Current Events > Is Stalker by Tarkovsky worth watching?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've only seen one of his films, and despite being touted as The Godfather or Forrest Gump, it was pretty average. Also, is Contempt by Goddard worth seeing?
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Both contempt and Stalker are great. And lol forrest Gump is meh.

Which Tarkovsky did you see?
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Get out of here, Stalker.
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Paper_Okami posted...

Both contempt and Stalker are great. And lol forrest Gump is meh.

Which Tarkovsky did you see?

I wanted to see Contempt, but I'm having a lot of trouble finding it to watch. I saw The Mirror, and it was alright, but nothing special. Perhaps watching it a second time would make it better, since it wasn't easy to follow.

People do seem to have this thing about Russian and Japanese directors, though, that I never fully understand. Some films from those countries are good, yes, but I don't think I've ever seen a classic (with the possibly exception of Battle Royale, which is an excellent film with drama, action and comedy).

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The Mirror is good, but it's not his best. Solaris is.

If you haven't seen a Japanese film you'd call a classic, you've either seen very few Japanese films or the wrong kind.

Their are many all time great directors from Japan.

Akira Kurosawa
Yasujiro Ozu
Kenji Mizoguchi

all are widely regarded as three of the greatest directors of all time

plus

the great Japanese new wave directors

such as

Nagisa Oshima
Shohei Immamura
Hiroshi Teshighara
Masaki Koboyashi
Yasuzo Masumura
Seijin Suzuki

and also animation Master:

Hayao Miyazaki
and Battle Royale is good, but it is nothing compared to many of of the films by these directors.
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Paper_Okami posted...

The Mirror is good, but it's not his best. Solaris is.

If you haven't seen a Japanese film you'd call a classic, you've either seen very few Japanese films or the wrong kind.

Their are many all time great directors from Japan.

Akira Kurosawa
Yasujiro Ozu
Kenji Mizoguchi

all are widely regarded as three of the greatest directors of all time

plus

the great Japanese new wave directors

such as

Nagisa Oshima
Shohei Immamura
Hiroshi Teshighara
Masaki Koboyashi
Yasuzo Masumura
Seijin Suzuki

and also animation Master:

Hayao Miyazaki
and Battle Royale is good, but it is nothing compared to many of of the films by these directors.

I remember watching some Kurosawa films, i.e. Ran, Dream, and something else, and thought they were generally just fairly good.

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wtf Ran is one of cinema's greatest masterpieces it's waaaaaaaaay better than fucking Forrest Gump
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Paper_Okami posted...

wtf Ran is one of cinema's greatest masterpieces it's waaaaaaaaay better than fucking Forrest Gump

Don't wtf me. I liked it, but it was too slow and just not always that interesting. Plus, I'm not sure where the budget went, it was like Superman Returns or something.

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Sunhawk posted...

Paper_Okami posted...

wtf Ran is one of cinema's greatest masterpieces it's waaaaaaaaay better than fucking Forrest Gump

Don't wtf me. I liked it, but it was too slow and just not always that interesting. Plus, I'm not sure where the budget went, it was like Superman Returns or something.

wow

this is a really bad opinion

You literally compared a masterpiece, to fucking Superman Returns.

You always try to seem like an elitist tastemaker but you literally called Forrest Gump a fucking masterpiece lmao.
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Paper_Okami posted...

Sunhawk posted...

Paper_Okami posted...

wtf Ran is one of cinema's greatest masterpieces it's waaaaaaaaay better than fucking Forrest Gump

Don't wtf me. I liked it, but it was too slow and just not always that interesting. Plus, I'm not sure where the budget went, it was like Superman Returns or something.

wow

this is a really bad opinion

You literally compared a masterpiece, to fucking Superman Returns.

You always try to seem like an elitist tastemaker but you literally called Forrest Gump a fucking masterpiece lmao.

