© Da-da-sk

Alexei Balabanov  on the set,  2007 

Of Freaks and Men (1998) | dir. Alexei Balabanov

Cinematography by  Sergey Astakhov

"Of Freaks and Men" is both a dark gem and a perplexing marketing conundrum. Pic will get fest kudos, but it's too much ribald fun for "serious"art film lovers and too offbeat in its birth-of-Russian-porno subject matter and stylized cinematography to catch any significant arthouse B.O. Its outside chance of success rests upon savvy exploitation of its undeniable qualities and quirky period parlor hijinx.

References for this picture, shot almost entirely in a tinted-sepia re-creation of period daguerreotypes, are tough to find, but one could look to David Lynch’s penchant for dwarves and Canadian cult auteur Guy Maddin’s oddball musings. Pic also bears strong stylistic resemblance to Steven Soderbergh’s ill-fated B&W “Kafka.” But “Freaks” contrasts strongly with all of the above in its fidelity to its sympathetic characters and the central premise that sex is the sinister undoing of both the innocent and the evil...

Thought-provoking, funny, disturbing and utterly involving, “Freaks” marks a terrific follow-up to Balabanov’s award-winning ’97 Russian box office hit, “Brother.” Cinematographer Sergei Astakhov’s carefully modulated and composed sepia-tone images are both disconcerting and hypnotically mood-enhancing. While the distancing effect may be counterproductive to the drama, it does lend an aura of the faded, forlorn days when the combination of sex and photography was new.

There is no answer. It’s okay. But even if it wasn’t okay, what am I supposed to do?

Raymond Carver, Cathedral (via quotespile)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) | dir. Steven Spielberg | USA

DoP: Douglas Slocombe

Hansel and Gretel (2007) | dir. Pil-sung Yim | South Korea

Cinematography by Ji-yong Kim

Inferno (1980) | dir. Dario Argento

Cinematography by Romano Albani

MASAO YAMAMOTO /Japanese, b. 1957

A BOX OF KU #77

Silver Gelatin Print

Artists | Galeria Valid Foto Bcn

I see horror as part of legitimate film. I don’t see it as an independent genre that has nothing to do with the rest of cinema.

Guillermo del Toro - Quotes (via 4eternal-life)

All the animals come out at night - whores, skunk pussies, buggers, queens, fairies, dopers, junkies, sick, venal. Someday a real rain will come and wash all this scum off the streets.

Taxi Driver (1976)

The Virgin Suicides (1999) | dir. Sofia Coppola | USA

Cinematography by Edward Lachman