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