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Gaith said:^ The Shanghai Surprise HDTGM is Ep #213, but it looks as though all of their shows older than six months are only available through the Stitcher mobile app, which allegedly has a free subscription level as well as paid ones. Annoying. It's not as though they live up to their title by doing substantive research or using industry connections to dish juicy gossip! They just banter about flicks like any old assemblage of hack frauds.
Thanks!
A Jan Komasa double-bill...
Corpus Christi (2019)
'Corpus Christi' ('Boze Cialo' / 'Body of Christ') is Poland's entry for the Oscars and well worth the nomination. Bartosz Bielenia plays Daniel a troubled young offender who has found God in a detention center but because of his crimes he isn't allowed to enter a Seminary. After being released he is mistaken for a priest and starts preaching to the broken people of a small town who have suffered a tragedy. Bielenia looks like a young Christopher Walken, with these piercing blue eyes which Director Jan Komasa makes full use of. He frequently holds the camera on Bielenia's face for long periods in near silence. It reminded me a bit of the way Carl Theodor Dreyer used Falconetti in 'The Passion of Joan of Arc'. Even though I'm not religious, I found it to be a very powerful film, so I'd be interested to hear what a Christian/Catholic thought of it.
Powstanie Warszawskie (2014)
This Polish documentary (Directed by Jan Komasa) features a similar approach to one used in the later 'They Shall Not Grow Old'. Old black & white silent footage from the 1944 'Warsaw Uprising' was cleaned up, colorised, stabilised, scored and lip-synced to newly recorded vocals. Quite a bit of the newsreel material was staged (which was still a normal practice for documentaries in the 40s) but instead of avoiding that issue, they wisely incorporate it into the structure of the piece. So it's presented as if we are experiencing what two cameramen are seeing and hearing, them shouting directions to the people in front of the camera, them commenting on the suitability of what they've shot, going for extra takes, discovering their editing table in ruins and their work being evaluated by superiors. We even see some "finished" films as they would have been screened in the cinema at the time, black & white, silent and with live commentary and music. In the second half there is no need for staging, as the harrowing destruction is shown closing in on them. Because there is so much overlapping dialogue and commentary I found it a bit hard to keep up with reading all the subtitles, at the same time as giving the images my full attention. Obviously, if you speak Polish that won't be an issue.
Thanks to @"Zagadka" for recommending it in this thread.