My July movie-watching II (1960-2004 movies)
Aug 01 '05
The Bottom Line How German is it? Very! Leavened by Stephen Chow, Johnny Depp, Keanu Reeves, and a gorilla mask.
Before his big hits (The Magnificent Seven, 1960: The Great Escape, 1963). John Sturges directed one extraordinary modern-day western (Bad Day at Black Rock, 1955), and some good conventional westerns.The Law and Jake Wade (1958) follows a gang through spectacular widescreen Death Valley and eastern Sierra Nevada vistas. It is one of many westerns in which one ex-criminal (here, Robert Taylor's Jake Wade) has gone straight and become more than respectable (a town marshal), while a former partners (here, Richard Widmark's Clint Hollister) in crime have persisted and want to wreck the other's new life. The newly minted good guy has some residual loyalty to his ex-mate. Here, Jake breaks Clint out of jail and then tries to persuade his fiancée (the bland Patricia Owens, female lead in the original "The Fly") to move on without any explanation of his reason. They are seized and forced to reveal where Jake hid money. Clint seems to feel abandoned more than he cares about the money, adding a thwarted homoerotic element to the typical restless gang and Comache attack formulae. (3 stars)
Le Trou (1960, 4.6 stars) was Jacques Becker's last movie, recreating a 1947 prison escape attempt. It is as meticulously detailed as Robert Bresson's transcendent A Man Escapes, but involves a group of four (plus a new cellmate) instead of the solitary prisoner (who also has the confusion of a new cellmate just before he is going to make his escape). Group dynamics are skillfully shown along with the grueling work of burrowing out. Outstanding black-and-whitee cinematography by Ghislain Cloquet, who later shot "Au hasard Balthazar" and "Mouchette for Bresson, much later won an Oscar for Polanski's "Tess" and also was responsible for the striking visuals in Arthur Penn's "Mickey One" and the new footage in Alain Resnais's "Night and Fog").
Shock Corridor (1963, produced, written, and directed by Sam Fuller, 2.7 stars) has some passionate fans. I don't get it. It starts very slowl. As soon as the "Whodunit?" question arose, I knew the answer. I could care less about the protagonist Johnny Barrett (Peter Breck overacting big-time) in pursuit of a Pulitzer Prize or whether his (talentless) singer/stripper girlfriend (Constance Tower) will manage to hold him. The three insane witnesses act out quite extremely, but have their lucid moments for the convenience of the plot and the prize-seeker. The home-movie color footage from Korea, Amazonia, and some waterfall is bizarre, there's a lot of screaming and wild gesticulating, and the political aspects (the black and white victims of virulent anticommunism, virulent racism, the guilt of developing nuclear weapons, and the pressure to excel that cracks most of the characters, not least Johnny) are little more subtle than the screaming. (I read "Being Sane in an Insane Place" a really long time ago.) There are other Fuller movies (Pickup on South Street, Steel Helmet, for instance) that I think are good, or at least entertaining (Run of the Arrow). Still, I have to say that Hari Rhodes's pathologically self-hating student who had integrated a school is very intense, and the the cinematography was supplied by a master, Stanley Cortez (The Magnificent Ambersons, Night of the Hunter), with very sharp focus, some tight closeups, many oblique angles, and a lot of camera movement. (The Criterion DVD has a cleaned-up print but is devoid of extra features other than a trailer for the movie.)
When is a parody of ennui boring? A pretty sure bet, and completely certain if "Last Year at Marienbad" is being parodied. Rainer Fassbinder took a writing credit as well as a directing one for the 1971 movie Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte (Beware the Holy Wh*re) about a film-crew on location in what is supposed to be Spain not making a movie (about "human brutality"). (Godard's movie about making a movie on location along the Mediterranean, "Le Mépris," hangs even heavier over the proceedings than Resnais's.) The 1970s fashions are painful to look at, except for future director Werner Schroeter's long-haired, dressed-in-black, black-cowboy-hatted angel. Fassbinder himself plays a production assistant who screams a lot. Lou Castel plays the director who feels much put-upon but is a nasty brat. 2 stars ('cause Eddie Constantine is amusing playing himself (specifically as the alumnus of "Alphaville," and I like Michael Ballhaus's clinically clear and detached cinematography, and Werner Schroeter in black). "Self-indulgent" seems inadequate a charge. I find very little of the yelling and moping and throwing empty glasses funny, though some other people do.
