Riddles of the Sphinx
Moderator: MichaelB
- What A Disgrace
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:34 pm
- Contact:
Re: Riddles of the Sphinx
May I ask why this release wasn't included with the Flipside strand? It seems right up its alley.
Received mine Monday, and am looking for the right time to dip in. Its certainly up *my* alley.
Received mine Monday, and am looking for the right time to dip in. Its certainly up *my* alley.
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
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Re: Riddles of the Sphinx
I can't speak for the BFI, but to me it doesn't really seem like a Flipside release.
For starters, it's long been recognised as a major milestone in British avant-garde cinema, and although audiences have been predictably tiny throughout its existence, it's never been wholly forgotten in the way that, say, Herostratus or the B.S. Johnson films were.
For starters, it's long been recognised as a major milestone in British avant-garde cinema, and although audiences have been predictably tiny throughout its existence, it's never been wholly forgotten in the way that, say, Herostratus or the B.S. Johnson films were.
- zedz
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm
Re: Riddles of the Sphinx
I'd say this is the most celebrated (and maybe even most seen) British experimental film of the 70s, and probably since the 70s. It might have been unavailable on (reasonably priced) home video, but there's no way it's been overlooked or lost. It's a staple of film theory and feminist theory courses. I wouldn't be surprised if - as was apparently the case with Jeanne Dielman - the continued demand for 16mm screenings acted as a disincentive for DVD release (since that would immediately replace those rentals and kill the revenue stream).
Love it though I do, the Flipside label is a kind of ghetto, and that sort of branding really wouldn't be appropriate for this release, or for other similarly high-ish profile BFI titles like the Jarmans and Greenaways.
Love it though I do, the Flipside label is a kind of ghetto, and that sort of branding really wouldn't be appropriate for this release, or for other similarly high-ish profile BFI titles like the Jarmans and Greenaways.
- What A Disgrace
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:34 pm
- Contact:
Re: Riddles of the Sphinx
That makes sense. The announcement of this release was actually the first time I heard about the film (as is often the case with Flipside titles, too), I'm embarrassed to say.
- zedz
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm
Re: Riddles of the Sphinx
Even though it's been in distribution all this time, absence from home video does confer a kind of invisibility on titles - though you could already have picked up a DVD from Women Make Movies if you'd had a spare 400 bucks rattling around!
- antnield
- Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:59 pm
- Location: Cheltenham, England
Re: Riddles of the Sphinx
And so they have.Wes Moynihan wrote:I wish the BFI would put up a second trailer for the film - the one on the BFI youtube page reminds me of In the Shadow of the Sun or some other Derek Jarman Super 8 film, and I imagine it's not representative of the film...
- zedz
- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:24 pm
Re: Riddles of the Sphinx
When I looked at that, I had to sit through an ad which featured something like the Mars Rover, which was oddly appropriate, since the central section of Sphinx basically resembles the heroine's daily life as if it were being observed by an alien probe.antnield wrote:And so they have.Wes Moynihan wrote:I wish the BFI would put up a second trailer for the film - the one on the BFI youtube page reminds me of In the Shadow of the Sun or some other Derek Jarman Super 8 film, and I imagine it's not representative of the film...
I've started to work my way through this release, and can affirm that Mulvey's commentary is detailed and lucid - a great primer for the theoretical components of the film. And I'm reminded how mysterious and beautiful this film can be. The theory informs all of Mulvey and Wollen's decisions, but it doesn't overburden or overdetermine the film. As a purely sensory experience it offers plenty of the visual pleasure that Mulvey was so concerned with, and those obsessive 360 degree pans are smart and stately, and I particularly love it towards the end when they get a lot more playful, aping blank screens or navigating the outrageous pitfalls of a room full of mirrors. That latter scene is such a gorgeous shot, probably one of my favourites of the 70s, and it makes it plain that all of these plans sequences are as carefully choreographed as something you'd find in a Jansco film.
In terms of comparisons, Riddles of the Sphinx is quite similar to what Godard and Mieville were doing at the same time (e.g. Comment ca va), only so, so, so much better.
- colinr0380
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:30 pm
- Location: Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, UK
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- Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am
Re: Riddles of the Sphinx
I found this mindnumbingly tedious, I'm sorry to say.
- EddieLarkin
- Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:25 am
Re: Riddles of the Sphinx
Thanks for the bump; you reminded me to pick this up before it disappears. Can anyone confirm if Penthesilea is in HD or SD?
- neilist
- Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2011 5:09 am
- Location: Cambridge, UK
Re: Riddles of the Sphinx
It's in HD on the Blu-ray, according to the booklet 'scanned at 2K resolution from the original 16mm negatives'.EddieLarkin wrote:Thanks for the bump; you reminded me to pick this up before it disappears. Can anyone confirm if Penthesilea is in HD or SD?
- antnield
- Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:59 pm
- Location: Cheltenham, England
Re: Riddles of the Sphinx
I'm told that this release is down to its last few copies - and the next pressing will be DVD-only.
So anyone wanting this on Blu-ray had better hurry...
So anyone wanting this on Blu-ray had better hurry...