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"First Fassbinder" posted July 9, 2004 at 12:29 PM

BAM decided to improve my summer by offering a fat Fassbinder film fest. Last night was the first film--"Beware of a Holy Whore." The whore of the title is cinema itself, and Fassbinder's movie about making a movie ranks up there with the poetry of Fellini's "8-1/2," the ennui of Truffaut's "Day for Night," the tightly wound angst of Woody Allen's "Stardust Memories," and the laughs of "Singin' in the Rain." There is some amazing camera work in this film, including a shot at the end where Lou Castel (who plays the Director) is standing on a staircase, surrounded by others on the set who one by one get up and leave. The angle of the camera--looking down the staircase at Castel's upturned face--creates an optical illusion where, as the shot empties out of people, it becomes difficult to tell whether we're looking up or down the stairs--a perfect, vertiginous shot. The entire cast is constantly downing Cuba Libres (which is just a rum & Coke with soem lime juice thrown in), and the movie combined with the hot weather made me want to drink heavily, become maudlin and melodramatic, and casually toss my empty glasses over my shoulder. (I did meet Paula for a drink after, but I resisted the urge to be maudlin and destructive!).


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