(Visual) Quotes…, 4/22

Today’s installment of (Visual) Quotes… features images from Claire Denis’s very worthwhile “35 Shots of Rum” (2009), which is now available for rental at Four Star Video Heaven. “35 Shots” is an engrossing and evocative film that extracts a great deal of poetry from the so-called “everyday,” that is to say, it caramelizes the quotidian; in this way, it probably deserves to be grouped in Denis’s oeuvre with “Friday Night” and “Nenette and Bobi” (with “Chocolat,” “The Intruder” and “Beau travail” on the other side of the spectrum). Of course, “35 Shots of Rum” is also an unrelenting pleasure to look at (props to Agnès Godard, as always).

Favorites from the decade that was

Fifty fillets of film, alphabetically ordered. Now I can finally get on with my life.

(Visual) Quotes of quotes of quotes of quotes, 10/16

From Claire Denis’s L’intrus (2004).

Worthwhile read: ‘Back to Africa: An interview with Claire Denis’

This interview with Claire Denis, conducted by Daniel Kasman of The Auteurs, is very interesting even if one hasn’t yet seen Denis’s latest feature, White Material. Denis is completely unafraid of explaining the how’s and why’s of her work when discoursing with critics, something that is by no means an artist’s obligation yet is admirable nevertheless. Denis’s films are often cryptic to the point that familiarity with them seems all but impossible, though Denis has never struck me as being someone who deliberately obfuscates her work; she’s just got an uncanny sensibility, I guess. Anyway, White Material sounds like another must-see from one of the best filmmakers working today.

Sonic Denis

Courtesy of Reverse Angle is this short essay, written by Damon Smith, on the music videos for two singles from Sonic Youth’s 2006 album Rather Ripped, “Incinerate” and “Jams Run Free,” both of which were directed by the amazing Claire Denis. It’s very rare to stumble upon analysis of music videos, so this is a real treat. Funny: Sonic Youth is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, my favorite band, and Denis is a director whose phenomenal work is just now entering my life, yet I had no clue that they’d ever collaborated. An extremely welcome discovery. I wonder whether Thurston Moore agrees with Smith’s claim that he possesses a “gorgeously effeminate mouth.” Obviously both videos are worth checking out. And here’s hoping that either of Denis’s two most recent films, last year’s 35 Shots of Rum and/or this year’s White Material, come to Madison sometime sooner than never (35 Shots of Rum just began a two-week run at NYC’s Film Forum, so if you’re in the Tri-State you really ought to consider going to see it).