Week in Film #14: 3/28/16-4/3/16
Film of the Week: Wild StrawberriesYear: 1957
Director: Ingmar Bergman
One of Ingmar Bergman's many, many masterpieces, and possibly his most touching and heartfelt picture. It's the story of an old man traveling to accept an award for his doctoring. During this time he is visited by visitations of his former life, meeting people and going to places from his past in a series of dreams. It is about life and death, and looking about in regret and satisfaction at moments. It takes a special kind of foresight to make a film about reassessing ones entire life at the end of it when the director himself is only in his late 30s. The relatability and humanism of the picture is what makes it so engrossing and has helped it stand the test of time.
Rating: A-
The Rest:
Finding Vivian Maier
Year: 2013
Director: John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
There are some surprising moral questions asked by this one. Questions regarding the appropriation of an artists work after they are deceased, the matter of a persons genius versus their actual personality, especially if that personality ended up damaging others. Vivian Maier was a great photographer and a fascinating person, but she could also be accused to child abuse in sometimes horrific measures. Should things like that damage the reputation of an artists work? Are those actions somehow forgiven because of the genius of that artist?
Rating: B
El Sur
Year: 1983
Director: Victor Erice
In this I was hoping to find that mystery and magic that was in the other Erice film I've seen, The Spirit of the Beehive, but was mostly disappointed, as there was merely a trace of what that much better film had in spades. It still uses that perspective of childhood, but to a much less enthralling effect.
Rating: C
Safety Last!
Year: 1923
Director: Sam Taylor and Fred C. Newmeyer
A big improvement over the last Lloyd film I saw, and one where he (eventually) comes into his great comedic masterstroke. This is the daring and often terrifying climb up a building using his bare hands. This sequence is so well crafted that you forget that a lot of what's being done is using movie magic, and are wholly wrapped up in the moment. It works almost as well as a thriller as it does a comedy, and there are quite a few times I literally gasped watching Lloyd nearly plummet to his death.
Rating: B
In the Mood for Love
Year: 2000
Director: Wong Kar-wai
Delicate and oozing with passion, even if that passion is held aback throughout the films runtime. It doesn't need to be expressed in tender kisses or the like, the air is practically perspiring that passion and lust, without ever letting it explode. In isn't an air of tension really either, but one of suave sentiments and moments and unrequited love.
Rating: A-
Our Hospitality
Year: 1923
Director: Buster Keaton and John G. Blystone
The lesser Keaton picture that I can remember seeing (this being Steamboat Bill, Jr. and The General). There are less gags that work as well as in those two features, and overall it is less astonishing in it's filmmaking, save for an excellent waterfall rescue that it one of the most impressive stunts Buster ever pulled off.
Rating: C+
The Gold Rush
Year: 1925
Director: Charlie Chaplin
The endearing little tramp gets wrapped up in the gold rush, as the title implies, and engages in the usual sorts of shenanigans he is bound to find himself wound up in. As thoroughly enjoyable and iconic as City Lights, but not quite reaching that films sentimental heights. Regardless, it is as funny and warm as that picture was, and possibly just as good in its own right.
Rating: B+
The Uninvited
Year: 1944
Director: Lewis Allen
This really isn't a horror film, that would be misrepresenting it. It is more a comedy with ghosts. The odd thing is that the ghosts aren't treated comically at all, its just they happen to be residing in a very upbeat, humorous environment. This atmosphere that pervades the film happens to be in spite of people trying to throw themselves off cliffs. A strange movie, and not a very remarkable or rewarding one.
Rating: C-
Shock Corridor
Year: 1963
Director: Samuel Fuller
The title is apt, as the experience is akin to being electrocuted. The themes and meanings of this film are interesting: the corruption and manipulation of the media into a tool for glory, the destructive madness of the overly strong work ethic, the morality of journalism. What is most striking to me however is how the screenwriters portray the fame seeking journalist as totally oblivious to the real issues going on in the American landscape. He is trying to solve a murder, but is missing the murders of millions by the H-Bomb in Japan, the brutality of segregation in America, and the brainwashing nature of that segregation, and the way it warps minds. This is a film that exposes the "us and them" mentalities in the US. Apart from that, it is just vital and electric filmmaking that certainly leaves bolts of shock throughout its runtime.
