tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13138553389441914042024-03-06T14:13:38.231+05:30Passion for MoviesMy humble and dedicated effort to understand the nuances of the powerful 'empathy machine' -- CINEMAArun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.comBlogger1034125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-19161697844540187202022-01-14T16:09:00.002+05:302022-01-14T16:38:08.249+05:30Composition Class [1938] – The Strengths and Inconveniences of Honesty<p> </p><p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">It’s fascinating to witness the number of Japanese studio
films from 1930s that focuses on the social and economic situation of the
underclass. Yasujiro Ozu’s <i>Passing Fancy</i> (1933), <i>An Inn in Tokyo</i> (1935), <i><a href="https://www.highonfilms.com/only-son-1936-ozu-review/" target="_blank">The Only Son</a></i> (1936), Mikio Naruse’s <i>Each Night I Dream</i> (1933), <i>Three Sisters with Maiden
Hearts</i>, Sadao Yamanaka’s <i><a href="https://movieretrospect.blogspot.com/2020/06/humanity-and-paper-balloons-1937-subtly.html" target="_blank">Humanity and Paper Balloons</a></i> (1937), Hiroshi Shimizu’s
<i><a href="https://www.highonfilms.com/mr-thank-you-1936-review/" target="_blank">Mr. Thank You</a> (1936)</i> are the few that immediately comes to mind. It all offers relatively complex tableau
of underclass life which never sugar-coats their bleak reality. It would be
interesting to read or know why these stories on under-privileged class had a
box-office appeal. Kajiro Yamamoto’s <b>Composition Class</b> (<i>Tsuzurikata kyoshitsu</i>,
1938) is one such frank depiction of a low-income family’s life. Similar to all
the aforementioned films, the narrative focuses on the humor, little triumphs
and joys of everyday life rather than simply blanketing us with emotions of
despair and sorrow. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNASc34_hrsRbWs2XKgjQDUY5ytdWWj13DfhSfwVB4JIxTDD07bJJ-6VEWq4GeJYuUUBlOoNgVRcux_yqhhh0fVQ38KMjuLJhbq0JUgkdnh96zxnB0qh51t8O676TW6G2SoY_Wy2Mc21laV4Akhnzjc3H-6WAc9PtICEqW3NQ6jr_IxtpI32jHKOb5_g=s1200" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Composition Class (1938)" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNASc34_hrsRbWs2XKgjQDUY5ytdWWj13DfhSfwVB4JIxTDD07bJJ-6VEWq4GeJYuUUBlOoNgVRcux_yqhhh0fVQ38KMjuLJhbq0JUgkdnh96zxnB0qh51t8O676TW6G2SoY_Wy2Mc21laV4Akhnzjc3H-6WAc9PtICEqW3NQ6jr_IxtpI32jHKOb5_g=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My interest in <i>Composition Class</i> is obviously due to the
reverence Akira Kurosawa expressed for writer/director <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0945428/" target="_blank">Kajiro Yamamoto</a> in his book, <b>‘Something
Like an Autobiography’</b>. In fact, Mr. Yamamoto is largely known as the mentor of
Kurosawa rather than for his filmography. Under Yamamoto, Kurosawa learned
everything about film-making, from script-writing, direction to editing and
post-production process. In the four years he worked under the filmmaker,
Kurosawa emerged from being third assistant director to the chief assistant
director. In <i>Composition Class</i>, Kurosawa is credited as the ‘Chief Assistant
Director’. Ishiro Hondo (Godzilla) was another important Japanese filmmaker to be mentored by Kajiro Yamamoto.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Of course, this is not the right method to approach a filmmaker’s work.
Moreover, a lot of Yamamoto’s work haven’t survived or not readily available.
Yet I am glad to have discovered <i>Composition Class </i>(1938) which shines due to
Yamamoto’s screenwriting skills and elegant compositions. Though he might not
have garnered critical praise for his staging like Mizoguchi, Ozu or Naruse,
Yamamoto also ably embodies the Japanese concept of <b><a href="https://medium.com/@kiyoshimatsumoto/ma-the-japanese-concept-of-space-and-time-3330c83ded4c" target="_blank">‘Ma’</a></b> and <b><a href="https://www.thecine-files.com/current-issue-2/articles/mono-no-aware-as-mise-en-scene/" target="_blank">‘Mono no aware’</a>. </b></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpnzArzLx9wS4H9iJkBjoapRv3NE8dWMpQNR9jd_TDeEfZVNFpFCyGwiN7Z7nB_i9d2EdGiPETqyqO-pDo-33xgCFxWq-yqko7k1siTDpaHwXYoDOVSWnA_bBz5-6zTplUMkgDoSu2Om6-gwqbPxtjkoK3be6aFsyrxaGS201DbAdXqX2cdnf6NOMflQ=s447" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Kajiro Yamamoto & Akira" border="0" data-original-height="327" data-original-width="447" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjpnzArzLx9wS4H9iJkBjoapRv3NE8dWMpQNR9jd_TDeEfZVNFpFCyGwiN7Z7nB_i9d2EdGiPETqyqO-pDo-33xgCFxWq-yqko7k1siTDpaHwXYoDOVSWnA_bBz5-6zTplUMkgDoSu2Om6-gwqbPxtjkoK3be6aFsyrxaGS201DbAdXqX2cdnf6NOMflQ=w400-h293" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Akira Kurosawa (left) with Kajiro Yamamoto<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The other important reason to watch <i>Composition Class</i> is
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0847301/" target="_blank">Hideko Takamine</a>, who plays the 12 or 13 year old protagonist Masako Toyoda. I
have witnessed lot of her profound performances as strong-willed, independent
heroines in the 1950s, particularly in the works of Mikio Naruse and Keisuke
Kinoshita. But apart from Ozu’s 1931 silent drama <i>Tokyo Chorus</i> (where the
7-year old Takamine plays the daughter of the central character), this is one
of her earliest films I have seen.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Composition Class’s</i> narrative framing simple yet effective. Precocious
sixth grader Masako Toyoda is encouraged to write observational essays about
her everyday life by her compassionate teacher (Osamu Takizawa). Masako lives
with her parents and two younger brothers in the poor neighborhood of Tokyo
metropolis. Her father is an itinerant tinsmith who doesn’t find much work due
to the economic downturn. And the little he earns he spends it on booze. They
live in a weather-beaten shack alongside other low-income families. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The film opens with Masako returning home from school,
asking her mother one sen to buy a confectionery from a street vendor. The
parents gloomily talk about the eviction notice they have received. Silence
pervades the home as the parents, Masako, and her younger brother brood over
their upcoming days. Meanwhile, the family’s youngest boy badgers his mom and dad for one
sen, and the noise of children following the vendor pierces this sombre silence.
It’s a deeply felt moment of sorrow that conveys their impoverishment through
apt framing and adequate use of silence and sound. This classical Japanese
approach to film-making is oft found in the works of the great Ozu, Mizoguchi, and Naruse which gracefully transposes us to the narrative’s reality by simply observing the people
in a particular scenario or environment. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Kajiro Yamamoto in that silent, observational moment makes
us understand (or mentally occupy) their reality rather than showcase the anticipated emotions and
then move on. What rest of the film-making world considers as unnecessary
moments or movements paves way to profundity in the Japanese cinema (including
the Studio Ghibli anime). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
aforementioned sequence isn’t simply drama but comes close to capturing the
sadness of the present; a mournful melody composed through series of glimpses.
Interestingly, such moments in classic Japanese films precedes Bazin’s superb
analysis of the scene that showcases young maid’s morning chores in <i>Umberto D</i>
(1952). I am kind of getting carried away here, but the more classic Japanese
cinema I watch, the more I am admire its precise staging techniques in spite of the other
limitations.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIVvtI-8p6RyfIrpuwGkiN6FeId8QRoHl67oY_tR9pCe0Pw4GabpFTNKW0cwzt5A3zbOAvQLPQPeotMwL66jwpL5RQTT4wzTFdGVQoA8cBXC6uECE9tAaNMCuuMMJnDrMJ7DfxbrNuD14dQ-RHnC6gJ-fg_h749U3GaplJTnSSdGQIGUdcHITL7i0avA=s982" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Kajiro Yamamoto" border="0" data-original-height="723" data-original-width="982" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhIVvtI-8p6RyfIrpuwGkiN6FeId8QRoHl67oY_tR9pCe0Pw4GabpFTNKW0cwzt5A3zbOAvQLPQPeotMwL66jwpL5RQTT4wzTFdGVQoA8cBXC6uECE9tAaNMCuuMMJnDrMJ7DfxbrNuD14dQ-RHnC6gJ-fg_h749U3GaplJTnSSdGQIGUdcHITL7i0avA=w400-h295" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A wonderful 'silent, observational moment' early in the film</b><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Unexpected humour, truths, and honesty are found in Masako’s
essays. Soon, Masako learns that being honest also has consequences. In one of the
essays, Masako writes about the rabbits she received from her neighbor lady.
While mentioning this, she casually writes about what her neighbor lady said
about the ‘stinginess’ of the Umemoto family. The teacher initially finds no
problem with Masako’s honest observations. Furthermore, he sends it to a
magazine and it gets published. Soon, Masako is reprimanded for being too honest
with her descriptions, since Umemotos are his father’s chief employer and a family of considerable wealth.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The narrative is largely divided into three chapters,
depicting the three class terms of sixth grader Masako. Though the crisis with
Umemotos is resolved smoothly, the family is perpetually impacted by financial
problems. And Masako’s viewpoint holds our attention throughout. Takamine’s performance in particular conveys a lot through elegant changes in
posture and emotions. For instance, observe her in the scene when Masako’s mom
asks her to become a geisha. When Takamine’s Masako returns home from school
she finds her family having their meals. It’s a welcome sight after a long
period of impoverishment and starvation. She’s rejoiced to see the rice bowl. However, once
the mother talks about the perks of becoming a geisha, Masako understands the
truth behind how they got the rice. Just look at how Takamine commands this
scene with subtle change in expressions!</p><p class="MsoNormal"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj3jql1DHJFvkVvBG4nG0Xd_XnbwEIBOpUQPWIQ-9vTx4LIcFSe-_2X4TshNQx3sCdCwMJ4mDLbsCGnLfEbifTymblqcGUb4iP9HaJXWFLr2exWUVOwmQDpIOtyx4E_JgFzi25fxF5EEqPYW0ox4QiTsUJmFeWEqBhDwkME7NYAY3i1bFHDmXAxnrnnmQ=s978" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="CC2" border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="978" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj3jql1DHJFvkVvBG4nG0Xd_XnbwEIBOpUQPWIQ-9vTx4LIcFSe-_2X4TshNQx3sCdCwMJ4mDLbsCGnLfEbifTymblqcGUb4iP9HaJXWFLr2exWUVOwmQDpIOtyx4E_JgFzi25fxF5EEqPYW0ox4QiTsUJmFeWEqBhDwkME7NYAY3i1bFHDmXAxnrnnmQ=w400-h295" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The exceptional performance of Hideko Takamine<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The misfortune, however, is averted in a somewhat predictable
manner. But writer/director Yamamoto doesn’t linger much with the drama. He
thankfully rushes through the ending which tows the official messaging
regarding Japan’s march towards modernization and industrialization (though it
doesn’t over-sermonize). At the same time, <i>Composition Class</i> doesn’t throw an
unimaginable miracle to rescue its protagonist. She escapes the disaster of a geisha
life to become a factory worker. Masako mentions her classmates who are going
to study further. There’s sadness in knowing that the girl couldn’t study
further. But then the individuality she has established with her writing will
probably help her in life’s stormy phases. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Composition Class</i> is based on the collection of essays
written by the real Masako Toyoda. I read that she became the poster girl of
Japan’s modernizing education system and that many of her essays were published
in the magazine <i>‘Red Bird</i>’. Nevertheless, I couldn’t find much on what happened
to Masako Toyoda later, during the war and post-war years. What's more we don’t get
to know much about the teacher. In fact, his philosophy on teaching in itself was unique
or even radical for its time. Encouraging self-expression instead of training
students to do conventional compositions is a deviation from the tradition.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjN3TvpcLb6qpQlzM765cDgcoBDJKeZbagXY0chBeTxWYHWse29qKowIbWEgWbWAP0WqO-hPu-TqXuwRpvXAaTu4X3oDUZeWmk5lbJTpschA1q7XriOQv8kNqyQ50VI2fBpfmj4IGDfwwdsD7w4LPlR-mUl26F2S3aZTCB5LjH6jH2bXHuf2xy6Cb4ylg=s500" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="CC" border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="500" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjN3TvpcLb6qpQlzM765cDgcoBDJKeZbagXY0chBeTxWYHWse29qKowIbWEgWbWAP0WqO-hPu-TqXuwRpvXAaTu4X3oDUZeWmk5lbJTpschA1q7XriOQv8kNqyQ50VI2fBpfmj4IGDfwwdsD7w4LPlR-mUl26F2S3aZTCB5LjH6jH2bXHuf2xy6Cb4ylg=w400-h293" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left to Right, Musei Tokugawa (father), <b>Masako Toyoda</b>, <b>Hideko Takamine</b>, and Nijiko Kiyokawa (mother)<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Eventually, apart from Takamine’s performance, Yamamoto’s
unflinching depiction of poverty makes this narrative more memorable. This
doesn’t mean visualizing the depressing facts about poverty in everyday life.
Yamamoto captures how poverty impacts or drives one’s behavior. Masako’s embarrassment
over buying rice with the coupons, the mother’s reprimand over the father’s
carelessness in losing his bicycle or the tension that hovers during the father’s
drunken behavior, Yamamoto’s vignettes always showcases the mental and
emotional impacts of poverty. Yamamoto also sometimes finds humor in the
bleakest of the situations. When the destitute neighbor lady suddenly starts
praying to the ‘Lord’, the hungry children finds it a funny distraction. Moreover,
this scene is intriguing for the mockery of this woman’s religious fervor. I am
curious over the reasons behind such mockery out of nowhere. The family,
however, in this scene observes someone who is worse off than themselves.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Overall, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259694/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_131" target="_blank"><b>Composition Class</b></a> (87 minutes) has lots of merits that
make it a well-written and decently directed melodrama. Kajiro Yamamoto’s works
probably deserves much more attention than just being a historical footnote while
lionizing the film-making journey of the legendary Kurosawa. </p>
<p> </p><p> </p>
<b>Watch the full movie here:</b>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe class="BLOG_video_class" allowfullscreen="" youtube-src-id="BEyP2Ih4TD0" width="400" height="322" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BEyP2Ih4TD0"></iframe></div>Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-82150756280118024792021-10-31T11:55:00.002+05:302021-10-31T11:55:56.487+05:30The Paper [1994] – A Facile yet Delightfully Energetic Newspaper Movie<p> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000165/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" target="_blank">Ron Howard’s</a> <b>The Paper</b> (1994) centers on 24
hours in the life of the Sun, i.e., The New York Sun, a fictitious New York
tabloid which like any traditional newspaper is torn between idealism and
sensationalism. The script was written by popular Hollywood screenwriter David
Koepp (<i>Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible, Spiderman</i>, etc) and his brother
Stephen Koepp, a veteran journalist and the senior editor at the Time magazine.The
film opens with two African-American youths stumbling across a crime scene – the
brutal murder of two white visiting businessmen – in a tough neighborhood.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5VVBLc-e1WZdjdohhC2G4yEeav-PFif7RAf8XjMb2gv_wQLUuPox5I0ifw30meJWUgbBxhNSwxDsL9vPTWkWSmZ6tPctkHMrkHj6eJIE0ka6zFYN0prSdkvv-pnOTd-AqNh9tj5D1yrm7/s1200/The+Paper+%25281994%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Paper (1994)" border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5VVBLc-e1WZdjdohhC2G4yEeav-PFif7RAf8XjMb2gv_wQLUuPox5I0ifw30meJWUgbBxhNSwxDsL9vPTWkWSmZ6tPctkHMrkHj6eJIE0ka6zFYN0prSdkvv-pnOTd-AqNh9tj5D1yrm7/w400-h210/The+Paper+%25281994%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The
next day New York Daily News’ headlines screams: <i>“Welcome to New York – You’re
Dead”</i>. But the Sun’s front-page story is only about a corrupt parking
commissioner. The narrative then follows the hyper-active, overworked
protagonist, Henry Hackett (Michael Keaton), the paper’s assistant editor,
battling the hubbub of newsroom to work on a juicy tip that the black youths
are innocent.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The Paper is an old-fashioned newsroom
drama which despite opening with a bloody crime scene and a wrongful arrest
keeps a buoyant, light-hearted tone. Much of the humor arises from the barely
controlled chaos that threatens to topple over Henry’s professional and
personal life. The round-the-clock newsroom pressure is clearly getting to
Henry as his very pregnant wife, Martha (a zippy Marisa Tomei) demands him to
take the steadier 9-to-5 job at New York Sentinel. In fact, the interview for the job is
also scheduled that day. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Martha herself was an ace-reporter, and dreads the
feeling of putting her career on hold in order to rear the child. At work,
Henry Hackett has to put up with a motley bunch of eccentric people, from the
world-weary, chain-smoking editor-in-chief, Bernie White (Robert Duvall) to a
paranoid, bellyaching, gun-toting columnist, Dan McDougal (Randy Quaid). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIORv-1GvX_sjh3Gs6h897ogsoedzmNC7LUyVEz4sZMNHLT6Hlj1zL8Kt2rJZVCIojnMENfcLD2vOgrdQc28SszulnyQL6AVO-xU2Pwa-QSKxC6pxa7gvikjUdHRNRwQIPRwreYQbIaMuZ/s740/the-paper-1994-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="740" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIORv-1GvX_sjh3Gs6h897ogsoedzmNC7LUyVEz4sZMNHLT6Hlj1zL8Kt2rJZVCIojnMENfcLD2vOgrdQc28SszulnyQL6AVO-xU2Pwa-QSKxC6pxa7gvikjUdHRNRwQIPRwreYQbIaMuZ/w400-h274/the-paper-1994-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">However, Henry’s chief rival at work is the
ambitious and condescending managing editor, Alicia Clark (Glenn Close). Alicia
doesn’t receive any of the newsroom camaraderie Henry enjoys. But Bernie declares that
being in the management side, if Alicia liked by the reporters then she’s not
doing a good job. Henry and Alicia are at each other’s throats upon deciding
how to headline and pursue the two black youths’ story. Alicia argues that the
lead story for next day should be the subway derailment, or else they could get
the pictures of the black teenagers and run a screaming headline, <i>“GOTCHA!”</i> Hackett
argues for doing a follow-up on the murders, and sends his reporters to dig-up
more about the case, based on a tip he receives from an interesting source.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">In between, Henry escapes from the hothouse
atmosphere of the Sun to attend his interview at the prestigious Sentinel. The top
guy at the paper (Spalding Gray) refers to Sentinel as the beacon of
journalistic integrity, and patronizingly dismisses Sun as <i>‘the cute little
paper’</i>. Henry seems to be fiercely loyal to the Sun, since that comment only
pushes him to steal a ‘tip’ regarding the bloody double murders that
incriminated the black youths. More than loyalty, the narrative also makes
it clear that Henry doesn’t want to step into the bigger, labyrinthine
reporting world of Sentinel. To add more emotions to the story, Koepp also
shoe-horns a sentimental subplot involving cancer-ridden Bernie and his
estranged daughter, Deanne (Jill Hennessy). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwgnPf5NnqJFdZ8puo8Jgc_aNIBja00-CwvXMCiH8I9V37qHCCr9R44RmRU9vtSahRvGBZbSFGm5cH2tliwCv8AXE8MqzHOH37tQ5-0_m5CW36ugv-QY-c7VRqfYLl4JpxoMnJjHiK0zhh/s1000/TP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="1000" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwgnPf5NnqJFdZ8puo8Jgc_aNIBja00-CwvXMCiH8I9V37qHCCr9R44RmRU9vtSahRvGBZbSFGm5cH2tliwCv8AXE8MqzHOH37tQ5-0_m5CW36ugv-QY-c7VRqfYLl4JpxoMnJjHiK0zhh/w400-h260/TP.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Though The Paper is less mawkish than your
average Hollywood drama, it does withhold clichés, too neat outcomes, and a bit
false character trajectory. The script is slyly sexist, especially in its
treatment of obdurate Alicia and a bumbling photographer (Amelia Campbell).
Moreover, the narrative didn’t delve into any social issues it was discussing:
racial profiling or luridness of tabloid journalism. Nevertheless, the Koepp
brothers do get lot of things right: the tabloid newsroom lingo, the bedlam
environment (even the air-conditioning repairmen add to the clutter), a
journalist’s stress of juggling between multiple responsibilities, the
pullulating cynicism, and insensitive wisecracks (foreign crises only matter if
New Yorkers are personally involved). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">The film also largely works due to Ron Howard
& cinematographer John Seale’s dynamic staging of the intense 24-hour
period. The director totally cocoons the viewer into the world of
‘chasing-deadlines’ journalism. Howard uses the spirited performances of a
wonderful ensemble cast to perfectly toggle between tension and humor. Furthermore,
Howard’s touch gives a more heartening sense to the sentimental aspects which
is one of his strengths as witnessed later in films such as <i>Apollo 13, A Beautiful
Mind, Cinderella Man, and Rush. </i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US">Overall, <b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110771/" target="_blank">The Paper</a> </b>(112 minutes) is an
eventful, fast-paced, and upbeat Hollywood ensemble drama set in a busy
newsroom. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-62378544944158683242021-08-04T13:50:00.002+05:302021-08-04T13:52:00.467+05:30The Interview [1998] – A Taut, Solidly Crafted Police Procedural<p> </p><p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">At dawn one morning in Melbourne, police force led by
Detective Sergeant John Steele (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0553150/?ref_=tt_ov_st" target="_blank">Tony Martin</a>) bust into an apartment of a
middle-aged man, who is slumbering in his recliner surrounded by stack of news
papers, gold fish bowl, and other miscellaneous things. Detective Senior Constable
Wayne Prior (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0420279/?ref_=tt_ov_st" target="_blank">Aaron Jeffrey</a>) holds a gun to the man’s head and humiliates him.
After searching the premises, the police bag up certain items and take the man
to the station for interrogation. He is driven across town to the police station
and thrown into a dank interrogation room. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">The man named Eddie Fleming (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0915989/?ref_=tt_ov_st" target="_blank">Hugo Weaving</a>) is jittery and pertrified, giving us the vibes that he is possibly a
harmless loner harshly subjected to police brutality. To accentuate such line
of thinking, the Senior Constable Wayne does his best (or worst) to establish
himself as the ‘bad cop’, while Detective Steele scalds Fleming with his
sinister looks, mildly channelling the desperation of a cop pressured to
zero-in on a suspect. But what’s the case and why Steele is so sure that the
bewildered Fleming as his guy?</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhndNkH_EATaEsbfaBqbzs4gZ6NoB1VD1D4YXbj8EU87j0zeD3LrX-tL2BmFAq5SuhCl2gB0hHyjcwWE4inLjJsEt5bZh-hYF1Tv_z_GJs58H48r9PxkSwoX9X2IVXDemGJjHHQJSSgiEGe/s1280/The+Interview+%25281998%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Interview" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhndNkH_EATaEsbfaBqbzs4gZ6NoB1VD1D4YXbj8EU87j0zeD3LrX-tL2BmFAq5SuhCl2gB0hHyjcwWE4inLjJsEt5bZh-hYF1Tv_z_GJs58H48r9PxkSwoX9X2IVXDemGJjHHQJSSgiEGe/w400-h225/The+Interview+%25281998%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>The notion that an innocent man has found himself behind the
iron curtain of a twisted police investigation is what offers the initial hook
in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0597516/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" target="_blank">Craig Monahan’s</a> debut feature <b>The Interview</b> (1998). The film is dubbed as
Australia’s answer to <i>The Usual Suspects</i> (1995), although The Interview doesn’t
simply rely on an earth-shattering twist at the climax. Writer/director Craig
Monahan’s treatment is more concerned with the wily techniques employed by an
investigator to ensnare their suspect. It deals with deeply complicated
bureaucratic conflicts and how the world of criminal investigation really
works. <p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Unlike Bryan Singer’s <i>The Usual Suspects</i>, this film is not just one long
story of how a seemingly innocent man manipulates his surroundings. The
manipulation exhibited here is multi-layered and not one-sided. Moreover,
like many contemporary crime dramas, The Interview doesn’t keep throwing
twists to gratify the unsuspecting viewers. It is very much grounded in logical
reasoning and simply uses the unprecedented narrative developments to smartly
challenge our perceptions. </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBqcoge6dZlE89jEugTNyxOZs7H0yUgUQx22oCVVaSJjfSM935iyyap6kAWG-S2FjMD3CUDm3PwXvm2BWij6vAZatvkAGXaPJsgqEpmXa3BOu8ymPOIEZ9g7GdJpqHO3sh9GddgdVx6IB/s704/the_interview_704.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="396" data-original-width="704" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBqcoge6dZlE89jEugTNyxOZs7H0yUgUQx22oCVVaSJjfSM935iyyap6kAWG-S2FjMD3CUDm3PwXvm2BWij6vAZatvkAGXaPJsgqEpmXa3BOu8ymPOIEZ9g7GdJpqHO3sh9GddgdVx6IB/w400-h225/the_interview_704.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Interview unfurls over a single day as the Detective
Sergeant and Senior Constable interrogate Fleming for hours to stick their
single charge upon him: car theft. That seems a too simple a charage to go
through the trouble of breaking into a guy’s apartment. Initially, Fleming
outright dismisses the charge and the vulnerability expressed by his eyes makes
us feel sympathy for him. The car belongs to a Mr. Beecroft who has gone
missing. Fleming explains that he is living on the dole. He has lost his house
and estranged from his family. He laments that the police is doing this because
no one cares about him. But Steele has his reasons to trap Fleming, and of
course he believes more crimes are waiting to be unearthed if he proved the
car-theft charge. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Elsewhere, the observer is being observed. Steele and Wayne
are under the scrutiny of Internal Affairs due to the duo’s questionable
investigative tactics. More hints about a wider ring of corruption within the
force are also cited. These sub-plots play a crucial role when Fleming begins
to say shockingly extraordinary things. Revealing more details now would only
spoil the neat tricks aligned by Monahan. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>The expertly evasive script written by Monahan and Gordon
Davie (an ex-cop) is blessed with the intricate knowledge of police
institution. The writing understands the art of reveal, where the
transformations of characters are imbued bit by bit. Both Weaving and Martin’s
characters begin as one-dimensional archetypes but gradually evolve over the
narrative. The precious information are doled out in a manner that constantly
makes our sympathies switch from one side to another. Amidst all this, the
writers haven’t neglected the plausbility of the situation. All the
bureaucratic in-fighting and tense cat-and-mouse games are executed with a firm
understanding of the technicalities of criminal investigation.