"Der Händler der vier Jahreszeiten" (The Merchant of Four Seasons (1972, written and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 3.4 stars) is one of the melodramas of his (heavily influenced by Douglas Sirk) middle period about families and materialism crushing unheroic working-class non-heroes, in this instance a Foreign Legion veteran played by Hans Hirschmuller who comes to be superfluous in his business and home and sinks into a terminal depression. A downer, like most Fassbinder films, photographed from some odd angles (like much New German cinema), but allowing the actors to act (unlike Fassbinder's Effi Briest and Werner Herzog's Heart of Glass).
I thought that "Angst vor der Angst" (Fear of Fear, 1975, written and directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 3 stars) had the conventional camera setups of a TV movie, and, in fact it was one. It is a very red and green portrait of a woman who, at the start, is about to have her second child. Her anxiety level is already high and she has higher anxiety and postpartum depression which leads to abuse first of Valium then cognac. Despite censorious, busybody in-laws (Fassbinder ensemble players Brigitte Mira and Irm Hermann) and a somewhat distant husband (Ulrich Faulhaber), she pulls through—even though disintegration was what Fassbinder showed most often (and acted out in his own life). Less happens in the depressive movie than in the Sirk soap operas Fassbinder loved. Again, Fassbinder shows the material comforts that were lacking in the immediate postwar period in which he grew up are soulless (as those of the earlier postwar prosperity were in Sirk's colorful melodramas for Universal). The DVD has a sharp picture (with the vivid reds and greens), but little in the way of extras (a DVD filmography and a trailer for "Beware the Holy Wh•re").
"In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden" (The Year of 13 Moons,1978) for which Rainer Werner Fassbinder credited for practically everything except performing (he couldn't be on both sides of the camera at the same time, 2.6 stars). That was done (superlatively) by Volker Spengler. The movie has some memorable scenes, but in my view way too much telling of stories and too little showing (though also some shall was say overkill?). It may be Fassbinder's most personal movie (motivated by grief and guilt and including his mother as an elderly nun), but I am not among those who consider it his masterpiece (for me that is Ali, but I've only seen about half Fassbinder's movies).
Mon oncle d'Amérique (1980, directed by Alain Resnais, 4 stars) is very difficult to get into, and to sort out the characters. With many a jump cut he traces three life histories interspersed with some pretentious behaviorist psychology babble by Professor Henri Laborit. The visuals and acting are good, and it helps to have a sense of who Jean Gabin and Jean Marais were, since two of the characters see life in terms of their screen characters. The third major character is similarly devoted to Danielle Darrieux, but there is only one clip of her in contrast to frequent ones of the two Jeans. (Movies taught them how to behave, do laboratory rats identify with screen stars? Rats have memories, and their memories shaped their action, but not memories of movie models, which undercuts Laborit's simplistic behaviorism that I thought was radically out of date by 1980, 15 years after the cognitive revolution in psychology began to triumph).
Lola (1981, 4 stars), the middle film in his trilogy on the return of prosperity to West Germany during the 1950s is one of the better Rainer Werner Fassbinder films, with interesting twists on the story of "The Blue Angel," and excellent performances by Barbara Sukowa, Armin Mueller-Stahl, and supporting players.
"Männer" (Men, 1985, directed by Doris Dorrie, 4.3 stars) is a welcome relief form the all-enveloping deression of the middle-period Fassbinder movies. It is a romantic comedy in which a husband who finds out that his wife has been having an affair leaves, spies on the man, manages to become his roommate, becomes his confidant, and transforms the semi-hipies into an advertising executive who bores his wife. A gorilla mask is used effectively and the ending is very funny.
Cry-Baby (1990, written and directed by John Waters, 3 stars). I thought that Polly Bergen was really funny (and not at all like Divine!). Silly, but amusing, with Johnny Depp doing a pretty good Elvis Presley/James Dean (when I was expecting Johnny Ray!). (Watch for Willem Dafoe as the prison guard leading the nightly catechism.) Inferior to "Hairspray" in most every way.
After Captain Pantoja and the Secret Service, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter is my favorite novel by Mario Vargan Llosa. I knew that Pantoja had been filmed (and will soon see it), but did not know that Aunt Julia had I until I read jankp's epinion of it. Adapted by William Boyd and moved from Lima to New Orleans under the title Tune in Tomorrow... (1990 directed by Jon Amiel [Sommersby, Queen of Hearts,the Michael Gambon "Singing Detecive], 4 stars), the movie retained much of the humor and provided an earlier (than "Something's Gotta Give") chance for Keanu Reeves to pursue a considerably older woman (Barbara Hershey) with a very unusual Cupid played by Peter Falk as life imitates art imitating life. The movie adds another level to the steamy radio serial. And it provides a reason for Peter Falk to ham it up and Keanu Reeves to be a clothes horse (I like his bow-ties, but his swimming costume rivals some of Falk's diguises in silliness). Patricia Clarkson was wasted, but Hershey also had a romp. (The Albanian slurs were against Bolivians in the original.) Amiel's promise has not, unfortunately, been redeemed.
"Bian zou bian chang" (which means "walking and singing," but is titled Life on a String in English, 1991, directed by Chen Kaige, 4.2 stars) was gorgeously photographed in Inner Mongolia by Gu Changwei, though this was compromised by Kino DVD transfer. The movie is heartbreaking. Some of the behavior is unfathomably cruel. Liu Zhongyuan and Huang Lei (Fleeing by Night) are very affecting (the affect being tear-inducing).
"Winterschläfer" (Winter Sleepers, 1997, directed, scripted, and composed by Tom Tykwer, 3.4 stars) takes too long to set up connections, but is visually striking and has a haunting techno score by Tykwer. Like his later (better) movies (and Kieslowski's, it shows chance turning to destiny and has fine acting.
Like It Is (1998, directed by Paul Oremland, 3.5 stars) is a fantasy about a shy and edgy young bare-knuckle boxer Craig from Blackpool (Steve Bell, who that year also won British Amateur Boxing Association's featherweight championship). Craig doesn't fancy girls but has no experience of sex or love with males. He intrigues a London careerist who has been around the block a few times, is familiar with the casting couch, and inhales a lot of cocaine Matt (Ian Rose). A singer who lives with Matt and is accustomed to being his primary relationship except for sex, Paula (Dani Behr) and a cynical successful older queen (Roger Daltrey: yes, that Roger Daltrey) do their best to scuttle love, but it's a movie and one knows that love with triumph in the end. It seems a variant on "Queer as Folk" (the Manchester version), complete with many throbbing club scenes. Some of the lines (delivered in a northern England accent) are difficult for me to understand. Bell was quite good, but has not been seen onscreen again.
"Im Juli" (In July, 2000, directed by Fatih Akin [Head-On], 3.6 stars) is a genial romantic comedy/road movie in which Daniel Bannier (puffy-lipped Moritz Bleibtreu, Lola's amour in "Run, Lola, Run," the lead in "The Experiment," and the translator in "Taking Sides"), Juli (Christiane Paul), and Melek (Idil Üner) all travel from Hamburg to Istanbul: Daniel in pursuit of Melek (who flew), Juli in pursuit of the Daniel. Daniel and Juli have a number of adventures en route, including some very funny border-crossing (Akin places the inflexible Romanian border guard) and an applied physics experiment (a variant on the problem Daniel is trying to set a high-school class that is paying no attention to him at the start of the movie's extended flashback). The many coincidences require willful suspension of disbelief: the movie is a fairy tale quest (with some hard knocks), not an exercise in realism. There's nothing new except for the route's geography, but the actors have sufficient charm to make the journey enjoyable for viewers. They and director Akin are also genial in bonus clips.
