>I just wanted to mark the anniversary of Carl Remick's death. I miss his
>voice.
>
>Michael
yesterday, I was looking up some ancient archives and discovered some offlists he'd wrote me, when I was writing the copy for what I'll just call "the web site" and leave at that. Those of you who were around for that will know what I mean.
He gave me high praise for so much of what I'd written, I was really floored. To be commended by a wordsmith like Carl? I was in shock, really. I'm really sad that, accidentally, I deleted those messages to me :(
He had such passion for film that, in honor of his passing, watched Russian Ark. I saved these two posts in my "Films to Watch" file:
At 10:01 PM 8/22/2004, Carl Remick wrote:
>>From: joanna bujes <jbujes at covad.net>
>>
>>I grew up watching Russian movies -- they were great. I'll drink to a
>>resurgent Russian cinema. Sure, there will be a lot of dreck.
>>But there will be some great ones too.
Speaking of which, I was awestruck recently to see (in DVD form) Russian Ark, a film by Alexander Sokurov released a couple of years ago that is truly one of a kind. It's sort of a meditation on Russian history that is set in the Heritage, and it consists of the longest uninterrupted shot ever made, over 90 minutes long. It's not just a technical stunt (like Hitchcock's awkward Rope); it's a stunningly beautiful, thoughtful film -- one of the best I've seen in a long time. Funny thing is, I'd never heard of it before. I just stumbled across it at the local public library.
Carl
and
At 01:09 AM 2/24/2007, Carl Remick wrote:
> >From: joanna <123hop at comcast.net>
> >
> >As for the Russians, I wish some of these oligarchs would see their >way
> into resurrecting Russian film.
I'd be pleased if the oligarchs would just do something to make Alexander
Sokurov's existing films more accessible in the US. Allow me to once again
offer a plug here on the list for Sokurov's dreamlike tour de force
"Russian Ark" (2002), which I saw on DVD for the first time a year ago or
so ago and re-viewed recently. It's the best movie I've seen in years.
"Russian Ark" is much more than a spectacular technical stunt, though it is famed for being the world's longest unedited feature film, consisting of a single 90-minute shot -- requiring the choreography of 2,000 performers and the flawless movement of one camera through 33 rooms of the Hermitage Museum. It is a fascinating meditation on the 300-year-old Hermitage's long life as the Winter Palace and on the uneasy relationship between Russian and European culture. It is also one of the most romantic films I've seen. Man of the left as I may be, I am awed by the scale, beauty and dignity of the film's final scene, which recreates the last imperial ball to be held at the site. Those aristos could really put on a show! The sight at movie's end of hundreds of actors in fully detailed period costume departing the ball, flowing down the palace's Grand Staircase and vanishing into history, is oddly moving.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Ark
More recently, I viewed Sokurov's "Confession" (1998), a 210-minute documentary for Russian TV about the mundane daily tasks of a modern warship on a routine, pointless patrol of arctic seas during winter's endless night. As a study in existential bleakness, it seems unbeatable. I really need to see this again, too, since I was so tired the night I watched the DVD I kept nodding off. In a weird way, though, this seemed to add to this very long documentary's appeal. Like "Russian Ark," "Confession" has a strong oneiric quality, so it seems appropriate view it in the mystical hypnagogic state that exists between sleep and wakefulness.
<http://www.dvdtown.com/review/confession/15797/2784/
At any rate, I think it would be nifty if Americans could get their hands on more of Sokurov's work.
Carl