<p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Shot in a darkly-lit, claustrophobic chamber-like room and a
huge table, pitting the accused against his accuser, the film could have easily
become monotonous or evoke the feeling of watching a filmed stage play. But
Monahan’s inventive and precise directorial skills generate a deeply
atmospheric tone right from the opening scene, i.e., when Simon Duggan’s camera
starts exploring the physical space of Fleming’s apartment with its fishbowl
and white curtain. He particularly keeps the imagery dynamic throughout the
heated conversations between Weaving and Martin. Eventually, the pivotal
dynamics established between these two actors further strengthens the
impressive efforts behind the camera. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Eddie Fleming is undoubtedly Hugo
Weaving’s best performance, alongside Proof (1991), The Adventures of
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), and the scene-stealing turn in The
Matrix franchise. Weaving’s alternately teasing and appealing behavior works
as the perfect portrayal of a man who could be either guilty or innocent.
Tony Martin as the no-nonsense detective is equally brilliant. Altogether, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120714/" target="_blank"><b>The
Interview</b></a> (104 minutes) is a riveting thriller built around a complex,
perception-shifting narrative and an enigmatic protagonist. </p> <p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Trailer</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FB7VFNQXsdI" width="320" youtube-src-id="FB7VFNQXsdI"></iframe></div><br /><h3 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h3>Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-41756266727144496502021-07-28T11:14:00.003+05:302021-07-28T11:16:28.515+05:30Birdboy: The Forgotten Children [2015] – The Quest for Freedom in a Strangely Horrifying World<p> </p><p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1038878/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" target="_blank">Pedro Rivera</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4180240/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" target="_blank">Alberto Vazquez’s</a> Spanish animated feature
<b>Birdboy: The Forgotten Children</b> (<i>‘Pscionautas, los ninos olvidados’</i>, 2015) is a
gloomy yet beautiful impressionistic parable of survival in an unrelentingly
cruel world. Based on the graphic novel by Vazquez, the film revolves around a
group of emotionally damaged anthropomorphic animals living in an isolated
island-town, which has lost much of its residents to an explosion at the toxic
industrial plant. Hordes of surviving ‘rats’ form their own kingdom amidst the
industrial trash-heap, calling themselves <i>‘The Forgotten Children’</i>. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKuGT5EwgXMv_XBfbOkv9co-pBWAQ43iCBvOVJaniszVTO5GuPt9cY5yG2UxC-477edeRZ1mlEU1thooCdKJZEiZzFQm4gtXD6G8W51VuS19m3tTtaZy_1yXgDZrkie2iokrW4xRl9Oya/s2048/Birdboy+%25282015%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Birdboy" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="2048" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSKuGT5EwgXMv_XBfbOkv9co-pBWAQ43iCBvOVJaniszVTO5GuPt9cY5yG2UxC-477edeRZ1mlEU1thooCdKJZEiZzFQm4gtXD6G8W51VuS19m3tTtaZy_1yXgDZrkie2iokrW4xRl9Oya/w400-h211/Birdboy+%25282015%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The scruffy
rats live by a creed, spelled out by their leader: <i>“The future is past.
Garbage is the present. Blood is our law.”</i> The other titular character
‘Birdboy’ has clearly become a recluse after the industrial disaster, pursued
by a demonic force and also by the fascist police chief. The rest of the
well-to-do talking animals of the town suffer from existential crisis and talks
of moving away without actually doing it. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Birdboy’s slight story-line is told in the form of complex
vignettes as each characters’ emotional journey is loosely interconnected. But
what makes the film remarkable is its smorgasbord of hauntingly surreal
imagery. Although the character drawing - often placed before muted backgrounds -
and the realization of ecologically damaged town looks hand-drawn, the
simplicity somehow works in bringing depth to the striking visuals. The story
is largely centered on three teenage friends, hoping to escape the
rubbish-scape and seek a better life in the big city. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Dinky, the smart white
mouse, remains nonchalant towards her devoutly religious parents, who intend to
crush her ambitions. Sandra is a bunny, who hears evil-voices. Then there’s
Zorrito, a compassionate little fox always stereotyped as cunning and thief.
Dinky is in love with the elusive and secretive Birdboy. Unbeknownst to the otherworldly
terrors and authoritarian police chief (a straight-faced, sadistic canine),
Birdboy, a sort of besmirched super-hero devotes himself to finish the task of
his dead-father: to restore life in the island. Rounding up this array of
colorful characters is a pig fisherman/drug-dealer whose mother's dying body
hosts a hideous spider-creature. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyaAFy-ppTG6tye1RLIq1E6sabQWMEKNRT50CBAslts7mnucqy5DEgUaMOfg5RpdZQ3JfIB2O10IStOeYKvY_3VKANyuQDa3D61iSqkB_ERbTK4FXCmkueSSI0OKFAWNGwBlqAmER4Tw_H/s1920/Birdboy_The_Forgotten_Children.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Birdboy_The Forgotten Children" border="0" data-original-height="1012" data-original-width="1920" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyaAFy-ppTG6tye1RLIq1E6sabQWMEKNRT50CBAslts7mnucqy5DEgUaMOfg5RpdZQ3JfIB2O10IStOeYKvY_3VKANyuQDa3D61iSqkB_ERbTK4FXCmkueSSI0OKFAWNGwBlqAmER4Tw_H/w400-h211/Birdboy_The_Forgotten_Children.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In ‘Birdboy’, the existential ennui boosted by the environmental
decline, drug culture, depression, and vapid life-style, is not only directed
towards the anthropomorphic characters. The residents also possess sentient
objects like a time-obssessed walking-alarm clock, a lonely piggy bank, and an
obnoxious yellow <span class="loadable">inflatable raft shaped like a duck. These
designs of ‘objects with feelings’ inject a tone of comic absurdism that
matches well with the directors’ uncanny visual ad thematic preoccupations. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable">Elsewhere,
Rivera and Vazquez imbues a darkly surrealistic tone into the fantastical world
that’s remniscent of the works of Jan Svankmejer, Priit Parn, Guillermo del
Toro, and Tim Burton. Moroever, the realization of Birdboy’s secret natural
paradise (a giant tree nesting countless number of birds) contains the warmth
of Hayao Miyazaki’s drawings. Although ‘Birdboy’ is stuffed with outre
elements, the characters do confront much of the real-world problems: drugs,
violence, ostracism, bullying, and police brutality. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable">There are few outlandish features,
conjured just for the sake of it: for example, a </span>Little Baby Jesus
squeeze toy that bleeds from eyes or Jonathan, a dog dressed to look like a boy
or the glue-sniffing, copper-searching rat scavenger. Such array of oddness thrown
within the vignettes threatens to make ‘Birdboy’ either disconnected or
overstuffed. But thankfully, the medley of hallucinatory and expressionistic
visuals keeps us consistently captivated. Serene as well as intense, Rivera &
Vazquez’s compositions of <span class="loadable">watercolor-style skies,
nightmarish macabre interior structures, and endearing character designs stand
as a testament to their superme animation artistry. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable">Keeping in line with the
dystopian atmosphere, many of the wide-shots has blank spaces or colorless
gaps, which duly accentuates the bleakness. The relentless suffering and
violence heaped upon the characters may seem exhausting from a storytelling
standpoint. Nevertheless, the distinctly diabolical imagery makes<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5004766/" target="_blank"> <b>‘Birdboy: The
Forgotten Children’</b></a> (76 minutes) a truly unforgettable animated feature of
recent times. </span></p> <p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Trailer</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f4WDZG8cWo8" width="320" youtube-src-id="f4WDZG8cWo8"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p>Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-60147464661584489722021-07-13T19:27:00.002+05:302021-07-13T19:27:33.687+05:30Glory [2016] – A Universal and Timeless Tale of Bureaucratic Nightmare<p> </p><p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">East European cinema possesses the knack for offering
subtle and powerful tales about people getting thrown under the wheels of
apathetic bureaucracy system. Their film-makers (especially the auteurs of the
Romanian New Wave) simultaneously employ rough-hewn naturalism and a methodical
narrative with preordained gallows humor and well-engineered symbolism. Bulgarian
directing duo – <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1414010/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" target="_blank">Peter Valchanov</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1571492/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" target="_blank">Kristina Grozeva’s</a> – second feature film
<b>Glory </b>(Slava, 2016) is one such mordantly funny and deeply heart-wrenching tale
of systemic corruption and injustice. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDA7phCspNNiiw6_kSQsGkgJIExqsuBQBnpUsF9HMoVCYmLZv-Z6AzCw0zxhWTybfGgeto7FYp02z5RRVevX_wEPRo1O0EAz8kLReLU2eJa9I_mzdgHNhB_OTB_labRX8tBcl54OIbMLSo/s1920/Glory+%25282016%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Glory (2016)" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDA7phCspNNiiw6_kSQsGkgJIExqsuBQBnpUsF9HMoVCYmLZv-Z6AzCw0zxhWTybfGgeto7FYp02z5RRVevX_wEPRo1O0EAz8kLReLU2eJa9I_mzdgHNhB_OTB_labRX8tBcl54OIbMLSo/w400-h225/Glory+%25282016%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Tons of literature and movies may have
persistently warned us on how the modern <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">bureaucratic</span></em><span class="st"> and economic systems are </span><em><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-style: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">inhumane</span></em><span class="st"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>to the extent that they
privilege the nonhuman traits over the human. But still, when a movie gets the
grimy realism right, filled with small details and nuanced observations, as in
Glory, it happens to be more than a bland recitation of bureaucracy’s long list
of negative atttributes. It provokes us to willingly see things from the
vantage point of the besmirched protagonist and furthermore to fully grasp the
complexness of political/bureaucratic power. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="st"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Kristina Grozeva and Peter Valchanov have shot together
several short films, which were screened at different international film
festival. Particularly, the duo’s 2012 short Jump was nominated at the European
Film Awards. Their first feature film <i>The Lesson</i> (Urok, 2014) was inspired from
a newspaper story and made on shoe-string budget without any state funding. The
Lesson revolves around a strict school teacher who wants to teach a lesson to
the unknown student, stealing money from classmates during the break. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">But a
large, unforeseen personal debt bestows a hard-to-digest lesson upon the
teacher herself. What ensues is a stark examination of the enduring
immoralities in the post-communist Bulgaria. Glory follows an entirely
different story but deals with similar themes, and also developed from a small
news story. In fact, the directing duo have been planning a third film to once again
explore the grim lives of working-class people, which is being dubbed as
the <i>‘Newspaper Clippings’</i> trilogy. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The protagonist of Glory is much-less privileged and more
ostracized than the female teacher character in <i>The Lesson</i>. Middle-aged Tzanko
Petrov (<span class="loadable"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4139058?ref_=tt_cl_t_1" target="_blank">Stefan Denolyubov</a>)</span> is a railroad linesman.
His dishelved looks, stuttering, and hermit-like living draws lot of ridicules
in his immediate circle. But Tzanko is content with living in an isolated,
dilapidated house with his pet rabbits. Apart from the rabbits, Tzanko feels
deep connection with his analog watch (made by Russian company Slava aka Glory),
a gift from his deceased father. During working hours, he carries six
kilo-heavy wrench to tap and turn the bolts in the railway tracks. He silently
passes fellow workers <span class="loadable">siphoning gas from a railcar. His
routine patrol is disrupted when he discovers </span>millions of euros
scattered across the tracks. Tzanko honestly reports the money to the
authorities, but as they say, <i>‘no good deed goes unpunished’</i>. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The transport ministry is already facing tons of problems.
The minister is accused of financial improprieties by a tenacious investigative
reporter. So the minister’s PR hotshot Julia Staykova (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0331479/?ref_=tt_ov_st" target="_blank">Margita Gosheva</a>) sees
Tzanko’s honest act a god-given opportunity. To distract people’s attention
from the financial scandal, she and her heartless cronies, decide to exploit
Tzanko’s noble gesture. The railroad worker takes a day off and arrives in time
for a pretentious ceremony, where he would be valorized by the minister
himself. Tzanko’s cheap suit and temperament evokes lot of condescending comments
from Julia and her cohorts. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Right before the ceremony, Julia removes the man’s
own watch in order to receive the new one provided by the minister. Tzanko
finds that the new watch is a cheap digital one, which runs slowly. To make
things worse, Julia misplaces the guy’s keepsake inherited from his father.
Frustrated by the bogus gift and Julia’s hostile reaction, Tzankov’s quest for
‘Glory’ only seems destined to turn more ominous. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXTFRQeA2Bmu3ch9KrY9FkovMLvkUp4PgxBw0LGXjIm-tVyVdFkH7aoZzN0xHVo8TdmipLADQViYxq7ggRL4PxxmW0Q87AEv9k6FqDpjqxz1yRvVZobALTFQpbwCJXZGjqmtgE-iMg6Pk/s900/glory-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Slava" border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="900" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXTFRQeA2Bmu3ch9KrY9FkovMLvkUp4PgxBw0LGXjIm-tVyVdFkH7aoZzN0xHVo8TdmipLADQViYxq7ggRL4PxxmW0Q87AEv9k6FqDpjqxz1yRvVZobALTFQpbwCJXZGjqmtgE-iMg6Pk/w400-h221/glory-10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Played by the brilliant Margita Gosheva (protagonist in ‘The
Lesson’), Julia Staykova is a much complicated antagonist than what the
plot-line may make it sound. In a darkly humorous subplot, we see Julia and her
compassionate <span class="loadable">husband Valeri (Kitodar Todorov) attempting
to attain embryonic fertilization. The scenes of Julia undergoing fertilization
treatment while being constantly distracted by work-related rapid-fire phone
calls, goes for a deliberately symbolic touch. Yet watching Julia in her
frenzied, chaotic reality kind of stops her from becoming a cartoonish bad
girl. The character is very much grounded in reality, which makes her
wilfulness to duplicate and manipulate events more distressful. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable">Directors </span>Kristina
and Peter ably suggest the Tzanko and Julia’s polar opposite nature, by
encompassing one in cocoon of silence and natural sounds, while the other is
incorporated within noisy, manic atmosphere. The directors metaphorical tools
like the wrench, watch, rabbits and the symbolism involved in using a European
flag (in the scene Valeri forces Julia to inject herself in the office) may
feel pat and transparent. Nevertheless, the methodical precision with which the
duo stages these scenes and the superb performances manages to absolutely capture our
attention.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">In the end, <span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5937296/" target="_blank"><b>Glory</b></a></span> (101 minutes) is an irresistibly powerful
commentary on the class inequalities and chaotic bureaucracy. </p> <p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"><b>Trailer</b></h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BeEs2_6-AXU" width="320" youtube-src-id="BeEs2_6-AXU"></iframe></div><br /><p><br /></p>Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-24426945841929033542021-07-06T11:15:00.003+05:302021-07-06T11:15:54.216+05:30Manic [2001] – Troubled Youths and Unforgiving Environment<p> </p><p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0577332/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" target="_blank">Jordan Melamed’s</a> indie-feature <b>Manic</b> (2001) is a
well-intentioned drama on young damaged souls who have no hope whatsover to win
over their inner demons. Although, it’s not a very memorable or piercing portrayal
of troubled teens, the chief drawing factor is the presence of now-familiar cast
members – <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0330687?ref_=tt_cl_t_1" target="_blank">Joseph Gordon-Levitt</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0221046?ref_=tt_cl_t_3" target="_blank">Zooey Deschanel</a>, and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000332/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t3" target="_blank">Don Cheadle</a>. Manic is also
known for its hand-held, Dogme-95 style camerawork, which actually becomes the
film’s liability rather than just boost its naturalism. The shaky camerawork
tries to be close and intimate to the characters, capturing all their
self-inflicted physical wounds and emotional bruises beneath. While this choice
provides an immediacy to the proceedings (especially in the group therapy
sessions), it is ultimately annoying and ends up distancing the characters from
us. </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6L18TzkW6dPeEFRYIQKC54ScpImg5ORu94pew6S8RHvoBZg8bT1MT03LE4EbR9wn-amg4pIsQ1DweRshyphenhyphensQo2k05oU_xUs-gH0zdX-wIOdquz_2zxTuXOm1l18GYzkXVvjX-YlrJ8Hqqp/s1024/Manic+%25282001%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Manic" border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="1024" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6L18TzkW6dPeEFRYIQKC54ScpImg5ORu94pew6S8RHvoBZg8bT1MT03LE4EbR9wn-amg4pIsQ1DweRshyphenhyphensQo2k05oU_xUs-gH0zdX-wIOdquz_2zxTuXOm1l18GYzkXVvjX-YlrJ8Hqqp/w400-h265/Manic+%25282001%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Brad Anderson’s horror movie set in an old, abandoned mental institution,
<i>Session 9</i> was also made on Digital Video in the same year. But Anderson’s
hand-held technique was mostly effective because he used it in moderation
(without causing motion sickness). Manic's script written by Michael Bacall &
Blayne Weaver at times embraces conventions and cliches of movies set in mental
asylum. However, the writers don’t shy away from hard truth and remains
ambiguous when it comes to dealing with mental illness and the promised
recuperation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Manic has an unusual setting: juvenile wing of a mental
institution. Here there are no standard cinematic tropes: punishing therapy sessions, sadistic nurses and
guards. The institution is run by an idealistic, perceptive, and calm counselor
Dr. Monroe (Don Cheadle). The narrative simply delves straight into the
adolescent problems or anxiety in all its complexity. It’s hinted early that
the only thing which might impede the recovery is their relapse into
destructive habits. Dr. Monroe clearly confers that no pat resolutions are
waiting these teens, if they stay few weeks in the institution. He suggests no
can quite escape from their destructive temperaments, but can learn to control
them.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">High school kid Lyle (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is there because he has a
penchant for flying into rages and beating people up. He has exploded recently
and nearly beat a kid to death with a baseball bat. The rage is may be
something genetic or it’s caused by his father’s physical abuse. Lyle mostly
stays guarded and when forced to talk he is vague and inarticulate, but still
his intelligence and empathic feelings are intact so as to know the difference between
good and bad. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO4YOhIt8QTEjP7Yw7j1-4G0GuURibc9bpv3EVZJVXpxSLQbqc0HODDybhzibMAxWFK4pTC_jb_xlCQYUFr31CUAIcZpV5fVa61tHP3z0DuU5Yx5iP-zt5RF9LvZDzkCYt6bTO_G-3OuhT/s1886/Zooey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Manic Zooey" border="0" data-original-height="1446" data-original-width="1886" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO4YOhIt8QTEjP7Yw7j1-4G0GuURibc9bpv3EVZJVXpxSLQbqc0HODDybhzibMAxWFK4pTC_jb_xlCQYUFr31CUAIcZpV5fVa61tHP3z0DuU5Yx5iP-zt5RF9LvZDzkCYt6bTO_G-3OuhT/w400-h306/Zooey.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Lyle’s peers includes a shy Native American teen with a
history of sexual abuse (Cody Lightning), a bully (Elden Henson), a wannabe
intellectual with uncontrolled mood-swings (Michael Bacall), a non-conforming
Goth girl (Sara Rivas), and a fragile wallflower Tracey (Zooey Deschanel) who
is tormented by nightmares. Barring the familiar plot trajectories, and
uninspired exchanges, the movie’s soul lays in the group sessions scenes, where
Dr. Monroe carefully and compassionately initiates deep conversations and
referees growing hostilities. The doctor’s questions are very basic: <i>“What
gives your life meaning?”</i> But it makes the tough-shelled teenagers to open up
and understand their own vulnerability. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Movies on disaffected American youth has increased sharpy in
the recent years – <i>It’s A Kind of Funny Story, Short Term 12, Me and Earl and
the Dying Girl, Wrist Cutters, To the Bone,</i> etc. And, some of the films get
past the indie-film cliches and fires up narrative full of substance and heart.
