Tuesday, August 08, 2006

On film: the New York State of Mind

Thanks for poly_gianniba dropping in, I reminded myself of For the love of Film... a cracking little film blog that I've dropped by at least a couple of times in the past and have been meaning to roll for a while now.

Anyway, top of the posting list when I dropped in was a citation and link to this post at The Reeler about films that put you in a 'New York State of Mind'. It all started here at Green Cine, but seemed to spur a fair bit of controversy since IFC blog's Alison Willmore selected the imaginary New York of The Royal Tenenbaums.

I have to be honest and say that one of the films that always conjures up New York to me is Marathon Man, partly because it is one of our oft-watched films. I mean, really, seriously, we watch that film a lot. And nothing chills like the scene in the diamond district when Lotta Andor-Palfi recognises Szell and calls after him in the street. Still, when it comes to New York movies there are SO many to choose from - so many imaginary and imagined Brooklyns, Queens, Bronxes, Staten Islands, let alone Manhattans - that our mind overflow with them all. It's why the place has that Freudian sense of being uncanny: beyond real, familiar yet unsettling in its familiarity, recognisable even though we may never have 'been' there before. So many movies. So much to recollect.

Hmmm, I may have another rummage in Celluloid Skyline again, both book and site.

2 comments:

Rosby said...

No, I didn't watch the Director's cut; it was the normal version from the library. Is the Director's cut really different, then?

I ddn't cry at *that* bit (for shame), but I think I cried when ol' Donnie was talking about being alone...oh baby, you don't have to be...a-hem.

(Mustn't succomb to hysterical fangirlship. Mustn't.)

Eeeeeee!!!

Lisa Rullsenberg said...

Hiya Rosby
Well I definitely think you got the better version of Donnie Darko (and fangirlship is not a bad thing)

The Dir. Cut is a bit overblown by all accounts.