The film festival is a festival for movie fans and also a festival for movie lovers.
Film buffs and cinephiles, in English, are called film buffs and cinephiles, respectively, which seem to have nothing in common. But the Chinese language is profound and extensive, and two identical Chinese characters, if they are changed in order, can lead to the cause and effect of past and present lives. To borrow the joke from Qian Zhongshu, the former only wants delicious eggs, while the latter not only wants to eat good eggs, but also wants to see the face of the hen that laid them, and even wants to understand the hen's daily routine and taste the sweetness, bitterness, and spiciness of the feed.
"David Lynch: An Artistic Life" focuses on Lynch's paintings, installations and other artistic creations.
For example, David Lynch is the hottest director at the Shanghai Film Festival this year. Movie fans must first grab his works such as "Mulholland Drive" and "Inland Empire". If their wishes are not fulfilled, they will inevitably feel frustrated. Movie fans may have watched "Mulholland Drive" five, six, seven or eight times, and read dozens of analytical articles at home and abroad. After failing to grab tickets, they will not waste a second complaining, but will instead grab the documentary "David Lynch: An Art Life".
All performances of "Natural First: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache" are sold out.
Perhaps because 2025 marks the 130th anniversary of the birth of film, this year's Shanghai Film Festival's screening list includes quite a large number of documentaries by filmmakers that are popular with movie fans, and some of them have performed very well in ticket sales.
For example, all screenings of "Natural First: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache", which records the discovery process of the first director and the first female director in film history, were sold out. When I saw this film at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018, no one knew who she was. Unexpectedly, a few years later, the statue of this film pioneer has appeared at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
There is also Dziga Vertov, who was copied by the "New Wave". Although the whole film "Man with a Movie Camera" is only 68 minutes long and has no dialogue, all four screenings are still full. However, "The Return of Vertov", which is about how three of Vertov's works were reborn from the ashes, has plenty of tickets left, and there are even "Emperor's Seats" for you to pick up.
"The Past of Michel Legrand" is a new documentary about the French music master Michel Legrand.
Movie buffs who are interested in film history will definitely focus on the above two films, and those who love film soundtracks will not return empty-handed. Giuseppe Tornatore, the president of the Golden Goblet Awards, brought the documentary "Sound of the Sea" he shot for his old friend Morricone. However, my first choice is "The Past of Michel Legrand" which was released only last year. After watching Godard's "Van der Von der Lustre" last Saturday, I still can't get Michel Legrand's soundtrack out of my mind.
Godard's musical taste is not a die-hard fan, but it often hits the mark. Martial Solal in Breathless is sharp, Georges Delerue in Contempt is romantic, Antoine Duhamel in Pierrot le fou is playful, and Michel Legrand in Vivre à Vie is hesitant, as if everything was already predetermined.
"Water and Sugar: The Life and Colors of Photographer Carlo Di Palma" reveals many secrets of the director.
What is particularly thoughtful about the Shanghai Film Festival this year is that each of the independent filmmakers is accompanied by a related documentary. For example, the aforementioned "David Lynch: An Artistic Life" focuses on Lynch's paintings, installations and other artistic creations, exploring the relationship between his artistic concepts and directorial style. The Italian photography master Carlo Di Palma unit is accompanied by "Water and Sugar: The Life and Colors of Photographer Carlo Di Palma", which reveals the secrets of his collaborations with famous directors such as Visconti, De Sica, Antonioni, Bertolucci, and Woody Allen.
The deadpan comedian Buster Keaton unit is accompanied by "The Great Buster" directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Peter Bogdanovich, who died in 2022, was also a cinephile, and later became a film critic and a film director. This shows that after advancing from a cinephile to a cinephile, there is still a lot of hope ahead. This documentary is the last work of his directorial career, and it is also a proof that he has not forgotten his original intention.
There is also "Agnès on Varda", which seems to be her own words, but is actually her last words to all those who want to make movies later.
This configuration reminds me of the days when the disc market was booming, when directors' sets of gold-plated, carved and elegantly bound sets always had a disc of behind-the-scenes interviews. After meeting the chef, diners felt embarrassed to swallow the food in one gulp, so they had to chew it slowly and savor the taste. As I write this, I find that I seem to have slowly transformed from a movie fan to a movie lover. How many "Movie Lover's Journey" will be shown at this year's Shanghai Film Festival?
【Video Introduction】
Michel Legrand: The Past (2024)
Director: David Deschte
Michel Legrand is a legendary French jazz musician and master of film score. This film tells the artistic journey of this musical master through exclusive collections of private images and flowing jazz melodies.
In this musical journey, the most shining chapter is his encounter with Agnès Varda, the "Grandmother of the New Wave" - when the rhythm created by Legrand for "Cleo from 5 to 7" sounded in the Varda section of this Shanghai International Film Festival, the little-known creative highlights of the film happened to echo quietly on the other side of the screen, weaving together a brilliant career map of a talented artist. This is not only a biography of a master, but also an immersive art pilgrimage.
Water and Sugar: Life and Color by Photographer Carlo Di Palma (2016)
Director: Fariboz Kankari
This documentary about the legendary Italian cinematographer Carlo Di Palma is not only a journey to explore the glorious moments of Italian cinema, but also shows how Palma, as a photographer, has influenced the aesthetics of Italian and global cinema, from the neorealist films of Visconti, Vittorio De Sica, and Rossellini to Antonioni's "Blow-Up" and "Red Desert" to Woody Allen's classics.
Film masters such as Bertolucci, Woody Allen, Wim Wenders, Schlöndorff and Ken Loach appear in the film, recalling their experience of working with their late friend. His wife Adriana Chiesa is the core of the documentary, shouldering the responsibility of reviving her husband's artistic legacy. She traveled across Europe and visited New York to pay tribute to her late husband's work.
Buster the Great (2018)
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
The documentary revolves around the legendary career of "deadbeat comedian" Buster Keaton, connecting the glory of the silent film era with the ups and downs of individual destinies, and restoring how a genius forgotten by the times defined film.
Renowned director Peter Bogdanovich delved into Keaton's creative archives, unearthing a large number of unpublished behind-the-scenes images and manuscripts, and through in-depth interviews with contemporary filmmakers such as Quentin Tarantino and Werner Herzog, revealed how Keaton reshaped the language of film with precise body movements, mechanical devices and cold aesthetics.
The first half of the film chronicles Keaton's vaudeville childhood, his experiences in World War I, and the golden age of silent films, while the second half focuses on his ten masterpieces from 1923 to 1928, analyzing his "action ballet"-like comedy philosophy.
Note: The film introduction comes from the Shanghai International Film Festival
