Light Sleeper. Updates.

Not to denigrate the level of discourse in the four fine new pieces up at Light Sleeper by mentioning Entertainment Weekly in the same breath, but if, for whatever reason, you needed a reminder of the limp and limited reach of pop cultural memory, you might start by noting that Pasolini's Salò is not among EW's 25 "most controversial movies," though it is most certainly, as LS editor Saul Symonds writes, introducing a roundtable discussion of the film between himself, David Ehrenstein and Noel Vera, "deservedly one of the 20th century's most controversial films." Beyond the controversy, though, and far more interesting, are the conflicting critical interpretations brought to the roundtable and the enduring mystery of its "disturbing power," which Saul explores in a follow-up essay.

He quickly dismisses its critique of fascism as being anywhere near the source of that power, but that dismissal makes for a nice segue to Ronald Bergan's rattler: "Last year, at the Mar del Plata Film Festival in Argentina, I had the honour of meeting SS Obersturmbannführer Heinrich Ehrhardt (retired) whose views on the film Downfall (Der Untergang) I recorded."

The fourth new addition is Richard Armstrong's review of Nina Kusturica and Eva Testor's 24 Realities per Second, a doc that follows Michael Haneke "on trains, in cars, directing actors, talking at a Q&A, shards of experience that may reveal glimpses of temperament and preoccupations.... The film is a record of its making."

Posted by dwhudson at June 20, 2006 2:20 PM