tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post2301849733587841218..comments2024-02-21T20:51:54.249+00:00Comments on The Celluloid Highway: The Cat O' Nine Tails (1971)Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]http://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-77717327796404442092012-01-16T22:57:10.063+00:002012-01-16T22:57:10.063+00:00Yes I certainly recall 'The Imaginary Signifie...Yes I certainly recall 'The Imaginary Signifier'...though like most academic theoretical approaches I'm damned if I can remember the substance of it. I have a lot of time for Robin Wood's writing, especially for his landmark approach to the horror genre. He relied a little too heavily on psychoanalysis, but his socio/political readings of certain films was extremely illuminating. Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]https://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-9759518891141078372012-01-16T04:33:29.991+00:002012-01-16T04:33:29.991+00:00Yes, Metz's first collection of essays was pub...Yes, Metz's first collection of essays was published as 'Film Language' (which applied - if I recall - Saussurean linguistics to the cinema), but his specifically psycholanalystic approach followed in 'The Imaginary Signifier' (which filtered his earlier linguistic concerns through Lacanian theory, given Lacan's heavy emphasis upon language). Obviously, Metz's work hasjohnny6666https://www.blogger.com/profile/16749738500273163297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-4507624527996280902012-01-11T23:00:53.739+00:002012-01-11T23:00:53.739+00:00Wasn't Christian Metz the one that broke film ...Wasn't Christian Metz the one that broke film down into component units and likened the shot to a sentence? I think much of the problem with early film theory is that it was far too concerned with bestowing on film the status of art. The result was a very dogmatic approach to the discussion of cinema. Though I have encountered the theories of Metz I found the great French critic Andre Bazin Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]https://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-30365997182126188682012-01-09T06:12:14.756+00:002012-01-09T06:12:14.756+00:00Yes, it's a real pity about the perpetual boot...Yes, it's a real pity about the perpetual bootleg status of 'Eye' (a fate that has befallen so many great gialli). But Horst Frank plays a rather notable part, if I remember correctly!<br /><br />I too am rather disdainful of psychoanalytic film theory. Nevertheless, I do like the approach of writers in the tradition of Christian Metz, etc. who used (Lacanian) theory to examine what johnny6666https://www.blogger.com/profile/16749738500273163297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-87717779462711392762012-01-08T22:48:28.343+00:002012-01-08T22:48:28.343+00:00Apologies for the slight delay in replying Jonny -...Apologies for the slight delay in replying Jonny - Spaak's stiffness could be intentional or it could be that she is just a terrible actress. Her less than glittering filmography seems to support the latter. The screenplay does indeed suggest an incestuous relationship, but then it reveals that Terzi isn't her father at all. I felt the whole subplot to make her a red herring was utterly Shaun Anderson [The Celluloid Highway]https://www.blogger.com/profile/18066744649878418309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5751360814489146754.post-39041129664067822082012-01-06T11:45:42.517+00:002012-01-06T11:45:42.517+00:00I agree, Shaun. By the standards of other workaday...I agree, Shaun. By the standards of other workaday gialli of the period, 'Cat' is certainly an interesting, if somewhat underwhelming, genre outing. Perhaps its reputation would be somewhat better if the Argento name wasn't attached to it...<br /><br />I've always thought that Catherine Spaak's rather stiff performance in 'Cat' is intentional. (SPOILER AHEAD) I read johnny6666https://www.blogger.com/profile/16749738500273163297noreply@blogger.com