tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post901845494950137866..comments2024-03-16T10:03:59.180-07:00Comments on The Movie Projector: Letter Never Sent (1960)R. D. Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05045080274131718843noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-45207787295769844922013-01-19T09:47:39.042-08:002013-01-19T09:47:39.042-08:00"This is a world of menace and beauty, a worl..."This is a world of menace and beauty, a world where flame, rock, water, smoke, fog, mist, trees, the sun and the moon combine to create an otherworldly landscape, and where the needs of the people in it are reduced to what is absolutely vital to survival."<br /><br />Wow, you really wax lyrical here R.D. with some marvelously poetic writing in the context of an exceptionally vivid review of a sleeper of a film that fully deserves wide exposure. I saw it for the first time just months ago on the Criterion blu-ray that I had acquired and I'd put it up there with CRANES. I completely agree that the Urusersky/Kalatozov collaboration is one of cinema's most brilliant, and the film leaves you with images that can never be forgotten. It's a bleak, visual poem of a film. <br /><br />Fabulous writing!Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-82233057175780090372013-01-09T22:55:10.727-08:002013-01-09T22:55:10.727-08:00Jon, thanks! Character and plot definitely are sec...Jon, thanks! Character and plot definitely are secondary here to the pictorial element. But that pictorial element is so incredible and so consistently, almost hypnotically fascinating that it more than makes up for the slender plot and (except for Sabinine) rather sketchy characters. There must have been a remarkable amount of planning to shoot the film; equally there are many things that just couldn't have been planned in advance. But visually it all comes together.R. D. Finchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045080274131718843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-44035072344213951362013-01-09T08:37:35.600-08:002013-01-09T08:37:35.600-08:00"The logistics involved in all those travelin..."The logistics involved in all those traveling shots filmed in the wild, especially considering that most if not all of the lighting appears to come from natural sources, boggle the mind." <br /><br />Exactly R.D. Fine essay here encompassing everything that I also feel about this film. It just is an extraordinary visual experience, if at times some other things about it don't always work. I also rated it just shy of 4 stars. Such amazing images though....it is both terrifying and beautiful at the same time. I still cannot figure out how they seemed to film much of this through a forest fire! How did they do that? How did they plan that?! I also love some of those shots in the snow toward the end, especially as they hunker down at night. Almost surreal. Jonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10656287096270976604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-89171816369313532732013-01-07T12:13:45.703-08:002013-01-07T12:13:45.703-08:00Kevin, "Ballad of a Soldier" is another ...Kevin, "Ballad of a Soldier" is another of those films I caught up with a couple of years ago on my foreign film binge, and it's well worth watching. Probably not late at night or when you're tired or just in the mood for something you want to watch casually, though. There's nothing else like these foreign language art house films, but they do require a fair degree of concentration. Another excellent Russian film from c. 1960 I saw not long ago was "Ivan's Childhood," another highly visual film (although I think Tarkovsky's later work surpassed it). But the best Russian film of this era I've seen is still "The Cranes Are Flying."R. D. Finchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045080274131718843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-13582134172861339482013-01-07T12:05:28.081-08:002013-01-07T12:05:28.081-08:00James, of Kalatozov's films I've seen only...James, of Kalatozov's films I've seen only this one and "The Cranes Are Flying." But even from those two films it's clear that he was a filmmaker of prodigious talent, and one with an incredible instinct for the potent image.R. D. Finchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05045080274131718843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-52441840460672051972013-01-07T09:12:24.484-08:002013-01-07T09:12:24.484-08:00This sounds pretty amazing, and I would love to ch...This sounds pretty amazing, and I would love to check it out. Quite a few years ago, I was experiencing some insomnia, and late at night there was a Russian film playing on TV. I think it was called "Ballad of a Solider" and I thought it was really good. But alas, sleep overtook me and I never saw the rest of it. I think it was from about the same time as "Letters Never Sent." <br /><br />My library carries a lot of Criterion titles. I'll see if they have it. Thanks for the heads up on this one. Kevin Deanyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07697597405552599370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6125194422306151768.post-61342200124768171732013-01-07T06:33:38.975-08:002013-01-07T06:33:38.975-08:00Urusevsky and Kalatozov are indeed quite a combina...Urusevsky and Kalatozov are indeed quite a combination, and I'd love to see their earlier collaboration The First Echelon. Mind you, Kalatozov himself was no slouch as a cameraman either, he was chief cameraman on his 1930 film Salt for Svanetia which contains some extraordinary images.James Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02458973377509956909noreply@blogger.com