"Italiensk for begyndere" (Italian for Beginners, 2000, written and directed by Lone Scherfig, 3.8 stars) is a slow portrayal (on video with available light) of a number of unhappy, thwarted, loveless provincial (Hvidovre) Danes who attend a night-time adult education Italian conversation class. Unlike other Dogme 95 movies, this one has a happy ending as the class goes off to Venice and hesitant approaches are made there and three couples form. These are not the fabled free-love modern Danes. The two parent-daughter relationships could have come from a Fassbinder film. There are almost as many coincidences as in "Im Juli" (and some, if less, of the charm of the characters in that, and the same predictable happy ending). There's even some Puccini (from "La Boheme") contrary to the Dogme ban on mood-setting music (though it's in the post-Danish finale of the film).
Ye ben (2000, directed by Hsu Li-Kong and Yin Chi, 4.5 stars). Considering how much fleeing by night there is in this Chinese movie, I'm surprised that I did not recognize that I'd already seen Fleeing by Night. No matter, because I was ready to identify with the cellist (Huang Lei, "Life on a String") returned from his lonely American studies to his North China banking family who falls in love with and fails both his fiancée (Rene Liu) and the star of the opera "Fleeing by Night," Lin Chung (Yin Chao-Te) who loves him and whom he loves. I was also fascinated by the long hair of (Tai Li-jen) who more or less owns Lin Chung. There is less of the successive disasters for the people that was China's 20th century history than in "Farewell, My Concubine," but enough to forestall hapiness for any of the characters. The movie has the glamorous 1930s look and flawless performances all around.
"Die Stille nach dem Schuß" (The Legend of Rita, 2000, directed by Volker Schlöndorff, 3.8 stars) provides another angle on the traumatic leftist terrorism in West Germany from the Red Army Faction and the hiding of RAF refugees in East Germany. Like other Schlöndorff movies it shows people with good and bad qualities commiting bad deeds and the march of history trampling individual pursuits of happiness.
The only two Belgian movies I've seen are very pink. "La vie en rose" announced that in its title. Pauline & Paulette (2001, directed by Lieven Debrauwer, 3 stars) has a lot of red to go with the pink. It is a very slow movie about a retarded woman, Pauline (Dora van der Groen), who has been well cared for by a sister who dies. Neither of the other two sisters has the patience to have Pauline live with her. The very plump local operatta diva Paulette (Ann Petersen) doesn't even notice how much Pauline adores her. A few poignant ideas, but every scene goes on too long.
Shaolin Soccer (2001, starring, cowritten and directed by Stephen Chow [Zhou Xingchi ] 4.8 stars) is a very funny mix of kung fu comedy and underdog sports movie. Unlike Robert Duvall and Jackie Chan, Chow does not make his movies entirely about his own character. Funny as he is, he and the character he portrays herein are team players.
Das Experiment, (the German film of the year for 2001, directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel [Downfall], 4.4 stars) is based on the prison/guard simulation experiment at Stanford directed by Phillip Zimbardo in 1971.What impressed me is how effective the movie was, even though the outcome is a foregone conclusion. Moritz Bleibtreu is particularly excellent (and has shown considerable range in the four movies in which I've seen him act). The movie is very green.
Heaven (2002, directed and scored by Tom Tykwer, 4.6 stars) was the first of a projected Heaven-Purgatory-Hell trilogy of which only the first one and a fraction parts were written by Krzysztof Kieslowski and his usual writing partner Krzystof Piezowicz before Kieslowski's death. It has a very Tykwer ( his usual cinematographer Frank Griebe) look, with gorgeous helicopter shots. Tykwer and Kieslowski both have/had a fascination in the consequences of chance. The fit of interests and sensibilities is much greater than that between Kubrick and Spielberg that resulted in A.I.. The DVD has fascinating extras including much explanation of why wonderful scenes were deleted. The actors are very good; the success of the movie depends upon Cate Blanchett conveying emotions by means other than talking, and she is phenomenally good.
