Filmmaker Sophie Barthes plans to open her first feature, Cold Souls, with a title card containing words from the French philosopher René Descartes: “The soul has its principal seat in the small gland located in the middle of the brain.”
The quote is typical of Barthes’s ironic and unexpected sensibility. In both her Sundance short Happiness and her upcoming feature Cold Souls, she tackles dark themes (loneliness and existential crisis, respectively) with a witty blend of fantasy and character-based humor reminiscent of Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman. “I’m very interested in poetic science fiction, films like Alphaville, that play with philosophical concerns,” Barthes says.
extracted from Filmmaker Magazine
Ah, a woman director compared to Gondry and Kaufman cannot be anything short of brilliant or at the very least worthy of seeing. Not to mention she is a fan of Godard and her last name is Barthes... any relation to Roland Barthes? I don't know, but if you don't know either of these two, spend some time checking them out.
Also, Sundance has begun, as well as Slamdance (The Indieroad Film Fest). What is great about the latter is you can stream the films online ($9 usually) and take part in screenings and voting. Already on my list is Only written, produced and directed by Ingrid Veninger and Simon Reynolds.
Below is Alphaville by Godard. If only I were French and could be mentored by French screenplay writers. They know precisely what should be included and what is a waste of breath. My opinion, of course.
And to end, a quote by Descartes: And so something which I thought I was seeing with my eyes is in fact grasped solely by the faculty of judgment which is in my mind.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment