owen roizman, cinematographer

owen roizman (1936-)

one of the most respected new york cinematographers (born in brooklyn) and son of a newsreel cameraman. known for his street realism, and low-light photography on such films as the french connection, the taking of pelham one two three, the exorcist, three days of the condor and straight time. certainly one of the finest contributors to seventies cinema.

the french connection 1971 (d. william friedkin):





the taking of pelham one two three 1974 (d. joseph sargent):
(see my train blog for more images)

wonderful reflections (director/dp?), like an atget photograph

reminds me of ernie gehr's still, 1969-71

bank robbery from straight time 1978 (d. ulu grosbard) with harry dean stanton:

"then stop looking at me motherfucker i'll blow your goddamn face off"

straight time with m emmet walsh in hotel room:

"if your clean you don't got nothing to worry about"

some films:
-the french connection 1971 (d. william friedkin)
-play it again, sam 1972 (d. herbert ross)
-the exorcist 1973 (d. william friedkin)
-the taking of pelham one two three 1974 (d. joseph sargent)
-three days of the condor 1975 (d. sydney pollack)
-network 1976 (d. sidney lumet)
-straight time 1978 (d. ulu grosbard)
-absence of malice 1981 (d. sydney pollack)

books:
-masters of light, univ. of california press. i highly recommend this book, the interview with roizman being one of the betters.

killer of sheep

photographic additions to my essential cinema list.

charles burnett's killer of sheep, 1977.
my teachers in film school were obsessed with this film and showed it at least once a semester. it is certainly a classic in american cinema, surely in the same league as the work of john cassavetes. now hopefully this and shirley clarke's the connection and the cool world will make it to dvd.

remember the red river valley, or dogs in the ox-bow incident

the opening and closing shot of william wellman's the oxbow-incident, 1942, each with trotting dog and the song red river valley.
riders are henry fonda and harry morgan.
a nice structural touch to have the 2 riders going into town (at the beginning of the film), and leaving town (at the end of the film), with the same melody from red river valley, but the dog added a strange element. reminiscent of the paintings of pieter bruegel, where dogs play such an important role. and also the films of bela tarr, where dogs add an element of the absurd.

opening sequence:

harry morgan with eyes on the dog

closing sequence:

film includes francis ford (john ford's brother), marc lawrence (who plays cobby in john huston's asphalt jungle), dana andrews, jane darwell (from the john ford stock company), cinematography by the great arthur c. miller, written and produced by lamar trotti and adapted from the wonderful book by walter van tilburg clark.

en état d'ivresse

a new (bl)ind (o)scillating (g)oat named dipsomania. the french call him dipsomane.
this goat plans to dedicate his/her life to the study of alcohol and its effects on cinema, literature, art and design. other posts will include studies of fine spirits, words related to, and interesting products.

paul klee, une dévotion aux petites choses

highways and byways, 1929

twittering machine. 1922

view of ancient city, 1927

books:
-paul klee et la nature de l'art: une dévotion aux petites choses, hazan/les musées de strasbourg (exhibition catalogue)
-klee by nello ponente, skira
-klee drawings, dover publications
-paul klee: painting music by hajo duchting, prestel
-paul klee and the bauhaus by christian geelhaar, new york graphic society ltd.
-paul klee: selected by genius 1917-1933 by roland doschka, prestel
-paul klee: his life and work by carolyn lanchner, hatje cantz (moma catalogue)
-paul klee by will grohmann, harry abrams
-paul klee drawings by will grohmann, harry abrams
-paul klee: 1879-1940 in the collection of the guggenheim museum
-paul klee rediscovered: works from the burgi collection by stefan frey and josef helfenstein, merrell publishers
-paul klee: beitrage zur bildnerischen formlehre (facsimile of bauhaus weimer manuscripts 1921/22) by paul klee, schwabe & co. ag verlag
-paul klee, fondation maeght
-paul klee: his life and thought by marcel franciscono, univ. of chicago
-the blue four: feininger, jawlensky, kandinsky, klee: in the new world by vivian endicott barnett and josef helfenstein, yale/dumont
-paul klee: the nature of creation, works 1914-1940 by robert kudielka, hayward gallery/lund humphries
-paul klee: the berggruen klee collection in the metropolitan museum of art by sabine rewald, met
-klee and america by josef helfenstein and elizabeth hutton turner, the menil collection/hatje cantz
-paul klee: the djerassi collection at the san francisco museum of modern art, sfmoma
-paul klee notebooks, volume 1: the thinking eye, volume 2: the nature of nature, lund humphries

or, the disease of collecting.

some of them, click to see details

munch in louisiana

edvard munch jealousy 1896

recently acquired exhibition poster from an edvard munch exhibition at the louisiana museum in denmark.
purchased from richard press in sacramento, my favourite bookseller in northern california.