Tibet The Cry of the Snow Lion (2003, directed by Tom Piozet, 4.7 stars) is a heartbreaking movie about Chinese cruelty that is all too real. It tells the story of the brutal repression of Tibetan culture/religion since the 1949 invasion by the nascent PRC. It gives time to PRC spokesmen, who are considerably less convincing than the testimony of those tortured in PRC prisons. I was interested to hear Jeanne Kirkpatrick label what the Chinese communists are doing in Tibet as "genocide." I don't recall her saying anything similar when she was Ronald Reagan's ambassador to the UN, but since Henry Kissinger sold out Tibet (and Taiwan) to Chou Enlai in the first minute of US government fawning to the regime that has killed more of its people than any in history, subsequent Democratic and Republican administrations have ignored the massive human rights violations in the conquered nation of Tibet.
"Heung joh chow heung yau chow" (Turn Left, Turn Right, 2003, directed by Johnny To [The Mission, Running Out of Time] and Wai Ka-Fai [Needing You], based on popular graphic novel by Jimmy Liao, 3.3 stars), starring .com/content_168982580868 dreamboat Kaneshiro Takeshi, who has almost as difficult a time connecting with his love (the ditzy Gigi Leung) across a light shaft in Taiwan as he did fleeing through the forests in "Daggers." There's meeting cute twice and then multiple cute missed connections as a socceer-crazed motorcycled delivery girl (Terri Kwan) stalks him and a physician (Edmund Chen) stalks her, until the latter two aggressive suitors realize they are destined for each other (about an hour after it was obvious to viewers). One can either find the ineptness of connecting cute and charming or hopelessly stupid. After so many failed connections in German (or in Tsai's Taiwanese movies), I was in the mood for a happy ending. I thought the second pair had more chemistry than the first, but I can gaze at Kaneshiro Takeshi for much longer than the movie's running time. The art direction is good, though it is hard to believe that the violinist (Kaneshiro) and translator (Leung) have such large and elegantly furnished apartments. The cinematography of photography by Siu-Keung Cheng is also praiseworthy. The Hong Kong DVD offers a choice of the Mandarin in which it was filmed or dubbing into Cantonese, with legible English subtitles.
Kung Fu Hustle, simply "Gong fu" in Chinese (2004, starring, produced, directed and written by Stephen Chow, 2.6 stars) is the least funny of the three Stephen Chow movies I've seen. It has its comic moments (such as his fat sidekicks knife-throwing and the Beast's introduction to the axe gang) and the usual humiliations of Chow's character along the way (including being urinated on after he fails in an early foray). There is some fairly dazzling fight choreography, but the plot is silly rather than comic, many caricatures repeat very often, and some of the violence is very graphic (especially early on, much later on is highly stylized/cartoonish). Clearly, I much preferred "Shaolin Soccer" (also "King of Beggars"; I still want to see "The God of Cookery").
Mass of Angels (2004, cowritten and directed by James Riffel, 2 stars) has some good visuals but is a mess, seemingly a result of watching too much David Lynch.
"Sud pralad" (which means "strange animal" in Thai, with the connotation of a dangerous one, but the English titles is Tropical Malady, 2004, directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 3.8 stars) won the jury prize at the 2004 Cannes festival (a jury headed by Quentin Tarantino), and has finally made it into limited US release.
Wracking my brain to try to recall all the movies that I saw in 2004 led to a resolve to list the ones I see in 2005.
Again, listing led to writing a few sentences and writing a few sentences led to some express reviews I never would have written had I not been compiling the list, and a few express reviews outgrew their containers. The lists for previous months this year are: January, February, March, April, May, and June.
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