Week in Film #2: 1/4/16-1/10/16

Week in Film #2: 1/4/16-1/10/16

Film of the Week: Harakiri
   Year: 1962
   Director: Masaki Kobayashi

       Rarely is a film so meticulously crafted and perfected on all it's fronts in the way this is: cinematically, artistically, politically, emotionally, and in sheer entertainment. This is masterwork that with great style and mastery of the craft paints a picture of a hypocritical society and of great human suffering. No punches are pulled here, not emotionally and certainly not viscerally, as the harakiri that the title eludes to are ones that are grueling and gruesome in their depictions, as brutal as the story that features them.

       From the outset the movie grabs you and holds you in place, using story techniques such as flashback too entrance you and keep you captivated. The camera moves gracefully through rooms, often patient as it waits for its subjects to move, act, and speak. Once it has you that is when it begins to squeeze, like a snake coiling itself before entering in for the kill. The pacing is on point and it somehow is able to keep you enthralled in the mysteries of its characters, and the motives that would drive them to commit extremely bloody suicide. The final results are shocking and prosecuting of a system of honor that is inhumane and rotting from the inside out. It boldly not only challenges the foundation of much ancient Japanese culture, but completely rips the samurai code to shreds as it unravels corruption and moral decay with blood and tears.

       Its brutality is also beauty, as fountain sprays of blood paint themselves black against white material, making beauty out of violence. The whole film is impeccably shot and framed, with gorgeous cinematography that is elegant in its simplicity and haunting in its starkness. Empty spaces and still patience in the camerawork evoke feelings of emptiness and loss, as well as bottled aggression in its fight scenes when the camera tracks it's warriors battling to the death over honor and immoral moralities. The slashes pack a punch in raw and unrelenting agony as the players reveal their inner selves and bear heartache, shame, and desperation in painful and great performances that make a great movie even better. 

       There is a moment partway through the film in which the director cuts from the image of a man holding a child and singing to it, to the same man sitting solitary on a mat in a courtyard, prepared to commit ritualistic suicide. It's moments like this that show how cinema is an art form like no other. With a simple moving from one image to another, it can say profound truths without so much as a single word, and imply more pain than can be comprehended without showing so much as a single tear. This is beautiful, masterful, and transcendent filmmaking. In a single succession of two shots, the simplest thing, it creates a deep feeling of loss and shows the power of the moving picture, which is one that can express in ways that other art forms cannot. 

   Rating: A

The Rest:

Vivre sa vie
   Year: 1962
   Director: Jean-Luc Godard

       If there is one thing Godard has in spades, it's style. This film floats with ease across its scenes, the camera surprisingly versatile, resulting in some truly impressive shots. The story isn't exactly incredibly strong or potent, but thats hardly the point when the director is having so much fun experimenting cinematically. Like Breathless, this is about the ebb and flow of the piece, not really about the narrative. It's about feeling and expression, and it captures its mood well.

   Rating: B-

2 or 3 Things I Know About Her
   Year: 1967
   Director: Jean-Luc Godard

       In part two of my Jean-Luc Godard prostitutes women double feature, the director shows his change from light and snappy semi-social commentary to poetic, cosmic and half profound/half pretentious social commentary. The result of this effort is a mixed bag of sometimes engaging filmmaking methods, such as characters talking their thoughts out loud to the camera, and sometimes less so, like whispered rambling narration on something or rather about either society, consumerism, and capitalism, or the mystical meanings of words and life. This is a great philosophy type movie, and typically that works well for me, but the delivery wasn't up to scratch to match the ideas, despite some interesting cinematic techniques and effective moments.

   Rating: C

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
   Year: 1970
   Director: Elio Petri

       With a brilliant screenplay and a great central performance, this is one that takes you in with impressive and well situated shots and an engrossing and very well handled story. It's subject explores the idea of power as well as any film I've seen, and takes new directions and ideas while telling a gripping tale of anti-mystery and misplaced suspense. It's an odd, frankly lunatic premise that somehow comes across as realistic and not at all silly or unbelievable. This is near flawless, aside from the most annoying boinging score ever devised. Truly masterful study of power and the immunities of authority.

   Rating: B+

The Lady Vanishes
   Year: 1938
   Director: Alfred Hitchcock

       Quick-witted and intriguing early Hitchcock, his best of his early efforts as far as I can tell from what I've seen. Where the likes of Foreign Correspondent and The 39 Steps got bogged down in slightly boring narratives and conventional contrivances, this is very much an improvement, adding a very healthy dose of humor and a really engaging mystery to go along with it. The film is pretty much pure fun from beginning to end, and features one or two nail biting sequences that the director would master in his later achievements. A much more fully realized and entertaining British era Hitchcock than I had previously seen.

   Rating: B

Ossos
   Year: 1997
   Director: Pedro Costa

       This is tough viewing, and while beautifully framed and shot, not particularly rewarding or memorable in the long run. It is something to be drudged through, with incredible bleakness and deprivation that will leave you drained and depressed, and not all that enlightened, in fact mostly just tired. The best thing that can be said about the film is the cinematography, which is just absolutely gorgeous. With darkness and popping solid colors, it has a very unique look that creates a real sense of space and atmosphere, making poverty beautiful at times, apart from the painful realism of it, that is.

   Rating: C-

Lady Snowblood
   Year: 1973
   Director: Toshiya Fojita

       Sprayed with blood and drenched in gore, this is as artistic as mind blowingly brutal violent entertainment gets. It is also essentially the original Kill Bill, making that film look like less inspired by Lady Snowblood and more a near remake of it. Like a great Tarantino movie, this is bloody fun and stylized stylistic moviemaking that is designed for mostly the purpose of entertaining though revenge fantasy and extremely graphic depictions of violence.

   Rating: B


Blithe Spirit
   Year: 1945
   Director: David Lean

       Light and airy comedy that is entertaining enough but ultimately amounts to an only decent overall picture. There are some pretty good moments of comedy, and Margaret Rutherford is genuinely hilarious throughout, being the center and best thing about every scene she is in. The rest of the cast are serviceable, but mostly just okay, none really standing out more than the others. Thats how I'd describe the whole thing to be fair: serviceable, but mostly just okay.

   Rating: C-

Seven Samurai
   Year: 1954
   Director: Akira Kurosawa

       This is a near masterpiece, and would be if it weren't for the minor quibbles of being just a little too long and having some slight pacing issues. That aside this an epic adventure story told with a remarkable amount of humanity, and featuring outstanding performances, and terrific direction from the old master Kurosawa. The fight scenes are impressive to say the least, particularly the rain soaked finale. Most unexpected is how invested you become in the characters. The story draws you in deep into them and makes you care about the ones who die, creating a true feeling of sadness at such moments. Great movie, and one that has inspired many and who's influence continues to shine throughout cinema.

   Rating: A-