I meant in terms of the budget disappearing. SR cost at least 200 million dollars, and had maybe 3 action sequences in it, only one of which was really good. It is neccesary to spend so much on Superman floating in space, looking about him? Obviously the two films are different in most other ways. Oh, and some of the siege bits were quite good.

So, how's your career as a weaboo going?

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Sunhawk posted...

So, how's your career as a weaboo going?

Kurosawa is widely considering one of the greatest directors of all time, and Ran is widely considered one of his best and you are accusing me of being a weeb? lmao what a joke
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Paper_Okami posted...

Sunhawk posted...

So, how's your career as a weaboo going?

Kurosawa is widely considering one of the greatest directors of all time, and Ran is widely considered one of his best and you are accusing me of being a weeb? lmao what a joke

But the main people watching him as Japanese and weaboos? There are more than enough weaboos in the world (and American homes with teenagers in, in particular) for them to make something popular. This whole thing, about Japanese films, and mange, and anime, and j-pop, it's kinda pathetic. And it's grown men and women. I don't understand it. Death Note, DBZ, One Piece, etc. But when you call those people out on it, they act like you're the jerk. I'm not saying Kurosawa is a bad director, he's just no Lynch, Mitchell or von Trier.

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Sunhawk posted...

Paper_Okami posted...

Sunhawk posted...

So, how's your career as a weaboo going?

Kurosawa is widely considering one of the greatest directors of all time, and Ran is widely considered one of his best and you are accusing me of being a weeb? lmao what a joke

But the main people watching him as Japanese and weaboos? There are more than enough weaboos in the world (and American homes with teenagers in, in particular) for them to make something popular. This whole thing, about Japanese films, and mange, and anime, and j-pop, it's kinda pathetic. And it's grown men and women. I don't understand it. Death Note, DBZ, One Piece, etc. But when you call those people out on it, they act like you're the jerk. I'm not saying Kurosawa is a bad director, he's just no Lynch, Mitchell or von Trier.

Good to see the old Sunhawk is back!

How's that novel you've been working on?
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Sunhawk posted...

Paper_Okami posted...

Sunhawk posted...

So, how's your career as a weaboo going?

Kurosawa is widely considering one of the greatest directors of all time, and Ran is widely considered one of his best and you are accusing me of being a weeb? lmao what a joke

But the main people watching him as Japanese and weaboos? There are more than enough weaboos in the world (and American homes with teenagers in, in particular) for them to make something popular. This whole thing, about Japanese films, and mange, and anime, and j-pop, it's kinda pathetic. And it's grown men and women. I don't understand it. Death Note, DBZ, One Piece, etc. But when you call those people out on it, they act like you're the jerk. I'm not saying Kurosawa is a bad director, he's just no Lynch, Mitchell or von Trier.

This is absurdly (objectively) wrong and dumb opinion Kurosawa is highly praised by countless notable critics including Roger Ebert.

Who the fuck is mitchell. And Lynch is good, but he is nowhere near Kurosawa

And Von Trier couldn't even hold Kurosawa's jock strap

Kurosawa, Ozu, and Mizougchi were all considered masters before weebs even existed and ozu and mizoguchi died before weebs even existed

stop talking about things you don't understand
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god yes
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Paper_Okami posted...

Sunhawk posted...

Paper_Okami posted...

Sunhawk posted...

So, how's your career as a weaboo going?

Kurosawa is widely considering one of the greatest directors of all time, and Ran is widely considered one of his best and you are accusing me of being a weeb? lmao what a joke

But the main people watching him as Japanese and weaboos? There are more than enough weaboos in the world (and American homes with teenagers in, in particular) for them to make something popular. This whole thing, about Japanese films, and mange, and anime, and j-pop, it's kinda pathetic. And it's grown men and women. I don't understand it. Death Note, DBZ, One Piece, etc. But when you call those people out on it, they act like you're the jerk. I'm not saying Kurosawa is a bad director, he's just no Lynch, Mitchell or von Trier.

This is absurdly (objectively) wrong and dumb opinion Kurosawa is highly praised by countless notable critics including Roger Ebert.