Rating: B+
Amarcord
Year: 1973
Director: Federico Fellini
Amarcord, or I Remember, is a film about nostalgia, coming of age, and as the title implies, memories. It is a series of just that more than it is any sort of story. More an arrangement of the collective daily life experiences of one town in Italy, just coming under fascist rule. Beautifully shot and well directed.
Rating: B
The American Friend
Year: 1977
Director: Wim Wenders
A solid thriller that in parts I believe Hitchcock would be proud of. Especially in the moments on the train, which seems to be directly pulled from the likes of The Lady Vanishes, and Shadow of a Doubt. Beautiful cinematography, subtle but bold at the same time. Dennis Hopper and Bruno Ganz give especially good performances.
Rating: C+
The Big Sleep
Year: 1946
Director: Howard Hawks
Does it make a lot of sense? No. Is it entertaining? Yes. And that really is whats important in the end, at least in this genre. Its not worried about trivial matters like story or plot, but more in the characters and the tone and mood of the piece. Bogart is phenomenal as Marlow, creating one of the definitive film noir anti-heroes.
Rating: A-
Paths of Glory
Year: 1957
Director: Stanley Kubrick
One of the best anti-war films. I remember the first time I saw this, when I was probably fourteen, and being blown away on a technical level. On this viewing I was more impressed on an emotional one. The final moments of the three men condemned to death are riveting and raw, leaving quite an impact. Kirk Douglas is awesome, as he usually seems to be.
Rating: A-
Winter Light
Year: 1963
Director: Ingmar Bergman
The priests face is finally fully illuminated in the cold winter light. This is a moment of revelation for him. There is no god. And it is utterly despairing. This is after he gives a speech to a suicidal man about his fears at this revelation, which he realizes moments after he has articulated it. It took the intense fear of another mans suspicions of higher powers at play to make him finally release all feelings on his own conclusion that indeed, there is not. This movie is not a struggle with faith, it is a resignation of it, and that makes for a much more hopeless and bleak atmosphere.
Rating: B+
City of God
Year: 2002
Director: Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund
Extremely energetic and emotionally affecting work set in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. It brings to life the struggles of a rough life with moments of coolness, fun, and shocking trauma. You could almost accuse it of glorifying gang life in its more action packed stylized scenes, but it flips that notion on its head in its brutal and decimating depiction of violence, often unspeakably tragic and painful to watch.
Rating: A-
El SurYear: 1983
Director: Victor Erice
In this I was hoping to find that mystery and magic that was in the other Erice film I've seen, The Spirit of the Beehive, but was mostly disappointed, as there was merely a trace of what that much better film had in spades. It still uses that perspective of childhood, but to a much less enthralling effect.
Rating: C
Safety Last!Year: 1923
Director: Sam Taylor and Fred C. Newmeyer
A big improvement over the last Lloyd film I saw, and one where he (eventually) comes into his great comedic masterstroke. This is the daring and often terrifying climb up a building using his bare hands. This sequence is so well crafted that you forget that a lot of what's being done is using movie magic, and are wholly wrapped up in the moment. It works almost as well as a thriller as it does a comedy, and there are quite a few times I literally gasped watching Lloyd nearly plummet to his death.
Rating: B
In the Mood for LoveYear: 2000
Director: Wong Kar-wai
Delicate and oozing with passion, even if that passion is held aback throughout the films runtime. It doesn't need to be expressed in tender kisses or the like, the air is practically perspiring that passion and lust, without ever letting it explode. In isn't an air of tension really either, but one of suave sentiments and moments and unrequited love.
Rating: A-
Our HospitalityYear: 1923
Director: Buster Keaton and John G. Blystone
The lesser Keaton picture that I can remember seeing (this being Steamboat Bill, Jr. and The General). There are less gags that work as well as in those two features, and overall it is less astonishing in it's filmmaking, save for an excellent waterfall rescue that it one of the most impressive stunts Buster ever pulled off.
Rating: C+
The Gold RushYear: 1925
Director: Charlie Chaplin
The endearing little tramp gets wrapped up in the gold rush, as the title implies, and engages in the usual sorts of shenanigans he is bound to find himself wound up in. As thoroughly enjoyable and iconic as City Lights, but not quite reaching that films sentimental heights. Regardless, it is as funny and warm as that picture was, and possibly just as good in its own right.
