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Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

AfterHours — Mon, 3 Sep 2018 13:56:15 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 09/03/2018 17:56

Recent updates in bold... Still very much in-progress as I have been revisiting many films

Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

AfterHours — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 15:17:08 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/14/2018 19:17

Recent updates in bold (for newer entries) or bold + italics (for those that moved up/down in ranking)

Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

AfterHours — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 15:38:44 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/13/2018 19:38

Ozu's editing and images correspond to his humble and Zen-like state/meditation in the face of his characters' crises/family dramas and is significant in its own right -- I just havent decided how significant thus far so have yet to decide how highly to rank him (and others of more humble or concise styles).

Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

AfterHours — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 14:06:18 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/13/2018 18:06

badseed wrote:

Idk, I feel like if you go with Tree of Life you might as well include most any Malick movie, which means you should include most any movie with extremely "loud" editing (Lars von Trier, Christopher Nolan and Steve McQueen [director] immediately come to mind - three completely different yet equally noticeable styles), thus disqualifying the simpler style that comes with an Ozu film.

Not "loud" -- just which editing contributes and generates most to its film's emotions/concepts (whether subtle, outlandish or anywhere in between). And not disqualified -- the idea is to acknowledge the best of both. Ex: Hitchcock's "flawless" constructions are not often particularly "loud" (excepting his climactic scenes) but are astonishing because of how integrated they are with his obsessions/paranoia and how thoroughly expressive they are of this -- his obsessive desire as a voyeur, to analyze, to work through the causes and effects of his plots meticulously, to piece everything together in a rigorous interlocking puzzle of circumstance and motive/psychology, to elaborate upon and obsess over the "perfect crimes" of his films -- in other words, their very construction/cutting corresponds in vivid detail and integration to the expressiveness of film and director ... I do not think Tree of Life is Malick's most successful in regards to editing -- though its best sequences are extraordinary (reminiscent of Tarkovsky's Mirror and Kubrick's 2001 and Resnais' Hiroshima Mon Amour) ... Overall though, Days of Heaven is probably his best example, but I do think it is important to acknowledge the sheer audacity and imagination it would take to cut and sequence such a film as Tree of Life in a way that maintains a compelling sense of unity/theme/poetry/emotion (despite such disparate images). I dont necessarily think I would rank it above the best examples from Ozu or Mizoguchi or Renoir ... I might but Im not sure ... but I do think its more substantial than most of what Ive seen from this decade (so far) including Whiplash (which was very good).

Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

badseed — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 13:28:59 GMT

Author: badseed

Posted: 08/13/2018 17:28

Idk, I feel like if you go with Tree of Life you might as well include most any Malick movie, which means you should include most any movie with extremely "loud" editing (Lars von Trier, Christopher Nolan and Steve McQueen [director] immediately come to mind - three completely different yet equally noticeable styles), thus disqualifying the simpler style that comes with an Ozu film.

Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

AfterHours — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 12:06:09 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/13/2018 16:06

badseed wrote:

Whiplash is probably my favorite film this decade in regards to editing.

I am undecided on this decade so far (too much I still need to see), but I liked Whiplash and can see what you mean. I might go with Dance of Reality or Tree of Life for the time being. Aronofsky's Mother is one to consider...

Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

badseed — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 02:48:53 GMT

Author: badseed

Posted: 08/13/2018 06:48

Whiplash is probably my favorite film this decade in regards to editing.

Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

AfterHours — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 21:10:35 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/13/2018 01:10

dividesbyzero wrote:

I know they aren't usually noted for their editing, but I think many Ozu films are an excellent example of that extremely powerful very subtle approach to editing whereby you don't really notice the editing. Which is to say it's not flashy or technically advanced by any means but there's a simplistic beauty in how smoothly everything melds together on the editing table

Great point. Particularly Late Spring comes to mind. He is tough to rank in terms of editing. I will consider him, among others.