<span class="st">Destin Daniel Cretton's <b>Short Term 12</b> is thematically and
structurally similar to Manic, which was written based on Destin’s own
experience of working in a similar facility. Freed from stylistic obsession and
strengthened by brilliantly fleshed-out characters, Short Term 12’ focus was
more sensitive and profound than Manic. Nevertheless, Jordan Melamed’s
depiction of disaffected youth is not entirely robbed off its heart and
profundity. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="st"> </span></p><span class="st">The problem with Melamed’s approach and
screen-writing duo’s textured writing is the way it resorts to blatant
symbolism (a Van Gogh’s painting serves as the most unsubtle symbol) or
sentimental reactions, treating the characters as mere ciphers (which is ironic
since camerawork seeks absolute realism). Gordon-Levitt and </span>Deschanel
does a marvelous job in underplaying their agitated characters, plus the
chemistry between them is well observed. Yet Melamed often breaks up good
rhythm in a scene for unncessary cutaway shots, avoiding the space to build up
a character. The characters’ spiralling down also becomes all too familiar. <p></p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzziwOX4HSbI3OIm4vwvFVJxN-bbkgsjV_oem6elnEK442kbv8J0wxVhf39IVHNuBgeTOV8mvUhPh3ws4ESgsunO7-QbSb-veoxjGPzKWTolRp6AVypOdycTk5rLCPZcapY4RygYYSRyK/s640/Don.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Don Cheadle" border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="640" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzziwOX4HSbI3OIm4vwvFVJxN-bbkgsjV_oem6elnEK442kbv8J0wxVhf39IVHNuBgeTOV8mvUhPh3ws4ESgsunO7-QbSb-veoxjGPzKWTolRp6AVypOdycTk5rLCPZcapY4RygYYSRyK/w400-h221/Don.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The
vital aspect of Manic which makes it heartwarming is the presence of Don
Cheadle as Dr. Monroe. Cheadle gets the chance to play the narrative’s most
fantastic moment: the occasion when the doctor cracks up in the group session
and starts throwing furnitures around. The actor makes Monroe’s pain and
weariness very genuine and his sequences don’t suffer much from the editing
choices. Of the minor teen characters in the institution, I liked Cody Lightning’s
Kenny the most. He doesn’t say much but piercingly
conveys his dread and feelings of uncertainty.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Eventually, if you get past the
jerky cinematography and familiar, unsubtle plot devices, you could discover the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0252684/" target="_blank">Manic’s</a> compelling, slightly ambiguous view of troubled youth. It’s not a break-out
feature, but not a strictly mediocre work too. </p>
<br /><p></p>Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-35160185503625015702021-07-01T11:00:00.001+05:302021-07-01T11:04:15.195+05:30Young Mr. Lincoln [1939] – A Visually Eloquent & Lionized Portrayal of the Formidable Political Icon<p> </p><p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">The year 1939 was pivotal period in the film-making career
of the America’s greatest director <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000406/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" target="_blank">John Ford</a>. By this time, Mr. Ford had been
making movies for more than two decades, yet the works that cemented his place
among the pantheon of great film-makers started to flow from 1939. Prior to
that year, John Ford directed multiple films a year, gaining few Oscar
nominations, although those films didn’t make any long-lasting impact on the
movie-going public. Teaming up with yesteryear Western icon John Wayne, whose
career by then was riddled with minor roles, Mr. Ford made the first of his
many monumental works, titled <i>‘Stage Coach’</i>. This famous Western continues to
gain cinephiles’ rapt attention due to Ford’s exemplary focus on action and
visual detail. Orson Welles had supposedly watched it close to 40 times. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Qcc8aJemKm4JzowMW8HyG3AmWzRH1q7lq6hRGLGn2ldIyfQGAANUbcD0Lpsg4NtXhiSWZRh1IY_ahKLVJWhUIlwaQcqtGKIis8vnzN75GEms6hrhZUXYvP7y3Fk41_Hhjb2Wqoo3W5l5/s1600/Young+Mr.+Lincoln+%25281939%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Young Mr. Lincoln" border="0" data-original-height="995" data-original-width="1600" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Qcc8aJemKm4JzowMW8HyG3AmWzRH1q7lq6hRGLGn2ldIyfQGAANUbcD0Lpsg4NtXhiSWZRh1IY_ahKLVJWhUIlwaQcqtGKIis8vnzN75GEms6hrhZUXYvP7y3Fk41_Hhjb2Wqoo3W5l5/w400-h249/Young+Mr.+Lincoln+%25281939%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Politically or culturally, Stagecoach is as problematic as the director’s
later-era Westerns, often depicting Native Americans from the myopic or prejudiced
view of White Americans. In many ways, Stage Coach is eulogized as the birth
of John Ford the auteur. But at the same time, the director also made a fascinating movie in the same year, which received lukewarm
response, both critically and financially. In retrospect, <b>Young Mr. Lincoln
</b>(1939) maynot be to be as remarkable as Stagecoach, but intriguing for many of its Ford-ian thematic
preoccupations – for instance, the perpetual conflict between free will and
constrained society. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Young Mr. Lincoln chronicles a decade in the life of Abraham
Lincoln (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000020/?ref_=tt_ov_st" target="_blank">Henry Fonda</a>), from the time he was a simple storekeeper to becoming a
considerate lawyer, after arriving at Springfield, Illinois in the year 1837. <i>“</i><span class="st"><i>When the legend becomes fact, print the legend”</i>, says the famous line
in Ford’s classic Western ‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance’ (1962). In the
similar vein, the young Lincoln in Ford’s movie confirms to the folkloric or
mythologized versions of the historical persona. It uses a sentimental fable to
try and get to the heart of a true American hero. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="st"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="st">Although historical truth is
replaced with fictional heroism, the movie remains rousing and captivating due
to Henry Fonda’s precise, well-grounded portrayal of Lincoln. John Ford near perfectly
balances his story, alternately confirming to the perspective of Lincoln as the
agent of history, and Lincoln as the skepticism-free individual. Ford employs a
fictionalized event to mine Lincoln’s unfaltering wisdom to almost ascend him
to the mythic stature. He also simultaneously visualizes Lincoln, who is
persistently haunted by the past (the loss of his beloved friend Ann Rutledge
and his nomadic, near homeless state) and an uncertain present. Even though
Ford’s vision ultimately gives way to overt sentimentalization, Fonda’s genuine
attempt at depicting the rough edges and vulnerabilities of the great leader
actually precedes the subtly complex performance of Daniel Day-Lewis in Steven
Spielberg’s <i>Lincoln </i>(2012). </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="st"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2xetV5vpHLapUyp5zsHW9fbd2WslGKv6FVpESEvXOzatHA0ck1KxqpIzQGQvwc9YZ5fmDlzLeKFZ3vVG9h3cwsVhKtjjF_NZ-VrNWKTyrwWrP5XkUmmrrZwnY4cZEG6uGeBF_44WPXLUY/s1024/Young-Mr.-Lincoln_03.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Young Lincoln" border="0" data-original-height="752" data-original-width="1024" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2xetV5vpHLapUyp5zsHW9fbd2WslGKv6FVpESEvXOzatHA0ck1KxqpIzQGQvwc9YZ5fmDlzLeKFZ3vVG9h3cwsVhKtjjF_NZ-VrNWKTyrwWrP5XkUmmrrZwnY4cZEG6uGeBF_44WPXLUY/w400-h294/Young-Mr.-Lincoln_03.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Young Mr.Lincoln was written by America’s <span class="st">prolific
and respected screenwriter Lamar Trotti (<i><a href="https://movieretrospect.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-ox-bow-incident-1943-evils-of-mob.html" target="_blank">The Ox-Bow Incident</a>, The Razor’s Edge</i>,
etc). The film opens with the kind, young Lincoln, listening to a farmer’s needs in
small-town Salem. He vows to take up their problems in the State Legislature as
an elected representative and gives one of his soothing speeches</span><span class="loadable"> from a cabin porch. One day, a poor family after receiving
Lincoln’s help pays him in the form of law books, which seals the lonely man’s
fate. Encouraged by the books and soulful exchanges with his (doomed) first
love Ann Rutledge (Pauline Moore), Lincoln decides to take over the lawyer
profession. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable">Years later, after Ann’s sad death, he </span>opens a law office in
the Illinois state capital of Springfield. Lincoln, an inexperienced lawyer but
a man of action, stumbles upon his first major criminal case. The two young
brothers of the Clay family – Matt and Adam -- accidentally kill a local thug,
who beleaguers their family’s women. After subtly censuring the drunken, lynch
mob that tries to string the boys, Lincoln takes upon the case. Considering the
experience of state prosectutor and his amenability with the judge, the boys
surely appear to be headed to the gallows. Of course, the mob of racuous,
uncivilized forces are pinned down by the then-defense lawyer’s idealized
stand. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Young Mr. Lincoln is mostly a standard courtroom drama than
a well-rounded biopic. Its power and effectiveness largely lies in Ford’s
heightened sense of style and his penchant for adeptly construing the
environment to play pivotal part in the proceedings. Although Ford’s trademark
shots of vast outdoor landscapes are very few in here, he makes good use of
studio sets to capture the emblematic maturation of Lincoln. Trotti’s script is
filled with earthy, nostalgic notions of old Americana, which Ford embraces it
with a sense of exaltation, especially in the noisily playful ‘fair’ scene and
the bit mawkish conversation between Lincoln and the women of Clays’ family. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj59rKjNhs5ySOm7BE2PAttTcFtpd6m01P2dcZZ6DUfeOas68s7p-DoHES_2SZo4JqAevrp3JZGzvVP9jWZ7y4bqpGu6hYFIWGmZJiNKg_1f2jhV6UiGt813GqEtKz9kizCgITVAkdVaY7D/s1716/Fonda+Lincoln.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Fonda Lincoln" border="0" data-original-height="1337" data-original-width="1716" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj59rKjNhs5ySOm7BE2PAttTcFtpd6m01P2dcZZ6DUfeOas68s7p-DoHES_2SZo4JqAevrp3JZGzvVP9jWZ7y4bqpGu6hYFIWGmZJiNKg_1f2jhV6UiGt813GqEtKz9kizCgITVAkdVaY7D/w400-h311/Fonda+Lincoln.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Ford’s
signature thematic notions are all here: representation of human resolve,
individual power, staunch nationalism plus the venality and hypocrisies in
a class-conscious society. The myth of Lincoln in the narrative definitely
controls the character from being thorougly multi-facted. Yet Fonda braves the
onerous task and brings an extraordinary sense of intimacy in playing the
political icon. Thanks to Fonda’s suave performance, the conventional mythic
elements don’t threaten to drown the real, human nature of Lincoln. There are
few moments where on-screen Lincoln is: ignoble - his casual ruthelessness
towards two farmer plaintiffs; awkward - his acquaintance with fickle Mary
Todd, the future wife; and rascally - there’s a minor moment when Lincoln ties
a rope to a wagon to win the tug of war.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Intertwined with moments of folksy
humor and linguistic maneuvers, the courtroom scenes unfurl in a brilliant
manner. The only sizeable flaw in the trial happens to be overly idealized
characters of the accused young brothers. Eventually, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032155/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_53" target="_blank"><b>Young Mr. Lincoln</b></a> (100
minutes) happens to be one of the best, earlier works of John Ford to deeply understand
the metamorphosing power of myth. </p>
<br /><p></p>Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-39176446491905514292021-06-24T11:20:00.000+05:302021-06-24T11:20:34.327+05:30Forty Guns [1957] – An Audacious and Exciting Revisionist Western<p> </p><p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">Samuel Michael Fuller was one of the greatest maverick American
film-makers whose unpredictable genre movies oft posed incendiary critiques on
the decadent and hypocritical nature of the American Establishment. As a master
stylist with a penchant for social justice, Samuel Fuller inculcated
revisionist spin on genre set-ups or stock story-lines. Since he perpetually
assailed the inherent bigotry and prejudice of the American collective
consciousness, he was less regarded at home - especially at the height of cold
war when he turned out his best works - and more celebrated at the European
countries, mainly in France. Fuller did a cameo in Jean-Luc Godard’s <i>“Pierror
le fou”</i>, explaining what is cinema at a Parisian party.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-eaPjR_dEClqJqOUXRYXNQAuo4FsLf0XBHCmlSiO9P19yQGNsg2DmXEaM_UDFBEFOcUM1yuNCVUj6kdOf4IyIcGE6Kp_wJFFjn-XlTe-jOjyghrx5zB6CXjjfKFN4iVH0Hxcyfq1pBc0C/s1289/Forty+Guns+%25281957%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Forty Guns" border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1289" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-eaPjR_dEClqJqOUXRYXNQAuo4FsLf0XBHCmlSiO9P19yQGNsg2DmXEaM_UDFBEFOcUM1yuNCVUj6kdOf4IyIcGE6Kp_wJFFjn-XlTe-jOjyghrx5zB6CXjjfKFN4iVH0Hxcyfq1pBc0C/w400-h310/Forty+Guns+%25281957%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal">In a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/sep/28/3" target="_blank">Guardian article,celebrated German film-maker Wim Wenders</a> states, <i>“Some men look at the world
and all they ever see is money. Others see nothing but real estate. For others
again, it all boils down to power, fame, or honour……For Sam Fuller, the world
condensed into stories. That's what he saw wherever he looked. Whatever
reality, incident, fact or event presented itself, he saw it as narrative
material.”</i> Born in August 1912, Fuller roamed across US to write for newspapers
during the Great Depression (his firs job was newsboy). He was a crime reporter
in New York at the age of 17. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">This passsion for pursuing after stories
eventually turned Fuller into a scriptwriter and novelist. He enlisted after
Pearl Harbour and worked as an infantryman rather than safely positioning
himself as a war correspondent. The copious notes he took during his war
experiences perhaps pushed him to make one of the greatest war films – The Big
Red One (1980). Fuller made his directorial debut in 1949 with I Shot Jesse
James. Fuller’s cold war noir movie Pickup on South Street (1953) was his first critically acclaimed feature. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Before Pickup on South Street, Fuller made The Steel Helmets
(1951), one of my favorite American war films (set during Korean War), which
showcased the true patriotism of the soldiers while also exposing the
incredulity of sending its citizens to fight a war on faraway lands (something
that was unprecedented at 1950s Hollywood). Fuller was repeatedly criticized or
simply dismissed for tackling B-movie storylines. Although his movies like
Shock Corridor (1963), The Naked Kiss (1964) had an exaggerated, pulp-ish
storyline, the viscerally dynamic and complex camera movements pushed the
thematic boundaries of the simple plot. For example, the fascinatingly radical
scene in Shock Corridor that chronicles the fate of Trent, an African-American
student who is driven insane by rampant racism in the South and now envisions
himself as a Klansman. The great Martin Scorsese once said, <i>“If you don’t like
Samuel Fuller, you just don’t like cinema”</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite the scorn that’s showered upon
Fuller’s plot and dialogues, his idiosyncratic visual signature captivatingly presents
us an intense world where the hysterical struggle for survival is ubiquitous
and love is a scarcity. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghpubBRJt-cmbpXEuTyoVYV54V9OAKr2N_d-OaPRMqfHmI_CW1i-g-xu5xK5kuEv5c5GtIAb9JvxZ0gMbgjU5Do1mDtqA4e8V4zXiVu1dx997pE-vxt3r6fYyNn977PSdeQNoPUSyiLv_k/s1200/Forty-Guns-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="868" data-original-width="1200" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghpubBRJt-cmbpXEuTyoVYV54V9OAKr2N_d-OaPRMqfHmI_CW1i-g-xu5xK5kuEv5c5GtIAb9JvxZ0gMbgjU5Do1mDtqA4e8V4zXiVu1dx997pE-vxt3r6fYyNn977PSdeQNoPUSyiLv_k/w400-h289/Forty-Guns-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Samuel Fuller’s revisionist Western <b>Forty Guns</b> (1957) saw the filmmaker operating at the height of his storytelling powers. Critics categorize
it as a ‘matriarchial Western’, since lik Fritz Lang’s Rancho Notorious
(1952) and Nicolas Ray’s <a href="https://www.highonfilms.com/johnny-guitar-western-classic/" target="_blank">Johnny Guitar</a> (1954), the film had a strong female
character who doesn’t want to succumb to the familiar ethos of American
Frontier culture. Forty Guns, filmed in glorious black-and-white widescreen
canvas, had the technical panache and eccentricity (including the relentless
sexual innuendo) of Ray’s Johnny Guitar and the emotions of a Sirkian
melodrama. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">The film opens with US Marshall Griff Bonnell (Barry Sullivan) and
his brothers – Wes and Chico -- riding a cart across a vast stretch of land.
The brothers suddenly pull up and with a dazed expression they watch Jessica
Drummond (Barbara Stanwyck) draped in full-black riding high on a white
stallion, followed by 40 men upon a uniformly galloping horses. She is ‘a high
ridin’ Woman with a whip’ sings the town’s balladeer. The encounter leaves the
Bonnell brothers to be covered in dust and later discuss their plans to the
familiar local guys at the bathhouse. The brother characters were pretty much
confirms to the myth of Wyatt brothers, especially Griff Bonnell who like Wyatt
Earp inspires glorious, tall tales. Griff has a warrant for the arrest of
Howard Swain (Chuck Roberson), a simple job complicated by the fact that he is
one of the 40 men working for Jessica. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jessica who is respectful to Griff doesn’t seem to be posing
any trouble. She is a very influential rancher in Tombstone. But her
weak-minded, trigger-happy younger brother Brockie Drummond (John Ericson) is
whole another matter. Immediately after Griff’s entry into the town, Brockie
and his cohorts shoot up the town in a drunken stupor. Then comes a beautiful
mix of tense montage shots, which precedes Sergio Leone’s elaborately detailed
stand-offs, as Griff slowly marches toward Brockie, fixedly staring at him from
the town’s center. However, Brockie doesn't draw the gun who is well aware of
Griff’s reputation. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Griff simply pistol whips the boy that lands him in a jail
cell. Jessica is naturally outraged, but she’s more interested in protecting
her only brother than opposing the famous ‘legal killer’. Later, Griff totally
earns her respect when he saves Jessica from a horrible dust storm. There are
different subplots too: an outrageously raunchy romance between Wes Bonnell and a
young Gunsmith; Chico wants to follow the path of his courageous brother and
doesn’t want to be just a third leg. All these ultra-familiar elements of Western
narrative tropes, however, are embellished by the persistently brilliant visual
language. Griff imprisons the man he seeks and even develops a kind of intimacy
with Jessica. But the troublemaker Brockie, devoid of tenderness, brings
irredeemable tragedy. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyeJeJK4bwTGrtm5KM0jE2KTNaR0b6WBXaCKa1DEttSEROhRlHMI9mYEUQ4jrBCzsjMopH15mUMSI9LRbkLyJ3pQqTZXvVWVHcCo7AbPJB4HrMDsJF-27pHuS-iMTyrGMEY7TBL2SzmFgE/s1200/fg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="883" data-original-width="1200" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyeJeJK4bwTGrtm5KM0jE2KTNaR0b6WBXaCKa1DEttSEROhRlHMI9mYEUQ4jrBCzsjMopH15mUMSI9LRbkLyJ3pQqTZXvVWVHcCo7AbPJB4HrMDsJF-27pHuS-iMTyrGMEY7TBL2SzmFgE/w400-h294/fg.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Forty Guns stands as a testament to Samuel Fuller’s master
craftsmanship. Working on a very low budget ($300,000), Fuller’s visual
expressions earnestly attempts to recreate the authentic Old West. The fact
that he made a very effective tornado/dust storm scene remains as a marvel.
Fuller’s rich sense of styling continually sets it apart from the typical
western. From the enchantingly wild close-ups to point-of-view shot through the
barrel of gun to the masterfully kinetic crane and tracking shots to capturing
the unrelentingly violent shoot-outs, the director extracts much style from the
scenario to make it much more than a generic Western feature. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Although the film
confirms to the strict rule of bloodletting, the deaths and sudden burst of
violence are portrayed in a fairly shocking and realistic manner (the final gun
battle was the most surprising). The cuts and dissolves are the other alluring
aspect of Fuller’s films. In one scene, a minor character’s death in the jail
cell is immediately cut to the shot of Griffin standing inside the cell (to
examine the body), suggesting his now-imprisoned emotional state. Later, to
suggest the upcoming downfall of Jessica, Fuller dissolves from a shot of her
face to the shot of horses’ frenzied galloping.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dialogues were
unapologetically raunchy for its time, especially one encounter beteween Griff
and Jessica: <i>“May I feel it?”</i> she asks pointing to the pistol, <i>“It might go off
in your face”</i> warns the man, to which she replies, <i>“I will take a chance”</i>. The
interplay between Wes and the gunsmith girl he loves is also doused with sexual
innuendos (<i>“I’d like to stay around long enough to clean her rifle”</i> sighs Wes).
The performances are uniformly good (not excellent). Fifty year old Barbara
Stanwyck is more tender-looking than the <span class="st">enticingly dangerous
femme fatale roles she did in noir cinema. It’s an interesting bit of trivia that
Stanwyck did </span>her own stunts (the dangerous one upon a horse).<span class="st"> But Jessica's character is underwritten (mostly in the 2<sup>nd</sup>
half) compared to Joan Crawford’s Vienna (Johnny Guitar). </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="st"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="st">Despite its light running time of 80 minutes,
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050407/" target="_blank"><b>Forty Guns</b></a> attempts to transcend certain fixed elements of the Western genre
framework. Bolstered by Samuel Fuller’s masterful film-making style, the film
is one of the understated, cult classics in the Western canon. </span></p>
<br /><p></p>Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-77307003389912861532021-06-03T11:41:00.000+05:302021-06-03T11:43:08.089+05:30Hopscotch [1980] – A Relentlessly Playful Espionage Comedy<p> </p><p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">British Author John le Carre’s legendary character George
Smiley is anti-James Bond. He fights enemies with intelligence and his battlefield
is a drab office interestingly referred to as The Circus. Unlike the revered
on-screen man-child intelligent agent, Smiley has erudite grasp on using the
double-edged sword known as violence. American novelist Brian Garfield with his
1975 novel Hopscotch about a bored ex-spy also deviates from the Western adolescent
fantasy life of James Bond. The veteran field agent of Garfield too doesn’t
carry a gun even in life-threatening situations and smoothly resolves the conflicts
by relying on intelligence. But Garfield’s novel is a light-hearted riff on spy
genre without much of the hard-hitting, closer-to-reality tightrope situations
experienced in John le Carre’s novels. In Garfield’s logic-defying espionage
scenario, the utterly hopeless predicament of the protagonist is transcended
through feisty, humorous games (pretty much like the one hinted in the title)
rather than violent combats.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPP82Bwpz_sMqm2JDtsxHoB1rZKMY9khB53OZBetWrtUxqGisD2Auow_QndDTOFbnz2pzgmAyTWbmh8JVktgMe_i3Ln86dm4YVKRzv_y47A_1w_kwKIxxORfy62qr7AtBZa5fq6JJsPujM/s1280/H.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Hopscotch" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPP82Bwpz_sMqm2JDtsxHoB1rZKMY9khB53OZBetWrtUxqGisD2Auow_QndDTOFbnz2pzgmAyTWbmh8JVktgMe_i3Ln86dm4YVKRzv_y47A_1w_kwKIxxORfy62qr7AtBZa5fq6JJsPujM/w400-h225/H.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Brian Garfield’s Hopscotch originally went up to Warren Beatty and Jane Fonda. But when <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000527/?ref_=tt_ov_st" target="_blank">WalterMatthau</a> - the master of cantankerous comedy - came onboard to play the
protagonist, the script was re-written out and out as a wry comedy. British
writer/director <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0285302/?ref_=tt_ov_wr" target="_blank">Bryan Forbes</a> (<i>Whistle Down the Wind, Séance on a Wet Afternoon,
The Whisperers</i>) was initially set to direct the movie (he co-wrote the script
with Brian Garfield) but he was later replaced by fellow British film-maker
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0623768/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" target="_blank">Ronald Neame</a>. Mr. Neame was one of the important figures in British cinema who
has collaborated with cinematic masters like David Lean (as co-writer &
producer for <i>Brief Encounters, Blithe Spirit, Great Expectations</i>) and Alfred
Hitchcock (worked as assistant cameraman). </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Venerated as director’s actor, Mr.
