The Witch (2015)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Witch (2015) – R. Eggers

Set in New England around 1630 at the desolate homestead of a Puritan family exiled from the local plantation for adhering to a variant stream of religious thinking (it seems), The Witch never hides the fact that Satan (and his titular minion) exists. Yet, viewers are still kept off guard, not knowing who will prevail as one torment after another befalls the family of six.  As desperation sets in, even the parents become unsure of themselves and their own children, believing that any one of them could have pledged allegiance to the dark one – or his incarnation as a goat named Black Phillip.  Although the film is intentionally drab and autumnal, the soundtrack is full of spooky musical highlights that heighten the suspense.  It is a credit to the filmmakers (first-time director Robert Eggers) that this really could be the 17^th century -- and the wide expanse of uncivilized nature is frightening (but should it be?). We do know that the eldest daughter Thomasin (played by Anya Taylor-Joy) is not a witch but after all of her tribulations and the hostility she receives in error, who would blame her if she followed the left hand path?  Genuinely unsettling.

Black Sunday/The Mask of Satan (1960)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Black Sunday/The Mask of Satan (1960) – M. Bava

Stunningly photographed in black and white and gothic, so gothic, with its remarkable castle and crypt sets, this is Mario Bava’s heralded cult classic.  The English-language version I saw was prepared in Italy with relatively terrible dubbing and perhaps containing more cruelty (if that can be imagined) than the edited American International Pictures version that was widely distributed in the U. S. in the 1960s. After we see a witch and her lover (or brother) executed in Moldavia at the start of the film, we flash forward 200 years to find her descendent (and spitting image) Barbara Steele thrust into horror when the witch is accidentally brought back to life.  Two travelling doctors get ensnared in the action and the younger man becomes our hero (after falling in love with non-witch Barbara).  An orthodox priest translates the text on the ancient icon found in the witch’s tomb and voila, the secret to ending the terror is found.  The images here are so chilling (and worthwhile) that next time I might just watch this with the sound turned off.

  

The Double Life of Veronique (1991)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Double Life of Véronique (1991) – K. Kieslowski

A beautiful puzzler from Kieslowski (after his Decalogue but before his Three Colours trilogy) that places radiant Irene Jacob into two roles (Weronika and Veronique) – but even she isn’t fully aware that both exist.  The movie begins in Poland where Weronika is a classical singer who, although untrained, wins a prestigious position in a concert.  She has a boyfriend, a funny aunt, and a caring dad.  One day, she catches a glimpse of her doppelganger on a tourist bus.  Later we transition to Paris and follow Veronique, a schoolteacher, who feels that she has always been two places at once.  She abruptly decides no longer to pursue singing (probably a good idea). She receives messages from a mysterious presumed suitor.  She figures out the puzzle and her mysterious suitor fashions two marionettes in her likeness.  The movie concludes.  So, what is Kieslowski’s message?  Perhaps it is difficult to ferret but the themes swirl all about:  the commonalities in human experience, the role of mysterious and maybe miraculous coincidences, the controlling hand of fate in our lives, probably more.  All told,  these slices of lives are delicious, even if they have no point (or we are left only to speculate with no concrete evidence of the points).

Sanjuro (1962)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Sanjuro (1962) – A. Kurosawa

Kurosawa’s relatively light-hearted follow up to Yojimbo (1961) sees Mifune’s character (who identifies only as “thirty-something” with an obviously fake family name) intervening in a struggle against corrupt officials who have tried to divert blame onto an innocent but blunt colleague.  As before, Sanjuro seems to take on the mission on a lark to thwart boredom but really we know he is all about social justice deep down.  Here he takes the role of sarcastic but caring mother hen as he uses his matter-of-fact wiles to help nine naïve young men take down the bad guys.  Of course, the opposition also has their own “sword without a sheath” in the form of Tatsuya Nakadai and in the end, there must be a battle between these two ronin, reasonably good and self-identified as bad.  Before that, there is much bloodshed (naturally) albeit peppered with comic moments.  Observant viewers will note Kurosawa’s expertise in framing multiplayer shots and, of course, action.  Minor Kurosawa perhaps, but thoroughly enjoyable.

Valerie and her Week of Wonders (1970)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Valerie and her Week of Wonders (1970) – J. Jires

Come explore the erotic and phantasmagorical dream world of a young girl who has just had her first period!  Surreal and hypnotic, this Czech film is full of the beautiful and the weird – and presumably much symbolism.  Valerie lives with her grandmother (who may or may not be a vampire, having pledged her soul to the weasel for a return to youth, temporarily not eternally).  Said weasel may actually be her father (in varying human form, gruesome or handsome) and the father of her suitor/protector (named Eagle). Later, she is ravished by a scary bearded priest who dies but then rises from his coffin unharmed.  Valerie takes it all in stride.  Perhaps she knows this is a dream or perhaps she is confident in the powers of the magic earrings that Eagle has given her for protection.  Now if I’ve made this sound like an actual plot, please forgive me – what we have here is a string of pictures and moments that gently wash over the viewer with no respect at all for narrative conventions.   Choose the right time. 

  

Sapphire (1959)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Sapphire (1959) – B. Dearden

A young girl is murdered on Hampstead Heath.  The police investigate.  The young girl’s fiancé is questioned but he has an alibi.  Then, suddenly, she is discovered to have been black but passing for white.  Prejudice rears its ugly head; in 1950s London many people apparently feel no shame for voicing their bigotry.  The fiancé’s family harbor such unfounded hatred in their hearts.  But another suspect, a black man, appears and the cops latch onto him.  Director Basil Dearden manages to keep this tense police procedural moving and thought provoking while not telegraphing its conclusion (that is, keeping the murderer’s identity a secret until the very end).  Nigel Patrick is solid as the police superintendent who seems fully aware of the wrongs of racism even while his partner seems to condone or even support some of the negative sentiments.  Still, it would have been great if more of the characters more vigorously presented an anti-racist message (rather than simply looking askance or suggesting that any group could be the targets of prejudice.  But perhaps the’50’s are too soon to hope for such an explicit take on the problem?  In any event, the crime genre formula mixed with an examination of social problems/social issues is a dynamite combo and worth hunting down.

The Battle of Culloden (1964)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Battle of Culloden (1964) – P. Watkins

If I were a British history teacher (or a teacher of British history), I would certainly show this film to my class.  Director Peter Watkins uses documentary techniques to depict a re-enactment of the last battle on British soil (1746) to defend the monarchy against Scottish resistance (led by Prince Charles of the House of Stuart seeking to reclaim the throne currently occupied by George II of the House of Hannover).  Charles has a ragtag army of Scottish highlanders and other assorted recruits, many coerced into service, and their organization is chaotic and their battle strategy non-existent.  They are routed by the superior British forces who then proceed to execute the wounded, rape the womenfolk in nearby towns and pillage and loot everywhere, all in the name of ending the resistance.  Some British soldiers admit to feeling queasy about this while others revel in it.  The battle itself is brutal and gruesome, but brief.  Watkins reports the socioeconomic status of many of the men as well as other details (their experience and kinship ties, often ties to members of the opposing army) that are germane to the report.  Essentially, this is an unblinking horror movie about war and its lessons are likely as true today as they were in 1746.  Watkins followed this up with a depiction of a nuclear attack on London (The War Game, 1965) also in documentary style and even more merciless.