Who the fuck is mitchell.

And Von Trier couldn't even hold Kurosawa's jock strap

Kurosawa, Ozu, and Mizougchi were all considered masters before weebs even existed and ozu and mizoguchi died before weebs even existed

Making fun of Lars von Trier? Uh oh!

His films are different, dark, literary, and well-cast. Plus, some of them are pleasingly long. I'm surprised more Bergman fans don't watch them (don't tell me you think Bergman is mediocre as well, lulz). I think Dancer in the Dark, Nymphomaniac, Melancholia, etc. are better than most Kurosawa films I've seen, like Dream.

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Bergman is one of the greatest directors of all time, Bergman considered Kurosawa also one of the best and one of his idols. They are both far superior to Von Trier.

And Dreams is not considered to be one of Kurosawa's best by anyone.
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The Swedish director Ingmar Bergman called his own film The Virgin Spring "touristic, a lousy imitation of Kurosawa", and added, "At that time my admiration for the Japanese cinema was at its height. I was almost a samurai myself!"[158] In Italy, Federico Fellini in an interview declared the director "the greatest living example of all that an author of the cinema should be"despite admitting to having seen only one of his films, Seven Samurai.[159] In France, Roman Polanski in 1965 cited Kurosawa as one of his three favorite filmmakers (with Fellini and Orson Welles), singling out Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood and The Hidden Fortress for praise.[160] The Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci considered the Japanese master's influence to be seminal: "Kurosawa's movies and La Dolce Vita of Fellini are the things that pushed me, sucked me into being a film director."[] German New Wave director Werner Herzog has cited Kurosawa as one of his greatest influences: "Of the filmmakers with whom I feel some kinship, Griffith ... Buuel, Kurosawa and Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible, all come to mind."[162] When asked to list his favorite directors, Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky cited Kurosawa as one of his favorites and named Seven Samurai[163] as one of his ten favorite films.

It was Coppola who said of Kurosawa, "One thing that distinguishes [him] is that he didn't make one masterpiece or two masterpieces. He made, you know, eight masterpieces."[168] Both Spielberg and Scorsese have praised the older man's role as teacher and role model, and Scorsese called him his sensei, using the Japanese term.[169] Spielberg has declared, "I have learned more from him than from almost any other filmmaker on the face of the earth",[165] while Scorsese remarked, "Let me say it simply: Akira Kurosawa was my master, and ... the master of so many other filmmakers over the years.

but i'm sure you have better taste than Fellini , Bergman, Spielberg, and Scorsese lmao
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Yet another film in my must-watch list I've not seen.

Going to change it ASAP. Heard lots of good things about it.
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Paper_Okami posted...

The Swedish director Ingmar Bergman called his own film The Virgin Spring "touristic, a lousy imitation of Kurosawa", and added, "At that time my admiration for the Japanese cinema was at its height. I was almost a samurai myself!"[158] In Italy, Federico Fellini in an interview declared the director "the greatest living example of all that an author of the cinema should be"despite admitting to having seen only one of his films, Seven Samurai.[159] In France, Roman Polanski in 1965 cited Kurosawa as one of his three favorite filmmakers (with Fellini and Orson Welles), singling out Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood and The Hidden Fortress for praise.[160] The Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci considered the Japanese master's influence to be seminal: "Kurosawa's movies and La Dolce Vita of Fellini are the things that pushed me, sucked me into being a film director."[] German New Wave director Werner Herzog has cited Kurosawa as one of his greatest influences: "Of the filmmakers with whom I feel some kinship, Griffith ... Buuel, Kurosawa and Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible, all come to mind."[162] When asked to list his favorite directors, Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky cited Kurosawa as one of his favorites and named Seven Samurai[163] as one of his ten favorite films.

