Nicolas Roeg's WALKABOUT on 4K from Criterion!
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- čas přidán 25. 07. 2024
- In this video, I am talking about Nicolas Roeg's film WALKABOUT and the new Criterion 4K UHD release.
Check out the details Here: www.criterion.com/films/522-w...
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/ @justthediscs
#PhysicalMedia #BlurayHaul #criterioncollection #4kuhd - Zábava
You put me on Danny Peary books. I need to thank you for that. I don't own cult movies 2 or 3. I am the proud owner of cult movies 1, guide for the film fanatic and cult movie stars. One of my favorite movie critics / writers. I also quote him sometimes on letterboxd reviews 😊
Love To hear that! Those books changed my life!
The first scene in this movie is a block knocker, just DAMN!
Crazy stuff
A very special movie.
Truly!
For me, when I hear the word cinema, I think of Nic Roeg. Not Scorsese or Coppola or Spielberg or Lynch. Roeg. His films never end. And that goes for ALL of his filmography. Silent cinema is alive and well in the films of Nic Roeg.
Walkabout is a classic but my favourites are Eureka and Insignificance (both of which may be two of the most underrated films of all time, especially Eureka) and I love his tv movie Heart of Darkness, which I’m desperate to see be released on blu ray. Also, his other tv movie, Two Deaths from 1995.
It’s great that Don’t Look Now was voted greatest British film but that, Walkabout and the films up until Bad Timing seem to be the only films of Roeg’s that people discuss and that is very frustrating. There is like a cut off point that is really baffling.
Eureka is his best film in my eyes. Just imagine that extraordinarily mind blowing visual feast of a film on 4k? We have films like Jess Franco’s Dracula on 4k but no Eureka. This is crazy. Why is this film ignored?! What did Roeg do wrong?
I see the names David Lynch, David Cronenberg, Dario Argento, Alejandro Jodorowsky etc all the time but no one speaks of Roeg. It’s very frustrating. His films are so rich. So unique. I feel like he’s all those filmmakers in one and more.
His films are begging to be discussed about. That’s what they are. Cinematic jigsaw puzzles. People will endlessly break down and analyse David Lynch films but not Roeg’s. This is crazy to me. I love Lynch but Roeg’s films are much richer in mystery and depth. You can extract real meaning from them. They can enlighten you in some way. They give you so much.
Everyone loves Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me now but what about The Man Who Fell To Earth’s influence on that film? The recent film Blonde? So many films. Eureka’s influence on There Will Be Blood? That’s the the most blatant. It’s never discussed. The filmmakers literally point towards it but don’t speak his name in public.
Roeg’s filmography has massively influenced cinema but it goes unnoticed and unspoken. What about the new Nolan film Oppenheimer? Roeg is all throughout Nolan’s films but in Oppenheimer it’s clear as day the influence of Man Who Fell, Insignificance and also Eureka on it. This is not projection or wishful thinking. It’s right there.
It does make me happy that he’s still alive and well in cinema but it almost feels hidden sometimes. I never really see him mentioned on film social media or popping up on lists but the names above always do. Like Stanley Kubrick’s name. It’s gets abit boring honestly. Roeg didn’t make obscure arthouse films. He was actively trying to engage with an audience.
This may sound hyperbolic but if all films were lost tomorrow and only Nic Roeg’s filmography was left then I wouldn’t feel a sense of loss. In fact, I would feel a sense of discovery. I can’t do justice to his cinema in words here and this comment is now too long and a little intense but I just wanted to show my respect to the gift that is Nic Roeg’s cinema. Thank you Nic. Looking forward to experiencing Walkabout once again.
Great episode by the way! Thanks for shining a light on this great film.
Thanks for your comments! Roeg is truly special and you’re right in saying under discussed. I need to see HEART OF DARKNESS and TWO DEATHS, but I absolutely share your passion for EUREKA and INSIGNIFICANCE. And yes Nolan certainly owes Roeg a great deal. It’s as if he thinks people don’t know those films and ins way I suppose he’s right and can take from them more easily. I just wish filmmakers would acknowledge their influences more openly sometimes
@@JustTheDiscs Thanks for the reply. Really appreciate what you do. What did Herzog say? Soldier of cinema? Not to get too cheesy but that’s you man! Haha
Just want to make clear, I don’t dislike or not putting down any of the filmmakers i mentioned. Love them all. It’s not competition. Just feel as though Roeg’s cinema should be held up more. As I said, when I hear cinema, I think of Nic Roeg. Can’t help it.
I am confused Roeg’s not more of a cult figure than say someone like Jodorowsky, who internet people love. That’s baffling to me. Reminds me of Monte Hellman. I adore his films. What a filmmaker! Roeg isn’t as obscure but again, Hellman’s incredible, unique films just left in the dust.
Don’t know what I’d do without their films. I’ll just stay grateful that they got to make the films they did, although I wished they could of worked more in their lifetimes. Neither got to make proper feature films in the 90’s, which is so sad.
