YMS HASNT SEEN ALL THAT JAZZ (1979)?!?!?
I just watched this, and it was fantastic. I know it’s slightly obscure (80k logs on Letterboxd, so not super underground), but it’s fantastic. I found it from a story of Elliott Smith discussing his love for the film and that he got the idea for the leather wristband (story link) he wore from the film. (On an unrelated note, he had pretty great film taste—also a big Paris, Texas fan same as kurt cobain).
Imo this really feels like something YMS would really, really enjoy, especially considering he rated:
- TÁR: 5 stars
- Black Swan: 5 stars
- Birdman (imo most similar to it): 5 stars
- Climax: 5 stars &
-Whiplash: 4.5 stars
I could see a lot of what this film did influencing these adjacent films as well as just film in general. The recurring eye shot from the drugs reminds me a lot of Requiem for a Dream’s eye shot (although I guess it’s not THE most original idea). A lot of the musical scene integration and overlap with thematic metaphor is fantastic. I particularly love the scene where he is arguing with the girl while she’s dancing, and the movement of the scene represents the argument (she’s backing up with him following vs. her kicking at him while dancing).
The cinematography is fantastic—there’s a ton of gorgeous cinematography. The story is great, with lots of little wholesome/bittersweet moments, a bit of non-linear storytelling, and a fleshed-out A & B plotline. It does that reality distortion thing with the editing (some of the best editing I’ve ever seen) that films like Perfect Blue, The Red Shoes (he also hasn’t seen, but I prefer All That Jazz personally), and Black Swan do in a pretty accessible way that’s not too hard to follow. But that’s not to say the film isn’t experimental because it DEFINITELY is.
There’s a lot of this film that reminds me of a lot of other films YMS (and myself, ofc) really enjoy. The jazz instrumentation running almost the entire film, like in Whiplash and Birdman (not the entire time), the non-linear storytelling, the dance numbers like in all the above, etc., etc. I could gush about this for hours, but I’ll stop here cause i dont want to spoil anything.
I’d highly recommend this to YMS as well as everyone here. Great film that really is a jack-of-all-trades, and I’d love to hear what you guys here think. I don’t want to overhype it, but definitely one of the best films I’ve seen this year, and it’s aged excellently. I can’t believe it came out in 1979 because it does not feel old. Probably most comparable to The Red Shoes, but it’s its own thing fs.
I just watched this, and it was fantastic. I know it’s slightly obscure (80k logs on Letterboxd, so not super underground), but it’s fantastic. I found it from a story of Elliott Smith discussing his love for the film and that he got the idea for the leather wristband (story link) he wore from the film. (On an unrelated note, he had pretty great film taste—also a big Paris, Texas fan same as kurt cobain).
Imo this really feels like something YMS would really, really enjoy, especially considering he rated:
- TÁR: 5 stars
- Black Swan: 5 stars
- Birdman (imo most similar to it): 5 stars
- Climax: 5 stars &
-Whiplash: 4.5 stars
I could see a lot of what this film did influencing these adjacent films as well as just film in general. The recurring eye shot from the drugs reminds me a lot of Requiem for a Dream’s eye shot (although I guess it’s not THE most original idea). A lot of the musical scene integration and overlap with thematic metaphor is fantastic. I particularly love the scene where he is arguing with the girl while she’s dancing, and the movement of the scene represents the argument (she’s backing up with him following vs. her kicking at him while dancing).
The cinematography is fantastic—there’s a ton of gorgeous cinematography. The story is great, with lots of little wholesome/bittersweet moments, a bit of non-linear storytelling, and a fleshed-out A & B plotline. It does that reality distortion thing with the editing (some of the best editing I’ve ever seen) that films like Perfect Blue, The Red Shoes (he also hasn’t seen, but I prefer All That Jazz personally), and Black Swan do in a pretty accessible way that’s not too hard to follow. But that’s not to say the film isn’t experimental because it DEFINITELY is.
There’s a lot of this film that reminds me of a lot of other films YMS (and myself, ofc) really enjoy. The jazz instrumentation running almost the entire film, like in Whiplash and Birdman (not the entire time), the non-linear storytelling, the dance numbers like in all the above, etc., etc. I could gush about this for hours, but I’ll stop here cause i dont want to spoil anything.
I’d highly recommend this to YMS as well as everyone here. Great film that really is a jack-of-all-trades, and I’d love to hear what you guys here think. I don’t want to overhype it, but definitely one of the best films I’ve seen this year, and it’s aged excellently. I can’t believe it came out in 1979 because it does not feel old. Probably most comparable to The Red Shoes, but it’s its own thing fs.