Ronald Neame efficiently juggled between the roles of director and
cinematographer, bringing out career-best performances from fine actors --
Maggie Smith in T<i>he Prime of Miss Jean Brodie</i> (1969), Alec Guiness in <i>Tunes of
Glory </i>(1960) and <i>The Horse’s Mouth</i> (1958), Hayley Mills in <i>The Chalk Garden</i>
(1964), and Judy Garland in <i>I Could Go On Singing</i> (1962). Director Neame has associated
himself with projects of different genres – from action adventure, comedy to
thrillers and biopic dramas. Before directing Hopscotch, Ronald Neame has made
two intriguing comedies – <i>The Horse’s Mouth</i> (1958) & <i>Gambit </i>(1966). While
Hopscotch wasn’t a singularly outstanding work in the long career span of both Bryan
Forbes and Ronald Neame, it certainly is a very entertaining spy comedy, unlike some of the bland genre exercises in contemporary Hollywood cinema. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Walter Matthau plays an ageing CIA field agent Miles Kendig,
cloaked in trench coat and his face wearing a persistent frown. He is stinging
a group of Russian spies wandering around Munich’s famous Oktoberfest; back
when cold war reached threshold point and when Munich was in West Germany. The
sting is a success as Kendig perfectly corners his Russian counterpart <span class="loadable">Yaskov (Herbert Lom). He gets back the stolen intelligence from
Yaskov, but lets him depart with a cordial greeting. Kendig’s hard-bitten,
no-nonsense boss Myerson (Ned Beatty) who doesn’t understand the subtlety of
quid pro quo (or backscratching methods) punishes Kendig with a desk job. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2DlGWn0Gvxi4Q7zhiBdcUA8QcYN01TNwg-BHCX9RKcXCL-mYC3bUtJA3eQ3UWOrNgbg4zzNDSEpH6ofXfqTmZIa6zrquiwQMhMmz_zLSSVNHrR5U1F93jFuxBP4lNQyJ9VLrsEY3os5Rm/s1200/Hopscotch+%25281980%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2DlGWn0Gvxi4Q7zhiBdcUA8QcYN01TNwg-BHCX9RKcXCL-mYC3bUtJA3eQ3UWOrNgbg4zzNDSEpH6ofXfqTmZIa6zrquiwQMhMmz_zLSSVNHrR5U1F93jFuxBP4lNQyJ9VLrsEY3os5Rm/w400-h266/Hopscotch+%25281980%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable">It’s
hinted that Myerson has sucked up to Nixon administration and rised to the top
ranks of CIA by taping influential people. Kendig’s don’t-give-a-damn attitude
fires up as he concocts elaborate plans to get back at Myerson. Kendig begins
the game by shredding his personnel file and by threatening to write detailed
memoirs which may embarrass all the intelligent agencies involved in the cold
war. When Myerson and his clueless cohorts takes Kendig’s bait the narrative
moves through uniquely hilarious situations. Helping Kendig on his lucrative
final mission is the </span>former-agent & ex-lover Isobel (Glenda
Jackson). <span class="loadable">Heading the operation to hunt-down the old,
rogue spy is Joe Cutter (Sam Waterston), Kendig’s protégé who is always
one-step behind in figuring out Kendig’s globetrotting adventure. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hopscotch is more watchable for Matthau’s rendering of smug and
unapologetically decadent Miles Kendig. Listening to Mozart while shaping his
memoir on a typewriter, uproariously humming opera at the border checkpost, and
completely failing at mimicking different accents, Matthau’s Kendig is a very
idiosyncratic movie spy. Unlike modern rogue spies, Kendig doesn’t boast any
noble intentions for his unpredictable revenge trajectory. He makes it clear
that it’s an act of selfishness and a display of arrogance. But Matthau adds
lively, miniscule touches to his portrayal that we persistently root for his
anti-authoritative stance, irrespective of the eventuality. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Bryan Forbes and
Brian Garfield’s writing may lack some spark to make it spectacular (it’s too
relaxed at times), but their character sketches and nuanced comedic situations
are nothing short of impeccable. Ned Beatty’s enraged yet inept Myerson makes
up the perfect counterpoint to Kendig. The revenge solely channeled at
Myerson is punctuated with undeniably funny punchlines, the highpoint being the
encounter at Myerson’s estate where Kendig smartly hides. Some of the plot
turns remain elemental compared to the brilliantly conceived verbal jousts (for instance, the
confrontation between Kendig and Cutter in the hotel room balances comedy and
poignance). The other winning aspect of the movie is the unforced chemistry between
Matthau and Glenda Jackson. Their amorous teases somewhat serves as an emotional
crux of the narrative. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080889/" target="_blank"><b>Hopscotch</b></a> (105 minutes) may encounter the complaint of
possessing standard-fare or bare-bones plot structure and predictable happy
ending. But it retains a sense of charm that may wholly please viewers of dry,
quirky comedies. </p>
<br /><p></p>Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-75323080566297400972021-05-04T11:21:00.000+05:302021-05-04T11:21:46.359+05:30Late Chrysanthemums [1954] – The Everyday Disappointments of Japanese Women in the Post-War Society<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">Mikio Naruse’s first three adaptations of Fumiko Hayashi’s
stories – <a href="https://www.highonfilms.com/repast-1951-review/" target="_blank">Repast (1951)</a>, <a href="https://www.highonfilms.com/lightning-1952-review/" target="_blank">Lightning (1952)</a>, and Wife (1953) – explored how
women’s social roles remain limited by traditional gender norms despite the
reforms in post-war Japan. <b>Late Chrystanthemums</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Bangiku, 1954), also based on the three stories of Hayashi,
explores the hardships of women living outside the familial institution of
Japanese society. Set amidst the complex, social and economic landscape of
metropolitan postwar Tokyo, the film deals with the everyday concerns of four
middle-aged women plagued either by lack of money and opportunities, or by the
harsh public perception. Staged as usual with precision and simplicity, Naruse delves
into the female subjective experience of social transformation in the
modernizing Japan. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgJzyjVd8Td89VOndQMVE1N3xQMXQcU0woqcpZmkyp8eLA7rIY_IHaRk_sBcLNnrE-E3_yZ8arqc1MvucjFj7Eof0eAUAwtvz_PJ5NlL_pBYoz0PK4ueDRvEmuJLGE4VMMENt7U9q6Cnb4/s886/Late+Chrysanthemums+%25281954%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Bangiku" border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="886" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgJzyjVd8Td89VOndQMVE1N3xQMXQcU0woqcpZmkyp8eLA7rIY_IHaRk_sBcLNnrE-E3_yZ8arqc1MvucjFj7Eof0eAUAwtvz_PJ5NlL_pBYoz0PK4ueDRvEmuJLGE4VMMENt7U9q6Cnb4/w400-h283/Late+Chrysanthemums+%25281954%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Naruse wouldn't be lionized as a feminist film-maker by the contemporary standards. His
method is more of passive observation, which nevertheless frequently engages
with questions of female subjectivity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Furthermore, Naruse's nuanced, poignant portrayals of suffering woman
within a ruined nation stops short of explicit social criticism which can polarize the viewers. Late
Chrystanthemums is predominantly set in a back-street Tokyo neighborhood, and
its four central women characters had worked together as geishas in their youth
whose relationship has turned more complex in the dismal economic state of
post-war Japan. Of the four, Kin (Haruko Sugimura) has flourished as the women
of means, whose financial independence comes at the expense of friendship and
male companionship. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Kin lives in a better household with a deaf and dumb servant
girl. She is a shrewd moneylender and does real estate with her business
partner, Itaya (Daisuke Kato). Kin is shown to be amassing wealth just for the
sake of it, since it’s made clear that there’s no one in her life to share the
fortune. Kin’s everyday routine consists of relentlessly pestering her
ex-geisha pals, Tamae (Chikako Hosokawa), Tomi (Yûko Mochizuki), and Nobu
(Sadako Sawamura) who have all borrowed money from Kin and all leading a
hand-to-mouth existence. All three women talk about Kin behind her back. Nobu
and her husband make ends meet with their restaurant and pawn business. They
have reached a position to pay Kin the interest. Tamae and Tomi, however are
very unlucky, holding onto the menial jobs that isn’t enough to pay their rents.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The unmarried Tamae and Tomi have one grown children, and they decide to leave the home and live their own life. Burdened by loneliness
and without any real means of support, Tamae and Tomi spend their evenings
getting drunk. One of the best things about Naruse’s technique is that he
glimpses at his characters in a naturalistic manner which evokes neither scorn
nor pity. The narrative might revolve around women complaining about their
plight, but their existence is also defined by a tenacity of sorts. Kin suffers
snide comments from her friends whose ‘haughtiness’ often becomes the topic of
interest. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nobu at one point casually
states, <i>“I know what she used to do. She manipulated men for money.” </i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Vl1OYVUN4juFsT4GbwDiSsrLJaKOmlRphYDaCijo0DdPF7Am_wN3l0RMYVeeD-G3dqB5v2taski-et5xi6UdNIESOJ6z4TkJXPrYOWHehDA1izmORsIxCb0yoew4VFK5jx7wUwCY5Ric/s1280/Ban.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Late Chrysanthemums" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Vl1OYVUN4juFsT4GbwDiSsrLJaKOmlRphYDaCijo0DdPF7Am_wN3l0RMYVeeD-G3dqB5v2taski-et5xi6UdNIESOJ6z4TkJXPrYOWHehDA1izmORsIxCb0yoew4VFK5jx7wUwCY5Ric/w400-h225/Ban.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Kin’s determination to keep following the motto of ‘eat or
be eaten’ is tested by two men from her past. One is Seki, a man who once
obsessively loved Kin that he tried to commit love suicide with her. The other
is a former soldier named Tabe (Ken Uehara), whom Kin is looking forward to
seeing. But both men visit her with the same purpose in mind: to beg for money.
More memorable is the narrative’s bittersweet, penultimate scene as Tamae and
Tomi watches a young woman in a tight skirt and heels, passing them with a
signature Marilyn Monroe walk. Tomi attempts an impersonation of the step. They
both laugh, knowing well that they are left behind in this new cultural and
socioeconomic setup. Yet the women are intent on making their way in the modern
world – the sunlight of metropolitan Tokyo further emphasizing their will to
survive. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Though Late Chrysanthemums isn’t as psychologically profound
as Naruse’s later works dealing with similar subject matter – Floating Clouds (1955)
& When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960) – there’s a pleasure in absorbing
the director and his regular screenwriters’ – Sumie Tanaka & Toshiro Ide –
anthropological or sociological view of post-war Tokyo. Naruse’s skills are
clearly unparalleled when it comes to detailing and observing the rhythms of
everyday life in the city. There’s fluidity in the way Naruse cuts between
various characters and their spaces, often adorned with different visual
motifs. One particularly well-staged sequence is the showcase of Kin’s
vulnerability when she meets Tabe, which is crosscut with camaraderie existing
between Tamae and Tomi as the friends get themselves intoxicated to soften the
blows of everyday life. The rain serves as the linking point as Naruse cuts
between two melancholic spaces riddled with human emotions. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Overall, in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046750/" target="_blank"><b>Late Chrystanthemums</b></a> (101 minutes) Mikio Naruse
perfectly maps out his observation of human emotions with respect to their
socioeconomic conditions and interpersonal relationships.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<br /><p></p>Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-40672411885839739292021-03-29T12:08:00.004+05:302021-03-29T12:10:36.618+05:30A Visitor to a Museum [1989] – An Unconventional Post-Apocalyptic Cinema with Spellbinding Aesthetics<p> </p><p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">Konstantin Lopushansky’s heavily textured, nightmarish
cinema projects a future for humankind that looks prophetic, although we wouldn't hope for it to happen. Lopushansky, who worked as production assistant
for Andrei Tarkovsky in Stalker (1979), made his diploma short film Solo in
1980. His debut feature Letters from a Dead Man (1986) is a believable nuclear
holocaust drama that drew parallels with Tarkovskian landscape of Stalker. In
fact, popular Soviet sci-fi author Boris Strugatsky (Boris and Arkady
Strugatsky were the authors of Stalker’s source novel) co-wrote the script for
Letters from a Dead Man (alongside Lopushansky and sci-fi writer Vyacheslav
Rybakov).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After this international
festival hit, Lopushansky’s second feature <b>A Visitor to a Museum</b> (1989) also
focused on a hellish post-apocalyptic landscape. Though ‘A Visitor’ is a bit
heavy-handed than ‘Letters’, it once again emphasized the filmmaker’s stunning
creative vision. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxE1Fa6k-dwhh6aDaCUnod8AB7jhMD8Ecy3OH6F2gGcNfo6pZM8MXrUR_S6BEQixQGHv3mk9E7i2-VUYZ-V-X2jQGX4d4EyoiNZb4thdudtwRElxVjnP2vei_Ymcjv6VmGF5vfAbje5fdR/s1280/A+Visitor+to+a+Museum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A Visitor to a Museum" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxE1Fa6k-dwhh6aDaCUnod8AB7jhMD8Ecy3OH6F2gGcNfo6pZM8MXrUR_S6BEQixQGHv3mk9E7i2-VUYZ-V-X2jQGX4d4EyoiNZb4thdudtwRElxVjnP2vei_Ymcjv6VmGF5vfAbje5fdR/w400-h225/A+Visitor+to+a+Museum.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Letters from a Dead Man depicts the life in an underground
shelter after a nuclear explosion. The yellowish-brown coloration sets the
narrative’s somber emotional t one. Unlike any <a href="https://www.highonfilms.com/10-movies-nuclear-holocaust/" target="_blank">post-nuclear-holocaust cinema</a>,
‘Letters’ had a unrelenting harsh realism which allowed us to deeply absorb the
stunning tableau of visible devastation as well as the crushing of human
spirit. The central character in ‘Letters’ is a Nobel-Prize winning atomic
scientist (played by Rolan Bykov), who feels that he has contributed to the
destruction of the world. He channels his agony into the letters he writes to
his dead son, Eric. Riddled with philosophical and religious themes, ‘Letters’
portrays the humans’ innate need to search for truth, hope, and meaning,
nuclear winter or not. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Visitor’ is also a futuristic fantasy where its wandering
protagonist strives to make a meaning in an insane, desolate landscape. The
prevailing color palette here is red, indicating the hell created on earth by
human kind where a tenuous affirmation of hope seems impossible. In fact, both
Letters and Visitor were addressed as Lopushansky’s ‘yellow’ and ‘red’ movies
respectively. While life came to an end due to nuclear explosion in ‘Letters’,
in ‘Visitor’ the extinction is caused by an ecological disaster. Climate change
and devastation of the environment are the reasons for this post-apocalyptic
tragedy. A majority of the new generation of humans are biologically affected and they are labeled as ‘degenerates’, banished to the 'reservations', situated closer to the
industrial dump sites. Red flames decorate the windows of ‘normal’ yet somewhat mentally
deranged townsfolk homes to keep out the runaway ‘degenerates’. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A Visitor to a Museum
opens with a nameless ‘tourist’ (Viktor Mikhaylov) taking the garbage train and
walking through miles and miles of garbage to arrive at a coastal town situated
near a dead ocean. He reluctantly identities himself as a city dweller and
enquires the locals about reaching a museum, which is as large as a city but
now flooded by the dead ocean. The mysterious museum, however, is accessible
for a week at low tide. It is made clear that the ocean floor is covered with toxic
sludge and that many have lost their way during the arduous walk. The tourist is
determined about making the pilgrimage and signs the mandatory registration
form. Waiting for the low tide, the tourist stays at a local guest house, a
former weather station.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjSKlN88evqYWHgqQKVSm3lT5bN-ilHbWdsCuFoHIHBiLKqFiBDE6puJr_98eUEqrr4wqsyImDJzlmTfOcMKtk6Nqy7bNsZ39sghepagu23sBlBnOZwn47pVUpi4qvGGYoPB0NiM1P63tR/s800/visitor-of-a-museum-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Museum" border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="800" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjSKlN88evqYWHgqQKVSm3lT5bN-ilHbWdsCuFoHIHBiLKqFiBDE6puJr_98eUEqrr4wqsyImDJzlmTfOcMKtk6Nqy7bNsZ39sghepagu23sBlBnOZwn47pVUpi4qvGGYoPB0NiM1P63tR/w400-h284/visitor-of-a-museum-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The older couple who
hosts the tourist also gives shelter to a young ‘degenerate’ man and a woman.
The husband is sort of doing a social experiment by attempting to ‘educate’ and
‘civilize’ the ‘degenerates’. Loathed for their limited intellect and susceptibility
to religious hysteria, the young man and woman work as ‘servants’ for the
‘normal’ healthy old couples. The tourist, however, is more fascinated by the
religion of the phyiscally deformed people, and sought out their monastery and priest. In
fact, we learn that the flooded museum is not a symbol of science and
rationality, but rather has religious importance. As much as he is drawn to the
‘degenerates’, the tourist is tormented by the manifestation of visions from
near-future. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Gradually, for the ‘degenerate’ masses, the tourist unwittingly
becomes a messianic figure and his pilgrimage to ruinous museum is of utmost
importance to them. The children of apocalypse organize an elaborate ritual
before preparing him for the trip. The disoriented tourist walks through the
ocean in low tide, but he is unable to make a meaning out of the journey. The
narrative ends with a long, devastating shot of the nameless tourist, screaming
and walking through garbage-strewn landscape with a fiery red sun in the
background.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I felt a sense of detachment with the proceedings in
‘Visitor’, most definitely due to its unapologetically strong religious themes.
‘Letters’ also withheld religious themes, particularly the sequence involving
the scientist and traumatized mute children making a Christmas tree. In
‘Letters’, faith rejuvenates the human spirit and crystallizes the thought of
hope. ‘Visitor’ denies any possibility of hope, but utilizes the chunk of
running time to showcase the ascension of tourist into a Christ-like figure.
Without question, it’s all mesmerizingly shot. But unlike ‘Letters’, the heavily
theological second-half of ‘Visitor’ fails to create any emotional impact
although the terrifying imagery and oppressive atmosphere keeps us enthralled. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">‘Visitor’ could be read on two levels. On one hand – as its
dense religious symbolism suggests – it seems to speak of mankind’s movement
away from God, in the name of scientific progress. Mankind is utterly barren of
spirituality that he can’t derive any meaning out of God’s words. In one of the
brilliant scenes, a unhinged old man requests the visitor to randomly suggest a
passage from the scripture which he hopes would tell his fortune. But unable to
conjure any meaning out of the words, the old man sadly remarks, <i>“completely
incomprehensible</i>. <i>Can you explain it to me?”</i> In another scene, we see the
cultured man of the guest house trying to educate his ‘servant’ by questioning,<i>
“what has man created in his time on earth?”</i> The other somberly replies, <i>“Man
has created a trash heap”</i>. Through these moments, writer/director Lopushansky
emphasizes on how rationality and scientific indulgence has led mankind towards
self-destruction. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The tourist or ‘visitor’ burdened by the collective guilt of
mankind that strayed from God seeks redemption through his odyssey. But then it
becomes apparent that it’s too late to stop humanity’s march towards
self-destruction or to right the ‘sins’, which in the end is the cause for the
tourist’s incessant screams. Or it isn’t such a strongly underlined argument of
scientific rationality v. religious faith. What people believe gives them the
strength and it generates meaning. Humankind’s existence is closely related to
their perpetual search for meaning. Lopushansky probably posits that this
search– in scientific rationalization or religious faith – creates an
unbreakable pattern that will eventually lead to societal breakdown and madness.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_PnEIK8MRQppTkYDVscdO_2zUPPReLspb-L6t9p9BEOFVrQRDcKcOzy0JklY1f7t3K5PPIcqvsFRQUnfATLelNG3QnQgbcuCXQaYrjWjdwbxtZowjGydHAAOh9oDZoL8gkn9Yj1nWpp5n/s903/964ede7c4c329bc9d60aa27116565f4c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Lopushansky" border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="903" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_PnEIK8MRQppTkYDVscdO_2zUPPReLspb-L6t9p9BEOFVrQRDcKcOzy0JklY1f7t3K5PPIcqvsFRQUnfATLelNG3QnQgbcuCXQaYrjWjdwbxtZowjGydHAAOh9oDZoL8gkn9Yj1nWpp5n/w400-h288/964ede7c4c329bc9d60aa27116565f4c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The aimlessly wandering and shrieking tourist has now
understood that everything is utterly devoid of meaning, and in a
post-apocalyptic landscape sanity can’t be maintained by creating meaning for
oneself. He now knows that we were destined to create hell. Moreover, God - if there is
one - doesn’t care. In fact, Konstantin Lopushansky who is interested in
Christian philosophy makes up such captivating purgatorial landscapes to
reinforce the idea of the horrors of a godless world. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever, our interpretation of Lopushansky’s
snapshots of futuristic hell is, he successfully breaks away from the
conventions of science fiction cinema to bestow thought-provoking narratives on
human condition (irrespective of the coldness). </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<br /><p></p>Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-83621830243473582102020-10-14T19:31:00.004+05:302020-10-14T19:31:45.641+05:30Emitai [1971] – A Thoughtful African Perspective on the Colonial Era<p> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0783733/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" target="_blank">Ousmane Sembene</a>, who has made a series of seminal Senagalese
movies, is generally hailed as the<i> ‘father of African cinema’</i>. Born in 1923,
Sembene has worked at the docks of Marseilles, where he got acquainted with
French trade union movement, and later the commuist party. He wrote his first
novel Black Docker in 1956 and his much acclaimed novel <i>God’s Bits of Wood</i> in
the year 1960. Since Sembene felt writing could only enable him to reach the circle of
cultural elite, he opted to get trained in cinema from a Moscow film school.
He made his first short <i>Borrom Sarret</i> in 1963 and his first feature film in
1966, titled <b><a href="https://www.highonfilms.com/black-girl-1966-neocolonialism/" target="_blank">La Noire de (‘Black Girl’)</a></b>. While Sembene’s first two feature
films – Black Girl and Mandabi (1968) – dealt with neocolonialism, i.e., set in
the period after Senegal’s independence from France (on June 20, 1960), his
third film <b>Emitai </b>(1971) is set in the colonial era as French troops abducted
young African men to fight in World War II. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sembene’s cinema has repeatedly offered counter-narrative to
the colonizer’s representations of Africanness. Some of his earlier films,
including Emitai, exhibit a kind of cinematic roughness compared to the smooth
production techniques employed in European and American cinema. But Sembene’s
uncompromising subject matter and his ability to innovate filmic medium as a
way of fighting against neocolonial oppression make him one of the influential
members of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Cinema" target="_blank">‘third cinema’</a>. The term ‘third cinema’, first coined by Argentinian
film-makers Fernando Solanos and Octavio Gettino, hints at the use of
revolutionary film techniques to shine light on the condition of
disenfranchised people around the world, and to further arouse them to come
together and revolt in masses. Of course the radicalism promoted in such films
encountered threat of censorship, ban, and imprisonment (‘third cinema’ largely
met its demise in the age of globalization). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://movieretrospect.blogspot.com/2020/10/emitai-1971-review.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Emitai" border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhp-_YwXBNxG1tzshYaWXPAc5PkOHIv8KWzI1oUFVTJhQs-WAC-mzwWgxnfVClBO3eUOOMHRwg1FxyvI48B0WuDhbHoV19QGlAbFArF_1tUaj-mLnv33tRBgKu9PYEkxoPp-QdRqGEeIIs/w400-h266/emitai1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ousmane Sembene has once declared that, <b><i>“</i><i>We have to have the
courage to say that in the colonial period we were sometimes colonized with the
help of our own leaders. We mustn't be ashamed of our faults and our errors.”</i></b>
Perhaps, this remark is at the heart of every Sembene’s rich, complex dramas
that tackle the myriad ways the colonial era and neo-colonialism is haunting
the African consciousness. Apart from the unsavory portrayal of the French
colonizers, Sembene persistently alludes to patriarchal dominance in the tribes.
Interestingly, the film-maker suggests the rise of Abrahamic religions and
European colonialism in the African region as the reason for an oppressive
patriarchial system. Women in traditional African system is said to be largely
free from sexual exploitation and oppression. It is alleged that only with the
colonialist suppression, the women’s status in African society and the
egalitarianism of ethnic tribes were lost. Emitai echoes this line of thought
and it’s expressed more profoundly in Sembene’s swansong, <i>Moolade</i> (2004). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Emitai revolves around the Diola people, a small ethnic
minority living in the Casamance region of Senegal (the region of Sembene’s
birth), who possesses distinct culture, gods, and language. The elders in Diola
act as a kind of spokesperson, conversing and learning the mandate of gods and
spirits (‘Emitai’ is the name for their ‘god of thunder’). The tribe’s women
take over the major responsibility of cultivating and harvesting the rice
crops. The Diolas believe rice crop is sacred and it is the property of the
gods. Emitai opens with able-bodied young men of Diola village abducted and
then recruited for French Foreign Legion. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://movieretrospect.blogspot.com/2020/10/emitai-1971-review.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="384" data-original-width="512" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5mzlPm4PhD9Ka2AwCSgZa_7tNHq42KOyu5T2N9isjX84w0tbXfbXV3jNHJbU6qwn8ZkXt-McOuyShTMqHtFLNgYl12xhsPbqevLbGAfps1JAH5KY4AGFltT6uVDIQqkWvK_Jrz9dV49RH/w400-h300/unnamed.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The colonial troops are enlisted to
serve in the army of Marshal Petain. As World War II escalates and foreign
troops increases in number, the colonial administration impose a new rice tax
across Senegal. Fearing resistance, troops march with guns to seize 50 tons of
Diola’s rice-crop. The elders, including the village-chief, wait for gods’
counsel in front of a shrine. But the gods stay silent despite the ritual
sacrifices to appease their anger. Meanwhile, the black African soldiers, under
the orders of a French commander, round up the village’s woman. The Diolas may
have lost their sons and brothers to the French colonizers, but the rice solely
meant for spiritual sustenance couldn’t be given up. The elders’ humiliation,
the women’s resistance, and the savagery of the French allow Sembene to
construct a multi-layered examination of ruthless colonial economy and inflexible
cultural beliefs. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It could be argued that the rice cereal, primary reason for
the conflict and the eventual tragedy, could be given away by the villagers
since it’s largely needed for religious ceremonies. The French argue they need
it for their troops at war. But towards the film’s end, there’s news of Marshal
Petain getting replaced by General de Gaulle and subsequently the French demand
for overseas food is put into question. Moreover, Sembene doesn’t attune to
official history and hail de Gaulle as the hero who resisted Nazi rule. For the
West African soldiers who take this change with bafflement (ironically they
only argue over the ludicrousness of a 'General' taking over from a 'Marshal'),
there are no fundamental differences and they are still colonized subjects of
the French empire. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://movieretrospect.blogspot.com/2020/10/emitai-1971-review.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Emitai" border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcp_yI5PqJrhFCImMMXpaIa4JrKYpvGTYqoBi6SNKZl6qV320a7HFqvv6037hs36Sw1aJqkoX829yoAb-qRPgiaau4V2WoVPGCMK7BRthKSN5HNc9uPeE3-N1CA-QB6gT06IjoDmTh5hpL/w400-h300/tumblr_44a1f1fbde7756d2312d5b2c901f4409_a1d810bc_500.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal">From an aesthetic perspective, Emitai, similar to all other
Sembene’s movies, promotes framing techniques that keeps certain distance from
individual characters, for the purpose of contemplation as well as to wholly
regard the collective tribal society. Sembene use of language is particularly interesting in
Emitai. The elders of Diola use language to make decisions for the collective.
