| Just so you know I'm not a cartoon squirrel but an actual regular New Jersey gray squirrel or whatever. Just figured this was more palatable for the general audience.
I guess one thing I didn't go into detail with when I was talking to Jack Nicholson, who is the show's announcer now — I know, huge get, right? — is the fact that it's my magical green necklace which is responsible for my squirreldom (my "being a squirrel"). If I rip it off, I would become a person again (allegedly!) but the others, who I guess live here now? — said that they would, without hesitation, kill me and eat my soul. So, it's like, while I definitely think I could take four squirrels in a fight to the death. It also seems like they have magical, most likely evil powers? So it's not a theory I feel like questioning right now. |
Room 666 is a short feature documentary with a minimalist's bend. The idea? It's Cannes Film Festival 1982 and a camera / tape recorder have been setup in a hotel room. Sixteen notable filmmakers are asked to answer questions related to the future of cinema. Like Steven Spielberg talking about masturbation...
This was a very fitting choice to lead off with given the quintet of crap I have waiting for me. Watching these directors wax poetic about the medium — focusing on all sorts of different aspects, from the economic to the technological to the poetic — when you know you're gonna watch Titanic 666 in 24 hours, really puts things into perspective in a way I wasn't quite anticipating.
Highlights included, Goddard — really speaking from the heart...
Herzog — being as weird as ever (he takes his shoes off and is the only one to switch off the TV playing in the background) while also making some prescient points (he kinda invents Uber Eats here)...
(Michelangelo Antonioni comes through with the second best prediction: that we will have TVs that mimic the cinematic experience one day.)
Rainer Werner Fassbinder — with the shortest sound-bite by a mile...
There's was also some interesting stuff done in the edit, like juxtaposing Goddard's anti-television commentary alongside Paul Morrissey's praise for the medium (he prefers it because of the characters whereas Goddard only saw it as an outlet for advertisement).
While the names in this fine collection of auteurs is broadcast at the beginning, it's an interesting choice not showing them when they're speaking; are we supposed to know who everyone is? There's an inherent bit of gatekeeping in that notion even if about half are instantly recognizable. Or maybe he's saying their names aren't all that important, that they could be anyone, any movie watcher? I'm honestly not sure.
Spielberg's section is especially interesting because he comes across as candid as I've ever seen him: essentially copping to the fact that he makes movies for the masses but not apologizing for it. And he acknowledges the privilege of his generation in a really direct way. Wenders ends the 44-minute doc with the audio-only recording of a Turkish director (Yilmaz Güney) who couldn't travel to the festival for political reasons. And he comes across as sort of the anti-Spielberg: the somewhat reluctant but accepting capitalist vs. the hardline socialist...
All and all, a very interesting document. The minimalist setup is perfect for this type of examination and this wide array of talent has a lot of fascinating things to say.
CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ EPISODE 665 - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 666B ⫸
⫷ EPISODE 665 - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 666B ⫸
Room 666 (French: Chambre 666) is a 1982 documentary film directed by German film director Wim Wenders. During the 1982 Cannes Film Festival, Wenders set up a static camera in room 666 of the Hotel Martinez and provided selected film directors a list of questions to answer concerning the future of cinema. Each director is given one 16 mm reel (approximately 11 minutes) to answer the questions. The principal question asked was, "Is cinema a language about to get lost, an art about to die?" Wenders then edited this footage and added an introduction. It was released on October 16, 1982.
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