enter the stream of cultural studies , will attract philosophers who deem that ideology should be the primary focus of cinema studies . another area that might develop is the one pioneered by bruce kawin and daniel frampton , who provide a vocabulary for describing our aesthetic experience of film that transcends both deleuze’s conceptual analyses of movement and time and phenomenological approaches . it clearly opens up philosophy to new ways of thinking . equally promising is a whole range of “crossovers , ” such as those that combine semiotic and cognitive paradigms of which warren buckland’s the cognitive semiotics of film ( 2000 ) is an example . other crossovers synthesize deleuzian film theory and phenomenology ( shaw 2008 ) , or the cavellian - wittgensteinian approach with continental philosophy ( of which stephen mulhall is an example ) .

the 1923 song " bella donna " ( words by harry b . smith and arthur m . brilant , music by ted snyder ) exploited the image of pola negri as a marketing device but was not composed for the film .

like bergson , merleau - ponty ( 1908 - 1961 ) criticized all attempts of representing the world in a purely scientific fashion as reductive . in film , the meaning of an image depends on the preceding image and their succession creates a new reality . merleau - ponty has had a considerable influence on cohen - séat ( see andrew 1978 : p . 46 ) . in 1945 , merleau - ponty devoted a lecture to the possibilities of phenomenological interpretations of cinema ( “le cinéma et la nouvelle psychologie” in sens et non - sens ) where he depicted film not as a sum of images , but as a temporal phenomenon . the central term in merleau - ponty’s musings on film is the idea of immersion . for the phenomenologist , humans are thrown into a life world to which they remain attached in the most natural and inconspicuous way . film provides a phenomenological experience par excellence because in the cinema the human consciousness is consistently immersed in a world . merleau - ponty’s ideas never developed into a phenomenological theory of film , but have inspired theorists of neo - realism , such as ayfre and bazin and have been developed by vivian sobchack ( 1992 ) .


the tree of wooden clogs ( italian : l'albero degli zoccoli ) is a 1978 italian film written and directed by ermanno olmi .

the film concerns lombard peasant life in a cascina ( farmhouse ) of the late 19th century .

it has some similarities with the earlier italian neorealist movement , in that it focuses on the lives of the poor , and the parts were played by real farmers and locals , rather than professional actors .

it won fourteen awards including the palme d'or at cannes and the césar award for best foreign film .

the original version of the movie is spoken in bergamasque , an eastern lombard dialect .

the tree of wooden clogs

the tree of wooden clogs <EOT> the tree of the wooden clogs . - film ( movie ) plot and review

l ' albero degli zoccoli the tree of wooden clogs / | salida . . .

looking for movie tickets ? enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing the tree of wooden clogs near you .

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# 854 the tree of wooden clogs 1978 / / italy / / ermanno olmi criterion collection ( link ) ermanno olmi’s 1978 palme d’or winning film the tree of wooden clogs is a three hour epic masterpiece that have been largely sidelined in the discussion of italian cinema . it has not been forgotten for sure , the major awards it earned…

italian filmmaker ermanno olmi ' s tree of the wooden clogs covers a period of twelve months , dividing its time between three peasant families , all of whom work on the estate of an all - but - absentee landlord . special emphasis is given the interrelationships between the various family members and their neighbors . tree of the wooden clogs was honored with the golden palm award at the cannes film festival . ~ hal erickson , rovi

regarded as one of the great films of the 1970s , ermanno olmi’s palme d’or - winning the tree of wooden clogs is a pastoral epic of peasant life in 19th - century italy . here’s why this ‘cinematic miracle’ is worth rediscovering .

however , when the shoes are damaged , he is forced to cut down a landowner’s tree to make a new pair , putting his family’s future at risk in the process . featuring a cast of non - actors , the tree of wooden clogs won the palme d’or in 1978 .

one of the most ambitious achievements of italian master ermanno olmi’s career , the tree of wooden clogs opens at new york’s film forum today in a ravishing new 4k restoration , supervised by the director himself . made in close collaboration with …

ermanno olmi , a noted italian neorealist director whose 1978 film the tree of wooden clogs won the palme d’or in cannes , has died at age 86 . no cause of death was given . italian officials confirmed the passing of olmi , whose films also include il posto , walking , walking , the legend of the holy drinker and long live the lady ! tree of wooden clogs , which was the unanimous choice of the cannes jury , depicts the rough - edged beauty of late - 19th - century agrarian life in italy…

| a l ' albero degli zoccoli | h [ videorecording ] = | b the tree of wooden clogs / | c gaumont . . . [ and others ] ; un film scritto e diretto da ermanno olmi .

