Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality” – Emily Dickinson
If Death took a holiday, the guns would go silent in Iraq, the slaughter on our nation’s highways would cease, and the news media would be compelled to cover positive events in the humanities, arts, and sciences. Unfortunately, Death has not had a vacation in recorded history, but Mitchell Leisen’s 1934 fantasy, Death Takes a Holiday, allows us to consider the possibility. Co-written by Maxwell Anderson and Gladys Lehman and based on the play "La Morte in Vacanza" by Alberto Casella, Death Takes a Holiday stars Frederic March as the Grim Reaper who takes on human form in an attempt to discover why men fear him so much. Why he has waited 5,000 years to satisfy this curiosity is not explained.
[Spoiler] After a brief tryout as a shadowy figure who scares the daylights out of those that cross his path, Death shows up at, of all places, an upscale party at an Italian villa, posing as the mysterious Prince Sirki. Only one person knows who he really is, the host Duke Lambert (Guy Standing), and he is sworn to secrecy. Sirki proceeds to fascinate the guests. Given to bursts of wit and poetry, he can just as quickly turn sullen and threatening, and some soon find out that it is better not to look too deeply into his eyes. During the three days in which the Prince is at the villa, however, people all over the world miraculously escape death and potential suicides are doomed to frustration.
To see what’s behind all the conversation about love, the suave but naïve Prince Sirki falls for the irresistible Grazia (Evelyn Venable), the daughter of one of Duke’s friends. Grazia knows who Death is but does not fear him, much to the chagrin of her fiancé, Corrado (Kent Taylor) who has developed a strong disdain for Prince Charming.
More sinister than Brad Pitt in the 1998 remake Meet Joe Black, March turns in a very convincing performance as the creepy yet strangely appealing guest. Although the ending is melodramatic, the emotions are very real and the suggestion that Death may in reality be a friend disguised as a foe is quite touching.
(Howard Schumann, talkingpix.co.uk)
In this wearisome and predictable plot line, Death falls in love and bores us to death talking about it.
(Dennis Schwartz, homepages.sover.net)
I've heard DRACULA was advertised with the tag line "The Weirdest Love Story ever told!" (this is probably a paraphrase), but at heart, I've never felt that you could honestly call that movie a love story. The tag line would be much more appropriate for this one, since it ultimately boils down to what amounts to a love story. This movie is very good indeed, particularly if you consider that it is built around a concept that could have easily been handled in a cute or facile manner. Instead, it is handled as seriously as possible, with some real thought put into how death would try to come to terms with a life and an outlook that was to that point totally unfamiliar to him; much of the credit does go to Fredric March in