Though nothing like Ozu, Polanski's Chinatown is maybe the supreme example of editing of the more "ultra-concise, smooth, measured and precision" based variety. Lang's Big Heat as well <-- not a single movement is wasted, ultra concise scenes, masterful precision, right to the point, matter of fact, brutally simple/upfront (paralleling the themes and perhaps corresponding to the state of mind of Ford's cop that isnt really thinking things through to their full ramifications, instead acting on only his first impulse). I haven't decided yet how to rank these, and the Ozu's/Mizoguchi's/Bresson's/Renoir's of the world might be an even tougher case. It will probably come down to revisiting these and paying closer attention to the approach (which isnt trying to draw attention to itself so...good luck to me).

Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

Anonymous — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 18:28:13 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/12/2018 22:28

I know they aren't usually noted for their editing, but I think many Ozu films are an excellent example of that extremely powerful very subtle approach to editing whereby you don't really notice the editing. Which is to say it's not flashy or technically advanced by any means but there's a simplistic beauty in how smoothly everything melds together on the editing table

Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

AfterHours — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 13:44:23 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/12/2018 17:44

SquishypuffDave wrote:

Although it's overall not one of my favourite movies, if we're talking about the unbridled joy of expressive film editing, Scott Pilgrim vs The World is a delight.

Agreed! Not sure how highly I'd rank it -- might need to revisit -- havent seen it since shortly after its release.

Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

SquishypuffDave — Sun, 12 Aug 2018 01:19:04 GMT

Author: SquishypuffDave

Posted: 08/12/2018 05:19

Although it's overall not one of my favourite movies, if we're talking about the unbridled joy of expressive film editing, Scott Pilgrim vs The World is a delight.

Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

AfterHours — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 18:22:02 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/11/2018 22:22

AfterHours wrote:

Thank you, on a purely technical level I might agree (it employs similar craft). Not sure I would agree it is as masterful a merging of image/montage & cutting/emotion/concept as Walkabout though. But thats based on my memory of Dont Look Now from quite some time ago. Dont Look Now is a great example in its own right -- and I do need to revisit it, and will likely add it once I do. Until then, Im not sure where to rank it, and it also would depend on how far I decide to extend this list and what its cut off point will be (50? 100? etc).

Meaning that Im not sure I find Dont Look Now as successful as Walkabout in how deftly, lyrically, violently, seamlessly and transcendently the cutting/montages express the coalescing/merging concepts/emotions of the work. And then, the more elongated and methodical visions of the Outback/"paradise/Eden" are all very beautifully conducted as well.

Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

AfterHours — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 13:28:10 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/11/2018 17:28

dividesbyzero wrote:

Man With a Movie Camera is the peak of editing as an art in and of itself for me (as well as the peak of numerous other things including possibly cinema as a whole lol)

Thanks it will undoubtedly be included. It is a masterful demonstration of technical possibilities and should rank quite highly (probably top 10, maybe 20, when its all said and done). Keep in mind that the very top selections are not only technical marvels of editing but do so in extraordinary structures, and tend to utilize editing in particularly meaningful ways towards the ends of the film's expressions. Citizen Kane is unbeatable because not a single shot is wasted throughout its entirety while it's technically among the most astonishing of all time while functioning as a complete gallery of editing executed in flawless integration with its (very elaborate) themes/emotions.

Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

AfterHours — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 13:18:07 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 08/11/2018 17:18

PurpleHazel wrote:

Hard to argue with most of these. I'd just add that Roeg's Don't Look Now is in the same editing league as Walkabout, possibly a little better.

Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 09:08:19 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 08/11/2018 13:08

Man With a Movie Camera is the peak of editing as an art in and of itself for me (as well as the peak of numerous other things including possibly cinema as a whole lol)

Re: Best Editing/Structure in Film History

PurpleHazel — Sat, 11 Aug 2018 02:09:58 GMT

Author: PurpleHazel

Posted: 08/11/2018 06:09

Hard to argue with most of these. I'd just add that Roeg's Don't Look Now is in the same editing league as Walkabout, possibly a little better.

Best Editing/Structure in Film History

AfterHours — Sat, 14 Jul 2018 18:28:09 GMT

Author: AfterHours

Posted: 07/14/2018 22:28

Just getting this started before I work on it a bit more. Recommendations are welcome.