the tree of wooden clogs won a number of international awards , including the palme d’or and the prize of the ecumenical jury at cannes , and the flaherty documentary award from bafta ( a highly appropriate choice , given what we know about how flaherty scripted and cast his documentaries ) .

italian director ermanno olmi spent most of his career making documentaries , but is best known today for his 1978 feature film , the tree of wooden clogs , which draws from his extensive experience with non - fiction filmmaking to tell a story that seems truer than life itself . the tree of wooden clogs , which olmi wrote , shot , directed , and edited , follows the lives of a group of peasants in lombardy ( northern italy ) over the course of a year . set near the end of the 19th century , the film recreates their traditional way of life in all its beauty and cruelty .

according to mike leigh , “the tree of wooden clogs is a film about man and place , environment , seasons , the passing cycle of things ; it’s about power , class , religion and faith ; love , superstition and journeys ; life and death . ”

ermanno olmi’s masterpiece the tree of the wooden clogs , which follows the lives of three peasant families in turn - of - the - century lombardy for approximately one year , is unusual among italian peasant epics in that its director is of peasant stock , and the narrative , based on his grandmother’s stories of rural life , reflects his family’s own experiences .

olmi works very close to the land himself . he is in the neorealist tradition of desica , who experimented in " shoeshine " and " bicycle thief " with the use of non - professionals . the people in " the tree of wooden clogs " are not actors , we are told , but olmi finds astonishing performances in them .

the story of minec and his clogs provides the scaffolding for the tree of wooden clogs , but the film’s real subject is the daily life of the tenant farmers , which is recreated in extraordinary detail . the experience of watching this film is something like visiting a historical site staffed with re - enactors who demonstrate how people lived and worked in a different century , from planting and harvesting their crops to doing the laundry and bathing in a wooden bucket . the famous pig - slaughtering scene , which lasts about eight minutes , is presented as simply one more aspect of life as lived by these peasants and is not in the least gratuitous . at just over three hours long , the slow - paced the tree of wooden clogs will try the patience of some modern viewers , but it’s worth giving the film a chance , to settle into its rhythms and take a virtual journey into a time and place where the pace of life was quite different than it is today .

ermanno olmi first conceived of the tree of wooden clogs ( 1978 ) while making documentary shorts like time stood still ( 1959 ) for the edison volta electric company . inspired by the stories that his grandmother had told him , he spent months interviewing farm workers from his native lombardy , basing the scenario and dialogue on their recollections .

was the palme d’or winner at cannes in 1978 and now gets a cinema re - release . ( the tree of clogs is probably a simpler , better translation of the title ; the wood involved means the sole or lower part of the shoe , going a little over the toe . )

mothers and fathers of italian ancestry . italy , which took consecutive palmes back in the 1970s ( for padre , padrone and tree of the wooden clogs ) but only one since ( the son ' s room in 2001 ) , was back in force this year with two strong films , both of them fact - based melodramas about the deadly reach of organized crime .

" i ' m going to find a tree to chop down . " that line , perhaps familiar from another film released by criterion , moonrise kingdom , also applies to this new release by the company , respected italian director ermanno olmi ' s 1978 palme d ' or winner , the tree of wooden clogs . like bill murray in the afore - referenced wes anderson fave , tree also features a despondent father with a literal ax to grind as part of its sprawling ensemble . except , olmi ' s makeshift lumberjack is no laughing matter . he dare not utter of his tree chopping . he has his reasons ; reasons which prove impactful and costly . olmi ' s the tree of wooden clogs is , like malick ' s the new world , one of those rare period films that has built its world so well , it ' s easy to . . . [ read the whole post on screenanarchy . com . . . ]

written and directed by ermanno olmi , this is a fine example of italian neo - realist cinema . the tree of wooden clogs was taken from stories olmi ' s grandmother told him and is set in lombardy around the turn of the century . this 1978 film uses people from the area as actors , and is not only an attack on an outmoded social system but an almost mystical affirmation of the relationship of man to nature , for instance , the tree of the title is cut down by a father to make a pair of clogs for his son . there are ravishing depictions of the changing seasons in a stunning part of lombardy . this is a documentary that isn ' t a documentary .

critic dave kehr of the chicago reader calls the tree of the wooden clogs " less an advance over the standard film festival peasant epic than an unusually accomplished rendition of it , " and speaks of a " marxist sentimentalism " inherent in its subject matter and approach . this seems to me misleading . olmi’s film may be best thought of , not as an attempted advance over the typically marxist neorealist peasant epic , but as a redemption of it .

