Film Recommendations From Matthew Von Vogt
Elevator to the Gallows | Directed by Louis Malle, 1958
This early-career effort by Louis Malle carries special appeal in light of recent PMA Films programming. Those who enjoyed Birth of the Cool (2019)—the Miles Davis documentary PMA Films screened last October—will recall that Davis composed the score for Malle’s film. Also, we can view this picture as a cousin of sorts to the Agnès Varda retrospective, with Elevator’s quiet, measured pacing and enigmatic, wandering characters sharing points of contact with Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962), especially. As with the early films of Jean-Luc Godard, Francois Truffaut, and other members of the French New Wave, Elevator to the Gallows owes a healthy debt to Hollywood noir, and Jeanne Moreau’s turn as a femme fatale anticipates her storied performance in Truffaut’s Jules et Jim (1962). At the same time, the colorful minor characters add a dose of levity to the shadowy plot.
This film is accessible through Amazon Prime Video (with a rental surcharge), or free for those with a Criterion Channel subscription.
Andrei Rublev | Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, 1966
I love Andrei Tarkovsky beyond all measure, but even clear-eyed evaluators place this film within the inner circle of all-time greats. Ostensibly a biopic of the famous Byzantine painter, Tarkovsky’s stylistics are sui generis and defy generic labels. He was also conversant in transnational modernism, and sharp-eyed viewers will catch veiled references to Abstract Expressionism. And as lovers of film and fine art—as well as film as fine art—we in the PMA community can appreciate the interplay the Soviet master initiates between cinema and painting in relation to broader questions of what an artist is, and why art gets pursued in the first place. To my mind, for example, no filmmaker captures the materiality of nature with such intensity, as Tarkovsky trains his camera not just on the churches in which his protagonist worked, but on the full gamut of earthly elements. Fans of Beanpole (2020), the Russian film by Kantemir Balagov that PMA Films screened several weeks ago, may appreciate this work by an earlier luminary from that country’s rich cinematic tradition.
The Circle | Directed by Jafar Panahi, 2001
It was a great treat to screen three of Abbas Kiarostami’s signature works this past fall. While we would do well to explore the rest of his oeuvre, this is a ripe moment to discover the work of Iran’s other talented filmmakers—artists who, to put it mildly, have worked under considerable impediments (if not exile). Chief among these is Jafar Panahi, an acolyte of Kiarostami. In The Circle, Panahi lends visibility to the underrepresented plight of Iranian women. In lieu of a proper soundtrack, Panahi favors the noise, dialogue, and music of the street; in so doing, he cultivates a rich sense of the ambience of the oppressive, gendered urban landscape. The film’s title hints at its determinism, but beyond the narrative, the camerawork—highlighted by restricted sightlines and wandering long takes across transitional urban spaces—resonates as indelibly as the story.
On the topic of Iranian visual culture, I’ll take this opportunity to recommend the work of Shirin Neshat, the filmmaker-photographer known for Turbulent Voices (1998), Rapture (1999), and other representations of Iranian women.
Matthew Von Vogt is an Ambassador in the Museum Experience and Safety Department. He was raised in Maine and attended Colby College, before completing grad school in the Midwest. He self-identifies as a cinephile, but embraces the popular as well as the avant-garde; currently, his favorite films are Vertigo (1958) and Sans Soleil (1983)