A formidable descend to human decay.

A formidable descend to human decay.

Richard E. Grant looks at the history of Sherlock Holmes, including the many movie and TV adaptations

Richard E. Grant looks at the history of Sherlock Holmes, including the many movie and TV adaptations

A rocker makes a pact to kill himself on his 37th birthday. 12 weeks before the release of his final album and the end of his life, he meets and falls in love with a woman who has a dark secret of her own.

In an interview with Hans Scheugl about the ideas and techniques behind some of his films, the film-maker Kurt Kren told the following anecdote, which sheds an interesting light on his work. For his film Tree again (1978), Kren used a highly sensitive infra-red color film, a type which usually has to be developed within a very short period of time. However, Kren who has always worked on a very small budget, only had a roll of film which was already five years past its expiry date and, as Kren says, "there was little likelihood of anything turning out on the film." But he still decided to take shots of a large and splendid tree surrounded by bushes and a stretch of pastureland over a period of several weeks, from summer to autumn - a series of individual pictures taken from the same camera position. As he says, "I didn´t have much hope - (I knew) it was a crazy thing to do." But Kren´s illogical hope and his unshakeable confidence in his material were rewarded. Tree again became one of Kren´s most beautiful works - although it is difficult to single out any individual work from a corpus of extraordinary density and variety which spans over thirty years and includes over 40 films. The tree, the field, the sky, in fact the entire picture radiates an unusual, almost eerie artistry, with its rapidly changing blue, green and reddish hues, sometimes brightly illuminated for the fraction of a second like the flash of lightening in a technicolor horror film. Or a sky of deep blue with clouds scudding across it, an airplane drawing condensation trails which fade away imperceptibly, the abrupt juxtaposition of sun and shadow and the strong, gusty movement of the wind amongst branches and leaves, as though an endless and destructive storm were at work. An apocalyptic picture, yet one that is full of a wonderful, quiet beauty - the changing of the sun, and the play of light, how autumn arrives in a matter of seconds and the leaves begin to fall, the shadows of grazing animals which appear and disappear in the blink of an eye.

In an interview with Hans Scheugl about the ideas and techniques behind some of his films, the film-maker Kurt Kren told the following anecdote, which sheds an interesting light on his work. For his film Tree again (1978), Kren used a highly sensitive infra-red color film, a type which usually has to be developed within a very short period of time. However, Kren who has always worked on a very small budget, only had a roll of film which was already five years past its expiry date and, as Kren says, "there was little likelihood of anything turning out on the film." But he still decided to take shots of a large and splendid tree surrounded by bushes and a stretch of pastureland over a period of several weeks, from summer to autumn - a series of individual pictures taken from the same camera position. As he says, "I didn´t have much hope - (I knew) it was a crazy thing to do." But Kren´s illogical hope and his unshakeable confidence in his material were rewarded. Tree again became one of Kren´s most beautiful works - although it is difficult to single out any individual work from a corpus of extraordinary density and variety which spans over thirty years and includes over 40 films. The tree, the field, the sky, in fact the entire picture radiates an unusual, almost eerie artistry, with its rapidly changing blue, green and reddish hues, sometimes brightly illuminated for the fraction of a second like the flash of lightening in a technicolor horror film. Or a sky of deep blue with clouds scudding across it, an airplane drawing condensation trails which fade away imperceptibly, the abrupt juxtaposition of sun and shadow and the strong, gusty movement of the wind amongst branches and leaves, as though an endless and destructive storm were at work. An apocalyptic picture, yet one that is full of a wonderful, quiet beauty - the changing of the sun, and the play of light, how autumn arrives in a matter of seconds and the leaves begin to fall, the shadows of grazing animals which appear and disappear in the blink of an eye.

乡下小子进城，这是昔日香港粤语片的常见桥段，今日成为反映大陆真实的素材。当城市的高楼首次进入朱明的眼帘，梦想像唾手可得。但城市欢迎他的却是接二连三的骗局：工作介绍所骗他佣金，黑社会逼他非法勾当、去推销的补品竟然是假货。他投靠的同乡堂兄、堂兄的女友都渐渐对他有意见。城市的想象远去，人的温情在远离。卫铁用纪实手法来还原真实，给小人物送上关怀，为社会腐败敲钟。

乡下小子进城，这是昔日香港粤语片的常见桥段，今日成为反映大陆真实的素材。当城市的高楼首次进入朱明的眼帘，梦想像唾手可得。但城市欢迎他的却是接二连三的骗局：工作介绍所骗他佣金，黑社会逼他非法勾当、去推销的补品竟然是假货。他投靠的同乡堂兄、堂兄的女友都渐渐对他有意见。城市的想象远去，人的温情在远离。卫铁用纪实手法来还原真实，给小人物送上关怀，为社会腐败敲钟。

Une jeune femme à la moue agacée, au visage habillé par un noir et blanc rugueux, explique au téléphone à une amie à quel point son dernier voyage ne lui a servi à rien. Persuadée qu’on ne rencontre vraiment les gens que la première fois, puisque les suivantes sont saturées de mots et de subterfuges, elle va faire jouer un disque dans un magasin et l’écoute, assise sur une chaise, à côté d’un homme dont elle semble aussi loin que d’elle-même.