tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post7873030103027333324..comments2024-03-24T13:26:57.317-07:00Comments on Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule: FOR THE ITALIAN HORROR BLOG-A-THON: LUCIO FULCI'S DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLINGDennis Cozzaliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-60799550002322377032012-01-23T13:33:04.820-08:002012-01-23T13:33:04.820-08:00vai tomar no cú! sem hipocrisia, o que nós queremo...vai tomar no cú! sem hipocrisia, o que nós queremos é pirataria. o blog é bom, mas cadê os downloads, porra! retardados de merda!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-78414713727638753972009-11-19T09:10:45.101-08:002009-11-19T09:10:45.101-08:00Dennis -- thanks for the extremely kind mention of...Dennis -- thanks for the extremely kind mention of our DESTRUCTIBLE MAN site. You've made our year.<br /><br />In regards to Fulci: we were extremely good friends with him for the final 2 years of his life -- and the one thing we can be sure of is that he cared deeply about making a good movie. However, when you are competing with stingier, increasingly arrogant and greedy producers with lower budgets and inferior scripts and inferior crews...well, then you get his post-MANHATTAN BABY product. Certainly, he wasn't doing backflips even for THE BEYOND, ZOMBIE, etc -- at least he had reasonable creative freedom and had a dedicated and imaginative team to repeatedly work with for a time -- that part of those films he had great affection for. Filmmaking became a job for him. To maintain an income at his age in that industry in that country -- with health problems galore and all those destructive egos to deal with...we're actually quite lucky to have gotten the "product"...<br />Contrary to popular legend, Fulci was a brilliant, loving man. Suffered no fool gladly or silently and would shed a tear over such a thoughtful piece as the one you have posted. For him, we thank you.The Flying Maciste Brothershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17342766561263208927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-3078759247972190282009-10-31T23:27:20.725-07:002009-10-31T23:27:20.725-07:00Dennis:
Fantastic review! This is one of the bet...Dennis:<br /><br />Fantastic review! This is one of the better Fulci's, you're right about that, but it's also one of the best examples of <i>giallo</i> that I've seen. It doesn't come close to rivaling the narrative complexity or poetic aesthetics of something like Argento's <i>Deep Red</i>, but it's more than serviceable. <br /><br />These early <i>gialli</i> that Fulci made are interesting in the sense (and you aptly point this out) that they are more classically complied (whether it be mise-en-scene, narrative, etc.) than later Fulci; or to put it more simply: Fulci gave a damn about the story with these movies.<br /><br />I still prefer <i>The Psychic</i> starring Jennifer O'Neil because I think the premise is a little more effective in getting under your skin, and the intricacies of the plot seem well thought out once the film starts wrapping things up. <br /><br />But you do a great job at getting to the heart of what makes these early Fulci so appealing (and not just to you and me, but Tarantino was a HUGE fan of <i>The Psychic</i> and claimed it was his dream to re-make the movie), and clearly the apex of the filmmakers career. I think it's obvious that he took more care with his <i>gialli</i> than he did with his nonsensical supernatural films (which I still quite like, but they don't compare to his early 70's work). <br /><br />Great stuff, Dennis. I really enjoyed reading this. I hope you check out <i>The Psychic</i> (or sometimes it's called <i>Murder to the Tune of 7 Black Notes</i>).Kevin J. Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17275402809912728035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-44575313612438617952009-10-31T13:37:38.871-07:002009-10-31T13:37:38.871-07:00Thanks, Chris. Our enthusiasms can get the better ...Thanks, Chris. Our enthusiasms can get the better of us so much sometimes that I actually am glad there's a few heralded filmmakers out there (from wherever they may be heralded) whose appeal allude me. Kinda keeps me honest, I think. I do hope you'll look at <i>Duckling</i>, though. It really surprised me.<br /><br />Doniphon: I would agree that there's nothing inherently wrong with approaching film as a visually based experience. I don't think you can look at these films realistically, however, as a "purely visual" experience-- Fulci, Hitchcock, anyone-- unless you turn the sound off, and then I'd guess we'd get a true measure of just how coherent Fulci is visually throughout his career. I appreciate Fulci's sense of go-for-broke, especially when, as in <i>The Beyond</i>, he applies it to something atmopsheric instead of just something like <i>Zombi 2</i>'s muddy-looking jungle slog. But <i>Duckling</i> is another beast altogether, based as it is in the "real" world, and I really enjoyed the way he was able to bring a sense of visual patterns and free-association to the images. I don't get that from the other films of his I've seen.Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-14661712839221538752009-10-31T13:19:41.953-07:002009-10-31T13:19:41.953-07:00Dennis - fantastic review! I'm glad not to be...Dennis - fantastic review! I'm glad not to be alone in not completely "getting" Fulci's late films - FROM BEYOND left me bewildered and underwhelmed, but this sounds more like something I can get into.<br /><br />A great blog-a-thon all around...I've gotten so many film recommendations I can't wait to dive in.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13600990166210022027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-17439295851977522272009-10-31T11:32:04.049-07:002009-10-31T11:32:04.049-07:00That beating in the cemetery is a pretty goddamn e...That beating in the cemetery is a pretty goddamn extraordinary cinematic set piece, I think. I don't completely understand your reservations about Fulci, but it is true that his films tend to be divisive. He was always way more concerned with the visual than the thematic, which I think turns a lot of people off (he derided Romero for the political subtexts of his films, claiming his inspiration for Zombie was Tourneur). I really like how you try to make sense of his filmography here. I agree with you that his nihilism is (at the very least) too easy, and he often seems bored with the stories he is telling. I think that's why The Beyond is his most successful film, and why he does best when he is more concerned with visuals than telling a coherent story. I do completely agree with him about Romero though, and I don't think there is anything wrong with approaching cinema as a purely visual experience.Doniphonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02407443845368110678noreply@blogger.com