Paul Schrader on Transcendental Style in Film | On Film | TIFF 2017 

M. HLC great comment man

This is an excellent explanation, must people associate fast cuts with action, and when you linger on a single shot for longer than 5 minutes people get bored. I understand the thought process behind the fast cutting technique and why this fixation with time makes for more dynamic and, relatively speaking, less boring movies. But when you're able to communicate so much and get the audience to be invested with single yet well thought shot, that's a sign of a true master filmmaker.

Fully agreed! 💪

I felt the same way about Taxi Driver! I didn’t hate it, but didn’t get why it was so loved. Some movies I hated (but not because they were boring) were Rashomon, Brazil, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I thought the Exorcist, Halloween, Psycho, we’re just ok but nothing good special. But with a rewatch I loved them. I guess it’s all about finding the right movie for the right time

Same here, bro, on Setsuko.

Setsuko Hara was in Late Spring. With Tokyo Story, it was the first of a trilogy by Yasujiro Ozu. It is a sweet soft film. It is also a gorgeous film, and she hardly speaks. No one really speaks. And the dialogue there, when heard, is heard more than in any film you're likely to watch. It has a touch of Chekov, but it also has a touch of that Japanese thing that Schrader, simply, calls transcendental.

She was an acting genius: I could watch her ride a bike for 2 hours and it would still be amazing. I realise I'm responding to a 3yo comment, but if you get a chance to see her in Kurosawa's rendition of Dostoevski's "The Idiot", you'll get to see her under a very different director than Ozu and yes, she's still wonderful

The Idiot is great because you get to see Ms. Hara depart from the kind of roles she tends to play in her more famous Ozu films. Tokyo no josei as well to an extent. The Hara movie I really want to see is A Woman in the Typhoon Area, where she plays a "bad" girl

She’s one of my favorite actors. Watching her was like a dream.

Must people call static long shots boring, but I much prefer a well thought and beautifully composed shot than having uninspired shot reverse shots and arbitrary camera movements that don't add anything to the movie other than giving me a headache.

ngl there are boring movies.

Movies can be slow without being boring. Movies can be fast and be boring. Lifeless is lifeless

Of course it can be valid. If the reasoning is shit, then calling it boring sure is a bad criticism, but someone who finds a movie as slow and pensive as Tokyo Story isn’t automatically wrong.

Drive my car is insultingly boring

try burning by lee chan dong

Olivia Brocklehurst Yeah Burning is pretty good

Olivia Brocklehurst Burning is amazing!

Cold war of pawel the director of ida!

Hirokazu Koreeda films are right up your ally!

euphorus Kubrick also applies ahah

I come from an article which links this video, and Schrader apparently thinks you're spot on. Check out the diagram on which he places directors: www.openculture.com/2020/09/paul-schrader-creates-a-diagram-mapping-the-progression-of-arthouse-cinema.html

@@diebartdie2837 he made one movie like this

Yeah found that movie quite disappointing, especially following the brilliance of First Reformed. Paul’s an odd filmmaker.

Ida.

satantango

Well he is a writer at his core I believe

I bet you haven't seen Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters

Breathe

He was referring to sudden burst of music. Music comes after a very long time which creates a very different sensation

You missed the point entirely.

I feel the same. I hardly ever watch movies, and when I do, I don't think it's a big deal. But I can spend hours watching all kinds of content about cinematic technique, great directors and storytelling concepts. I find it much more interesting

This is simply because the internet has destroyed your attention span.

I also love this technique, but I wouldn't call transcendental... It's a beautiful way of naming it, but it's just being able to toy with the audience's attention while remaining true to some real life situations. We rarely cry if ever cry in the direct moment of a sad moment. We have to take time to assimilate and accept that information as true. Or we push back the emotion to stay rational, until someday, somewhere, for some reason, we crack up and let go our thoughts to truly feel in the moment and true to our emotions. You might find this funny, but it is the exact thing they did in one of the final Hunger Games movie. Maybe the last one. Something happens to one character, but the main character does not react instantly in terms of emotions. It's just very later in the film that she bursts out crying. I was pleasantly surprised by that scene. Never seen much smart writing like this in blockbuster movies like this one. Well, the story stays more boring than anything else, but that exact scene did surprised me.

It's that one scene : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1m-JTVcBhwg.html But of course you have to watch the movie to feel the emotions bursting. No music, also. Good acting.

Paul Schrader actually puts it very clearly, he mentions this technique as "boring" not because he thinks it's boring, but because he understands it is the approach to filmmaking that a wide audience will call as that, boring. Furthermore, he doesn't explain it further but his example with Umberto D. says subtly that there's a meaning behind it. Showing a character trying to light a match three times change the action from lighting a match, to failing to a match. It has a porpose, so unless you have a clear vision on why you want to take that approach it can be annoying to the audience and be perceived padding to fill time.

go get some friends

Deleuze was actually inspired by Paul's book.

@@jamk2668 No, he was not, he was actually very critical of it, specially since Schrader is mistaking trascendental for transcendent, which are two very distinct philosophical categories

He called it both, no?

well congratu-fucking-lations, you are part of the problem, be proud of yourself

Poxow I think it's best to stick your braindead blockbusters, kiddo. Why even bother coming here? Iliterate.

Marco Gianesello Your arrogance is part of the problem, since you’re not open to other people’s interpretations.

The Protagonist You just assume I only watch braindead blockbusters because I don’t find transcendental style effective when in reality, you don’t know shit about my taste in film. I’m a fan of Taxi Driver and First Reformed, so you can shut up now.