the title role. It's quite scary when it needs to be, particularly during the first twenty minutes. From then on, it deals with its themes with subtlety, a quiet wit, an enduring sadness, and an everpresent tension on how Death might react if crossed. It's not perfect; some of the dialogue is self-conscious and artificial, as if the writers knew they were dealing with weighty issues and were trying to be profound. But I am certainly glad they didn't try to turn it into a musical comedy of sorts.
(Dave Sindelar, scifilm.org)
See also the remake: Death Takes A Holiday (1971)
#11th BJIFF# 前获2021年威尼斯主竞赛评审团奖。导演之前是拍过《四次》的大神。这次也几乎没有用到对白。摄影讲究（数字感；弱光控制很精细），声音则贯彻了“声景/soundscape”的设计理念。影片有着极其严整的视觉-结构构思，洞口以各种类似的视觉形象出现在影片里（卡车后面，帐篷里，窗口等等），探洞的过程与牧羊老人中风去世的过程形成了蒙太奇关系；而同时又以“村民看电视”提示着柏拉图的洞穴隐喻：究竟探洞是怎样一种“认识自然”？影片也有政治表达（探洞时候焚烧的杂志封面：肯尼迪，尼克松）。（探洞部分其实也可以看做是一种扮演式的纪录片）
属于更适合影院观看的一种类型——无论是至静至美的摄影，还是窸窣可闻的声响效果，以及契合主题「洞」的概念，面对银幕画框的「洞」，在无限沉静的慢节奏中体悟“洞穴”从暗处豁然的清明感，观者可以在洞穴千年的大梦中感受宇宙维度的生命之须臾（映照在岩壁上的光影明灭绝美）；从广弘的自然视野慢慢收缩到具体而微的个人，视点悠然流动，并随着摄影机取景位的变化，逐渐生成双线交融的“叙事”剪辑感。
弗兰马汀诺再一次以领袖的身份宣示了慢电影的姿态。他像梭罗一样告诉我们：工业向上，电影向下。到达洞穴时那快乐的手势和死亡到来时的平静交织，最终在云雾缭绕中听到那不知从何而来的声音，像是一种天启。慢电影最终是一种超验主义。
西班牙舞跳得好尬……
#BJIFF 最后一部，也是本届北影节的top3。直到片尾字幕出现前都怀疑是修复后的纪录片。摄影太牛逼，真正做到了无情绪——云比山大，树比牛大，牛比人大，人和羊差不多大。花两个小时跟人探洞，无对白，无配乐，无提示，只被最后一丝探索欲（以及看看摄影还能多牛逼）牵动着，一种提纯到极致的观影体验。对情节和情绪的期待降到最低之后，最后一幕，顺着密林翻滚而下的白雾，蝼蚁般的一点人被完全笼罩，伴着死去老人的一声呼喊，屏幕一黑，仿若天启。（在那一刻被震在座位上，获得了一丝接近《镜子》的心流）
较之其他所谓“慢电影”，观看者对于《洞》或产生恐惧，或因绝对疏离的远景产生一种无所适从感。因为在弗兰马丁诺的世界中，历史事件被废止，而超验总是处于一种完成状态，只有死去的人才可能拥有特写。因此总是以一种非人类状态面对观众。但无论是凭借高楼的“上升”，还是歌舞剧“隔离与冗余”，神圣持续在前半部分诱惑着现代性———神圣的上升之欲望令人类反其道行之地下降到一个地下的宇宙学，通过解码，图绘地质形成的创伤史获得神圣知识。对于观看者（而不是附在其身上的超验）而言，影院的空间延展着洞穴，探险者携带的手电光将他们表述为圣徒形象。甚至是塔可夫斯基的潜行者。但弗兰马丁诺的神学与其说是基督或诺斯替，不如说是克苏鲁的，阿萨托斯与塔纳托斯是这个世界的神，图绘的完成召来的是虚无对世界与作为BDO的视觉的虚无销毁。
洞穴内摇曳的探照灯，湿润的穴壁，生命垂危的老人，旷野上的牛羊，飘散一地的插画。一种天人合一的感受。#Film Forum#
3.5 得到了一个宏大的图景体验，仅此而已。哦，没有睡。
本来抱着吃糖的心态看的，结果寓意和故事线以及指代物都很完整很浪漫。
弥散着生活的味道与自然之力量的慢电影佳作，与米开朗基罗·弗兰马汀诺的前作[四次]风格近似，这位导演真是当代罕见的十年磨一剑的执著创作者。无字幕的稀零言语、层次丰富的自然声、冷静克制的镜头、激起超验性的内在视点及偶尔进入眼帘的小小“事件”都让全片成为既非纪录片又非叙事电影的探索影像。牧羊人的生活和洞穴探险家双线交织并行，下降过程和死亡历程交相呼应，外来者和原住民的互动交往也别有意味。本片对光与影的运用尤其妙绝，既有高原旷野上缓慢变移的天光云影（我兀自忆及卡洛斯·雷加达斯的[寂静之光]），又有黑暗洞穴里虽细弱却显眼的探路灯火。几个亮点：山洞边的嬉戏和猝然坠落的足球，探险队员翻看、撕下及至终遗落在水中的纸刊（Epoca杂志，肯尼迪与尼克松、索菲娅·罗兰醒目），雾气笼罩一切的收尾。（8.5/10）
不管情节还是对白都是两倍速顺便手机上打麻将也不会错过任何事的程度
这不就是immersive cinema吗！意大利山区风光看得太过瘾了，所有细枝末节都在画面里发生，却又没有放大和引导的视线。cinema with the capital C！导演说第一次去到这个洞的时候带他去的前洞穴学家往下扔了一块石头，深到什么也听不见，最触动他的是“that disappearance, that lack of response”。探索者在沉默的巨大存在之下的那种收敛、严谨、小心翼翼和静默在放大细节的声音设计里面做得淋漓尽致，不小心掉落的球让人觉得冒犯又亲近。只有头灯的照明环境和镜头的跟随，让缓慢移动的探照光束在已知和未知之间来回移动。最后云层深处传来的呼唤像丢进洞里的石头，一切完结之后又是谁在期待回应呢
A-/83｜Doc-fiction. 有人献身探索自然的极限，有人隐秘在苍茫山峦浓雾之间，画纸与牛群各自散布在草地，马蹄声中帐内熟睡的人还为梦醒。大远景模糊人物的形式可以学习，唯一的特写只有垂死的牧人。喜欢夜晚小孩子带着照明帽在村子里跑，镜头里只有打在墙壁上的光在移动的场景，然后连接据在村头看电视的村民，非常流畅。#LondonCurzonBloomsbury#
想起了伊能静谈喜欢安哲罗普洛斯的电影：“有些电影很安静，不用太去思考它，甚至可以一边看一边想自己的事”
あなたと生きてくこの世界は
洞穴与生死，大远景与大特写，瞬间有了哲思，洞穴寓言、洞穴结构、洞穴空间与时间、消弭的历史……解读空间太多了，视听的独特足以让弗兰马汀诺跻身大师行列。
对照前两天《金属之声》开头部分：男孩总说每一个洞，都是他们的目标 #BJIFF
一直在一起幸福下去！
为了和你永远一起生活，就一定要做出改变，是不断改变的不变之人~洗牙哇塞♡
一直在一起幸福下去！
Copyright © 2015-2023 All Rights Reserved
