SCFZ

Polling the films of John Sayles.

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the Sayles films you've seen, up to a maximum of 5. So if you've seen seven of his films, for example, you can list only a top 3. It's only if you've seen ten or more of his films than you can list the maximum of five.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Tuesday, in seven days, whatever day that is

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

i think we'll go with extended rules for this:

- you can round up instead of down if you've seen an odd number of films (e.g. if you've seen 7, you can vote for 4 instead of 3)
- if you have seen more than 10, you can vote for more than 5 (though still no more than half of what you've seen)

Matewan
The Brother from Another Planet

seen three

4.

City of Hope
Lianna

I like him and I'm always surprised that I haven't seen more of his work. City of Hope is proto-The Wire.

The Secret of Roan Inish
Passion Fish
Limbo
Matewan
Baby It's You
Brother from Another Planet

Seen 18

Matewan
City of Hope
The Brother From Another Planet
Return of the Secaucus Seven
Casa De Los Babys
Lone Star
Lianna
Limbo
Passion Fish

His best is very good, and his worst work is still pretty ok. He's actually kind of hard to rank because of how consistent everything is outside of his few top-tier films. But he is a filmmaker who really does benefit from an auteurist approach to his films, the "minor" works start to feel much more grand within the context of his whole career.
He also has some underseen films that I think really highlight his best qualities. Casa De Los Babys is one of the few films I can think of that deals honestly with international adoption- the class component, the psychological component, and the dubious geopolitical morality of the situation. As someone from a family of international adoption that one hit home for me, and I felt was one of the most well observed social realist films I've ever come across.

joks sent me a pm asking if we can poll karel zeman, so i'll ask here if anyone has seen 7+ zeman films?

seen 11.
My votes:
1. Lone Star (1996)
2. Matewan (1987)
3. Limbo (1999)
4. The Brother from Another Planet (1984)
5. Lianna (1983)

Wonderful filmmaker! I've seen way too few, though.

01. The Secret of Roan Inish (1994)
02. Honeydripper (2007)

Sayles seen: 3

Zeman seen: 1

Zeman seen: 10+ (tho some of them in the long past)

assuming joks has seen 7+, we just need one more person with 7+ zeman films seen to make a poll work

seen 8

1. Matewan
2. Eight Men Out
3. Lone Star
4. Limbo

Baby It's You
Secret of Roan Inish
Loan Star
Eight Men Out
Matewan

to sum up the poll prospects (7+ or 10+) of my countrymen...
(towards about half of them i am either apathetic or antagonistic but i expect these are the names (not polled yet) with a certain international repute)

Karel Kachyňa: gloede 10+, apathé 10+
Jaromil Jireš: curtis 7+(8), apathé 10+
Karel Zeman: joks 7+(9), apathé 10+
Jan Němec: apathé 7+, anyone(7+ or 10+)???
Otakar Vávra: apathé 10+ (tho most of them long ago), anyone(7+ or 10+)???
Martin Frič: apathé 10+ (tho most of them long ago), anyone(7+ or 10+)??? gloede???
Juraj Herz: apathé 10, anyone(7+ or 10+)???
Jiří Menzel: apathé 10+, anyone(7+ or 10+)???
Evald Schorm: apathé 10, anyone(7+ or 10+)??? rischka???
Hynek Bočan: apathé 7+, anyone(7+ or 10+)???
Jan Schmidt: apathé 7, anyone(7+ or 10+)???
Jan Svěrák: apathé 7, anyone(7+ or 10+)???
Vojtěch Jasný: apathé 5 (tho if necessary, i can reach to 7 or 10)
Jiří Krejčík: apathé 5+ (tho if necessary, i can reach to 7 or 10)
Alexander Hammid: apathé 5 (tho if necessary, i can reach to 7 or 10), anyone(7+ or 10+)???
Hugo Haas: apathé 7+, anyone(7+ or 10+)???
Karel Lamač: (if necessary, i can reach to 7 or 10), anyone(7+ or 10+)???
Václav Vorlíček: apathé 10+, anyone(7+ or 10+)???

the key local filmmaker is (in my view) Karel Vachek.
i watched all his oeuvre (i.e. 10+) but i don't expect there is a chance for his poll.
or is it???