Yet the language only serves to divide them as they repeatedly talk of the humiliation
and stay in their corner. The Diola women rarely utter a word in the narrative,
but they use silence to take a collective action against the French. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">The gods
in Emitai more or less serve as dreadful phantoms that look as much threatening
as their colonial oppressors. In one dreamy sequence when the village chief’s
life fades away, Sembene takes us into the reality of the Diola’s religious
belief. The sequence respects as well as subtly undermines the native customs
and traditions. Nevertheless, Sembene believes that the rituals and customs
cause less harm than the ones caused by foreign colonizers. In his after-life,
the village-chief appears in front of gods and denounces them for their
inaction as if he is their equal, but the same inclusiveness couldn’t expected
from the 'foreign devils'. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067048/" target="_blank"><b>Emitai </b></a>(97 minutes) certainly suffers from the kind of visual
roughness, found in most of ‘third cinema’. The non-professional actors also
couldn’t do much to smooth out such problems. However, film-makers like Ousmane
Sembene bring forth a more plural, ambiguous vision of African history, social
structure, and culture which isn’t tainted by the Western influences. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p></p>Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-55363547909549137702020-10-07T09:29:00.000+05:302020-10-07T09:29:09.484+05:30Touki Bouki [1973] – A Visually Striking Critique on Post-Colonial Mentality and Hollow Dreams<p> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--></p><p>Apart from being a master storyteller, Martin Scorsese was
well-known for his encyclopedic knowledge about cinema and for his commitment to
preserve or restore the lost and forgotten cinematic gems of 20<sup>th</sup>
century. In 1990, the American film-maker founded non-profit group Film
Foundation which aided in restoring a great number of American, British and
West European movies. Later in 2007, Scorsese founded the World Cinema Project
(WCP) to revive cinematic wonders from countries that has perpetually missed
out on film preservation efforts. The mission of WCP is to focus on distinct
cinema that has been wholly left out of Western reading of the film history.
The first in the WCP series represented films from Sengegal, Turkey, Morocco,
Bangladesh, South Korea, and Mexico. </p><p> </p><p>Directed by Senegalese director <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0228013/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" target="_blank">Djibril Diop Mambety</a>, the resplendently restored version of <b>Touki Bouki </b>(aka <i>Hyena’s
Journey</i>, 1973) is an energetic and overtly symbolic document of a specific time
and place rarely witnessed on-screen. Djibril Diop Mambety was 28 years of age
when he made Touki Bouki, who didn’t receive any formal training in cinema (he
made his first short Contras’ City at the age of 24). Satirical and wildly
experimental, Mr. Mambety’s visual imagery makes passing references to Nouvelle
Vague, especially the films of Jean-Luc Godard (Breathless, Pierrot Le fou).
Mambety intended Touki Bouki to be the first of trilogy of film about the effects
of neocolonialism on the African mindset. However, it took the director 19
years to return with his next feature film Hyenas (1992), a corrosive tale of
human greed and corruption. Mr. Mabety was later diagnosed with lung cancer and
died in 1998 before he could make the third film. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>
</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://movieretrospect.blogspot.com/2020/10/touki-bouki-1973-review.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Touki Bouki" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIfrMESbksv2sHg4UFXWjCOyYXkXlYkgMOZXSxN89VQlCxCDEOd5wVsEB1-ayhbgwKGuFTiabpJhFXaeXuTfXX57DF2PaNMQRH0-wNG39H0DjYQirDZyHPrRHNKMgqzcZhAJS-HlHI5CwJ/w400-h225/Touki+Bouki+%25281973%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Djibril Diop Mambety has embraced film-making at the time
Senegalese and African cinema on the whole was young. Ousmane Sembene, hailed
as Father of African Cinema, made his first feature <a href="https://www.highonfilms.com/black-girl-1966-neocolonialism/" target="_blank"><b>Black Girl</b></a> in 1966, which
was touted as the first film made by a Black African. With French production
companies aiding the young African natives, soon several exciting and new
film-makers portrayed their unique vision of disintegrated, impoverished yet
very lively African society. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Malian film-maker Souleymanne Cisse (The Wind,
Yeleen) and Burkina Faso’s Dani Kouyate (Keita: The Heritage of the Girot) were
some of the other African film-makers who followed the path of Sembene and
Mambety. Vibrant, marvelously colorful, fantastical and angry in tone,
Mambety’s formal and thematic approach is entirely at odds with the works of
Ousmane Sembene. Few months back, I read in an essay about African cinema
(sorry, couldn’t exactly remember where) that equated Sembene’s approach to
sublime works of Yasujiro Ozu and Mambety’s to iconoclastic vision of Nagisa
Oshima. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://movieretrospect.blogspot.com/2020/10/touki-bouki-1973-review.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="990" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwprVd0J01iMbrBsSlodxumts3W1P8YTX4KJgnQ_ZPq8BXi6SYR41CHRVlZ1hXmw1LT8BBs4D1xqrRlVafwZU56E86KJuqK1C7obiH4JatHd_67-saewuFSwj74FklKWDo336owBmWxPDZ/w400-h234/Touki-Bouki.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Touki Bouki opens with an explosive and disturbing scene,
one that burns into your memory and wakes you up from slumber. A boy leads
large horned cows across a dry plain on their way to slaughterhouse, encircled
with cacophony of cattle’s screams. The unnamed boy returns back alone and then
the narrative cuts to a shot of Mory (Magaye Niang) riding through a shantytown
in his motorbike with cow’s horns attached to its front. We see a road sign
reading <i>‘Nice, La Riviera et la Corse’</i>, but it doesn’t indicate the French
paradise, but only the shantytown where people dream of escaping from poverty. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Mory and his college-going girlfriend Anta (Mareme Niang) fantasize about
moving to Paris (Josephine Baker’s <i>‘Paris….Paris’</i> song is heard in the
background) and forge a new life, drawing in the anger of their traditionalist
family. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lacking money to make the trip,
the duo concocts different schemes to make their dream a reality. From stealing
the earnings of a local wrestling match to ripping-off a wealthy friend, Mory
and Anta run amok amid the hometown to purchase a ticket on a ocean liner traveling to Paris. These adventures alternately exudes starkly realistic and a carnivalesque
or surrealistic tone. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With Touki Bouki, director Mambety exchanges linear
narrative structure for poetic evocations and symbolic values. Perhaps, the
director while sharply employing the visual flourishes of French New Wave sees
the characters and their immediate surroundings from a very symbolic
perspective that there’s not a strong emotional investment. Mory and Anta rather
than being fully-realized characters looks like well-adorned conduits
expressing the desperation and rebellious mindset of post-colonial African
youth. However, Mr. Mabety’s explosive visual
tendencies and fiery approach to the themes pushes us to somehow overlook the sparse
emotional investment. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://movieretrospect.blogspot.com/2020/10/touki-bouki-1973-review.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFtyA0xRmpMiHvP3VGRdVdWMU9sfC2Wy7Yb-NXJfztWEp4ey_VQUEGCejwRlnt2Z8YQHsOTFAEyWLiGxH9X8pUzkwchoIcbffbnPocRAQYdFLN_xmFL0duLcHgQgibJkdyCaN669ulPHFn/w400-h225/28412id_104_w1600.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The ‘Godardian’ contemplation of the African youth’s
false or broken dreams acutely addresses the cultural and moral conflicts
between new African society and apparitions of European colonialism. The
brilliance of Touki Bouki lies in the way Mambety darts between provocative,
tempestuous mood and sad, yearning mood. There’s a brilliant scene where the
couple lay naked in smooth, elevated rock, looking over the glistening ocean
and desiring for the total freedom. In one comic interlude, Mory nakedly
parades aboard a stolen car that cuts to dreamy shot of people welcoming their
new political leader. All the disparately toned sequences emphasize how the
‘better life’ that’s comprehended in terms of material wealth doesn’t bestow
any greater freedom, but rather makes post-colonial nations to only embrace
servitude. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070820/" target="_blank">Touki Bouki</a> </b>(95 minutes) is an impressive and daringly
experimental African cinema which wildly chronicles two young lovers’ elusive
dream of freedom and riches. Despite flaws in structure, acting, and characterization,
the outstanding visual conceptualization perfectly delineates the raw genius of
the West African film-maker Djibril Diop Mambety.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p>
<p></p>Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-77310639623283607862020-10-01T11:13:00.003+05:302020-10-01T11:13:18.185+05:30Bug [2006] – A Profoundly Disturbing Claustrophobic Horror<p> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">A lonely and isolated individual could come across a loving
personality who’s on the same page with him/her, and from whom a blissful bond
is developed. But what if this lonely person meets an unhinged personality, who
passes off nothing but a severe dose of paranoia? This happens to be the basic
set-up for <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001243/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" target="_blank">William Friedkin’s</a> unnerving chamber piece <b>Bug (2006)</b>, an adaptation
of Tracy Letts’ Broadway play. Of course, the idea that hazardous delusion or
extreme mental illness is contagious, isn't instantly convincing. Yet Mr. Friedkin
brings up brilliant feverish intensity and verisimilitude to the proceedings so
as to cloak it’s otherwise obvious weaknesses. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Friedkin’s methodical peeling of
the layers beneath the simple story turns the horror element predominately metaphoric:
as a bizarre contemplation on PTSD or a reflection of our personal and
collective insecurities, boosted by government’s corruptible and unfathomable
actions. From The Exorcist (1973), Sorcerer (1977) to Killer Joe (2011),
William Friedkin has shown willingness to deeply descent into madness and
destruction; Bug is a vital addition to that uncompromising vision. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://movieretrospect.blogspot.com/2020/10/bug-2006-friedkin.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Bug" border="0" data-original-height="1351" data-original-width="2048" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj03m5Gk7BCw2yJE0tkVmvpz1r9FHAGaEhz9kGzCYMt9CavU5Vt4b9JKJ1wz7Y4cBu3WnJ7bPjxq51huJR9XJg3TvE_40V4r6JxqyfkZv85LIcuMI6nXsd8vzSZwRDtmZt99b3CA8YrWxJN/w400-h264/Bug+%25282006%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bug is entirely set in a dingy, low-rent motel room in the
middle-of-nowhere. The film opens with a series of helicopter shots to emphasize
on the remoteness of the place. These shots are cut to shots of old ringing
telephone, the piercing sound infesting the surroundings with high-wire
tension. Middle-aged Agnes White (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000171/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm" target="_blank">Ashley Judd</a>) occupies a squalid room in the
motel. She keeps on receiving the strange phone calls, but when picked up she
hears nothing on the other side. The calls might be from her recently paroled
and abusive ex-husband (Harry Connick, Jr.). Agnes dreadfully waits for his
arrival and only finds solace in chatting with her lesbian friend R.C. <span class="loadable">(Lynn Collins), both of them working as waitress at local bar.
R.C. introduces Agnes to the mysterious,</span> reticent guy <span class="loadable">Peter Evans (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0788335/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm" target="_blank">Michael Shannon</a>). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable">Agnes merely exists in the daze
of booze and drugs. Her emotional bruises are so deep to be immediately solved
by newfound love. However, she is empathetic towards the fellow loner, Peter.
He seems sensitive compared to her </span>violent husband. But there’s also a
feeling that Peter is hiding something or there’s something not quite right
with him. Irrespective of his slightly balmy nature, Agnes falls for him and
gradually gets drawn into his sickeningly scary delusional world-view. What
follows is a delirious examination of the demented psyche. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWtb7CHKQCOsRSzoxaiwEpl18k4hjRKK72ir_sVFIycn2fpvHCXPcypqmDq1k8Z-3-c3U4wMswKF2UoDP7VMaQ3f3NMyXjKqynK5X9OvlvAc8rtkOU2G2NhPy3_woqn00DoG4Q1eZqSX2/s1280/bug-2006-16938.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyWtb7CHKQCOsRSzoxaiwEpl18k4hjRKK72ir_sVFIycn2fpvHCXPcypqmDq1k8Z-3-c3U4wMswKF2UoDP7VMaQ3f3NMyXjKqynK5X9OvlvAc8rtkOU2G2NhPy3_woqn00DoG4Q1eZqSX2/w400-h225/bug-2006-16938.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bug certainly boasts Friedkin’s weirdest and disturbing
visuals. He fascinatingly plays up the character’s inner state through
seemingly random elements, like <span class="loadable">an empty shopping cart or
bag of onions, whose depth of meaning is revealed later. Although set mostly
inside a single room, Friedkin’s impressive craft fittingly employs sound,
light, and color to hint at the character’s dimensions. He subjugates the
typical theatrical feeling by building the character with economic yet precise
visual details. The narrative mostly evokes subjective viewpoint (for eg, the
ominous buzz of smoke alarm or sound of </span>helicopter blades<span class="loadable">). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable">While the director allows us to understand & immerse
ourselves in the duo’s </span>isolation and sadness, he keeps us at distance
when displaying their deranged conviction. The most interesting interlude of
Friedkin’s direction is the montage sequence of sexual intimacy between Agnes
and Peter. The camera repeatedly lingers over their bodies, and more than
suggesting passion, it stages the intercourse as a form of hazardous
infestation. From then on, the visuals get increasingly wacky and further
enlivened by torrential performances (the ‘teeth-pulling’ scene is a testament
to Friedkin’s visceral power).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="loadable"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://movieretrospect.blogspot.com/2020/10/bug-2006-friedkin.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Bug" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs-DCBeSaWkRjtH5Rn0mldAZeIG2fiuXq57npQecDWeCSOtrFSqsNY9SFiw6THylbd62t2_iecGGD-pSIBg4HSfD6xoij3cakX6cvGePF0uwNXDiIt9ZbeYCYRF4at_iOCDJlmt5vJ_OIi/w400-h225/bug1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable">Ashley Judd delivers her best and most
complex performance in the role of Agnes. She effortlessly brings out the
character’s vulnerability and warmth. That crazy monologue towards the end,
delivered in the form of a wail, got to be one of the unforgettable rants in
cinema. Michael Shannon astoundingly reprises the role he played on the stage.
By the time he played Peter Evans, Shannon was in cinema for more than a
decade. His towering performance in Bug served as prelude to his biggest
breakthrough roles in Jeff Nicols’ movies (Shotgun Stories & <span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.highonfilms.com/take-shelter-2011-an-emotionally-resonant-study-of-anxiety-and-uncertainty/" target="_blank">Take Shelter</a></span>).
Shannon’s portrayal of madness avoids hamminess. He makes Peter dangerously odd
and at the same time, an endearing figure.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Not everything in Bug is perfectly convincing.
Agnes’ sudden transition or downward spiral (irrespective of her depressed
nature) feels a bit rushed-out. Friedkin takes good time to set up her
character, only to make us witness her rapid disintegration in Peter’s acidic
delusions. But essentially, the movie stays raw and disconcerting till the end;
its preposterous elements are somewhat acceptable. There’s poignance in Agnes
and Peter’s utmost degradation, since it is rooted in their loneliness. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>And, the true horror in <span style="color: #2b00fe;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470705/" target="_blank">Bug</a></span> doesn’t just lie
in physical self-mutilation or pyrotechnics, but in depicting how two lost
souls could find true love and yet descend into the chasms of hell. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="loadable"> </span></p>
<p></p>Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-61241593860443841772020-09-15T09:34:00.002+05:302020-09-15T09:36:56.942+05:30Le Corbeau [1943] – A Decidedly Bleak Picture on Human Duplicity and Frailties<p> <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">Henri Georges Clouzot’s Occupation-era film, <b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035753/" target="_blank">Le Corbeau</a></b> (<b>The
Raven</b>, 1943) although regarded as a masterpiece in the later decades,
attracted lot of controversies in the immediate post-war period. Based on the
scenario written by Louis Chavance, Le Corbeau is set in a small provincial
French town isolated from the outside world. A climate of suspicion, paranoia, and
denunciation plagues this town when a mysterious ‘poison-pen’ letter-writer
starts a campaign of malicious finger-pointing. The narrative was based on a
<a href="https://crimereads.com/poison-pen-letter/" target="_blank">real event that happened in a small Southern France town</a> (Tulle) between 1917
and 1922 (110 letters were anonymously sent). What sparked the controversy is
the film’s allegorical treatment of the realities during the Nazi Occupation by
portraying a community that’s about to implode and by focusing on a squalid
bourgeoisie class. The scandal surrounding the film also included its depiction
of illegal abortion and female sexuality.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After the fall of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vichy_France" target="_blank">Vichy government in August 1944</a>, Clouzot
stood before <b><i><span face=""Calibri","sans-serif"" style="font-style: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Comite
de Liberation du Cine</span></i></b><span class="st"><b>ma Francais</b> (CLCF), which was
formed to judge the film productions made during the Occupation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mr. Clouzot was accused of directing a
pro-Nazi anti-French movie (Jean-Paul Sartre, Marcel Carne, and Jean Cocteau
came to Clouzot’s defense). In 1945, the director was condemned with a
life-time ban, but a year later the sentence was reduced to two years (Clouzot
returned to film-making in 1947). Clouzot continued to amalgamate suspense with
atmosphere of horror in his later, much-heralded works including Wages of Fear
(1953) and Les Diaboliques (1955). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="st"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpbOW4S_RERa1J7JSEfR44Dabiy9qRjwFEfo0YoPrf75wl-RNMaReJEEXFeR3CoRWZRBveszLB-erPV6HY1u_PkUkqs11-8KOusj1XHd7j7ox2JxiB5EBfNGDSKO6y4cRJUXG9ngTU3HX-/s1200/Le+Corbeau+%25281943%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Le Corbeau" border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="1200" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpbOW4S_RERa1J7JSEfR44Dabiy9qRjwFEfo0YoPrf75wl-RNMaReJEEXFeR3CoRWZRBveszLB-erPV6HY1u_PkUkqs11-8KOusj1XHd7j7ox2JxiB5EBfNGDSKO6y4cRJUXG9ngTU3HX-/w400-h291/Le+Corbeau+%25281943%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="st"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0167241/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" target="_blank">Clouzot</a> who did his film apprenticeship in
Germany was inspired by the expressionist techniques of silent-era masters,
F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang. He mostly made his films – psychological thrillers
tinged with horror – in black-and-white to retain the expressionist effects.
Apart from the technical brilliance found in his films and the smooth flow of the
narrative, Clouzot’s works are appreciated for the distant and neutral filmic
gaze. The film-maker’s characters are pretty much flawed. But he offers an
acute portrait of a society in which these characters live that it’s hard for
us to direct a simple moralizing gaze at them. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="st"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="st">Clouzot opens Le Corbeau by displaying a
montage of grand Gothic buildings whose shadows are dispersed over the
small-town, allowing only occasional bursts of sunlight (obviously a metaphorical
representation of dark secrets and dishonesty). Such meticulous attention to
mise-en-scene is followed by establishing the primary townspeople characters
and their interpersonal relationships. The townspeople are haunted by
‘poison-pen’ letters sent to few chosen victims by someone signing ‘Raven’,
revealing their alleged sexual indiscretions and long-held secrets. Instead of
coming together to confront the menace of Raven (the town’s Id), the
townspeople spread the web of gossip and use this as a campaign to root out
‘undesirable’ elements. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="st"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="st">The Raven’s chief target happens to be </span>Dr.
Remy Germain (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0294382/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm" target="_blank">Pierre Fresnay</a>), a prim gynecologist accused of being a
abortionist and conducting an affair with his hospital supervisor’s young wife,
Laura (Micheline Francey)<span class="st">. The hospital supervisor, Dr. </span>Vorzet
(<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0488535/?ref_=tt_cl_t8" target="_blank">Pierre Larquey</a>) is a psychologist and observes Raven’s accusations with an air
of amusement. Dr. Vorzet also shares with his colleague Germain about his
theories on who could be Raven and what propels him/her to do this. Much of the
narrative spends time raising suspicion on its large cast of characters. The
suspicion initially falls upon the hospital’s unlikable, remorseless head-nurse
Marie Corbin (Helena Manson), Laura’s elder sister. When one of the terminal
patients commits suicide after receiving a poison-pen letter the whole town decries
against Ms. Corbin. Just when the people breathe a sigh of relief after
Corbin’s arrest, the letters keep appearing, again squarely targeting Dr.
Germain’s reputation. Finally, the chief suspects are rounded-up and are forced
to take dictation (written in all-capital-letters like Raven’s letters). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9AqXgqQghqFeAXs68slAojQDt9RnVlzGQjO2xsIVYSONKLST1pfx4bRvM1X7eXjzPTXGdljh8tkxBQ4jn2kFdFpdz1a3fu_pGiXCvLuV3d3lrTMX0w2ZqoDbgQEVAGHWQvyZ48RYshd3Q/s1200/669f5e2bc2f9b76a2a3caa1d385d29f4.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="The Raven" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9AqXgqQghqFeAXs68slAojQDt9RnVlzGQjO2xsIVYSONKLST1pfx4bRvM1X7eXjzPTXGdljh8tkxBQ4jn2kFdFpdz1a3fu_pGiXCvLuV3d3lrTMX0w2ZqoDbgQEVAGHWQvyZ48RYshd3Q/w400-h300/669f5e2bc2f9b76a2a3caa1d385d29f4.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dr. Germain is an interesting choice for a protagonist, a
man partly ignoble in his attitude that we don’t have much compassion to spare
for him. Although the doctor’s tragic past provides us some answer to his
cryptic behavior. Emotionally he is a very cold person, particularly the way he
treats and perpetually judges Denise (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0496185/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm" target="_blank">Ginette Leclerc</a>) – the object of his
dispassionate love affair. The girl however is not fatally punished for her
carnality, and in fact she is the most sympathetic character in the narrative. Germain’s
misanthropy and utter disregard for others feelings is often pitted against the
darkly humorous lectures of Dr. Vorzet.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">In one of the film’s most acclaimed scene,
Dr. Vorzet takes on the dichotomies existing in the society – light/dark,
good/evil, guilt/innocence – by swinging a light bulb. To the uptight Germain,
he argues how the boundaries of morality keep shifting (inside a individual or
within a pressurized society). Despite such a unflinching portrayal of human
pettiness, Le Corbeau takes a misstep by going for a neatly-packaged
resolution. Clouzot definitely concocts supremely chilling shots for the
denouement, yet the film’s ambiguous qualities are cast aside by a
Hollywood-style ending. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><h3 class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Trailer</span></span></h3><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-WEapOCjFBI" width="320" youtube-src-id="-WEapOCjFBI"></iframe></div><br /> <p></p>
<p></p>Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-12482934406828819732020-09-08T11:12:00.000+05:302020-09-08T11:12:13.399+05:30Wait Until Dark [1967] – A Classic Suspense Thriller<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Frederic Knott’s 1966 Broadway play <b>Wait Until Dark</b> is
anything but contrived. The same could be said about the 1967 adaptation by
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0950109/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" target="_blank">Terrence Young</a>. But it also happens to be one of the tensest thrillers ever
made on-screen with charming and vulnerable-looking <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000030/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm" target="_blank">Audrey Hepburn</a> playing a
blind woman who is terrorized by trio of crooks. In fact, the meticulous
direction and tight plotting makes the gimmick or contrivance part of the
movie’s charm. Mr. Roger Ebert referred to the story-line as <i>‘idiot plot’</i>,
although he gave it a <a href="https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wait-until-dark-1968" target="_blank">thumbs-up review</a> and called it <i>‘a superior film’.</i> There
might be a sensible and easy solution to the problem encountered by Audrey’s
character. Furthermore, even the chain of events involving the ‘doll’ seems
overwrought. Yet the overall superiority of mood and atmosphere, which is
largely set inside a frigid, claustrophobic one-bedroom apartment, makes Wait
Until Dark a relentlessly intriguing cinematic piece. </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://movieretrospect.blogspot.com/2020/09/wait-until-dark-1967-review.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Wait Until Dark" border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmO7KY52sWRnVR0LnssJeQKoRla7G00oa2ZH5kZp-NIKoHRztt6iw-yqAcBhACdqwEwzU-6FHGbbNdmtABJHoY_TsEG2aKUdb1_9xcGrQmIlQdZ96seiHit82TJHqUdFYcbLnmOEJAjWJ0/w400-h225/Wait+Until+Dark+%25281967%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">When <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000273/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm" target="_blank">Alan Arkin</a> was asked if he thought his role of suave
villian in Wait Until Dark was overlooked for the Oscars, he quipped, <i>“You
don't get nominated for being mean to Audrey Hepburn!”</i> As a matter of fact, the
producer (also Hepburn’s husband at the time) Mel Ferrer and director Terrence Young
knew that there’s nothing more terrifying for audiences of the era to see
Audrey Hepburn (and that too visually-impaired!) being terrorized. The basic plot has some Hitchcokian feel to
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dolled up woman so that it can be smuggled from Montreal to New York.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While getting off the plane, the courier
woman sees a man she doesn’t want to see, and discreetly hands over the doll to
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apartment he shares with recently blinded wife, Susy Hendrix (Hepburn). </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">Meanwhile, a shady, sun-glass wearing urban hipster criminal
known as Mr. Roat (Alan Arkin) employs an detailed set-up to blackmail two
con-men, Mike Talman (Richard Crenna) and Carlino (Jack Weston) to get the doll
back. Susy is a determined woman who wants to take care of herself and be the <i>‘</i><span class="loadable"><i>the world’s champion blind lady’</i>. She tries to handle most of
her chores, although there’s also sprightly, misbehaving pre-teen neighbor girl
</span>Gloria (Julie Herrod) to do grocery shopping now and then. Sam briefly
talks to Susy about the doll he misplaced somewhere within the apartment,
before he is called away on business trip. After Sam’s depature, the three
villains conceive an elaborate plot to make their way into Susy’s apartment and
to locate the stuffed doll. Initially, their crafty plan is devoid of bullying
or violent threats. Their con game puts psychological pressure upon Susy,
gradually imprinting within her mind that the only way to help herself and Sam is
to find the doll. Nevertheless, once Susy recovers from her mild panic and
after putting her sharp hearing and reasoning skills to work, she partly works
out the disguise. It all leads to more superb, suspense set-pieces. </p> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://movieretrospect.blogspot.com/2020/09/wait-until-dark-1967-review.html" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Alan Arkin" border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="720" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8WrxRNBj712SDH7jSSs7sbTjS34swEzWRuaaucCyrqUwFVtNz11d9wlNfnO68FqTQrBbUz0Z8Vk4TAYZhaNntulSlh8NLUO9UpuV5c1Gjv2h_E1GaGeqF4gDCk5XSC0s1ZJC2uXBnnog_/w400-h231/alan+arkin+wait+until+dark+1967+round+sunglasses.png.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">Wait Until Dark mostly works due to director Young’s deft
presentation of the sequestered surroundings, which easily overcomes the
weaknesses in the plot. Aided by Henry Mancini’s brilliant score, Young
impeccably stages the slow descent into chaos without an iota of visual tedium.
