It recently occurred to me to start using this blog again. And in doing so I've decided to use it primarily for a type of game, gimmick and play on the blog's name. I have decided to do some "parallel programming", where I watch films that have recently been screened at the Cinematheque Francaise.
I have already watched one for this endeavour, Fellini's I Vitelloni, which I shall make a post for. I also have a copy of David and Bathsheba waiting to be watched. Both of these films form part of the cycle 'Histoire Permanente du Cinema: Le Regard de Bazin' and the latter is talked about in an article in this months http://www.e-cahiersducinema.com/ (Reflections for an Interval, discussing what type of films deserve to be talked about and why).
Bazin ends the article by explaining that 'We should like readers not to expect us to provide spiritual direction, nor a catalogue of films that must be seen, but simply to offer thoughts on film events, which it then remains to them to situate in relation to the diversity of film genres and, of course, their personal tastes. Thank you in advance.'
I wonder what Bazin would think of my endeavour then? And all the people flocking to the CF to see films because of his stamp (and their greatness too, but a lot of them are now unknown).
It's especially funny that the film I should choose to watch next is David and Bathsheba, the very film the end of the article concerns itself with and a film that a priori I do not like.
Saying that, there have been a great many films that I thought I wouldn't like and that I loved when I saw them. So Bazin probably knows my taste as well as I do. And as long as I don't hold him accountable for watching a 'dud' (a la his L'Observateur readers) then I don't think he'll mind that we're using his 50-60 year old reviews to decide what films to watch.
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