Funnily enough, there is a video on CZcams of Hellman talking about scariest film he ever saw and he says it’s Don’t Look Now.
Interesting how much Cronenberg and Lynch are adored by internet people over someone like Roeg too. Even Altman. Oh well.
Agree with everything u say about Nolan. It’s so clear the influence in Oppenheimer especially. At least it shows you just how strong Roeg’s work is and that it lives on and will continue to do so as how can it not? But his films deserve an audience.
I will say, to give Nolan some credit, that if you buy Roeg’s memoir digitally then at the back is a few videos of filmmakers discussing Roeg’s work. Nolan discusses the end sequence of Insignificance and how much it’s inspired him.
Danny Boyle has always been open about it. He really loves Eureka.
Nolan also said that Memento would be pretty much unthinkable without Roeg and his film Bad Timing so I can’t be too harsh on him but more publicly would be nice instead of hidden away in books etc, whilst he goes on about Kubrick, Spielberg, Mann on a more widely seen platform for the zillionth time.
@@JustTheDiscs abit long but just quickly on Eureka, this is a seriously undervalued film. Not many people have picked up on this stuff but Roeg visually references the tv show title sequences for both Carl Sagan’s Cosmos and Jacob Bronowski’s Ascent of Man, just to give you an idea of where it’s coming from.
The gold strike itself is visualisation of a snow globe smashing.
It’s full of mirrors and reflections. Alice in Wonderland but more so Alice Through the Looking Glass is a big part of the film. The prospector Jack fights at the beginning can be seen as Jack fighting with himself. He steps through the looking glass. When Jack falls into the gold cave, it’s like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. Even the court room scene everyone hates. The tone of that is Alice in Wonderland.
The down and out gold prospector at beginning who shoots himself is reflection of Rutger Hauer’s Claude. How does he end up at beginning? Claude places his head on the mirror in Eureka at the end of the film as he’s leaving to go on his own journey. That opening bit exists out of time almost. The children playing near Jack who are being called by their mother? The young boy is Jack as a child and that’s his mother and father clearing out. Not many pick up on this. It’s Jack inner life.
Joe Spinell is a reflection of Hackman’s Mcann. Notice the way he keeps knowingly grinning at him? They even have similar grins, facial hair. Look like Cheshire Cats to take it back to Wonderland. Wearing similar suits. Spinell’s always wet, even when out of rain, to call back to when Jack drowns during his gold strike. Spinell even looks at Jack through a looking glass at one point. The blow torch death sequence is shot in a way so that it’s Spinell’s reflection that approaches Jack. When Spinell drops the snow globe, it’s caught in the mirrors reflection.
Sounds all abit film studies but this is what’s happening. There is so much going on in the film. It’s a visual extravaganza. Talk about film language. Its as strong as silent cinema in its visual storytelling.
It’s also relevant to life as we know it. Read Carl Sagans pale blue dot poem from 92. That’s Eureka. Obviously Sagan hadn’t seen the film but same areas of thinking.
Neil de Grasse Tyson obviously hasn’t seen it. One of his favourite films is Zack Snyders Watchmen. (Although Alan Moree a student of Roeg 100 percent. Big inspiration for him)
But he wrote a book recently called The Cosmic Perspective. In it, he talks about how when we went to the moon, we finally discovered earth and this changed us as a species and so on. I agree and so did Roeg as this is what he is depicting with Eureka.
Within discovery is death and within death is discovery.
Robocop? Its unintentional but again very similar films in theme. Iv seen Paul Weller keep going on about how Robocop is really a story of resurrection. Who did Verhoeven want to originally cast as Robocop? Rutger Hauer! And Verhoeven made the 4th man, which is obviously heavily inspired by Dont Look Now. Funny all these connections you can make.
Soldier of cinema, I like that - thank you. Love the parallel to Monte Hellman - he too is a filmmaker I like very very much. TWO LSNE BLACKTOP is an all time top ten favorite film for me. Truly spectacular.
@@JustTheDiscs Wear it proud! You deserve it. Two Lane is an all timer for sure. Love the endless mystery of that film. Roeg and Hellman may never have huge audiences but their films will last. I’m sure of that.
My favourite Hellman is probably China 9 Liberty 37. Still praying for a blu ray to that film.
In the meantime, I came across this clip from it on CZcams the other day. I thought this is really good quality considering the terrible quality versions I own of it. I messaged the uploader and he linked me the film in the comments below.
It’s the best looking version Iv ever came across of it and the sound is not terrible either. Only 2 comments so easy to find. If you’re interested, grab it while you can!
czcams.com/video/ke3IfIwOJ2I/video.htmlsi=7I2RRLfDQ2AsXjzl
Oh boy. The second you said “a fair amount of animal death,” my enthusiasm for watching this film, died. Years back, Grindhouse released Cannibal Holocaust, with a version that excised all of the animal violence. I won’t go so far as to say it’s a moral obligation to provide a cut like that, but it would be thoughtful, and appreciated.
It’s the only slight downside to the movie for me