Passages from James Joyce's Finnegans Wake 1965 16mm film 90minsThis was the first attempt to cinematize the works of Irish author James Joyce. Based more on a stage adaptation by Mary Manning than the Joyce novel itself, the film concentrates on Dublin pubkeeper Finnegan (Martin J. Kelly), who while in the throes of inebriation has a vision of his own death. As the bemused Finnegan lies in his coffin, his friends gather for his wake. The "corpse" tries to cut through the keening and platitudes by probing the innermost thoughts of those closest to him. The surprising aspect of this film is that so much of its difficult text works on screen--a tribute to the loving care of scripter/director/ editor Mary Ellen Bute, who, while preparing this film spent her waking hours picking the brains and burrowing through the resource materials of the James Joyce Society.Although director Mary Ellen Bute’s highly regarded Finnegans Wake (aka Passages from Finnegans Wake) is a unique film that is likely to baffle anyone unfamiliar with James Joyce, it cannot be dismissed merely as a literary exercise. The director was right in claiming that her film was “not a translation of the book but a reaction to it”. It is actually based on a stage play by Mary Manning, who was also responsible for the screenplay. Joyce’s elliptical rhetoric and intricate punning, which might be considered a formidable barrier to the filming of this most opaque of his works, proved to be an attraction to Bute, whose enthusiasm for the ‘visual’ and ‘kinetic’ quality of his language led her to the surprising but well-judged move of running subtitles from the original text to support the dialogue.Visual music pioneer Mary Ellen Bute's final film was also her first feature film. James Joyce's classic story of Irish tavern-keeper who dreams of attending his own wake is brought to the screen with a sparkling energy which highlights its maker's career-long exploration of kinetic abstract animation. Perhaps best described as a 'film poem,' Passages from Finnegans Wake was the first attempt to 'cinematize' the works of James Joyce, featuring the author's highly original language spoken by characters and presented as text on screen.
意甲第9轮 罗马vs蒙扎影片的精彩影评
広大な団地アパートのある東京の郊外。石川直子、英一夫婦はこのアパートに住んでいる。ある朝直子はバタヤ集落の燃えている音で目がさめた。白い西洋菓子のようなコンクリートの城壁に住む団地族、それと対照的にあるうすぎたないバタヤ集落。直子はブリキと古木材の焼跡で無心に土を掘り返す盲目の少女をみつけた。その少女は、夫の英一の大学時代の友人でこのバタヤ集落に住む伊古奈と呼ばれる男が連れている少女であった。犬のクマと少女をつれていつも歩いている男。服装はみすぼらしいが眼は美しく澄んでいた。長い金網のサクで境界線を作った団地とバタヤ集落とは別世界の様な二つの世界であった。夫を送り出したあとコンクリートの部屋で弧独の時間を送る直子に、眼下に見えるバタヤ集落の様子は、特に伊古奈という男は意識の底に残った。直子は夫を愛するように全ての人間を愛する事に喜びを感じていた。だから伊古奈にも、盲目の少女にも、クリーニング屋の小僧にも同じように善意をほどこした。直子の世話でバタヤから転業させようとした伊古奈は、社会から拘束されない今の自由さから離れられず、あいかわらず犬と少女を連れて楽しそうに歩いていた。そんな伊吉奈をみる直子の心は、単調な、コンクリートの中で他人の目を気にする自分達夫婦の生活に深い疑問をもち、夫との間に次第に距離を感じてゆくのだった。...