Early in the film, Suzy bumps into a chair and loses her balance. It seems to
forebode the copious amount of disarray coming her way, which eventually
invades into nook and corner of the tight space. The dramatic construction in
the narrative extracts suspense pretty much from the skilful arrangement of the
players. Young also makes good use of Suzy’s blindness (a key element to the
film’s suspense), not just in the terrifying lights-out climax showdown, but
also in the scenes when the three con-men cunningly play up on Suzy’s fears.
The camera closely watches Hepburn’s face as her expressions seems to
relentlessly scrutinize the plausibilities of their story (as always Hepburn in
close-ups glistens with a soft luster). These sequences where Suzy gets
expertly manipulated lends huge emotional weight to the proceedings, and Audrey
Hepburn with her trademark blended expression of frailty, self-pity, feistiness
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">The final confrontation must be a study in concocting
suspense within very limited space. Throughout the narrative, we get acquainted
with the confined habitat so as to know where every item is. Hence when the
lights go out, we too feel the entrapment and feeling totally helpless. Suzy’s
restored pluckiness and Roat’s coolheadedness tussle with each other, while the
atmosphere is plunged into darkness and viewers are left to interpret noises
and unsure of what the next spark of light would reveal; the moment Roat coolly
lights a match and Suzy threatens with the gasoline can is absolutely cheerworthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The casually malevolent Roat showcases sheer
joy in tormenting the blind woman, which makes her final solid stance all the
more entertaining. Though the script written by <span class="lrzxr">Robert
Howard-Carrington & Jane Howard-Hammerstein keeps intact the play’s
far-fetched elements, they push the limited plot moving ahead, often deflecting
our attention from the very thin story. The home-invasion sub-genre was later
vitalized as well as boringly familiarized by Italian ‘Giallo’ movies (replete with visual panace), Hollywood
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that divulges effective shock and nail-biting tension without a spill of blood
like in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062467/" target="_blank">Wait Until Dark</a>.</span></p>
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<![endif]--><span class="lrzxr">P.S. <i>‘Hush’ </i>(more like an effective modern
update) and<i> ‘Don’t Breathe’</i> (a fascinating inverted scenario) offered
intriguing takes on the aforementioned movie’s basic premise. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>
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<![endif]--></p>Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-8061605353562516592020-08-04T18:51:00.003+05:302020-08-04T18:51:59.283+05:30Copycat [1995] – A Gripping Thriller with Two Strong Female Leads<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000750/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Jon Amiel’s</a> serial-killer thriller <b>Copycat</b> (1995) starts off
in a very academic or didactic manner. The film opens with a criminal
psychologist addressing a large classroom of students about ‘what makes a serial killer’.
The lecture is meretricious, referencing to mastermind murderers like Ted
Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, etc. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The
‘serial-killer for dummies’ speech confirms the fear of a narrow, if not
generic, approach that’s about to define the narrative flow. But the film has
much more smart storyline than expected and spectacular performances from two
female leads – Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBwhhatrmvz9M36adoAP19geuyuB-PqIr3l2xro1Yy92IbL5zu9aXpucVbFbU-Yz5Ff5Q_EJHEx58oVcRULNZ-gRklwR1EDRnCjOV5UosGQaZOZHqZy454IebVnmOpsgPcqFFYyxNDgM4z/s900/Copycat+%25281995%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBwhhatrmvz9M36adoAP19geuyuB-PqIr3l2xro1Yy92IbL5zu9aXpucVbFbU-Yz5Ff5Q_EJHEx58oVcRULNZ-gRklwR1EDRnCjOV5UosGQaZOZHqZy454IebVnmOpsgPcqFFYyxNDgM4z/w400-h267/Copycat+%25281995%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Considering the overwhelming
amount of testosterone found in these kinds of films, the female leads provide
an interesting perspective. Script writers Ann Biderman & David Madsen
slips in fine feminist statement by showcasing empowered women overpowering the
hyper-masculine world of law enforcement and involved in halting the nauseating violence of
a killer. Nevertheless, Copycat isn’t a profound thriller where its commentary
on gender would generate a huge impact (still it’s exhilarating to see such
alterations in a main-stream Hollywood feature). It’s an entertaining (if not a
deliberately deviant) thriller very much in the true sense of the world and (thankfully)
relies on breathing tension through stark compositions of staging rather
than resort to graphic violence or gore Interestingly, the film didn’t gain much attention
during its release, the reason addressed to huge popularity of David Fincher’s
genre redefining thriller <i>Se7en</i>. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The performances smooth out certain shortcomings in the
narrative. Case in point: the opening flashy scene, where <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000244/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm">Sigourney Weaver’s</a>
commanding delivery of dialogues makes the heavy-handed speech almost
interesting. During the lecture, Dr. Helen asks every white male in the
auditorium between the ages of twenty and thirty to stand up and warns the
gatherers that most of the American serial-killer hails from this age-group and skin
color. Later, the self-assured and smug appearance of Weaver’s Dr. Helen
Hudson, a psychologist & serial-killer profiler, is affected by a dreadful
event. After the lecture, she endures an attack at the hands of her former
subject Daryll Lee Cullum (Harry Connick, Jr.).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJ4mp-AvICVI7Mz6-3M2z6pe6QaaLb6msCpmfxzO8lDAIv4kRC_3dOShqCIk89wtPmjdDQc2qLIWMjtIr03PvTuAq1Gu9h8KoChlwAFjHBkDF1Tiko4RzhKwVZS-YRbueUTALAxcRDlU_/s848/83e82f7237f9d560c23535654e56dc5169b07c0c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="477" data-original-width="848" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZJ4mp-AvICVI7Mz6-3M2z6pe6QaaLb6msCpmfxzO8lDAIv4kRC_3dOShqCIk89wtPmjdDQc2qLIWMjtIr03PvTuAq1Gu9h8KoChlwAFjHBkDF1Tiko4RzhKwVZS-YRbueUTALAxcRDlU_/w400-h225/83e82f7237f9d560c23535654e56dc5169b07c0c.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"> Although she survives (and a
cop is brutally killed before her eyes) the traumatic experience renders her
agoraphobic. Thirteen months later, Helen cozily lives up in her San Francisco apartment,
taken care by a gay live-in assistant, Andy (John Rothman). She shares her
phobia with e-mail buddies (intriguing to see early use of internet and
characters fretting over limited storage and cache space), and somewhat
addicted to both pills and alcohol. Even the prospect of retrieving a newspaper
outside the door reduces Helen into a nervous wreck. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Meanwhile, young women are being brutally murdered all over San
Francisco. The crime seems unconnected, but the smart detective on the case
M.J. Monahan (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000456/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm">Holly Hunter</a>) believes the perp is the same guy. Though Helen has
stopped working, she regularly calls the police and shares her thoughts on the
bizarre killings. The police dismiss it as a crank call, until Monahan and her
handsome partner Reuben (Dermot Mulroney) seeks out Doctor Helen. Reuben and
Monahan initially perceive the doctor as an angst-ridden pill-popper, but her
precise observations about the crime scene and killer’s procedure makes the
detectives commence a shaky partnership. Doctor Hudson soon discovers that the
serial-killer follows an unusual and disturbing pattern: each killing recreates
the crime scene of a well-profiled notorious serial killer (The Boston
Strangler, The Hillside Strangler, and so on). However, what Helen fails to
determine is that she is the vital piece in the killer’s despicable pranks. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Jon Amiel’s direction is admirable and silly in equal parts.
He does a good job in the tense confrontation scenes, diffusing a gloomy
interplay between shadow and light. He also makes good use of spacious
apartment – its windows, jagged angles, etc – to create atmoshperic unease
(cinematography by ‘Easy Rider’ & ‘Paper Moon’ fame Laszlo Kovacs). The
other fine directorial tactic involves not showing the vicious murders of young
women on-screen (except for the creepy scene in the killer’s basement). Director
Amiel’s use of certain old tricks to delineate Helen’s psychological affliction
does seem gaudy: for example, hallway tilting gaze to insist agoraphobia.
Amiel, however, does an excellent job in directing the crew of talented actors.
While he embraces the macabre nature of the proceedings, he never loses focus
on the inherent agony of his two lead characters. Sigourney Weaver’s character
conception pretty much resembles that of Ripley (in ‘Aliens’). She is an expert
on ‘the subject’ which also happens to be the source of her nightmares. She
eventually faces the nightmare and triumphs over it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOfT8FNt4CzW6ZiX3MGRbNY7TxNtdyrIbqC5mGrPq7CX6uGFXnkyqeJCGPa37dwOCw9LiRzPI874kkaLqGr2eLWA4zaEoUqupmYZxoxWloCJsLGmNiWIXQQnxlULA3A03XyWNvctygKh0E/s1777/MV5BMDRkYzdhMTQtNjdiZS00YWRiLWE4NTktYWZmMzQ3YmI1MzZkXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUyNDk2ODc%2540._V1_SX1777_CR0%252C0%252C1777%252C999_AL_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="1777" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOfT8FNt4CzW6ZiX3MGRbNY7TxNtdyrIbqC5mGrPq7CX6uGFXnkyqeJCGPa37dwOCw9LiRzPI874kkaLqGr2eLWA4zaEoUqupmYZxoxWloCJsLGmNiWIXQQnxlULA3A03XyWNvctygKh0E/w400-h225/MV5BMDRkYzdhMTQtNjdiZS00YWRiLWE4NTktYWZmMzQ3YmI1MzZkXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUyNDk2ODc%2540._V1_SX1777_CR0%252C0%252C1777%252C999_AL_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Be it the outer-space alien fighter or
terrorized psychologist, Weaver imbues her character with an extremely
believable fragility as well as robustness. Holly Hunter is equally good in the
detective role, deftly exhibiting the multi-faceted nature of the character. The
two actors perfectly play each other: their partnership is initially volatile
in nature and slowly exudes mutual respect for each other. Some of the script’s
patchy dialogues look nearly convincing when uttered by these powerful actors.
As for the performances of actors playing the serial killers (Harry Connick Jr
& William McNamarra) it’s deliberately flashy and viewers may either hate
or like it (their shenangians were at tolerable level for me). Biderman &
Madsen’s script falter with its pedantic approach at few occasions and their
efforts to weave romantic subplot (featuring Detective Monahan and Reuben)
doesn’t produce desired results. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As far as popular culture serial-killer thrillers go, Jon
Amiel’s <b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112722/">Copycat</a> </b>(123 minutes) provides considerable adrenaline rush, bolstered
by brilliant acting from Weaver and Hunter. </p>
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<![endif]-->Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-59691783789060092212020-07-28T18:50:00.001+05:302020-07-28T18:50:23.245+05:30Sorry, Wrong Number [1948] – A Classic Claustrophobic Suspense Flick<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0514822/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Anatole Litvak’s</a> taut noir drama, <b>‘Sorry, Wrong Number’</b>
(1948) is an adaptation of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0282061/?ref_=tt_ov_wr">Lucille Fletcher’s</a> 22-minute radio play. The script
for the film was written by the original author, embellishing the narrative
with typical elements of film noir – moral corruption, low-key
lighting, bleakness, paranoia, and desperation. Producer Hal Wallis
(Casablanca) was hell-bent on finding a popular star for the main role and got
the queen of film-noir: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001766/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm">Barbara Stanwyck</a>. The then growing Hollywood star Burt
Lancaster (his 6<sup>th</sup> role) played opposite Stanwyck. The two stars' on-set conflicts didn’t eventually affect the movie, although they never worked
together again. For Ukrainian-born American film-maker Mr. Litvak, the year 1948
turned out to be very successful year in his career. While ‘Sorry, Wrong Number’
turned out to be huge box-office success, Litvak’s harrowing drama <a href="https://movieretrospect.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-snake-pit-1948-nuanced-exploration.html">‘The SnakePit’</a> released in the same year to huge critical acclaim and gained seven Oscar
nominations. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_k4veCrhFXhu8w1zWMvSJcXmE5muPSGW11ipNzWe_VfZ8TUB8fAg9AQpgzNh9w6hCeqnyFNfetIeGge1ax4vYtRh5CLbdE6WKfrCAZNqPlHpK48SZddtPHfgygqeXIsvlfYbrDhkjaDti/s1600/1-bckewPVMcP02ZPbR0r3C8Q.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="702" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_k4veCrhFXhu8w1zWMvSJcXmE5muPSGW11ipNzWe_VfZ8TUB8fAg9AQpgzNh9w6hCeqnyFNfetIeGge1ax4vYtRh5CLbdE6WKfrCAZNqPlHpK48SZddtPHfgygqeXIsvlfYbrDhkjaDti/s400/1-bckewPVMcP02ZPbR0r3C8Q.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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In contemporary times, when we think of bleaker facets of
technology, we might picturize our over-dependent online habits. This film,
however, is set in 1940s and the opening crawl forewarns about a communication
device that could instill the sense of doom. This is the post-war era where
telephone communications made it easy to reach out to the loved ones. And, for
Leona Stevenson (Barbara Stanwyck), a wealthy yet lonely New York heiress whose
illness confines her to the bedroom, the telephone is her only connection to
the outside world. She repeatedly tries to contact her husband at his office
who is running late. Leona only gets a busy signal. Just when she thinks that
the call is connected, Leona finds herself listening to someone else’s phone
call. The two men talk about killing a woman, somewhere in the city that same
night. </div>
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Leona immediately panics and asks the phone operator to
connect her to the police. The lone policeman on work ignores Leona’s report of
a planned murder. Later, she receives a call from her millionaire father (Ed
Begley), who questions whether the husband Mr. Henry Stevenson (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000044/?ref_=tt_cl_t2">Burt Lancaster</a>)
is there to take care of her. Desperate to talk with Henry, Leona calls her
husband’s secretary, who tells her about a mysterious, good-looking woman
meeting with Henry at the office. This leads to more phone calls, and each
unfurls a flashback that gradually crystallizes the mystery behind Henry’s
absence. Leona’s dread escalates further when she realizes that she could be
the target of the men, whom she had heard earlier. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9CAV9befzfJzev0LgrIL7nY5Y08CO1c5NeBDg31t8ZwsvubLiuC7I67PnKcPkh26XZ09So95jT_yY7MsVKJFSfbXA8xTpfgW8s7ftQk3VObGJqf62gOmdB3xD-X78sz3xZxomBGn4s-ey/s1600/sorry-wrong-number-burt-lancaster-barbara-stanwyck-1948_u-l-ph52770.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="550" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9CAV9befzfJzev0LgrIL7nY5Y08CO1c5NeBDg31t8ZwsvubLiuC7I67PnKcPkh26XZ09So95jT_yY7MsVKJFSfbXA8xTpfgW8s7ftQk3VObGJqf62gOmdB3xD-X78sz3xZxomBGn4s-ey/s400/sorry-wrong-number-burt-lancaster-barbara-stanwyck-1948_u-l-ph52770.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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From the 1979 slasher/thriller When a Stranger Calls to the
opening scene in Scream (1996) and the terrorizer in Phone Booth (2002), the
idea of an unknown individual bringing doom through a simple phone call could
bring forth palpable fear in the yesteryear cinema. With the emergence of smart phones, the role of communication devices in constructing cinematic villains has only proliferated. In Mr. Litvak’s movie the pristine, old telephone is pretty much
the symbol of his heroine’s sense of entrapment.</div>
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It is easy to comprehend why
this brief radio play that unfolded in the form of monologue was a huge
success. The voice which filtered through the radio instantly forged the
connection with listeners, keeping the narration devoid of unnecessary fillers.
As for a movie narrative, the central character Leona couldn’t be treated as
the only point-of-connection to viewers. Hence, director Litvak punctuates the
plot with more conflicts and betrayals, and pushes it to feature-length with
extensive flashbacks. Some of the plot complications bring deep suspense to the
proceedings, while some twists are purely an excess. </div>
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The brilliant aspect of Litvak’s direction is his study of
space. The camera itself often behaves like a free entity breaking away from
characters, taking in the details of their domestic space. Camera movement
inside Leona’s mansion often emphasizes her insecure feelings and restlessness,
whereas the other fluid camera movements accounting the space, encompassing the
supporting characters, delivers the sense of who they are. Cinematographer Sol
Polito (The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Petrified Forest) and Mr. Litvak do a
thorough job in manifesting fatalistic alarm and tension through the use of
autonomous camera. The wonderful crane shot towards the end which descends down
from Leona’s bedroom (her aural presence is maintained) actively infuses sense
of unease, something which is comparable to the snazzy visual flourishes of
Alfred Hitchcock. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Despite the overly complicated plot conventions and
improbable coincidences, <b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040823/">Sorry, Wrong Number</a> </b>(88 minutes) is a slick film noir
drama benefited by director Anatole Litvak’s supreme style and Barbara Stanwyck’s grand
performance. </div>
</div>
Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-73407256008357546242020-07-21T19:09:00.002+05:302020-07-21T19:09:43.991+05:30Reversal of Fortune [1990] – A Taut Drama with Questions about Legality and Morality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What do you give a
wife that has everything? A shot of insulin</span></b></blockquote>
<br />
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Swiss film-maker <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0775447/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Barbet Schroeder’s</a> movie career is going
strong even after five decades. Born (26 August 1941) to a Swiss Geologist dad
in Tehran, Mr. Schroeder has traveled around the world before opting to study
philosophy in Paris. Soon, he was enamored by French New Wave that he became a
writer for Cahiers du Cinema. In 1962, when he was 21, Schroeder started the production company Les Films du Losange with visionary film-maker Eric Rohmer.
He also had the chance to work with other pioneers of French New Wave during
this earlier phase. In 1969, Barbet Schroeder made his directorial debut with
<i>More</i>, a drama about young man’s downward spiral through heroin and LSD. Although
Mr. Schroeder didn’t direct a work which ranks alongside the works of French
New Wave contemporaries, he found his true voice by transforming himself into a
perceptive documentarian. His controversial documentary and first one in the
<i>‘Trilogy of Evil’ </i>General Idi Amin Dada: A Self Portrait (1975) was an oddly
engaging take on the psychopathic Ugandan dictator. </div>
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The other two documentaries in the unofficial trilogy were
The Terror’s Advocate (2007) and The Venerable W (2017). The director was
perhaps best known for conducting extended interview with American
novelist/poet Charles Bukowski, presented as The Charles Bukowski Tapes (1987).
In the late 1980s, Barbet Schroeder directed his first American feature film
with Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway playing the leads. The film titled Barfly
was about an indigent, alcoholic writer Henry Chinaski, a character inspired
by Charles Bukowski. In the 1990s, Mr. Schroeder mastered the patience to work
within Hollywood industry, directing some average thrillers like Single White
Female (1992), Kiss of Death (1995), etc. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbKu47t3eCLh755neeKyQ1PJyhSuI_cV68enmAIPl-59-kO0RXDX_kjS-_QCHUPpt_0bG0M9QHZsOhfW2bpwMsptMktKdLeLjR92ZoK4Y6DqcgQcy93wHsrLRZSaZf08DzZc56tvDQ3V59/s1600/Reversal+of+Fortune+%25281990%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1485" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbKu47t3eCLh755neeKyQ1PJyhSuI_cV68enmAIPl-59-kO0RXDX_kjS-_QCHUPpt_0bG0M9QHZsOhfW2bpwMsptMktKdLeLjR92ZoK4Y6DqcgQcy93wHsrLRZSaZf08DzZc56tvDQ3V59/s400/Reversal+of+Fortune+%25281990%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Apart from Barfly (1987), the
director indeed made one truly good American film in 1990 titled <b>Reversal of
Fortune</b> which bestowed Jeremy Irons with Best Actor Oscar. Since Schroeder
always had a penchant for scrutinizing evil, odd or outcast characters, he must
have relished at the chance to work with the film’s bizarre and ambiguous protagonist
Charles Von Bulow. Although Barbet Schroeder’s film career was thought to be
finished in the late 1990s, he found his way back to form with feature films
like Our Lady of the Assassins and Amnesia. </div>
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Reversal of Fortune is based on law professor Alan
Dershowitz’s published account of the infamous and bizarre case of Claus Von
Bulow, a European aristocrat accused of attempting to murder his wealthy wife
Sunny Von Bulow. In the initial trial that took place in 1981, Claus was found
guilty of putting his wife Sunny into coma and sentenced to 30 years. By the
end of the trial, Claus became the most hated person in America. But for an
intriguing constitutional reason, Professor Alan agrees to take the appeals
case. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxvraF53eNKYAaIhoId2VhAljxd1_wJPGBiVPMQ7LJKiT8p_V64u4LJMULYXLE6SiDTqqeQB_FjoGrOrShPYPdRFVigw_2ULMPUIQvVkNq0iW6R7hEtJaqnBPNv2i-ESFCg4I8wYX01vLd/s1600/v1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="989" data-original-width="1200" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxvraF53eNKYAaIhoId2VhAljxd1_wJPGBiVPMQ7LJKiT8p_V64u4LJMULYXLE6SiDTqqeQB_FjoGrOrShPYPdRFVigw_2ULMPUIQvVkNq0iW6R7hEtJaqnBPNv2i-ESFCg4I8wYX01vLd/s400/v1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
The chunk of the narrative doesn’t take place inside a courtroom, but
during the days before when Alan and his energetic students/assistants
carefully built the appeals case which eventually reversed Charles’ conviction.
As for the question whether Charles was really guilty or not (irrespective of
judicial verdict), Alan Dershowitz and director Barbet Schroeder asks us to
make up our own mind. What makes Reversal of Fortune a great drama/thriller is
the stylistic direction and insightful writing (script by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0443582/?ref_=tt_ov_wr">Nicolas Kazan</a>) which
eschews by-the-numbers approach to get deep into the characters’ emotions and
psyche. It’s pervaded with moral ambiguities and makes a valid commentary on
the human nature rather than just turn us into voyeurs or armchair detectives. </div>
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Reversal of Fortune unfolds from trio of viewpoints. The
film opens with the most chilling and deeply objective viewpoint of Sunny Von
Bulow (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000335/?ref_=tt_cl_t1">Glenn Close</a>) who voices her predicament from comatose state (Sunny died
in 2008 after spending the last 28 years of her life in coma). It’s an approach
familiarized by movies like Sunset Blvd, American Beauty, etc and books like My Name
is Red, The Lovely Bones. The icy blue color palette and the floating
camera work in the scenes delineating Sunny lend wonderful visual weight to her
contemplation from the nether world. </div>
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Sunny
narrates what set off the chain of events that now keeps her in vegetative state.
Her recollection is oddly detached, providing us only with the facts exhibited
in the public trial. The other two viewpoints in the narrative include
enigmatic Charles Von Bulow and Alan Derschowitz (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0798779/?ref_=tt_cl_t3">Ron Silver</a>), a famous
libertarian. One look at Charles (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000460/?ref_=tt_cl_t2">Jeremy Irons</a>) from the purely objective
flashback is enough to convince our mind that he is guilty. He is unwittingly
hilarious, peculiar, apathetic, and has annoyingly haughty demeanor. By
injecting Sunny with insulin, Charles stood to gain $14 million after her
death. As Alan’s spirited young student says, <i>“Claus von Bulow stinks!”. </i></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrwaWvdMiA8lfWyqBl365Z_pjPbGZ23DDoirz4Ki63WAjb6Zexp8D_b5_MLKenvKVimVL3SYSy2rSaKt2TVHsKb947kq0xslf1yhDi5fjB8XAuG87w-jmFxHucUqAprxT4AgMgWX-CRY8p/s1600/reversal_of_fortune_photo_9-755799684.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="672" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrwaWvdMiA8lfWyqBl365Z_pjPbGZ23DDoirz4Ki63WAjb6Zexp8D_b5_MLKenvKVimVL3SYSy2rSaKt2TVHsKb947kq0xslf1yhDi5fjB8XAuG87w-jmFxHucUqAprxT4AgMgWX-CRY8p/s400/reversal_of_fortune_photo_9-755799684.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Nevertheless, the film isn’t about painting the characters
with broad strokes to constrain them under categories of good and evil. As Alan
and his team scrutinize the case and those involved, a lot of unsettling as
well as fascinating truths rise to the surface. We are revealed the peculiarity
of Von Bulow’s marriage, the complex underpinnings of their rich life, and
Sunny’s predilection for laxatives, alcohol, sweets, etc. What’s further
interesting is the way Kazan affixes us to observe the behind-the-screen
happenings that’s necessary to build the defense. </div>
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Unlike many sensational
courtroom dramas, the film shows how these daunting cases are won before ever
reaching into the court premises. Alan’s team consists of eclectic mix of
youngsters (including Alan’s ex-lover & lawyer Sarah, played by <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001711/?ref_=tt_cl_t4">Annabella Sciorra</a>) who are fun-loving, easily outraged and also unrelentingly determined.