Rating: B+
The UninvitedYear: 1944
Director: Lewis Allen
This really isn't a horror film, that would be misrepresenting it. It is more a comedy with ghosts. The odd thing is that the ghosts aren't treated comically at all, its just they happen to be residing in a very upbeat, humorous environment. This atmosphere that pervades the film happens to be in spite of people trying to throw themselves off cliffs. A strange movie, and not a very remarkable or rewarding one.
Rating: C-
Shock CorridorYear: 1963
Director: Samuel Fuller
The title is apt, as the experience is akin to being electrocuted. The themes and meanings of this film are interesting: the corruption and manipulation of the media into a tool for glory, the destructive madness of the overly strong work ethic, the morality of journalism. What is most striking to me however is how the screenwriters portray the fame seeking journalist as totally oblivious to the real issues going on in the American landscape. He is trying to solve a murder, but is missing the murders of millions by the H-Bomb in Japan, the brutality of segregation in America, and the brainwashing nature of that segregation, and the way it warps minds. This is a film that exposes the "us and them" mentalities in the US. Apart from that, it is just vital and electric filmmaking that certainly leaves bolts of shock throughout its runtime.
Rating: B+
AmarcordYear: 1973
Director: Federico Fellini
Amarcord, or I Remember, is a film about nostalgia, coming of age, and as the title implies, memories. It is a series of just that more than it is any sort of story. More an arrangement of the collective daily life experiences of one town in Italy, just coming under fascist rule. Beautifully shot and well directed.
Rating: B
The American FriendYear: 1977
Director: Wim Wenders
A solid thriller that in parts I believe Hitchcock would be proud of. Especially in the moments on the train, which seems to be directly pulled from the likes of The Lady Vanishes, and Shadow of a Doubt. Beautiful cinematography, subtle but bold at the same time. Dennis Hopper and Bruno Ganz give especially good performances.
Rating: C+
The Big SleepYear: 1946
Director: Howard Hawks
Does it make a lot of sense? No. Is it entertaining? Yes. And that really is whats important in the end, at least in this genre. Its not worried about trivial matters like story or plot, but more in the characters and the tone and mood of the piece. Bogart is phenomenal as Marlow, creating one of the definitive film noir anti-heroes.
Rating: A-
Paths of GloryYear: 1957
Director: Stanley Kubrick
One of the best anti-war films. I remember the first time I saw this, when I was probably fourteen, and being blown away on a technical level. On this viewing I was more impressed on an emotional one. The final moments of the three men condemned to death are riveting and raw, leaving quite an impact. Kirk Douglas is awesome, as he usually seems to be.
Rating: A-
Winter LightYear: 1963
Director: Ingmar Bergman
The priests face is finally fully illuminated in the cold winter light. This is a moment of revelation for him. There is no god. And it is utterly despairing. This is after he gives a speech to a suicidal man about his fears at this revelation, which he realizes moments after he has articulated it. It took the intense fear of another mans suspicions of higher powers at play to make him finally release all feelings on his own conclusion that indeed, there is not. This movie is not a struggle with faith, it is a resignation of it, and that makes for a much more hopeless and bleak atmosphere.
Rating: B+
City of GodYear: 2002
Director: Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund
Extremely energetic and emotionally affecting work set in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. It brings to life the struggles of a rough life with moments of coolness, fun, and shocking trauma. You could almost accuse it of glorifying gang life in its more action packed stylized scenes, but it flips that notion on its head in its brutal and decimating depiction of violence, often unspeakably tragic and painful to watch.
Rating: A-
With Wild Strawberries fresh in your mind we should watch Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry if you haven't seen it, there is definitively a relationship between the two.
ReplyDeleteFinding Vivian Maier, again Woody Allen connection. Always an intriguing question of separating the art from the artist. should we or shouldn't we?
In the Mood for Love, your entry on this film made me think of The Age of Innocence. don't know why this Blog entry is making me think of all these other films we should see, but I think that's an exciting way to decide some times which films to see next when there are thousands and thousands to choose from.
Shock corridor: I'm surprised at your essay, seems like you are delving into a lot of issues but not mentioning the main one, which is basically the same message as I AM a Fugitive From a Chain Gang: These institutions which are creating exactly what they are meant to eliminate, in Chain Gang they turn him into a criminal, in Shock Coridor the treatments that are supposed to help cure mental illness actually make a sane person insane. How could they ever help an already troubled person?
I gotta see City of God