living on a farm in the italian province of bergamo , a group of peasant families scratch out a living . advised that his son should be educated , batisti ( ornaghi ) sacrifices the help in the fields and sends him to school six miles away in a pair of wooden clogs .

these films offer an implicit critique of the working world that would come to the fore in the tree of wooden clogs . viewed today , the film is so gravely critical of the ruling class of landowners that it is hard to believe it was reviled by some critics at the time of its release as a defense of feudalism , a sort of catholic - populist vision idealizing resigned humility in the face of oppressive power . and it’s true that the family and the church are uncontested seats of moral values in tree . the film’s great and undeniable religious intensity was considered reactionary and mystifying by some left - wing critics , who accused olmi of being an enemy of modernity and an apologist for an unchanging natural world .

the lives of the peasant families in the tree of wooden clogs are hard , but also rich and full of joy . they are free of modern existential dilemmas regarding who they are and what they should do , and take pleasure in the most basic aspects of life : a warm fire , a good meal , the love of family and a close sense of community . rites of passage , like marriage and childbirth , loom large in their world , as do the rituals of catholicism , which are as much a part of daily life as breathing .

the beginings of the algerian revolution as seen through the eyes of a peasant .

the title comes from a small incident that has vast consequences , bringing to mind that old rhyme about how a kingdom was lost “all for the want of a horseshoe nail . ” in the tree of wooden clogs , the chain of events starts with the village priest telling a peasant family that their son minec ( omar brignoli , like most of the cast a non - professional from the bergamo region where the story is set ) is bright and should attend the village school . the father is reluctant because he was planning to put the boy to work ; the family has a new baby on the way . but the priest says it’s god’s will , so it’s off to school for little minec , who must walk the eight - mile round trip each day , through all kinds of weather , in his handmade wooden clogs .

but olmi has a tendency to grow too sentimental about those lives . the film ' s central image is of the peasant batisti cutting down the poplar tree to make the sandal for his child . as he sits in his kitchen shaping the clog shoe , organ music by bach plays on the soundtrack . and later the peasant family will be thrown off the land for stealing the tree .

in a world of absolutes and cruel consequences , if an entire family’s future is destroyed due to the cutting of a single tree , then that’s simply how things are .

two european classics are also heading for release in october . ermanno olmi ' s the tree of wooden clogs ( 1978 ) won the palme d ' or at cannes ; it ' s described as a neorealist look at italian farm life in the 19th century . dating from 1963 , meanwhile , the exectioner is described as " a darkly comedic and fiercely subversive political satire by luis garcía berlanga , regarded by filmmaker pedro almodóvar as ' the true father of spanish cinema . ' "

ermanno olmi , the italian director best known for winning the palme d’or at cannes in 1978 with his drama “ the tree of wooden clogs , ” has died at 86 . the director passed away in asiago , northern italy , not far from where he ran the ipotesi cinema film school since the 1980s ( via variety ) . olmi had reportedly been ill for some time , but the exact cause of death is not known at this time . olmi received his breakthrough with his 1961 drama “ il posto , ” an italian neorealism riff that made him a name at the venice film festival and won him the best director prize at italy’s david di donatello awards . “wooden clogs” took home the palme in 1978 , in addition to winning the césar award for best foreign film . olmi’s other notable work is “ the legend of the holy drinker , ” starring rutger hauer , which won the golden lion at the 1988 venice film festival .

ermanno olmi , the master italian neorealist director who received the palme d ' or from the cannes film festival in 1978 for the tree of wooden clogs , has died . he was 86 . olmi died saturday in asiago , italy , a hospital spokesperson told the hollywood reporter . no cause of death was given . " with ermanno olmi we lost a master of cinema and a great example of culture and of life . his enchanted gaze told us and made us understand the roots of our country , " italian prime minister paolo gentiloni tweeted monday . olmi ' s body of work is revered within the film industry . his 1961 . . .

but it could be none of the above . or some of the below .

i can understand those reactions without sharing them . olmi is going for broke in this film - he obviously intended it to be great , to dare everything - and because we are in sympathy with him we want to say he succeeds . but " the tree of wooden clogs " demands a more complex response than that . if it is indeed very good , let ' s not dismiss it with routine humanist overpraise .

we grow devout in the presence of poverty , particularly when it is not our own . we find an ennobling dignity in the lives of poor people , especially if they lived long ago and far away and don ' t make any present demands on our time and money . there ' s a natural tendency toward overcompensation when we see a movie like ermanno olmi ' s " the tree of wooden clogs . " we say the movie is a masterpiece when we mean that it is about people we pity and respect .