And, director Schroeder elegantly moves between these different worlds or
perspectives, keeping us in guessing mindset till the end and providing us the
space to pick a side or just stay neutral. </div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Nicolas Kazan’s ingenious script is full of richly textured
dialogues:<i> “It’s hard to live with someone you love. Love is fantasy, living is
work”; “Legally, this is an important victory. Morally you are on your own”.</i> Schroeder’s
direction perfectly compliments the script, upholding and celebrating the
mystery till the end. Schroeder's handling of the actors is nothing short of
exceptional. Despite clever writing and making, the film could have fallen flat
if not for Jeremy Irons’ commanding performance. </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJm0YRsq5PTeR7p1ZlOF9zaSYyOR-Jwx9RDkIvMuthL104JiEfZVAdQfhxknm-dsvTT3YZtYolbG8s2oKofTxU4n7FqQZs05pAiRPpnPhk56zVhDzoHMX-sjxeEYy7qZIEHVjQLHGNF_I/s1600/rof.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1471" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPJm0YRsq5PTeR7p1ZlOF9zaSYyOR-Jwx9RDkIvMuthL104JiEfZVAdQfhxknm-dsvTT3YZtYolbG8s2oKofTxU4n7FqQZs05pAiRPpnPhk56zVhDzoHMX-sjxeEYy7qZIEHVjQLHGNF_I/s400/rof.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s a known thing that evil
on-screen looks more fascinating than good. Irons’ Claus Von Bulow isn’t just
designed as a evil incarnate, like say Dennis Hopper’s Frank Booth in Blue
Velvet, but a morally ambiguous guy who is capable of cruelty, manipulation
whenever it suits him. Yet we aren’t fully certain if his sociopathic
tendencies really led him to commit the act. Without extracting feelings of
uncertainty towards Claus, the film wouldn’t have been half interesting as it
is. Irons also instill splendid sense of dark humor to the character
(especially that epilogue scene was a nice wicked touch). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100486/"> Reversal of Fortune</a></b>
(112 minutes) is an absorbing investigative drama packed with powerhouse
performances from Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close, and Ron Silver. The staggering
aspect of this study of a very dark soul lies in its moral complexity. <br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-81340475659311843872020-07-14T19:02:00.002+05:302020-07-14T19:02:44.032+05:30Linda Linda Linda [2005] – A Typical Heart-Warming Tale Laced with Brilliantly Understated Observational Film-Making<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0633729/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Nobuhiro Yamashita’s</a> charming, nostalgia-tinged offbeat dramas
have a calming effect on me. His deadpan minimalism, the simple narrative
largely free of manipulations, the relaxed mid to long shots, and the
matter-of-factness in evoking the sense of time and place adds up to the
enduring appeal of Yamashita’s works. His movies may not have the narrative
economy and artistic precision of the greatest practitioners of such
aforementioned tones, for e.g., <a href="https://www.highonfilms.com/essential-aki-kaurismaki-films/">Aki Kaurismaki</a>, <a href="https://www.highonfilms.com/essential-takeshi-kitano-movies/">Takeshi Kitano</a> or <a href="https://www.highonfilms.com/jim-jarmusch-movie-ranked/">Jim Jarmusch</a>.
But Yamashita often brings his own refreshing idiosyncrasies and painstaking
observations to turn a rather conventional story into a resonant drama. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While his first three films – Hazy Life, No One’s Ark, and
Ramblers – featured slacker youth with not much of a plot, Yamashita’s later
works explored the awkward teenage years built around a storyline of sorts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yamashita’s fourth directorial effort<b> Linda
Linda Linda</b> (2005) was definitely his breakthrough film earning the commercial
success that remained out of his reach. Recruited as a director-for-hire,
Yamashita furnishes both the momentous and mundane events with an understated
beauty. The script written by Kosuke Mukai & Wakako Miyashita won an award
in the screenwriting competition which was brought to the director’s attention
by producer Hiroyuki Negishi. Yamashita has reportedly made quite a few changes
to the script. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwUzI38JnS6eHtBXqzylOEYNIj18-ec4Q30Isiapx-gGE3ekWsaBU3QZBX-3oIan1tjiV0UGLpwYlGRvV0c0WvXXXm_wXe5k6Q3IG2wkSWXkF9h_FUv1kKn3INNAOEmOix74OQFFtfUhIy/s1600/Linda+Linda+Linda+%25282005%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwUzI38JnS6eHtBXqzylOEYNIj18-ec4Q30Isiapx-gGE3ekWsaBU3QZBX-3oIan1tjiV0UGLpwYlGRvV0c0WvXXXm_wXe5k6Q3IG2wkSWXkF9h_FUv1kKn3INNAOEmOix74OQFFtfUhIy/s400/Linda+Linda+Linda+%25282005%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Though the high school setting and all-female band reminded
me of Shinobu Yaguchi’s highly entertaining Swing Girls (2004), <i>Linda Linda
Linda</i> dodges the familiar beats of teens-preparing-for-talent-show narrative. While
Swing Girls is riddled with belly-laugh inducing vignettes and a thunderous
final musical performance, Yamashita’s movie isn't strictly preoccupied in moving towards the destination. We know the narrative is just about all-girls punk-rock quartet
preparing for a high school talent show. And of course it culminates with an
obligatory yet an intoxicating musical number. However, Yamashita almost
displaces such limiting qualities of the familiar narrative with nuanced humor and tranquilizing
framing devices – the stoic as well as playful countenance of its central four
characters are often gracefully set against silent space. </div>
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Teen dramas effortlessly zeroing-in on expressions of
bewilderment and awkwardness or documenting their simplest yet stressful trials
of life, of course, is nothing new. But Yamashita does it in a shrewd,
idiosyncratic manner. Moreover, he foregrounds the characters’ desire and quiet
humility in a way that really transcends the constraints of the narrative. The
girls in <i>Linda Linda Linda</i> and even the characters in the periphery might come
across as sweet and innocent, and the only tense stand-off in the narrative
isn’t elaborated. Yet there are quite a few suggestions of excruciating things
going on behind the scenes which Yamashita leaves it up to the viewers to fill
in the details (most particularly the meaning of a dream sequence). </div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGBI1EnjBnW05YcB9XYRp5aNkKSVYITT-S7yTIxrK5CI-SSOtIHg1kM17q4vYwrq_UROhjI7zxsS3KtX5CmbxuIRVQeyVKIeYz0_gCawmj50kDtgqo4zifACuS0NXWCoG6hbrmSP5C_KRx/s1600/MV5BOTVjZjQ0NDgtMzQyZC00MTVhLWFkNWUtYWNhZGZmZTE5ZWUyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjk3Mzg5NTU%2540._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="736" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGBI1EnjBnW05YcB9XYRp5aNkKSVYITT-S7yTIxrK5CI-SSOtIHg1kM17q4vYwrq_UROhjI7zxsS3KtX5CmbxuIRVQeyVKIeYz0_gCawmj50kDtgqo4zifACuS0NXWCoG6hbrmSP5C_KRx/s400/MV5BOTVjZjQ0NDgtMzQyZC00MTVhLWFkNWUtYWNhZGZmZTE5ZWUyXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjk3Mzg5NTU%2540._V1_.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The movie opens with drummer Kyoko (Aki Maeda) and bassist
Nozomi (Shiori Sekine) alluding to an argument between key members of their
band: keyboard player, Kei (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1539737/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm">Yu Kashii</a>) and lead vocal Rinko (Takayo Mimura).
The rift between these best high-school friends is whispered across the school
corridors. It is said to have happened over replacing their injured lead
guitarist, Moe Imamura (Shione Yukawa). Whatever the reasons, the band’s chance
to perform at the school’s annual talent-show, which is just few days away, remains tentative. Kei raises up to the occasion and takes over the lead guitarist duties, whereas Nozomi stumbles
on to a box of old cassettes and they decide to perform the 80’s hit <i>‘Linda
Linda Linda’ </i>by the Japanese punk-rock band <i>The Blue Hearts</i>. </div>
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When Rinko teasingly questions Kei about their lead vocal,
she just a picks a girl walking through the school courtyard which happens to
be Son (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0046277/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm">Doona Bae</a>), a Korean exchange student with limited vocabulary of
Japanese and clearly has no singing experience. Oh yes, we can easily visualize
how it’s all gonna end. Nevertheless, the coming together of these four different
individuals as they spend day and night in the school’s cloistered music room plus
the gradual development of friendship between Son and the three girls are
emphasized with a gentle humor and unforgettable tenderness. Though the Korean
actor Doona Bae was in her mid-20s when she played this character, her lean
frame and sleepy eyes allow her to effectively integrate the adolescent
clumsiness. She is definitely the scene-stealer of the four and most
importantly the narrative doesn’t make jokes over her ‘foreigner’ status. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOtTMwxOUbU4PXzJBWF__r88Vd0MWv75H5dIVZZe9yQCRd32oSBXuzAUvd49OhGfbGS-2ZuXOoRqNanchHHpcPgiPdQen1ReuIZovGVmlnBOD72F5WB8QNHCAcIW6boLzZ7azj0JZpCQH/s1600/linda-linda-linda-still13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="850" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOtTMwxOUbU4PXzJBWF__r88Vd0MWv75H5dIVZZe9yQCRd32oSBXuzAUvd49OhGfbGS-2ZuXOoRqNanchHHpcPgiPdQen1ReuIZovGVmlnBOD72F5WB8QNHCAcIW6boLzZ7azj0JZpCQH/s400/linda-linda-linda-still13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Being such a mature performer Doona Bae brings a graceful
note to Son’s misunderstandings and mistakes so that we only laugh with the
character, and never on her. It was absolutely hilarious to watch Son negotiating her way
into the karaoke club with buying any drinks. Yu Kashii, who plays Kei, is
equally good. Her stoic face and vacant stares subtly expresses the pains of
growing up, especially Kei’s increasing estrangement from close friend Rinko. Furthermore, the
interaction between the four girls though offers nothing revelatory, the
mingling of each of their individual temperament is a joy to behold.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Eventually, the
traces of superficiality in the narrative are wiped off in Yamashita’s lengthy,
brooding unbroken shots. Be it the girls walking in line carrying their musical
instruments or Son and Kei expressing their freshly forged bond in their own
respective languages in the washroom mirror or the moment when Son walks to the
stage, the day before the show, with a mix of fear, zeal, and delight, Yamashita
and his flawless actors pushes us to live in the moment alongside the
characters. There are eventful teen dramas that might come across as sluggish, and
there’s Yamashita’s film which underlines the resplendence of simple warm-hearted
human interactions – the style the director has followed in his subsequent
subtle dramadies, A Gentle Breeze in the Village (2007), The Drudgery Train
(2012), and Over the Fence (2016). </div>
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<h3 align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i>Linda Linda!! Linda
Linda Linda!!!</i></span></h3>
<h3 align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #cc0000;"><i> </i></span></h3>
</div>
Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-49824530887272521582020-07-07T18:26:00.003+05:302020-07-07T18:26:59.468+05:30The Big Clock [1948] – A Suspenseful Newsroom Noir<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0268513/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">John Farrow’s</a> <b>The Big Clock</b> (1948) is the movie equivalent
of a delightfully tense page-turner. Based on Kenneth Fearing’s novel and
adapted by Jonathan Latimer, it’s one of the minor classic of film-noir
(although it crosses into light-hearted comedy territory now and then). The
movie opens with the camera panned over the city’s dark skyline, few windows
basking under lights. The camera slowly zooms in on the Janoth Building,
entering one of its lower floors’ unlighted windows and captures a man moving
in the shadows of the labyrinthine building. The man is George Stroud (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001537/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm">Ray Milland</a>), wearing an expensive buisiness suit but his face shows unrest and
mortal fear. </div>
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He enters into the most complex structure within the building: a
gigantic mechanical clock whose inner bowels are decorated with spiraling iron
stairs, dials, gauges, and a control board. Through the window slats of clock
tower, the man frustratingly looks at the guards prowling on the corridors and begins
to address viewers, like every cornered film-noir hero: <i>“How did I get into
this rat race anyway? Just thirty-six hours ago I was down there, crossing that
lobby on my way to work. A guy with a good job, a wife, and a kid. A respected
member of the community.”</i> Yes indeed, how did George Stroud get into this
position?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkdvkcojHOLunGICBJKECC7guBj53hJwIeFMAL2IYe9-9Xko-kj0CJyXaQcqV3Kvi5Ct-ftQ0_1QKb7lOZ3XEtU-htDXxUmDiSpDD4ADAnfLNh62gf-Y_Iw_7j82e55CwhN652adTXReSU/s1600/the-big-clock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="537" data-original-width="678" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkdvkcojHOLunGICBJKECC7guBj53hJwIeFMAL2IYe9-9Xko-kj0CJyXaQcqV3Kvi5Ct-ftQ0_1QKb7lOZ3XEtU-htDXxUmDiSpDD4ADAnfLNh62gf-Y_Iw_7j82e55CwhN652adTXReSU/s400/the-big-clock.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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In the flashback, George is a lively, gregarious person with
an extremely clever investigative mind which makes him perfect for the editor
position of Crimeways magazine, its office situated on the top floor of Janoth
Publications. Early in the narrative, we see George Stroud getting into the
elevator at ground floor and we get a swift look at the other facets of the
building: <span class="st">Newsways, Sportways, </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em><span style="font-style: normal;">Styleways,
etc. The buildings and its employess are tyrannically ruled by beady-eyed
fascist, sporting a Hitler-like moustache, named Earl Janoth (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001452/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm">Charles Laughton</a>). </span></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em><span style="font-style: normal;">Mr. Janoth himself micromanages every action within the structure
(down to the light bulb forgotten to be switched off in the broom closet, asking to ‘dock the pay’ of one responsible) and his personal will fully
dominates the lives of his employees. By the end of the day, George will be
taking his long-deffered vacation with wife Georgette (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001577/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm">Maureen O’ Sullivan</a>) and
his little son. Since George is on the cusp of cracking a sensational case,
Janoth denies holiday at the last minute, jeopardizing George’s already
fractured relationship with Georgette. </span></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em><span style="font-style: normal;">Miffed, George expresses his rage for Janoth to a colleague. He laments
that he should have never given-up the low-paying job at small-town newspaper
in West Virginia. Janoth’s forced attempt, however, doesn’t work because George
quits his work and doesn’t care about Janoth ‘blacklisting’ his name in
publication business. But in one of his favorite hang out bar, George meets a
‘beautiful blonde’ Pauline York (Rita Johnson) whose nemesis happens to be
Janoth and only recently she was his mistress.</span></em></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho4k525YSW4b7ADQwN5htkPo3SegR15SSyyrcbNEIUJeCkYi59HJWeVVYVl_AkmawCQGHlfEE7SuHU2tcDDTY2CFVpJqLxgMWKk9sYqxiSnSCdRNNMx0gTeennfbge46uXLxV5bcdlgerT/s1600/Big-Clock-1948-00-57-20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho4k525YSW4b7ADQwN5htkPo3SegR15SSyyrcbNEIUJeCkYi59HJWeVVYVl_AkmawCQGHlfEE7SuHU2tcDDTY2CFVpJqLxgMWKk9sYqxiSnSCdRNNMx0gTeennfbge46uXLxV5bcdlgerT/s400/Big-Clock-1948-00-57-20.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em><span style="font-style: normal;">Time flies and later when George
phones home, after nearly missing the train, the maid says his wife and kid
have left without him. Annoyed by this, George visits different bars with
Pauline and gets drunk. He ends up in Pauline’s apartment (of course fully
clothed) and is waked up when Janoth pays an unannounced visit. She sneaks out
George, but somehow Janoth catches the silhoutte of a man running down the
stairs. Inside Pauline’s apartment, raging doubt mixed with in-built malice
makes Janoth do an irreparable act, one that puts George’s future under threat.
</span></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em><span style="font-style: normal;">The weird and exciting plot-twist in The Big Clock is George Stroud
getting assigned to find the mysterious man (actually himself) by Janoth and his
executive Steve Hagen, played George Macready (to frame the man for crime
committed by Janoth). Taking over this forced self-investigation, George
assigns his crew of investigative reporters to track the man and the blonde’s
movement through the city last night. The ensuing investigation is
part-hilarious and part-suspenseful as they uncaringly dissect one man’s
emotional nature and his life’s unsavory parts. George, known as the keenest
observer of human temperaments and actions, now faces his own choice of tool
used against him. It’s interesting because until now George has remained blind
to his own impulses. </span></em></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnWpsrmUm58oq2IWF3oVsQxZ55gNSMPXOAiHPHqIktqi7Q27rGWrD8-K1_N9D9lqJwhmeL8W7JYgMNW3uEUXQDW1wxZ4oNZNJ_uBk6l_e-SHXF_3BDhTY5-53R7_XveHFCZSOa4uHCqTqJ/s1600/the-big-clock-1948-3%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="633" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnWpsrmUm58oq2IWF3oVsQxZ55gNSMPXOAiHPHqIktqi7Q27rGWrD8-K1_N9D9lqJwhmeL8W7JYgMNW3uEUXQDW1wxZ4oNZNJ_uBk6l_e-SHXF_3BDhTY5-53R7_XveHFCZSOa4uHCqTqJ/s400/the-big-clock-1948-3%255B1%255D.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em><span style="font-style: normal;">Of course, The Big Clock isn’t a character study but a
thriller which elegantly milks the ‘mistaken identity’ factor to create
sumptuous cat-and-mouse pursuits. The script also makes good use of little
acting bits, providing uproarious comic relief. Elsa Lancester (<i>The Bride of
Frankenstein</i>) is particularly funny as the dotty painting artist (one among the
many who could identify the ‘man’ accompanying the blonde). The visit to her
house, overflowing with children and unsold art, and later her visit to Janoth
building provides joyful relief. Unlike many boringly good-hearted wives of
film-noir, Maureen O’ Sullivan as Georgette remains rightfully furious has
something pivotal to do (in assisting her husband to prove his innocence). </span></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em><span style="font-style: normal;">John Farrow’s direction expertly transforms George Stroud’s glitzy work
place into a nightmare, visualizing it as a maze where he plays hunter to
dispel his hunted status. The unerring clock is obviously used as a symbol to
denote the tyranny of Janoth. After evading his chasers, hailing from all the
corners of the building, George finally gets into the clock, the very nerve
center of Janoth’s empire, and accidentally stops the clock’s movement for a
moment. Janoth is panicked by the clock’s halt, muttering <i>‘It can’t have
stopped’</i>. It makes him contemplate his own possible downfall. Farrow also
neatly packages the ending, diffusing a sense of poetic justice (by making the
‘fall’ literal). The performances are marvelous all around, spearheaded by
Laughton’s suave villainous turn. </span></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><em><span style="font-style: normal;">Altogether, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040160/"><b>The Big Clock</b></a> (95 minutes) is a
solid crime thriller of yesteryear with an impressive splash of humor (the film
was remade in 1987 by Roger Donaldson as <i>‘No Way Out’ </i>with a political
backdrop). </span></em></span></div>
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Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-51471850494268572772020-07-01T18:53:00.001+05:302020-07-01T18:53:24.987+05:30Pitfall [1962] – An Inventive, Allegorical Cross-Genre Cinema<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Pitfall</b> (‘Otoshiana’, 1962) marks the first of the four
intriguing collaborations between director <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0856267/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Hiroshi Teshigahara</a>, novelist and
playwright <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0008356/?ref_=tt_ov_wr">Kobo Abe</a> (who adapted his own novels), and the renowned composer
Toru Takemitsu. Kobo Abe’s profound existential stories overcame the
difficulties faced by literary works that tries to don the film-form, thanks largely
to Mr. Teshigahara’s magnificent ability to envision unique aesthetics for
Abe’s metaphorical and emotional expressions, combined with Mr. Takemitsu’s
dissonant and uncomfortable musical score. Although the partnership gained
global acknowledgment only with the release of <i>Woman in the Dunes</i> (1964) and
<i>The Face of Another</i> (1966), which became part of a ‘new wave’ in Japanese cinema,
Pitfall contains all the visually daring elements and pointed social critique
that were further elaborately addressed in those subsequent acclaimed works. The
film starts as a social realist tale of a poor miner, but then employs elements
of surrealism and absurdism to deliver an arresting allegory on the corrupted
authority of post-war Japan. In fact, the director himself calls his unique
aesthetic style as <i>‘documentary/fantasy’</i>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnU-WPwF62yhZz8tB4yB0_F1mWlYHywivmdBLsNUpdbJvA7G5uuN5vtIR7QFoFURMkXooXQMtHZToE2lVqMVWnaNYyUQPTfyC8mxApgAxqgKaAny7BAbqjUP_WnluFY0_s9MEJHoSYIqyS/s1600/Pitfall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="948" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnU-WPwF62yhZz8tB4yB0_F1mWlYHywivmdBLsNUpdbJvA7G5uuN5vtIR7QFoFURMkXooXQMtHZToE2lVqMVWnaNYyUQPTfyC8mxApgAxqgKaAny7BAbqjUP_WnluFY0_s9MEJHoSYIqyS/s400/Pitfall.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Pitfall opens at nighttime with a man (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0407030/?ref_=tt_cl_t1">Hisashi Igawa</a>), his little
son (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1386403/?ref_=tt_cl_t7">Kazuo Miyahara</a>), and the man’s friend (Kanichi Omiya) escaping from a
ramshackle camp-town. They address themselves as deserters and fear bounty
hunters might be after them. As if confirming their fears, the boy sees a man
dressed in white suit (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0848993/?ref_=tt_cl_t5">Kunie Tanaka</a>) observing them from a distance. The men,
however, aren’t prisoners but just exploited miners, dreading the punishment of
mining establishment. The miners do some odd jobs and are always on the move.
In one mining town, the miner is advised to visit a nearby village for a job.
With the help of a map, the miner and his son walk to the village, which they
find to be deserted, except for a female shopkeeper living there. She sells
candies and waits for the letter from her lover. </div>
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The miner realizes this was an abandoned mining camp, and
wonders why he was asked to visit the place. Before long, the man in white suit
follows the miner and starts stabbing him with a knife. The miner dies. The son
come across his father’s corpse and reacts with an unfathomable indifference.
