albertoveronese

Writer B. Traven's, cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa's and film-director Roberto Gavaldón's 1960 masterpiece 'Macario' appears at first to be a wonder tail for children, a little fantasy - filled with marvelousness. But then, its poetry (albeit it never resigns from its esthetic) turns into a tragic dejection, and soon you realize that you are in the impossibility to step back. Life has trapped you, nobody looks out for you - death enters you when you're born, and you carry it around in your livers, your stomachs, your hearts. Each candle goes out by itself. 'Macario's daring and ruthless realism hits you sharply, suddenly - as with its first spoken dialogs and captivating scenes. All illusions, romances, sentimentalisms, understandings drop unexpectedly from your entrails and your skull... and surprisingly long time before your death.

James Marsh's Man On Wire is a marvelous cinematographic moment. Philippe Petit's very first vertiginous step on a steel cable anchored at a height of 1,368 ft (417 m)) transcends the laws of man's commonly acknowledged senses and defies how every one of us experiences existence. It's all about human immensity - It reminds me the first powered flight of the Wright brothers in 1903, but first and foremost it calls to mind Lumière brothers' first public screening of their short films in 1895, hand cranked through a projector. It's the extraordinary talent, the creative touch of filmmaker James Marsh in the making of Man On Wire that breathes new life into Petit's sublime walk in the sky. Despite having recourse to still pictures - a step becomes a walk, a walk becomes a dance, a dance becomes life of on a tightrope. Fine-grained clays, of which this motion-picture is made of, are the restored archival color footage and newsreel material, the captivating black and white photographs, the bright and sighted scenes reenactment, the lively present-day interviews and the perceptive use of music. - "It was a misty day, there was a little bit of air that morning." - "I had to make a decision... of shifting my weight from one foot anchored to the building to the foot anchored on the wire." - "Look a wire-walker! He's walking!" - "Something that I could not resist... called me upon that cable." - "It was so... so beautiful". Once more - It is James Marsh's commitment and profound emotional engagement to moviemaking that makes it possible. It is James Marsh's skill that arranges the polyphonic montage of visuals and voices, and directs their interactions. 7th August 1974, Twin Towers, New York City. Philippe Petit was 24 when he completed Le Coup. Philippe Petit is still with us today - "There is no why."

'The' Flight of the Phoenix (1965) by director Robert Aldrich. A film that should be shown to every child ready for first day of school. This masterpiece shows both the beautiful and horrifying side of human existence - It is a insightful journey of emotions, panic, hope, guilt, vitality, tragedy. A journey to that what life can be. I won't say much about the greatness of this film, no word could possibly do it justice - but, if you are here because you saw the 2004's "push-button" idiotic remake, then you should compare the two pictures... We might make better airplanes today but when it comes to films forget it - we are yet to find something that comes close to the outstanding performances from famous and respected actors. Time was when the audience could take real joy and pride, going to movies - film used to be fun, it really was. Robert Aldrich's The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) show us the obvious non-intelligence and limitations of human conditions. Today, more than ever, it takes quite ingenuity and will to reach civilization...