From: "Manuel Kalmanovitz G." <mk-AT-calle22.com>
Subject: RE: lost dawg
Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 18:26:29 -0500


> It's very difficult - nearly
> impossible - for a filmmaker, who is accustomed to making mainstream fare
> (i.e. films such as the Ice Storm and Run With Devil) to turn around and
> deliberately make an art film (I would invite any examples of this).

Mmm... How about Steven Soderbergh and Schizopolis? I would also argue that
as far as mainstream films go The Ice Storm is quite arty, in the sense that
it is more complex than your average Hollywood drama.

And the subtitle debate... I think it was a very risky move. Subtitled
movies -at least in english-speaking countries- are always seen with
suspicion. People simply are not used to reading subtitles while watching a
film (in Latin America all Hollywood films are shown with subtitles, with
the exception of children's fare) and tend to see them as a sign of
excessive complication.

and the comparison you make with either YiYi or In the Mood for Love seems
unfair to me. Those two are product of the drama branch of the Asian film
industry, while HDCT should be seen as inheriting the martial arts tradition
of the same industry. It is an unfair assumption to see these two films as
'representative' of the Asian film industry while criticizing HDCT for not
being so.

Also to see stereotyped characters as exclusively Hollywood is a HUGE
mistake. Stereotypes are used in all national cinemas and to see them just
as a manifestation of Hollywood is simply to be blind to the fact that
stereotypes are powerful and useful in all kinds of cultures. Hollywood
didn't invent them. and the fact that there are some in a film doesn't turn
that film into a Hollywoodized, characterless, product.

Manuel



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