in every crisis , she snatches a few minutes to pray for help , and it always comes . olmi would return to the theme of divine providence ten years later in another famous film , the legend of the holy drinker , starring rutger hauer as a devout but weak - willed vagabond in paris who seeks to repay his debt of 200 francs to saint thérèse of lisieux . this captivating fable , which won the golden lion in venice , has many of the same emotional contact points as the tree of wooden clogs : the anguish of poverty , the helplessness of outsiders and the oppressed , and the assurance that a benign force exists in the universe that will always come to the aid of those who have faith . the holy drinker is as much a beneficiary of this force as the widow runk and her neighbors , who recite the rosary together every evening after enjoying a good round of ghost stories .

the script , he has said , was in his head for some years and was largely composed of remembered incidents from his own childhood ; however , an overblown sequence such as the loss of pinard’s coin ( he hides it in a horse’s shoe ) , and the subsequent visit of the ‘sign woman’ to the distraught peasant , would have been better left in the recesses of memory . nevertheless , the film as a whole contains enough images ( and sustained sequences ) of tranquillity , harmony and dignity – the boat ride to milan , the communal storytelling in the stable , peppino’s affirmation that his mother will not be separated from her youngest children – for the tree of wooden clogs to stand , in these unoptimistic days , as a haunting testament to both the inevitability of temporal change and the persistence of the roman catholic faith .

italian drama written and directed by ermanno olmi . on a turn - of - the - century farm in italy , various families work for the farm owner and are paid according to their productivity . one particular family has a gifted young boy , who they decide to send to school rather than force into manual labour . however , with the child having to walk many miles to get to the nearest school , the family are forced to make him some wooden clogs made from tree branches while also risking the wrath of the strict farm owner . the cast includes luigi ornaghi , francesca moriggi , omar brignoli and antonio ferrari .

the brand of janus films means a hell of a lot in the art and repertory film world . be it their promotion of new releases like the stunning cameraperson or their support of touring film series like that devoted to charlie chaplin or the wim wenders road pictures , one sees the name janus films and the gorgeous logo and instantly an understanding of either the quality or the cultural import of what one is about to watch is instilled . and that’s what makes janus throwing support behind a seemingly forgotten film , an award winning picture that’s all but disappeared in the public eye , is so important . that’s exactly the case when talking about their latest repertory offering . a palme d’or winning epic , director ermanno olmi saw great success with his gorgeous and sprawling the tree of wooden clogs in 1978 , but as is the case with much

, is a prime example . originally made as a three - part television series , it is the very essence of " slice of life " filmmaking , focusing on a year in the lives of several peasant families working as tenant farmers in northern italy ' s rural lombardy region at the end of the 19th century . the title refers to a peasant father who chops a tree down to make clogs for his son so he can go to school , and the consequences of his actions . the film won the palme d ' or as best film at the cannes film festival - - one of the few winners to be selected unanimously by a festival jury .

as minec is leaving school one day , one of his clogs breaks . he tries tying it together with the rope that normally serves as his belt , but walking so far on a broken shoe is a terrible chore , and he ends up finishing the trip with one shoe off and one shoe on . this is clearly not a sustainable solution , and if he is to continue attending school , he must have a new pair of clogs . to get the wood to make them , his father batisti ( luigi ornaghi ) must cut down a tree .

what are you watching ? is a weekly space for the a . v club’s film critics and readers to share their thoughts , observations , and opinions on movies new and old . funny how that happens . out of all the movies i’ve watched for non - work - related reasons in the past few weeks , the two i thought were the most interesting both used the deadliness of firearms as an important metaphor . the first of these was the profession of arms—a demanding , persuasive , very smart italian historical film about 16th - century european warfare , made in 2001 by ermanno olmi ( the tree of wooden clogs , il posto ) , a post - neorealist whose name recognition in the united states probably exceeds his viewership . i have a nagging suspicion that i myself have never given the man his proper due . in watching the profession of arms , the first things a viewer learns about political life in the europe of . . .

although olmi’s films shine with the light of his strong christian faith , they are never sectarian and never exclude the nonreligious viewer from their luminous storytelling and fablelike powers of fascination . he has set out on a lifelong quest to find a deeper truth in humble , everyday characters and settings , a search strongly influenced by the humanist work of the neorealist masters roberto rossellini and vittorio de sica , who just preceded his arrival on the cinema scene . it is a search that has taken him on a very different path from that of his fellow directors . though he has walked down a few blind alleys in his over - sixty - year career , he has also authored some of italy’s most memorable films . among them , the tree of wooden clogs is widely considered his masterpiece .