Meanwhile, the man in the white suit approaches the shopkeeper to bestow her with
cash, and to say to the police that the killer looked like a miner with a bald
spot above his right ear. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDb_440_SanxP1AyRn7xWT-6e4kRTXGQh5KNITGqak-Ycq1C7zsuX8o-G8Nzts8WWPLj-nhJyizFl8wNMrFiN1cQWmmt7iQQWuxZ8jinqPxtSvkM1dZGU4UOum68yoGBwCI9AuI2rpupS/s1600/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="386" data-original-width="512" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiDb_440_SanxP1AyRn7xWT-6e4kRTXGQh5KNITGqak-Ycq1C7zsuX8o-G8Nzts8WWPLj-nhJyizFl8wNMrFiN1cQWmmt7iQQWuxZ8jinqPxtSvkM1dZGU4UOum68yoGBwCI9AuI2rpupS/s400/unnamed.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Amongst all these mysterious happenings, the miner
himself arises; but only as a ghost, forever doomed to haunt the ghost town. Invisible
to the living, the miner’s ghost witnesses the unfolding investigation with
great frustration. The testimony of the shopkeeper misleads the investigation
and throws suspicion on two rival union officials of a mining company. The
mystery deepens and the threat of violence persists, although Teshigahara and
Abe use the twists and bloodletting to reflect on existential concerns. </div>
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Woman in the Dunes was best known for director Teshigahara
and cinematographer <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0781960/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr6">Hiroshi Segawa’s</a> unique imagery of juxtaposing the
landscape of shifting sand with the body and it’s self; such that in some of
the fantastic shot compositions the naked body’s creases and folds resemble
that of the dunes. The existential questions and themes of identity Abe deals
in the novel finds a firm anchor in this particular form of visual
representation that explores the relation between body, self, and the landscape
(which naturally addresses the cultural and social concerns). </div>
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In Pitfall, Segawa
and Teshigahara seem to have first attempted those visual ideas (setting precedence)
that worked more perfectly in Woman in the Dunes, supported by the novel’s stronger
metaphorical structure. Since Pitfall’s story is a bit uneven compared to the
other two heralded adaptations of Abe’s novels, the hypnotic black-and-white
imagery easily overpowers the genre-splicing storytelling. </div>
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Unlike <a href="http://www.highonfilms.com/woman-dunes-existential-masterpiece/">Woman in the Dunes</a>, Pitfall fails a bit to strike the
right balance between allegorical and psychological/emotional concerns. Hence
the film works a lot on metaphorical level by theorizing on what the man in
white suit represents or what the boy’s apathetic stance represent and so on. But
except for the sad predicament of shopkeeper and the miner (which in itself is
mixed with elements of absurdism), there’s not much emotional investment in the
narrative. Nevertheless, there’s lot of arresting visuals here to lose
ourselves and ponder over the abstract questions of existentialism. </div>
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The visual
motif of voyeurism recurs throughout the narrative: for instance, the extreme
close-up of the shopkeeper’s sweaty body and the iconic shot of a boy peeking
through a knothole. Another recurrent visual idea is nature’s indifference to
human endeavors. While human actions advance towards a predestined fate that’s
supposed to have some meaning, the nature is portrayed as an ominous presence devoid
of meaning. I couldn’t clearly understand the meaning of the boy’s presence. He
could represent the viewers’ distanced perspective, a voyeur like us witnessing
the events with morbid curiosity. </div>
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Similar to Abe’s other works, Pitfall emphasizes both on the
universal existential themes as well as on the Japanese sociopolitical and
sociocultural realities of the time. Earlier, in the film Teshigahara infuses
news clips and footage of real mining accidents to paint a grisly picture of
the occupation. This along with the miner articulating his dream to work in a
unionized, regulated mining industry addresses the increasing western corporate
imperialism in Japanese industries, although officially those years were
considered as the boom period in post-war industrial Japan.</div>
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Therefore, the film
clearly deals with the pitfalls of rivalry and violence conceived by the new
capitalistic system of Japan to perpetually keep the workers in conflict. At the same
time, incapacitated spectral forms of the miner and shopkeeper represent the
universal themes of ill-treatment of working class and the ruthlessness of
hidden power (the three violent deaths of workers near the marshland also talks
of an existential deadlock created by the authority). Finally, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006316/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr16">Toru Takemitsu’s</a>
creepily effective soundtrack merges well with Teshigahara’s experimentation
with form and tone. </div>
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Overall, <b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203612/">Pitfall</a></b> (97 minutes) plays with mystery and
thriller genre elements to construct a distinctly visualized existential
cinema. </div>
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Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-25442940516179950812020-06-26T18:50:00.003+05:302020-06-26T18:50:44.708+05:30Half Nelson [2006] – A Teacher & Student’s Search for Identity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>Half Nelson</i> refers to a wrestling hold in which a wrestler’s
arm is passed under his opponent’s armpit and the hand is holding the back of
the opponent’s neck; an uncomfortable position in which the opponent feels
locked. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0281396/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Ryan Fleck’s</a> indie feature, <b>Half Nelson</b> (2006) expresses its teacher
protagonist’s feeling of being caught in a disquieting life situation; a
wrestling hold turned into a subtle metaphor in this low-key emotional
narrative. Similar to Blackboard Jungle (1955), Stand and Deliver (1988),
Dangerous Minds (1995), and Freedom Writers (2007), Half Nelson also features a
tough American inner-city school with a teacher hailing from the liberal background
(with the exception of Edward James Olmos in Stand and Deliver, all the other
protagonists in the aforementioned movies are white). </div>
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Moreover, the core
narrative of Half Nelson follows the tentative friendship between the young,
charismatic history teacher and his African-American teenage girl pupil. Nevertheless,
this is not a movie of big statements and cheap melodrama. In fact, Ryan Fleck
and his co-writer <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1349818/?ref_=tt_ov_wr">Anna Boden</a> crafts this as a wonderful examination of broken
people, where the teacher is neither ideal nor says something like <i>‘Carpe
diem’. </i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia2bZd0gc0dDiW5xXx0md-6cqOZ1NRNvjDghinrPzCt0pbRSdR206RKajg9KYsrkRYERq-xrobXDrDEuPDcylUbYrpsZwXVzXUwaI7Rv6ohAPW0QtoVcrEe0wuxRaVpFK9lzLDkC3hExK7/s1600/Half+Nelson+%25282006%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia2bZd0gc0dDiW5xXx0md-6cqOZ1NRNvjDghinrPzCt0pbRSdR206RKajg9KYsrkRYERq-xrobXDrDEuPDcylUbYrpsZwXVzXUwaI7Rv6ohAPW0QtoVcrEe0wuxRaVpFK9lzLDkC3hExK7/s400/Half+Nelson+%25282006%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><b>“The only constant is change”,</b></i> declares Dan Dunne (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0331516/?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm">Ryan Gosling</a>), an instantly likable history teacher (with a great interest in
dialectics) working at inner-city middle school in Brooklyn. He also says,
during one of his classes, <i>“Everything is made with opposing force. We may be
opposed to the machine, but we're still very much a part of it, right? I work
for the government, the school, but I'm also very much opposed to a lot of its
policies. You guys hate coming to school, right? Holler back if you heard me!
You hate it, but you come anyway.”</i> I think these two statements perfectly
alludes to the core themes of Half Nelson, especially the characters’ inner
conflict as they feel the pull between two opposing forces or despair over the
change. </div>
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Right from the beginning, we can see how brilliantly Dan
engages his students, making them care about what he says. Thirteen-year-old
Drey (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1560274/?ref_=tt_cl_t3">Shareeka Epps</a>) admires and respects him like all her classmates. He’s
also her basketball coach, making us think that this guy is not just good with
intellectual discourse. The first crack in this handsome, talented young
teacher image is inflicted when we see him lead a lonely life (a cute cat is
the only companion at home), chasing girls at a bar and buying crack cocaine from a
street dealer. Later, he is caught snorting coke at the gym bathroom by Drey.
Interestingly, Drey doesn’t judge Dan; maybe because she’s already acquainted
with the drug-addled society, or she cares too much about Dan to question him about
it. It’s a bit of both.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRT24aMtWCI2hwn706SrrB9_kQyQ0Q-yAClHobkucgT9kNSpSOH7Ah8AP3ec8JQ_74D3HhQ_SCvPKCNBmmz3qPBTk5SQ_fpi1xkZetxKB5Eb6olJL1kDcspris5iqYHsLTj_QPB84Ie3EP/s1600/unnamed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="512" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRT24aMtWCI2hwn706SrrB9_kQyQ0Q-yAClHobkucgT9kNSpSOH7Ah8AP3ec8JQ_74D3HhQ_SCvPKCNBmmz3qPBTk5SQ_fpi1xkZetxKB5Eb6olJL1kDcspris5iqYHsLTj_QPB84Ie3EP/s400/unnamed.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Drey’s parents are separated. Her father doesn’t show up (in
her life and in the movie). Her mother is a regular beat cop working
round-the-clock. Drey’s elder brother is in jail, taking the fall for a friend
and local drug-dealing kingpin, Frank (Anthony Mackie). Frank looks out for
Drey. It’s ambiguous whether Frank is just recruiting her for his line of job
or looking out for her simply out of brotherly love (maybe, it’s a bit of
both). While Dan and Drey gradually develops a bond - for Drey a better
father-figure than Frank - their friendship is pulled by opposing forces.</div>
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Dan’s
life begins to unravel since he is unable to kick his drug habit. His
ex-girlfriend meets him to say that she’s rehabilitated and going to get married.
Dan sleeps with a female colleague, which later only leads to a cringe-worthy
situation. On the other hand, Drey is slowly drawn to Frank’s world, delivering
drug on his behalf, and speaking in his lingo. But despite the opposing forces
pulling them and the eventual change, the film ends with Dan and Drey retaining
their meaningful redemption, and their shy smile hints at the possibility of
positive change. </div>
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Half Nelson is a remarkable effort by first-time
feature-film screenwriters, Ryan Fleck and Anna Borden (after making couple of
indie features, they recently helmed a big studio project -- Captain Marvel). With
this original script (Boden also served as the film’s editor) the duo does a
fine job in intertwining their pet themes while also taking great care to
subtly zero-in on the emotions. Fleck and Borden largely avoids the conventions
of the genre, particularly when it comes to realizing Dan and Drey’s bond. The
nuanced performances and the honesty with which the actors express themselves
of course is also the reason for the way the film-maker transcends the plot’s ordinariness.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN2wdpZJchcjjMJELNy4P8ab1iqMjTzk9aiQQmkAPVdbwFwH61x4CjfOswXPYIygg6dqaN6vLVY8ukpuUq9xZ0chD6dKGMvdPGf7nt7NWhQHlal1DDl-Msm-Dhh64vlie478DqHAl3yu_N/s1600/tumblr_pg96tgs9cd1v4a8wfo1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="605" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN2wdpZJchcjjMJELNy4P8ab1iqMjTzk9aiQQmkAPVdbwFwH61x4CjfOswXPYIygg6dqaN6vLVY8ukpuUq9xZ0chD6dKGMvdPGf7nt7NWhQHlal1DDl-Msm-Dhh64vlie478DqHAl3yu_N/s400/tumblr_pg96tgs9cd1v4a8wfo1_1280.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Yet the writing interests me for the manner it gradually
accumulates emotions and thematic ideas, and the drama doesn’t look to make a
big impact but passes off like a gentle breeze. The reason behind Dan’s drug
addiction or why his life is wreck isn’t clearly stated. But we know he is the
disillusioned child of bourgeois parents who probably were hippies (<i><b>“You
stopped the war”</b></i>, Dan says to his mom). Furthermore, his pursuit of dialectics,
the weighty books he studies, and his messed up relationships does tell a lot
about his personality. However, it’s also understandable why such nuanced and
ambivalent treatment may make Half Nelson a disappointing movie experience for
some. From the shaky, fly-on-the-wall visual style that induces nausea to the
tad tactless, abrupt ending, the film does has its share of flaws. </div>
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Eventually Half Nelson is worth watching for the two
mesmerizing central performances. It’s hard to define the way Gosling and Epps
command the emotional terrain of the narrative through mere words. Gosling is
especially great in the scene when his character decides to confront Frank,
asking him to stay out of Drey’s life. Dan tries to make his point, but anxiety
and vulnerability takes over and he ends up taking Frank’s offer for a drink. It’s
one of my favorite scenes in the movie, where Dan’s frail state is conveyed
with a light note of humor (that moment he picks up the stray cat is laced with
sadness and humor). Epps, a non-professional actor, incorporates a rawness to
the character, and is perfectly up to the task in playing against Gosling. The
different shades of emotions rendered by both the actors are clearly as fascinating as the film’s dramatic core. </div>
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Overall, <b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468489/">Half Nelson</a></b> (106 minutes) is an indie gem that
takes an overwrought story-line involving charming teacher and troubled student
to turn in a narrative full of honest emotions and rich themes. </div>
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Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-56470966531264510932020-06-17T13:15:00.002+05:302020-06-17T13:20:50.059+05:30Detour [1945] – An Intense and Concise Film Noir of the Classic Era<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Film movements and newly flourishing film culture have often
helped movie enthusiasts to re-evaluate or re-discover particular style of
films. This was particularly true of film noir (of the 40s) which although had
been revered for decades by the French critics (they also coined the term). The
video culture and the film criticism of the 1970s boosted few forgotten tiles
of film noir, some eventually raised to ‘masterpiece’ status - the truth blended
with mythos helped certain movies’ popularity. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0880618/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Edgar G. Ulmer’s</a> <b>Detour </b>(1945)
was one such movie to have been re-discovered and went on to occupy an honored
place in the history of film noir. It just about appears on every film noir connoisseurs’
list of classics of the genre. </div>
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Edgar Ulmer was one of the expatriate film-makers - born in
Austria - who came to Hollywood after the rise of Third Reich. Ulmer associated
himself with film industry by working as set designer. He has worked in the
notable silent films of the era, including “Der Golem” (1920), Fritz Lang’s
“Metropolis” (1927) and “Die Nibelungen” (1924). At Hollywood, he directed the
Universal horror classic, <a href="https://movieretrospect.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-black-cat-1934-fine-vintage-horror.html">Black Cat</a> (1934), starring Bela Lugosi and Boris
Karloff. However, Ulmer’s directorial career didn’t flourish much under the
studio domination. He was content with doing small-budget films and Ulmer’s
visual styles very often belied the paltry budget. The knowledge of Detour’s
low-end production is very well known among noir aficionados: it was shot over 28-days, although it
was rumored to have been only shot in six days. Yet Ulmer easily transcends
ramshackle production into a highly professional piece of work. He also perfectly puts to use the grimly fascinating and focused script (by Martin Goldsmith) that instantly grabs our attention.</div>
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Detour offers textbook illustration of film noir narrative
and imagery: voice-over narration, broken men, dangerous women, smart use of
montages, unusual camera angles (oh that coffee cup!!), and effective use of
lighting, especially that slot of light to denote the protagonist’s emotional
torment. The narrative largely unfolds as a flashback. The disheveled and
tempestuous central character, Al Roberts (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0623684/?ref_=tt_cl_t1">Tom Neal</a>) sits in a shabby diner and
thinks back on the nightmarish events from the past few days of his life. Al is
a New York pianist who is deeply in love with his singer girlfriend, Sue (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0236873/?ref_=tt_cl_t3">Claudia Drake</a>). The girl, however, has decided to move to Los Angeles to try for better
prospects in the showbiz. But Sue only lands up in a waitress gig. To support
his agonized lover, Al decides to hitch a ride to Los Angeles and get married. </div>
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Al feels lucky to have come across a guy named Charles
Haskell Jr. (Edmund MacDonald), who agrees to take him, all the way to L.A. since that was his destination too. The guy even buys Al a meal. Charles is a
burly guy who likes to chat. He tells the story behind the scratches in his
hand (courtesy of a crazed female hitchhiker), about his horse-betting profession,
and finally the reasons for making this trip. Al takes the wheel for few hours
and allows Charles to sleep. Soon, Haskell croaks (the reason remains baffling)
and Al, in a state of panic, hides the corpse behind a bush and borrows the
guy’s money, car, his suit, and his identity. Al’s bad luck only turns worse
when he makes the mistake of picking up a hitchhiker himself. The hitcher is a
mean, sharp-tongued woman named Vera (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0767243/?ref_=tt_cl_t2">Ann Savage</a>) who knows Al is lying,
because she was that 'crazed female' who gave Charles Haskell Jr. his scars.
After extraditing the truth from Al, Vera sticks on to him like a parasite and
chooses to use him or rather Al’s new identity to receive loads of money.</div>
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Like a typical noir, Detour dabbles with bleak fatalism,
tracing the downfall of an ordinary, flawed yet conscience-striken man who gets drawn into web of
crime due to odd twists of fate. Ulmer stages the narrative with an urgency and
strong sense of inevitability, depicting how Al’s desperate actions to
avoid disaster only secures his doom. The cynicism and bitterness - staple
elements of film noir - is clearly evident in Detour’s quest for
happiness-gone-wrong narrative. In many ways, the film is seen to be providing a
counterpoint to the usual perception of Hollywood & Los Angeles as a dream
factory. </div>
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The woman who talks of making it big gets (literally) strangulated.
The man with dreams of bonding back with his love gets increasingly haunted by
nightmarish scenarios. The cross-country journey may be mostly filmed on a
process stage. But the limited production values help to establish the
surroundings as wastelands, which shatters one’s dreams, doing the opposite of
what the typical American cross-country trips tend to achieve. Ulmer excels in
keeping intact the grimy, sooty atmosphere throughout, be it the set design of
darkly-lit diners or the suffocation-inducing motel rooms. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCMnBAyAKg_SBl_W2g81jXk3NpktXEllVElfBwQufI6iMiI2NDd2kua3ya8BQg_hFS41xGZinUg0_dDlxi6AXZam9fYjFyy-TGyk5eIij1Tvphd71cSNSHy0bxqFNE7lR0ITV58Xbfgkwt/s1600/29614id_025_w1600_original.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCMnBAyAKg_SBl_W2g81jXk3NpktXEllVElfBwQufI6iMiI2NDd2kua3ya8BQg_hFS41xGZinUg0_dDlxi6AXZam9fYjFyy-TGyk5eIij1Tvphd71cSNSHy0bxqFNE7lR0ITV58Xbfgkwt/s400/29614id_025_w1600_original.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Detour also greatly benefits from the central pair’s
unerring performances. Neal is pretty good at expressing the looks of sullen
resignation while facing every disapproval and indignity inflicted upon his
character. The memorable shot of small slot of light on Neal’s face perfectly
conveys the countenance of a person who only expects the worst from life.
Savage lives up to her name, her Vera occupying the hall of fame of femme
fatales alongside Barbara Stanwyck, Rita Hayworth, Joan Bennett, etc (though
Ann Savage never made the jump to A-list stardom like the other female actors
mentioned here). Vera is absolutely feral, irredeemable, and intolerable,
Savage’s fire-breathing performance was truly entertaining. Interestingly,
Savage’s Vera was not bluntly sexualized, unlike the femme fatale roles of the
era.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Though technically a bit rough, <b><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037638/">Detour</a></b> (68 minutes) doesn’t have any flaws (perhaps the strictly
enforced Hays Code moral ending was the only annoying aspect) and it offers a remarkable
distillation of film noir’s essential themes and images. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1313855338944191404.post-55581419973090587852020-06-09T09:39:00.001+05:302020-06-09T09:39:35.672+05:30Ornamental Hairpin [1941] – A Japanese Wartime Drama that Skilfilly Combines Humor with Pathos<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0793646/?ref_=tt_ov_dr">Hiroshi Shimizu’s</a> <b>Ornamental Hairpin</b> (‘Kanzashi’, 1941)
along with the director’s other two talkies – <a href="https://www.highonfilms.com/mr-thank-you-1936-review/">Mr. Thank You</a> (‘Arigato-san’,
1936) & The Masseurs and a Woman (‘Anma to onna’, 1938) – were conceived as
group portraits set among a distinct backdrop that temporarily brings
together vacationers or travelers. While <i>Mr. Thank You</i> unfolds inside a small,
rickety bus as a cross section of rural Japanese people travel through
picturesque mountain roads, The Masseurs and a Woman & Ornamental Hairpin
is set in the backdrop of a remote, hill-side hot spring resort. </div>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
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The unique characters in
the three films represent a microcosm of Japanese society; in an era when the
nation slowly recovered from economic depression, only to be beset by the <span class="st">total mobilization for </span><i><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-style: normal;">war. <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The singularity of Shimizu’s men and women are sharply delineated
by the <a href="http://sensesofcinema.com/2004/feature-articles/hiroshi_shimizu/">‘Senses of Cinema’ article (Hiroshi Shimizu: A Hero of his Time’) </a>by
Alexander Jacoby:</span> “</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">His
characters are almost always those who are alienated from the mainstream of
society, whether by personal situation (poverty, family breakdown), profession
(his men are often artists; his women, hostesses or prostitutes), or geography
(most of his films are set in outlying areas of Japan, particularly the
mountainous and inaccessible Izu Peninsula).”</i></div>
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Based on a story by Masuji Ibuse, Ornamental Hairpin opens
with the shot of group of geishas walking through mountain road flanked on both
sides by humongous trees. Among the women in the group, Emi (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0849011/?ref_=tt_cl_t10">Kinuyo Tanaka</a>) and
her friend Okiku (Hiroko Kawasaki) are jubilant about their brief visit from
Tokyo. The geishas’ arrival engulfs the inn with festive mood, the women
booking all the masseurs available. The noisy gathering, however, irks the
grumpy professor Katae (Tatsuo Saito) whose vociferous complaints go unheard. </div>
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Other guests at the inn include: an old man and his two lively grandsons, Jiro
and Taro; the meek Mr. Hiroyasu (Shinichi Himori) and his wife (Hideko Mimura);
and Nanamura (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0753479/?ref_=tt_cl_t7">Chushu Ryu</a>) a soldier on leave. The geishas depart the inn after
few days, but Emi leaves behind her ornamental hairpin in the hotspring which
injures Nanamura’s foot rather badly. Nanamura isn’t bothered by his injury and
finds the whole thing poetic: just like a poem pierces the soul, this 'poem' has
pierced a sole. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigPpIoYvxxWvTABebTrwCb_Br7uW1cYYaC6VVGDDzii6pL2I7JUwe2aXmmcWGRSvs579IZYsScEKYWAgSv4eoU0eV5JsNqBlGUmYZ73GpoSMdqUY-QAtaIxbDbKTTr3I_oWAr_UaqJE4zw/s1600/8a0da94b166def0792fc34a2438072c1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1200" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigPpIoYvxxWvTABebTrwCb_Br7uW1cYYaC6VVGDDzii6pL2I7JUwe2aXmmcWGRSvs579IZYsScEKYWAgSv4eoU0eV5JsNqBlGUmYZ73GpoSMdqUY-QAtaIxbDbKTTr3I_oWAr_UaqJE4zw/s400/8a0da94b166def0792fc34a2438072c1.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The professor initially frowns at the soldier’s poetic
inclinations. But he starts to speculate on the (and other guests too) beauty
of the haripin owner, further adding to Nanamura’s romantic take on the
accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile, Emi sends a letter
to the resort owner offering to pay for the return postage if anyone finds the hairpin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when she hears about Nanamura’s
predicament, Emi arrives in person to apologize. Of course, Emi is young and
beautiful, and a quite affection grows between her and Nanamura. </div>
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Rejecting her wealth
and materials of her former life in Tokyo, Emi stays in the inn and watches him
gradually rehabilitate. The two mischievous boys (Jiro and Taro) accompany Emi
and Nanamura, shouting cheerful words as the wounded soldier tries to walk
without the help of crutch. Nevertheless, Ornamental Hairpin isn’t a
straightforward love story. The 'love' is rather suggested through meaningful yet quiet glances
and represented through the walk that first take place between trees and later
over a rickety bridge, and mesmerizing hillside stairs.</div>
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The narrative is mostly episodic in structure, each hinting
at how the tranquil atmosphere shelters this group of disparate people from the
hard realities of outside world. Shimizu subtly hints at the guests’ class status - they all are sharing rooms on cheap rates and hence the refrain from commenting on
the sameness of served rationed food - and Emi’s troubled past. The
professor’s pompous nature comes down a notch as he socializes with others and
assumes the role of the head of this make-shift family. The community of inn
guests, of course, disintegrates when the holidays reach its end. The film ends
on a melancholic note with kimono-clad Emi repeating the walks - among the trees, in the bridge
and hillside stairs - without her would-be lover, and in that moment we can also discern
the misery and uncertainties the wartime affairs is going to bring upon all the
characters we had just traveled with. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0Or8aGc_vObXPB_Pi4Bk9j9vXkE61b-4F1PRZbWs2m9SQb8sJ2on-XHXNF9xkh2SC5O-bG2zqrY2ZJK6k-t85-2Sjy3_k72SpMMYxbNS7uVIKWc1xccLjvNMrvmKhpkVdjmZkHllouTQ/s1600/ornamental-hairpin-750x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="750" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV0Or8aGc_vObXPB_Pi4Bk9j9vXkE61b-4F1PRZbWs2m9SQb8sJ2on-XHXNF9xkh2SC5O-bG2zqrY2ZJK6k-t85-2Sjy3_k72SpMMYxbNS7uVIKWc1xccLjvNMrvmKhpkVdjmZkHllouTQ/s400/ornamental-hairpin-750x400.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Like most of Shimizu’s works, Ornamental Hairpin first
appears to be a conventional gentle comedy, but slowly reveals its deeper
layers as the film-maker manages to evoke nuanced, unspoken emotions of love and
friendship. Often compared with the works of French master Jean Renoir,
Shimizu’s films too remains as a mixture of charming simplicity and emotional
complexity. The most striking aspect of Shimizu’s direction is his penchant for
tracking shots that not only follows characters, but also cuts diagonally across
to give us a feeling of the landspace and spaces. Some of the director’s
formally beautiful shots withhold great emotional power. </div>
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For instance, the
scene Nanamura climbs up the hillside stairs leading up to a forest temple. His
ascent presages the end of the transition period (Emi turns away in tears),
whereas the calm and safety of the moment remains frozen in those frames. While
Mr. Thank You’s narrative arc was infused with notes of hope and redemption,
Shimizu in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427424/"><i>Ornamental Hairpin</i></a> in order to reflect the uncertainty and hardships
of the times (wartime Japan) rightly leaves the tender connection between Emi and
Nanamura unresolved. </div>
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Arun Kumarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14638646338604761587noreply@blogger.com0