Best Editing/Structure in Film History
Citizen Kane - Orson Welles (1941)
Nashville - Robert Altman (1975)
Mirror - Andrei Tarkovsky (1974)
Persona - Ingmar Bergman (1966)
Last Year at Marienbad - Alain Resnais (1961)
8 1/2 - Federico Fellini (1963)
Touch of Evil - Orson Welles (1958) [Restored Welles' Cut, 108 minutes]
Taxi Driver - Martin Scorsese (1976)
Three Colors: Red - Krzysztof Kieslowski (1994)
Memento - Christopher Nolan (2001)
Wings of Desire - Wim Wenders (1987)
Hiroshima, Mon Amour - Alain Resnais (1959)
Battleship Potemkin - Sergei Eisenstein (1925)
The Wild Bunch - Sam Peckinpah (1969) [Director's Cut, 145 minutes]
Point Blank - John Boorman (1967)
Metropolis - Fritz Lang (1927) ["The Complete Metropolis", 147 minutes]
Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock (1960)
Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino (1994)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Michel Gondry (2004)
Peppermint Candy - Lee Chang-dong (1999)
Mean Streets - Martin Scorsese (1973)
M - Fritz Lang (1931)
The Conversation - Francis Ford Coppola (1974)
Walkabout - Nicolas Roeg (1971)
Raging Bull - Martin Scorsese (1980)
21 Grams - Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu (2003)
Shadow of a Doubt - Alfred Hitchcock (1943)
Petulia - Richard Lester (1968)
The French Connection - William Friedkin (1971)
The Big Heat - Fritz Lang (1953)

DEFINITELY -- UNDECIDED ON RANKING:
The Man With A Movie Camera - Dziga Vertov (1928)
Rashomon - Akira Kurosawa (1950)
Mr. Arkadin - Orson Welles (1955) [Comprehensive Version, 105 minutes]
North By Northwest - Alfred Hitchcock (1959)
Breathless - Jean Luc Godard (1959)
Once Upon a Time in the West - Sergio Leone (1968)
The Godfather - Francis Ford Coppola (1972)
Chinatown - Roman Polanski (1974)
Days of Heaven - Terrence Malick (1978)
Apocalypse Now - Francis Ford Coppola (1979)
Brazil - Terry Gilliam (1985) [The Final Cut, 142 minutes]
Satantango - Bela Tarr (1994)
The Kingdom - Lars Von Trier (1995)
Underground - Emir Kusturica (1995)
Lost Highway - David Lynch (1997)

POSSIBLY/UNDECIDED::
Strike - Sergei Eisenstein (1924)
October - Sergei Eisenstein (1928)
The Passion of Joan of Arc - Carl Theodor Dreyer (1928)
Un Chein Andalou - Luis Bunuel (1929)
L' Age d' Or - Luis Bunuel (1930)
Alexander Nevsky - Sergei Eisenstein (1938)
The Magnificent Ambersons - Orson Welles (1942)
The Lady from Shanghai - Orson Welles (1948)
Late Spring – Yasujiro Ozu (1949)
Ikiru - Akira Kurosawa (1952)
Othello - Orson Welles (1952)
High Noon - Fred Zinneman (1952)
Rear Window - Alfred Hitchcock (1954)
Vertigo - Alfred Hitchcock (1958)
The Trial - Orson Welles (1962)
The Birds - Alfred Hitchcock (1963)
Andrei Rublev - Andrei Tarkovsky (1966)
Marketa Lazarova - Frantisek Vlacil (1967)
2001: A Space Odyssey - Stanley Kubrick (1968)
Dirty Harry - Don Siegel (1971)
Zardoz - John Boorman (1972)
Don't Look Now - Nicolas Roeg (1973)
Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia - Sam Peckinpah (1974)
The Traveling Players - Theo Angelopoulos (1975)
F For Fake - Orson Welles (1975)
Dressed to Kill - Brian De Palma (1980)
Come and See - Elim Klimov (1985)
Insignificance - Nicolas Roeg (1985)
Reservoir Dogs - Quentin Tarantino (1992)
Hard Boiled - John Woo (1992)
My Joy - Sergei Loznitsa (2010)