the assuming of responsibility by individuals , the use of science for man and not against him , the duty of truth to increase the stature of people , all together : these are the important . . . see full summary »

the tree belongs to the landlord ( as he does nearly everything on the tenant farm where minec and his family live ) , and when he discovers the “theft” , the family is evicted . the last scenes show them loading a cart with their possessions , in the dim moonlight , while the other tenant families watch from behind closed their curtains . there’s no discussion and no explanation because these peasants live in a world of absolutes and cruel consequences , and if an entire family’s future is destroyed due to the cutting of a single tree , then that’s simply how things are .

quite strangely , the names of the actors are listed as " last name first name " , while the names of the rest of the crew are correctly listed as " first name last name " .

an in - depth exploration of the various reactions by the french people to the vichy government ' s acceptance of nazi invasion .

selected by the vatican in the " values " category of its list of 45 " great films . "

as one of the best films of all time , may be his greatest . "

the extras package for the tree of wooden clogs is skimpy by criterion standards . it includes a video introduction by mike leigh ( 7 min . ) , who not surprisingly is a big fan of the film ; a 1981 episode of the south bank show ( 52 min . ) in which host melvyn bragg and olmi discuss the film and visit the farm where it was shot ; two interviews with olmi , conducted in 1978 ( 7 min . ) and 2008 ( 32 min . ) ; a panel discussion with some cast and crew members held at the 2016 cinema ritrovato archival film festival ( 34 min . ) ; and the film’s trailer ( apparently unrestored , making a notable contrast with the beautiful 4k restoration of the film proper which appears on this disc ) . an illustrated liner insert includes an essay by film critic deborah young that reviews olmi’s career and places this film within the context of his , and other filmmakers’ , work .

and so viewers are asked to come to grips with life on different planes , the earthly , the divine , and the social . for while it’s true that the tenant farmers are a silent and uncomplaining lot , soldiering on through every difficulty with the lord’s help , the film opened with a revolution : for the first time , a peasant family was sending a son to school to become educated . this apparently small gesture set in motion an upheaval in the community that is quietly echoed throughout the tree of wooden clogs on a larger scale . olmi keeps this social drama offscreen , indicating it only through signs , like a column of smoke rising beyond the trees . but it is clear that the sharecroppers’ wretched poverty will soon force a major change in their way of life—and , in the heartbreaking cruelty of its final scene , this poignant swan song to an eden - like harmony between humans and nature makes us understand why it has to end .

the tree of wooden clogs comes to criterion blu - ray via a new 4k restoration created in collaboration with the film foundation at li’immagine ritrovata , supervised by ermanno olmi . there’s been a bit of chatter about the color palette here , which definitely runs cooler than past iterations of the film , with more emphasis on blues and greens than any warm tones . this fits in with a pattern familiar to contemporary collectors of post - ’60s color cinema , with many a blu - ray transfer taking a considerably cooler tone . based on screencaps , i don’t think the changes here look as good , but text at the beginning of the film reiterates olmi’s involvement in the restoration and specifically says he wanted the new color timing . beyond that concern , the transfer looks very good , with healthy grain , decent depth , and a great deal of detail . i didn’t notice any compression artifacts – always a concern with three - hour films that have to share a disc with supplements .

this is a lovely film about some very hard lives and times . the cast of non actors make for a high level of realism as do the setting and editing style . the families involved do indeed have hard lives of poverty and are completely in the power of the two authorities , the landowner and the church . yet their human qualities of cooperation , kindness and humour are apparent amongst the families . the actual slaughter of a goose and a pig , unedited , remind us of the realities from which we are protected today , of how gentle many of our lives have become . the ending brings home the inability of these families to oppose the power of the landowners . a wonderful and beautiful film .

the peasant learns his son has a broken clog ; in his desperation and poverty , the man illegally chops down a tree on the landlord’s estate to carve out a new one . for father and son , that clog is more tragic even than the bicycle for antonio and bruno in vittorio de sica’s bicycle thieves – at least they owned that machine , and could restore their rights of possession . the analogy is perhaps more the tree than the clog . it is a mere hunk of wood which the peasant needs , part of the land whose value the peasant has created , and the lack of which the landlord might not even notice . and it is not even for firewood , but as something to be transformed , with resourcefulness and craftsmanship , into the means to give his son a better life .

