The moving image practice that emerged at the beginning of the 20th century can by some be separated into three categories
Firstly Movies; frivolous entertainment with little or no substance. Then Films; more considered and technically accomplished pieces of work often based on real life and offering insight into the human condition. And finally, Cinema, this last incarnation is created by cineastes; men and women with an exceptional and often encyclopaedic knowledge of the moving image practice, whose works cannot be subjected to a simple reading
Consciously incorporating and manipulating the modes inherent in other art forms, they can only be understood critically
7. The Fountain
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Sean Patrick Thomas, Stephen McHattie, Donna Murphy, Ellen Burstyn, Mark Margolis, Cliff Curtis, Ethan Suplee, Janique Kearns, Renee Asofsky, Boyd Banks, Alexander Bisping, Kevin Kelsall
Year: 2006
With an oddly unnerving feeling reminiscent of a David Cronenberg film, Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain is a meditation on love, death, and the search for immortality. With three involving storylines The Fountain spans the fictional literary world of a 16th century conquistador on a quest for the tree of life, the present filmic reality of a doctor trying to discover a cure for brain disease, and a futuristic traveller headed toward a nebula
6. La Jetée
Director: Chris Marker
Cast: Étienne Becker, Jean Négroni, Hélène Chatelain, Davos Hanich, Jacques Ledoux, André Heinrich, Jacques Branchu, Pierre Joffroy, Ligia Branice, Janine Klein, William Klein, Philbert von Lifchitz, Germano Facetti
Year: 1962
Inspiration for Terry Gilliam’s 1995 film 12 Monkeys, La Jetée by Chris Marker is a haunting tale of love and obsession where the key to time travel lies in one man’s childhood memory. Constructed using photographs La Jetée subverts the moving image form by reducing it to its simplest components, reminding us of cinema’s photographic origins and that to make cinema you must be able to tell a story through pictures
5. Memento
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Ann Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior, Jorja Fox, Harriet Sansom Harris, Russ Fega, Stephen Tobolowsky, Thomas Lennon, Kimberly Campbell, Marianne Muellerleile, Larry Holden, Callum Keith Rennie
Year: 2000
A perfect illustration of the synthesis that can exist between form and content. Christopher Nolan’s breakthrough psychological thriller examines Leonard Shelby’s search for retribution for the rape and murder of his wife. Hindered by Anterograde amnesia, a condition which stops him from creating new memories, Leonard must construct his present through the use of Polaroid images and graphic bodily tattoos. Presented in a nonlinear narrative, Memento mimics the disorientation and confusion experienced by Leonard, as both he and the viewers are forced to piece together the moments of his life
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