Sam Fuller S/D

Taking Sides: Shock Corridor vs. Branded to Kill

i'm envious of you, m.e.a., i'd love to see park row! i've only seen the criterion ones which are, I gather, kind of unrepresentative of him, other than Pickup. Naked Kiss and Shock Corridor get criterionized for their wierdness, but it's his string the 50s that seem most interesting

(i just turned in a paper trying to explain fuller's uniqueness as a function of his time as a hack journalist, but it didn't come off well and i didn't really believe it myself)

certain critics characterized him as a "primitive" which i think is way off the mark. he really knew what he was doing technically, even if his narratives could be a bit unhinged sometimes.

i haven't seen his shark movie.

From dvdbeaver:

Eclipse Series 5 will be The First Films of Samuel Fuller (I Shot Jesse James, The Baron of Arizona and The Steel Helmet) - scheduled for August 14th, 2007
"His films have been called raw, outrageous, sensational, and daring. In four decades of directing, Samuel Fuller created a legendarily idiosyncratic oeuvre, examining U.S. history and mythmaking in westerns, film noirs, and war epics."

How was Park Row, Morbs? I forgot all about this retrospective until seeing this thread again.

From dvdbeaver:

i don't follow this post; does it mean these movies are being screened or coming out on dvd?

it kinda sucks that his stuff that's available (the criterions) are the late 50's crazy-crazy stuff, and the earlier more focused movies aren't

Park Row is pretty "crazy" for a focused movie. Great handheld riot scene near the end.

i don't follow this post; does it mean these movies are being screened or coming out on dvd?

Coming out on DVD. Eclipse is a recently launched sister label to Criterion that puts out reasonably affordable box sets. Their mission statement:

Eclipse presents a selection of lost, forgotten, or overshadowed classics in simple, affordable editions. Each series is a brief cinematheque for the adventurous home viewer. Once a month, Eclipse will present a set of these films, usually from three to five titles, focusing on a particular director or theme. Our goal is to make available to the public many important works that until now have been impossible to see outside of the theatrical revival-house circuit. These range from some of the most sought-after titles from the world’s greatest filmmakers to eye-opening discoveries from around the world. We are proud to present these classic works, which represent the full breadth and depth of cinema history.

oh hot

I was channel surfing last night and came upon a doc about Asian actors in Hollywood on PBS. They showed a couple of clips from The Steel Helmet and The Crimson Kimono in it. Now I must see those films. Apparently Fuller was one of the first writer/directors to cast Asian-American performers in realistic, non-sterotyped roles. Didn't know that.

well, the lead female in House of Bamboo, Shirley Yamaguchi, is still mostly a stereotype. (Robert Ryan's really sumpin as the villain.)

They didn't talk about that one...but then the doc (or at least the bit I saw) was about Actors and male stereotypes.

White Dog screens in Brooklyn tonight.

shd I go see Hell and High Water? (BAM theater 'Scope)

Bunuel would have loved White Dog, it apes his rhythms so.

Saw The Steel Helmet the other day. Stone-cold one of the greatest war movies ever made.

the last half-hour is staggering on every level. how a motionless statue can become one of the most compelling film characters you'll see in a long while has to be seen to be believed

A double dose of Fuller Criterion reissues, via yr two favorite critics:

http://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/review/shock-corridor/1914

http://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/review/the-naked-kiss/1915

you can tell from that pair who has to work harder to like full-on-crazy Fuller.

Which of you is number 1 and which is number 2?

(That was a reference to Murder By Death that I couldn't resist, sorry)

I expected better than "You look like #2 to me."

In the Fuller doc on the Shock Corridor disc, Jim Jarmusch tells a story of Fuller winning a "humanitarian" prize for it at some fest, and he took the stage and said "This is not a humanitarian film, it's a hard-hitting action movie! Give your award to Ingmar Bergman."

Na, you look like #1, Eric looks like #2

Forgot Stanley Cortez had shot that. Guess it's time to see it again and watch that documentary.

britishers: Pickup on South Street on ch 4 tonight (00:35)

love the idea of someone earnestly referring to their film as a "hard-hitting action movie"

oops, turns out 00:35 Monday is in the morning and before 17:28 Monday. who knew?

In the Fuller doc on the Shock Corridor disc, Jim Jarmusch tells a story of Fuller winning a "humanitarian" prize for it at some fest, and he took the stage and said "This is not a humanitarian film, it's a hard-hitting action movie! Give your award to Ingmar Bergman."
hahaha awesome!

britishers: Hell And High Water on ch4 on friday, 13:00

http://i.imgur.com/bAGD2.png

I went to a screening of Sirk's "Shockproof" last week. Fuller's script is so daffy.

just saw "white dog" and it left me pretty cold. goes for lurid but didn't really gel up i don't think. i don't think fuller really understands racism. or dogs. or dialogue, really.

watched 'the baron of arizona' - not bad, vincent price mostly nails the stoic, goateed villain who wants to steal the whole territory w/o getting his hands dirty

In the Fuller doc on the Shock Corridor disc, Jim Jarmusch tells a story of Fuller winning a "humanitarian" prize for it at some fest, and he took the stage and said "This is not a humanitarian film, it's a hard-hitting action movie! Give your award to Ingmar Bergman."