It was Coppola who said of Kurosawa, "One thing that distinguishes [him] is that he didn't make one masterpiece or two masterpieces. He made, you know, eight masterpieces."[168] Both Spielberg and Scorsese have praised the older man's role as teacher and role model, and Scorsese called him his sensei, using the Japanese term.[169] Spielberg has declared, "I have learned more from him than from almost any other filmmaker on the face of the earth",[165] while Scorsese remarked, "Let me say it simply: Akira Kurosawa was my master, and ... the master of so many other filmmakers over the years.

but i'm sure you have better taste than Fellini , Bergman, Spielberg, and Scorsese lmao

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_authority

And as for Fellini, I admit, I've only seen one film by him, but it's yet another "masterpiece" that is only marginal in entertainment and moderate in artistic value. 8 and a half. Many of the scenes are boring, and it's hard to even tell what he was getting at (if anything). I do respect Bergman and Spielberg's opinions, even if I don't agree with them on this. As for Scorsese, he's good, but overrated.

What is it with people when you dare to contradict The Establishment, and then back up your opinions?

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Sunhawk posted...

What is it with people when you dare to contradict The Establishment, and then back up your opinions?

It's not that you are contradicting the establishment, and that's your opinions are awful.

You constantly try to present yourself as one of refined taste, and yet your dumb opinions don't reflect that.

Like how ignorant do you have to be to claim that only weebs like these great directors?

Weebs only care about anime/manga and video games they don't give AF about japanese films
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Uh...by their very nature, opinions are neither good nor "awful".

Can we at least agree that weebs are dreadful and should go to another planet?

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I have no idea where we're getting the idea that Kurosawa is a "weeb" director. He's one of the most influential and celebrated masters of the medium.

Also, I like actually like people like David Lynch and Lars Von Trier quite a lot and probably even a bit more than Kurosawa, but there's no denying that Kurosawa's legacy ranks directly alongside people like Hitchcock, Kubrick and Scorsese.
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Pus_N_Pecans posted...

I have no idea where we're getting the idea that Kurosawa is a "weeb" director. He's one of the most influential and celebrated masters of the medium.

Also, I like actually like people like David Lynch and Lars Von Trier quite a lot and probably even a bit more than Kurosawa, but there's no denying that Kurosawa's legacy ranks directly alongside people like Hitchcock, Kubrick and Scorsese.

Let's not even talk about Hitchcock. Probably THE most overrated director of the 20th century. Kubrick has done a nice mix of good and great films, though. Shame more people don't like Eyes Wide Shut, although it is VERY slow-paced.

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Stalker's chief draw is that it's so beautifully, meticulously shot that it's like watching a painting slowly move. So it's worth a viewing in that regard at least.

Contempt is worth it to watch Jack Palance stomp around like an overgrown toddler in key scenes, but I'd recommend watching Pierrot le Fou instead.
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Yes. The visuals and pacing are almost second to none.
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masterpug53 posted...

Stalker's chief draw is that it's so beautifully, meticulously shot that it's like watching a painting slowly move. So it's worth a viewing in that regard at least.

Contempt is worth it to watch Jack Palance stomp around like an overgrown toddler in key scenes, but I'd recommend watching Pierrot le Fou instead.

Pierrot le Fou is an excellent film. I've seen it maybe a dozen times. I wish it was a *bit* more serious, though, not quite so whimsical. It gets a bit OTT in places, plus the pacing is not that good. I also never understood why "Pierrot" paints his face blue at the end, and nobody I've asked has explained this to me.

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Sunhawk posted...

Let's not even talk about Hitchcock. Probably THE most overrated director of the 20th century.

Yep. We're done here.
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Pus_N_Pecans posted...

Sunhawk posted...

Let's not even talk about Hitchcock. Probably THE most overrated director of the 20th century.

Yep. We're done here.

He was untalented, and arrogant.

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Sunhawk posted...

Pus_N_Pecans posted...

Sunhawk posted...

Let's not even talk about Hitchcock. Probably THE most overrated director of the 20th century.

Yep. We're done here.

He was untalented, and arrogant.

Lmao
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yes. it's quite slowly paced though, so be prepared for that.