. " if anything , the show is about how the middle class clings to the success of the extremely , even repugnantly , rich , even in the face of its own increasing precariousness . "

italian director ermanno olmi , known for humanist dramas in which he explored spirituality and social themes such as “ the tree of wooden clogs , ” which won the 1978 cannes palme d’or , has died . he was 87 . olmi died in a hospital in asiago , northern italy , not far from bassano del grappa where since the 1980’s he had been running an innovative film school called ipotesi cinema . his wife and children were beside him . the exact cause of death is not know , but olmi had reportedly been ill for some time . olmi , who began his career making short documentaries and often worked with non professional actors , also won the 1988 venice golden lion for his “ the legend of the holy drinker , ” starring rutger hauer . it’s based on a book by austrian author joseph roth about a homeless man living under the bridges of paris . after receiving a small loan by an anonymous stranger ,

the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans . it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .

the history of the first victim of modern artillery and its moving agony , amidst conspiracies and betrayals of the powerful . life and death of giovanni de ' medici , a young brave captain in . . . see full summary »

, " the illusion of recapturing lost time - - here , the misery , hard labor , simple joys , and natural rhythms of the peasant , world - - has rarely been more convincing . we watch the opening hour for the sheer beauty of the shots , its simplicity , humility , and quietude . " and vincent canby of the

ermanno olmi captures the dignity of work in this painterly vision of late nineteenth - century rural italy .

tcm celebrates the 100th anniversary of a musical legend with three nights of programming devoted to some of leonard bernstein ' s . . . more

around 50 of them were cast as the residents of a rundown 1898 ‘cascina’ ( farmhouse ) on the estate of an aloof landowner who is entitled to a sizeable share of their produce . their restrained performances owed much to the influence of robert flaherty , the neorealists , and georges rouquier ’s docu - dramatic study of the french peasantry , farrebique ( 1946 ) .

wahlberg’s most recent role as sgt . tommy saunders , sees him as an amalgam of several real - life police officers and first responders who were caught up in the boston marathon attack . following saunders as the hunt for those responsible begins , the audience meets some of the heroes of the aftermath in the poignantly accurate portrayal of one of america’s darkest days .

through the meticulous accumulation of such detail , olmi was able to recreate the natural rhythms , harsh realities and simple joys of the peasant world with an unsurpassed authenticity .

in the great pantheon of works whose points have been completely missed by legions of fans and imitators . "

yet the drama that will eventually shake the small community to the core is seeded in the very first scene , when the catholic priest from town tells little minek’s father , batistì ( luigi ornaghi ) , that his son is bright and should attend school . though it’s four miles from the farm , minek ( played by the tiny , twinkling omar brignoli ) has good legs and can walk . still , it’s a major sacrifice for the family . batistì is visibly worried about the cost of losing a hand , especially with his wife pregnant with their third child , but bows to father carlo’s superior wisdom . a crisis arises when minek later breaks a sandal beyond repair , and his loving , resourceful father surreptitiously carves him a new pair of clogs out of wood from a tree that is not his own .

in addition to writing , producing , directing and editing the film , olmi also photographed it by “the light of the seasons” in a tele - friendly academy ratio . as one of cinema’s shrewdest observers , he keeps the camerawork as simple as the earthy colour scheme and often employs brueghelian long shots to locate the characters in the landscape to the accompaniment of johann sebastian bach .

" the ballad of narayama " is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice , telling a story of startling cruelty . what a space it opens…

this great theme which , together with a celebration of communal virtues , provides most of the film’s exact , fragmented , unsentimentalised subject matter , is so successfully and quietly handled by olmi simply because he has resisted , as one would expect , all temptations to glorify either the land or the people . the killing of a pig , the beheading of a goose , the shucking of maize , the cultivation of tomatoes are all seen as the essentially unremarkable means , though none the less interesting for that , by which man stays alive : and he stays alive to worship and accept the ways of his god .

the value here is in documenting an example of the small social units and their values that were steps in the evolution to representational government .

the life inside a farm in italy at the end of the 19th century . many poor country families live there , and the owner pays them by their productivity . one of the families has a very clever . . . see full summary »

in tree ’s final sequence , the story unexpectedly opens up to life outside the farm . in the world beyond , people are talking about demonstrations and clashes with the police , and how the police set fire to barns and villages in retaliation . these great social uprisings hover in the background of maddalena and stefano’s wedding trip to milan by riverboat . as soon as they arrive , marveling at the forest of buildings , they see italian soldiers riding through the streets on horseback , intent on violently repressing popular unrest . a ripple of fear empties the street , and for a moment we think the young couple will be trampled underfoot . but olmi leaves this future shock for another time , and uses the atmosphere of danger and uncertainty to lead into a startling confrontation with the divine .

the talent and diversity of early spanish synthpop music are downright astonishing , as the second interferencias volume proves .

this month nick and eric discuss the economics of robot sentience in subsurface circular and the tricky trust issues of alien first - contact in quarantine circular .

