There was a long discussion last year about Blow-Up, a film which like Performance shortly afterwards hovers on the edge of incomprehensibility in true sixties style. Both have been written about a lot, and there's a BFI book on the latter. Jeff Beck of the Yardbirds was in the former and later claimed it was a load of meaningless nonsense: Sarah Miles asked Antonioni what her character was about and he replied 'It does not matter'. When she asked him afterwards what the ending was about with a tennis match with no ball and painted trees he replied 'Is for the critics'. 'For me,' she said, 'it was a typical example of the Emperor's new clothes.' Quotes from Biography of British Film I think it's called but I haven't got the book to hand at the moment... on 13/3/02 4:21 PM, jane mills at [log in to unmask] wrote: > > Understanding the plot. > > Apologies for cross-listing > > Un chien Andalou, The Big Sleep, Seven, The Usual Suspects, The Matrix, Velvet > Goldmine, Gummo, Mulholland Drive all films that have incoherent or, to > some, incomprehensible plots and storylines. (For some reason I am always > completely baffled by films about counter espionage.) Does it matter? Do we > need to understand the plot of a movie to enjoy it? Could you let me know more > titles of incomprehensible films, any academic articles on the subject , and > your views on the subject? > > Jane Mills > Honorary Associate, The University of Sydney; > Senior Research Associate, Australian Film,Television & Radio School > 27 Dudley Street, Bondi, 2026 > Tel: 9300 8836 > [log in to unmask] > > ---- > Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the > University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu > ---- Screen-L is sponsored by the Telecommunication & Film Dept., the University of Alabama: http://www.tcf.ua.edu