Olivier Smolders - Spiritual Exercises - 10 Film Collection ( Adoration / Ravissements / Mort a Vignole / Point de fuite / L'Amateur / L'Art d'aimer / La Philosophie dans le boudoir / Neuvaine / Pensées et visions d'un tête coupée / Seuls ) ( Adoration / Rapture / Death at Vignole / Vanishing Point / The Amateur / The Art of Loving / Philosophy in the Boudoir / Novena / Thoughts and Visions of a Severed Head / Alone )

Olivier Smolders - Spiritual Exercises - 10 Film Collection (DVD) (*)

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Original Title: Adoration / Ravissements / Mort a Vignole / Point de fuite / L'Amateur / L'Art d'aimer / La Philosophie dans le boudoir / Neuvaine / Pensées et visions d'un tête coupée / Seuls
Alternate Title: Adoration / Rapture / Death at Vignole / Vanishing Point / The Amateur / The Art of Loving / Philosophy in the Boudoir / Novena / Thoughts and Visions of a Severed Head / Alone
Screened, competed or awarded at:
Other Film Festival Awards

Language Selections:
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )

Product Origin/Format:
France ( PAL/NTSC/Region 0 )

Running Time:
180 min

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access
Black & White
Booklet

Movie filmed in 1984 - 199 and produced in:
Belgium ( France, Benelux )
France ( France, Benelux )

Directed By:
Olivier Smolders

Written By:
Olivier Smolders

Actors:
Catherine Aymerie
Takashi Matsuo
Yves Degen ..... (voice)
Cathy Grosjean
Eric Pauwels
Mélanie Rullier
Jean-François Stévenin ..... Dolmance
Sylvaine Maias ..... Mme de Saint Ange
Marc Chapiteau ..... (voice)
Aurélia Alcaïs
Sylvie d'Aney
Nelly Boets
Valérie Braekman
Lémi Cétol
Daniel Chevalier
Christian Courtois
Barbara De Jonghe
Marie-Rose De Jonghe
Bernard Geirnaert
Ode Guissard
Alexandre von Sivers
Olivier Smolders

Synopsis:

Adoration (1987)
Disturbing portrait of a true-crime case of cannibalism.
Rapture (1999)
Smolders takes excerpts from the theological writings of Therese d'Avila, and again applies static images to prose that chronicles the rules of preparing for and submitting to a rapture. The subjects are again beautiful young women who function as novitiates that Smolders photographs from increasingly closer camera positions, until their blank expressions serve as similarly emotionless tableaux for d'Avila's clinical prose.
Death at Vignole (1998)
Smolder's autobiographical is drawn from his home movies and inspired by a personal tragedy. Smolders maintains compact narratives that aren't indulgent, prolonged, or pretentious, and whatever filmmaking tools he applies master shots vs. heavy montage, for example they're appropriate for each film's subject matter, and tone.
Vanishing Point (1988)
The director's cheeky sense of humour pops up in this rich colour short, wherein a class plays a particularly naughty trick on a teacher, whom Smolders uses as the straight man victimized by the class' wicked sense of play. The compositions are clean and stark, and Philippe Marion's score almost mocks the teacher's efforts to teach the kids no matter what's going on.
The Amateur (1997)
This short deals with an amateur photographer's quest to catalogue nude women on film, while simultaneously capturing their vulnerabilities, self-loathing, pride, and contempt for the photographer, often seen setting up the corner where the women will pose, or placing objects in front of the camera as symbols linking himself to whatever theme or personality he's hoping to test. The subjects range from college age girls to elderly and utterly ordinary women, a married woman, and a temptress.
The Art of Loving (1985)
Another colour short is a blurry monologue (read by Smolders) from the perspective of a man confused about past events from his youth, and the fate of his mother. Smolder's voice is deadly monotone, and the short drones on towards a climax set in an old age home, and a room filled with men and women suffering from diverse ailments, or seniors trapped in some darkened mental gloom.
Philosophy in the Boudoir (1991)
Smolders takes extracts from the Marquis De Sade's nutbar text and applies them to scenes of a man in a prison cell, and single or groups of women often standing with the same blank expressions as the man.
Novena (1984)
Another longer short that has two threads: a troubled seminary student sent away to do penance for nine days, and a filmmaker who checks into the same seminary to write his latest work. Both storylines quickly blur into the observations of the writer's constant stream of thoughts, and Smolders intercuts a girl, possibly from the writer's past, and the seminary's cook who serves him soup each day. The narration is ongoing yet slow and measured, and sometimes it becomes a vicious attack towards a character.
Thoughts and Visions of a Severed Head (1991)
The theme of death is heavily interwoven in Smolder's surreal salute to Belgian painter Antoine Wiertz, , a Hieronymus Bosch-type artist whose work centered on humans in various stages in torment, as depicted in expansive canvases with gore galore. Smolders has basically taken a standard documentary and chopped it up, using quotes from the long-dead artist, and periodic statements by a historian (Smolders) filling in a few bits of Wiertz' life.
Alone (1989)
Mental anguish is all that's present in this film. Shot like a grungy medical documentary, Smolders and co-director Thierry Knauff, intercut shots of several children at a Belgium psychiatric clinic.

10 Films By Oliver Smolders in French with English Subtitles

1. Adoration (1987) an annoymous film.
2. Mort A Vignole (1998) a lonely film
3. L'Amateur (1997) a pear shaped film - Short fiction film centred around a man who films women.
4. La Philosophie Dans Le Boudoir (1991) after D.A.F. de Sade
5. Penees Et Visions D'une Tete Coupee (1991) a film for Antoine Wiertz
6. Ravissements (1991) after Saint Therese Of Avila
7. Point De Fuite (1988) an educational film
8. L'Art D'Aimer (1985) adrama film in color
9. Neuvaine (1984) a film to entertain chairs
10. Seuls (1989) childrens portraits

This special collection features 10 spellbinding short works from Belgian experimental filmmaker Olivier Smolders, including "Adoration" (1987), "Mort a Vignole" (1998), "L'Amateur" (1997) and "La Philosophie Dans Le Boudoir" (1991). "Pensees et Visions D'une Tête Coupée" (1991), "Ravissements" (1991), "Point de Fuite" (1988), "L'Art D'Aimer" (1985), "Neuvaine" (1984) and "Seuls" (1989) round out the sampler.

This product was added to our catalog on Saturday 03 October, 2009.

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