I have way too few on all of those, apathé, though I enjoyed most of those I've seen. I think the most might be 3 by Nemec and 2 by Vavra and Sverak.
I've also seen some by some others you didn't list, but nothing noteworthy. 3 by Karel Lamač for example (but all directed in Germany) and 3 by Alexander Hackenschmied.
Also seen 2 by Zbynek Brynych, Peter Solan and Vaclav Vorlicek.

EDIT: Just discovered that the most I probably have by someone Czech or Slovak we haven't polled yet, is 5 by Paľo Bielik.

there is also Hugo Haas who was a local popular actor (gaining also repute as a film director) prior to WW2.
was Jewish thus had to flee to U.S. and in the post WW2 times directed several films in the U.S.
in the very very long past, there was a retrospective of these U.S. entries on the local TV.
i watched all of those films offered and was quite intrigued (there is always some moral dilemma in his film's plots).
unfortunately, i don't remember anymore most of the titles of those U.S. entries i watched.
in any case, i watched for sure 7+ and would gladly rewatch or watch unwatched if there would be a chance for a poll.
i am quite curious if anyone of you American cinephiles have noticed Hugo Haas's existence???

wba wrote: ↑Sun Sep 12, 2021 11:11 am 3 by Karel Lamač for example (but all directed in Germany) and 3 by Alexander Hackenschmied.

i have also only 3 by Lamač so far, but i expect to watch one more for the 1934 poll, plus some more in the near future (so soon i will have 7+ i guess).
Hackenschmied (Hammid) i have 5 (if i count right) but would be also able to reach 7 or 10 in no time.

wba wrote: ↑Sun Sep 12, 2021 11:11 am Also seen 2 by Zbynek Brynych, Peter Solan and Vaclav Vorlicek.
Just discovered that the most I probably have by someone Czech or Slovak we haven't polled yet, is 5 by Paľo Bielik.

i didn't mention Slovaks but maybe besides Solan, there might be viewers of Šulík, Uher, Hanák???
i can't help with the highly popular Bielik unfortunately
i have also only 2 Brynych's but would be okay to watch more.
forgot about the alluring potential of Vorlíček (i have 10+, he is inescapable in this land).

flip wrote: ↑Sat Sep 11, 2021 5:43 pm assuming joks has seen 7+, we just need one more person with 7+ zeman films seen to make a poll work

I've seen 9

btw. what about making a separate thread where all the (unpolled) names with either 7+ or 10+ will be (possibly alphabetically) listed and where anyone who reaches 7+ or 10+ will make a shout???

I have 6 each by schorm and menzel, 5 nemec, kachyna, and jires. not sure that i will be watching anything soon but if i do i can try to make it by one of them.

abbé apathé wrote: ↑Sun Sep 12, 2021 11:57 am btw. what about making a separate thread where all the (unpolled) names with either 7+ or 10+ will be (possibly alphabetically) listed and where anyone who reaches 7+ or 10+ will make a shout???

Great idea. I think it would also be helpful for Flip.

Someone who runs such a thread could then update the OP with new suggestions.

seen 7

1. Eight Men Out
2. Matewan
3. Brother from Another Planet
4. The Secret of Roan Inish

(edited)

deepbluefunk wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 5:37 am seen 7

1. Eight Men Out
2. Matewan
3. Brother from Another Planet

With the extended rules in this thread, you can vote for one more film, if you want.

all of sayles pre-2000 features got at least one vote in our poll with the exception of men with guns. his post-2000 films all either got no support or minimal support (none make the top ten). i don't know sayles well enough to know if our winner is a surprise - it's his most familiar film to me, but i think that might only be because will oldham is in it.


results
1. Matewan (1987) — 21 pts
2. The Secret of Roan Inish (1994) — 12 pts
3. Lone Star (1996) — 10.5 pts
4. Eight Men Out (1988) — 9 pts
5. The Brother From Another Planet (1984) — 8.5 pts
6. Limbo (1999) — 7.1 pts
7. Baby It’s You (1983) — 6 pts
7. City of Hope (1991) — 6 pts
9. Passion Fish (1992) — 4 pts
10. Lianna (1983) — 2.3 pts
11. Return of the Secaucus Seven (1979) — 2 pts
12. Casa de los babys (2003) — 1 pt
12. Honeydripper (2007) — 1 pt

just posted this to lboxd:

https://letterboxd.com/fliptrotsky/list ... -poll-280/