The central figure in Theorem—the Terrence Stamp character—does his authenticity represent judgment or love?
PASOLINI: This character has come out ambiguous, half-way between the angelic and the demoniac. The visitor is good-looking, and good, but there is something vulgar about him as well (since he, too, is a member of the bourgeoisie). There are no uncultured bourgeois who are not vulgar; only culture can purify. So there is this element of vulgarity in him, which he has accepted so as to descend among these bourgeois people, so he is ambiguous. On the other hand, what is authentic is the love that he arouses, because it is a love without any compromise, a love which provokes scandal, which destroys, which alters the bourgeois’ idea of themselves; what is authentic is this love, and the cause of this love is this ambiguous person.So there is no relation with St. Matthew’s Christ, your Christ?
PASOLINI: This character cannot be identified with Christ; rather with God, God the Father (or a messenger who represents the Father). It is an Old Testament, not a New Testament visitor.
“I tell myself that someone who goes to the movies pretty much knows what awaits him. So I can demand more effort of him. Do you understand? And I can also expect him to get more pleasure out of the effort… People really go to the movies in order to have new experiences — and quite consciously to have new experiences. That means I have an audience I can push and challenge to the utmost.”
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
May 31, 1945 — June 10, 1982
“I try to find fluidity in whatever I speak about or show. It should be like I’m taking your hand, taking you through the film. I’m not really telling a story, I’m telling you what cinema is in my life.”
Agnès Varda
Born May 30, 1928
“There have been two periods in my inner life, two idées fixes. The first period consisted of me working with directors with whom I totally identified, like François, like Jean Eustache. When I was working for François, I was like François. When I worked for Eustache, I was like Eustache. Same with Godard. In the second period, which I am living now, as we speak, I no longer identify with the director but with my character, and I get great pleasure working with someone like Olivier Assayas, who writes so well and is so intelligent. The third period I’m not so sure about—it could arrive any minute now.” — Jean-Pierre Léaud
Palme d’Or
Blue Is the Warmest Colour — dir. Abdellatif KechicheGrand Prix
Inside Llewyn Davis — dir. The Coen BrothersBest Director
Amat Escalante — HeliJury Prize
Like Father, Like Son — dir. Hirokazu Kore-edaBest Screenplay
Jia Zhang-ke — A Touch of SinBest Actress
Bérénice Bejo — Le Passé (dir. Asghar Farhadi)Best Actor
Bruce Dern — Nebraska (dir. Alexander Payne)Caméra d’Or
Ilo Ilo — dir. Anthony ChenShort Film Palme d’Or
Safe — dir. Moon Byoung-gonPrize of Un Certain Regard
The Missing Picture — dir. Rithy PanhUCR Jury Prize
Omar — dir. Hany Abu-AssadUCR Directing Prize
Alain Guiraudie — Stranger by the LakeA Certain Talent Prize
For the ensemble cast of La jaula de oro (dir. Diego Quemada-Diez)Avenir Prize
Fruitvale Station — dir. Ryan Coogler
“I started out as a ‘program picture’ director, and program pictures are strictly entertainment. Therefore, the scripts I received from the studio weren’t artistic to begin with. So there was no hope of making an artistic film from the script. The only thing that I could hope to do was to make movies fun and entertaining. The critics say films have to have social commentary or a humanitarian point of view and that is that. But what I was aiming for was how to make a movie entertaining. So I tried a lot of different ideas and styles to accomplish that.”
Seijun Suzuki
Born May 24, 1923
“Good films aren’t made by conscious deliberation but rather by an inner passion.”
– Kenji Mizoguchi ( May 16, 1898 – August 24, 1956 )
The Life of Oharu (dir. Kenji Mizoguchi, 1952) // Spirited Away (dir. Hayao Miyazaki, 2001)