― kind of shrill and very self-righteous (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, January 19, 2011 12:29 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

O wait...

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/s480x480/563044_10152581847030565_1690753018_n.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/FqxtRP5.jpg?1

wow

In case you didn't know or I didn't post it already up thread, the book the film of White Dog was based on was written by Jean Seberg's French husband Romain Gary. Used to have a copy but not sure where it is right now.

I watched that last night. For some reason I find the basic premise of a racist dog inherently funny ("dude yr dog is drunk and telling racist jokes you gotta do something""ugh my stupid dog is so racist.") Film does not play it for laughs obviously. I give fuller credit for going all in on the allegory tho.

I've only seen The Naked Kiss, and my main takeaway was that Fuller had a very low estimate for what his audience was able to comprehend without having it spelled out.

Crimson Kimono whips but he really both-sides’ his work in a way that is super annoying because i think his politics and actual beliefs are faaaaaaaar left-er than he presents.

Haven't seen Naked Kiss but baffled at the idea of thinking of Pickup On South Street, Fixed Bayonets, House Of Bamboo as "cold". Unsubtle, sure.

often quite ridiculous without its intending to be

I think that film's very explicit intentional camp.

Naked Kiss is my favorite Fuller. Finally caught up with Park Row (now on Criterion Channel) and while I understand how Fuller himself could find it his best movie and it's whip-quick, that's the epitome of a movie that explains everything to its audience in no uncertain terms.

More than Shock Corridor? (Also Fuller's best)

I think that film's very explicit intentional camp.

I'm willing to consider any argument along that line, but if Forty Guns was intentionally 'camp', such as Rocky Horror Picture Show and many other clearly 'camp' films, then it misses the mark more often than not. otoh, watching Fuller talk about his movies and his methods on the video interview included on Criterion's Pickup on South Street DVD, he struck me as decidedly not the sort of director to openly embrace a 'camp' sensibility. He seemed more of the proud tough guy to me.

By way of comparison, Duel in the Sun, another overly stylized western, is considered high camp these days, even though it was never directly conceived or promoted as such.

There's a whole cycle of these melodramatic campy 50's westerns - Johnny Guitar would be another clear example, there was just something in the air. I think there's a lot of queerness in Fuller - House Of Bamboo has a lot of it - and considering his egalitarian stance on much else it makes sense. Also think that in his era that could co-exist with being a "proud tough guy" to some extent.

OTM

Eddie Muller claims all of Sam Fuller's films are at heart war movies, focused on the local equivalent of the grunts in the foxhole and with a certain contempt for the commanding officers and gloryhounds. That would be consistent with emotionally deep brothers-in-arms type relationships.

The Naked Kiss was just so tough and lurid, and the characters seemed to want to exit from it and go into another film altogether. It was memorable though

My first viewing of Forty Guns. My god! A helluva picture. Aimless, what makes you think this is camp or like Johnny Guitar? While it's hyperrealist in moments, there's nothing phony about the emotions. When Bonnell guns down his own brother on his wedding night, Fuller fades to his bride in long shot standing mute beside the funeral train next to the chansonnier singing a ballad. It's so austere that I teared up.

When packing up books recently I discovered I still have Fuller's autobiography. When I unpack the boxes again I'm gonna reread it.

Um, I was explicitly quarreling with Daniel Rf's idea that Fuller intended the film to be 'camp'. I used Johnny Guitar as a counter-example, not as a complementary one.

Actually, it was Daniel who cited Johnny Guitar. I cited Rocky Horror Picture Show and Duel in the Dust. I think Fuller knew he was making a highly stylized film. The cinematography and staging are not reaching for realism. Your terms were hyper -realism and austere. I'd agree with that.

Sure! I wasn't quarreling. I wondered what you found ridiculous. Like I wrote, much of the film Fuller pitches at an operatic level to match its wide compositions, but I didn't laugh.

Characters and plot raised to an operatic pitch can easily be viewed as ridiculous if you aren't feeling in synch with it.

Every Fuller movie I've ever seen has gotten the tone exactly right. Lurid but never so over-the-top that it breaks the mood.

I think my favorite might be House of Bamboo. It's amazing-looking.

I think the fourty gunmen parading in front of Stanwyck is pretty high camp, yes.

^

Well, wouldn't you have volunteered?

Who do you think you are, Houdini?

Some very Lynchian moments in "The Naked Kiss"

Finally got around to watching Dead Pigeon On Beethoven Street - the made-for-German TV movie Fuller made in 1973. It's...well - directionless French new wave. There is a plot about a international extortion gang who funds political black mail traps, but it's mostly us (via the anonymously acted american PI) vicariously surveilling Christa Lang (a.k.a. the future Mrs. Samuel Fuller) around 70s West Germany. Co-stars include a very obviously placed Zappa 200 Motels posters. Objectively, it's not a good movie, but it is a weird one (MST3K would never have the guts).