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the film is moving in the way that leaves a lump in one ' s throat . the first time i saw it ten years ago , i fast forwarded the dvd because of my lack of maturity and impatience .

the true story of the life of gavino ledda , the son of a sardinian shepherd , and how he managed to escape his harsh , almost barbaric existence by slowly educating himself , despite violent . . . see full summary »

an absolutely engrossing film . a wonderful slice of life in rural italy at the turn of the century . no great dramatics but a detailed examination of a year of peasant life . the characters , especially the young children are so endearing . a three hour film but never dull . no big name stars but each performance is so very real . a must see . the photography of northern italy is so very atmospheric . the plot emphasizes the extreme poverty of the people but also how well they treat one another and the limitations of living in the homes and the land of a well to do but uncaring landlord . the only parts that are difficult to watch are the slaughtering of livestock that was so much a part of life at the time . the program not only shows the extreme poverty of the farmers abut also their remarkable ingenuity in dealing with the trials that they face . the challenges faced are those relatively unknown to us , we who are so well off here in america . you can see from this film why so many individuals migrated from italy to america at that time . however , this film is in no way downbeat , the viewer revels in the persistence , good cheer and adaptability of these people .

basically the story of a man forced to finally see the injustice around him . riley’s movie is designed to do the same thing to you . …

but there’s nothing reactionary or apologetic about olmi’s resistance to both patronising nostalgia and populist revisionism in stressing the severity of the oppression the peasants have to endure and the depth of the consolation they derive from their faith . indeed , it’s difficult to see this as anything other than a work of profound humanist integrity .

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the lives of the families are very simple , centering around the change in the seasons , the condition of the soil , their own births and deaths and illnesses , their religion , their traditions . somewhere else in italy , a social revolution is growing and there are demonstrations in the streets , but to these peasants that is meaningless .

# 497 rome , open city 1945 / / italy / / roberto rossellini criterion collection ( link ) people expecting an utter “realism” in rome , open city as allured by the attached label of the groundbreaking neorealism may find themselves be disappointed by the artificiality of melodrama and the ordinariness of the style . the paradox is they are having a different kind…

an italian masterpiece that elegantly and effortlessly depicts the natural rhythms of life in a rural community in the nineteenth century .

now in his third biopic with director peter berg , mark wahlberg is not quite the hero of " patriots day . " instead , the audience meets the true heroes of the devastating attack on boston through his eyes . part thriller and part documentary - style , berg ' s film tells the tale of the massive manhunt for the boston marathon bombers . encountering real - life heroes , from victims to witnesses to police officers , patriots day has been heralded for its authenticity – even using the actual cctv footage used to locate the attackers . a bostonian through and through , wahlberg had no trouble powerfully evoking the feelings of horror and defiance in the face of hatred that the world felt at the time .

whatever anger has landed on her heart in the jungles of trumplandia , patti smith consistently performs the miracle of putting it down , as seen in her recently published prose - poem , the new jerusalem .

the drama is set among the tough lives of lombardy peasants of the late 19th century and olmi uses non - professional locals to play the roles . the costumes , the language and locations are so utterly convincing and of their time , it is as if the film had somehow been made in 1898 . a priest tells a bewildered peasant couple that their son is a bright lad , that his intelligence is a gift from god and that , instead of helping with farm work , he must be allowed to go to school : : a tough six - kilometre walk there and back in clogs . the father takes this duty humbly and seriously , and it is to have tragic consequences . but the narrative payoff only happens as part of a huge episodic story ; its scenes , characters and situations spread across a huge canvas .

an italian professor seeks refuge in the quiet , peaceful ruins of an old building .

details the life of three peasant families in 19th century italy . evokes the time and place rather than telling a narrative .

yet the devastating final act , and the light it sheds on the meaning of the title , make it clear that olmi is as acutely aware as the most rabid socialist of the harsh economic and social injustices under which his peasants stoically suffer . the land they work belongs to a rich landlord who appears in the story only as a distant , pitiless figure who takes a whopping two - thirds of the harvest and whose dire justice is untempered by the slightest mercy or compassion . olmi’s film may be devoid of violent revolutionary spirit , but his stark refusal in any way to soften or mitigate the catastrophic consequences of a morally justifiable but socially unacceptable act make resignation an impossible response for the viewer , if not for the characters .

in the development of television , " color wars " are analogous to the adoption of vhs over betamax and blu - ray over hd - dvd technologies . murray ' s study shows how the adoption of standards in media technology directly impact audiences to this day .

, olmi spent an entire year editing the film . " the editing is the moment when all the emotions i felt when i began to think about the film , to conceive it , to choose the locations , the faces - - all these things - - the editing is the moment when everything comes together , " he told cardullo .

olmi has frequently focused on the dignity of labour , yet he was accused of sentimentalising poverty by critics who questioned his marxist catholic credentials . some mocked the edenic references and the miraculous recovery of widow runk’s cow , while others noted the protests that the newlyweds witness after their thrilling barge trip to milan ; they damned olmi for not having the peasants similarly rise up against injustice .

away from the mud and mists , however , the interiors have a spartan cosiness , as the neighbours end their back - breaking days with the rosary or a ghost story . as the characters become more familiar , olmi makes greater use of close - ups , which only makes the climactic detachment all the more harrowing .

on a northern italian farm in the late 19th century , a group of sharecroppers eke out a threadbare existence . a priest advises batisti ( luigi ornaghi ) and his wife , batistina ( francesca moriggi ) , that their young son , minec ( omar brignoli ) , should be formally educated , so they sacrifice his help in the fields and send him to school . when minec ' s wooden shoe breaks one day , batisti - - in an act of desperation - - puts the family ' s future at risk to replace the clog .

rmanno olmi is a director who has raised the moral bar for contemporary italian cinema . the sacredness of life , the dignity of work , and the human yearning for contact with god are themes that deeply color his work , but nowhere so movingly as in

. all conflicts had been resolved as the crowd cheered them , and they cheered their " teacher . " for the class of

the style of this long , solidly acted film is no more than efficient . what sticks in the mind is the numbing information imparted : that the camorra is a gangster empire that earned 150 billion euros just last year ; that in addition to dealing in drugs and arms it invests in legitimate businesses around the world , including the reconstruction of the world trade center ; that in the past three decades the camorra has murdered more people than al qaeda . it is these statistics , rather than the movie ' s ordinary craft , that hold the real power and horror of gomorrah .

an interview with terry gilliam , director of " the man who killed don quixote . "

. also taking as its subject the rigors of peasant life , this time in the emilia - romagna region , that film chronicles the birth of the class struggle between those who worked the land and those who harvested the profits of their labors . the two films are fascinating as companion pieces , creating a dizzying contrast between bertolucci’s ambitious essay on italy’s social , political , and cultural history and olmi’s humble realism fraught with miracles . "

were towering figures of cinema’s first two decades . by 1920 , each found it harder and harder to get projects off the ground . " she then turns to the careers of two women who broke into the directors guild ,

| a details the life of three peasant families in 19th century italy . evokes the time and place rather than telling a narrative .

since any new york city cinephile has a nearly suffocating wealth of theatrical options , we figured it’d be best to compile some of the more worthwhile repertory showings into one handy list . displayed below are a few of the city’s most reliable theaters and links to screenings of their weekend offerings — films you’re not likely to see in a theater again anytime soon , and many of which are , also , on 35mm . if you have a chance to attend any of these , we’re of the mind that it’s time extremely well - spent . film society of lincoln center kubrick , de palma , stallone , and others are highlighted in the great series “going steadi : 40 years of steadicam . ” the raúl ruiz series continues . metrograph the maggie cheung retrospective continues with assayas , wong , and others . the umbrellas of cherbourg will show this friday . paranorman screens on saturday . museum of the moving image

# 792 bitter rice 1949 / / italy / / giuseppe de santis criterion release date : january 12 , 2016 ( link ) before the monthly release announcement of criterion , the name of the italian director giuseppe de santis is unheard of in my limited knowledge . nope , i haven’t heard of the film bitter rice neither . besides bitter rice , there has been a small…

though it was one of truffaut ' s least financially successful films and is rarely listed as a classic , ' the green room ' deserves just as much consideration as any of his unqualified masterpieces . it ' s a uniquely sad , beautiful film about the weight of death , the beauty of life and the transience of existence , handled with truffaut ' s customary wit , intellectual subtlety and emotional depth . like the people julien mourns , it deserves to be remembered .

1978 * 186 minutes * color * monaural * in bergamasque with english subtitles * 1 . 33 : 1 aspect ratio special edition features new 4k restoration , created in collaboration with the film foundation at l ' immagine ritrovata and supervised by director ermanno olmi , with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the blu - ray alternate italian - language soundtrack ermanno olmi : the roots of the tree , an hour - long episode of the south bank show from 1981 , featuring an interview with olmi on the film and a visit to the farm where it was shot new program featuring cast and crew discussing the film at the cinema ritrovato film festival in bologna , italy , in 2016 archival interviews with olmi trailer new english subtitle translation plus : an essay by film critic deborah young