Ikarie XB-1 (1963)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Ikarie XB-1 (1963) – J. Polák

This early ‘60s Czech Sci-Fi movie about a mission to Alpha Centauri’s solar system is a clear forerunner to Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).  The screenplay was adapted from a novel by Stanislaw Lem, who also wrote Solaris (filmed by Tarkovsky, 1972) and I had high hopes that the film would broach some of the same metaphysical concerns as those two masterpieces. It doesn’t quite -- but there is still an air of mystery which resonates here and elevates the film beyond other space films of the era. The story begins in 2163 with the spaceship (a virtual city with 40 astronauts) in peril as it approaches its destination but soon we are in an extended flashback to the beginning of the mission, allowing us to learn about the cause of events as we move forward to the crisis and beyond. Similar to 2001/Solaris, there is a special emphasis on human relationships – for example, one of the crew discovers his wife is pregnant while saying goodbye (15 years of Earth time but only 28 months for the astronauts) and learns at the same time that another pregnant crew member has been allowed on the mission as an experiment.  This adds both tension and “human interest” to the plot. We also see a romance blossom among two other crew members (and a strangely long scene of dancing). Later, the Ikarie finds a derelict vessel (shades of Alien?) and also encounters a “dark star” emitting dangerous radiation. On top of this, there is some great Sixties design happening – so retro (including a Robby the Robot styled companion who even the characters in the film think is out-dated). Worth a look if you can track it down. 

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) – P. Weir

Perhaps knowing that the mystery at the centre will remain a mystery removes some of the tension from Peter Weir’s otherwise seductive film on subsequent viewings.  Why these Victorian schoolgirls (Victorian era and State of Victoria) on day’s outing vanish (and where to) is open to speculation. Perhaps conflating this film with the director’s subsequent The Last Wave (1978), with its much more overt focus on Indigenous people’s different ways of knowing, made me suspect that the girls had entered a sort of Dreamtime state, fixated on the strange volcanic outgrowth called Hanging Rock.  I can’t profess to understand.  The combination of ominous shots of the rocks (and native fauna and flora), Zamfir’s pan flute, and a very gauzy sometimes sun-dappled cinematography by Russell Boyd might also lend itself to this interpretation. But there is also another force here, that of awakening sexuality, which seems to burn in some of the girls (for each other?) and perhaps in two boys who see the girls on their way to disappearing. Weir juxtaposes the young people in nature and in their more “civilised” environment – a girl’s school ruled with a heavy hand by principal Rachel Roberts – where repression is the norm (and urges must be controlled).  A subplot finds Roberts unable to deal with the rebellious Sara who feels intensely toward Miranda one of the vanished girls, leading to a more decided tragedy. One would hope that the missing girls (and their maths teacher) find themselves in a better freer place (but perhaps not abducted by UFOs as original author Joan Lindsay apparently later speculated). Weir’s (and Lindsay’s) gambit that the story has a true origin may be more symbolic than literal, allowing viewers to invest in the mystery of their own existence.

 

Le Samourai (1967)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Le Samourai (1967) – J.-P. Melville

Is this the perfect distillation of Jean-Pierre Melville’s style (and, more indirectly, his themes about honour among thieves)? Alain Delon plays the solitary hitman who lives alone in a very grey room with only a brownish-grey bird in a cage for company. Paris is also grey and rainy and the synth soundtrack by François de Roubaix captures the melancholy mood. We see him carefully carry out a hit on a nightclub owner – as usual for Melville (and also Bresson) the action is depicted very methodically.  Delon has painstakingly prepared an alibi, so when he is inevitably picked up by the cops led by the persistent Commissaire (François Périer), they have to let him go.  It helps that the witnesses who saw him, including the club’s pianist (Cathy Rosier), all lie and say they don’t recognise him. (But Delon as Jef Costello does not know why). Still the police won’t give up and tail him around Paris. There are a few twists and turns that I won’t spoil – but they aren’t the kind that reduces the pleasure of the film once you know them. Melville’s style (as the maestro of French film noir) is endlessly immersive and rewarding. (This film also directly inspired John Woo’s The Killer, 1989). A masterpiece of the genre.  

Tenet (2020)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Tenet (2020) – C. Nolan

This was the movie meant to bring us back to cinemas after the pandemic-related lockdowns were over – director Christopher Nolan shot it on actual film (with IMAX cameras) and used only minimal computer-generated effects, preferring to go to locations and do actual stunts or to use physical models and “in camera” (rather than post-production) effects.  The model for this film was apparently James Bond, with the exotic locales and exciting action sequences that this implies – but Tenet is clearly Nolan’s work with a script infused with a similar complexity to his earlier hits like Inception (2010) or Memento (2000). I mean it’s positively confusing at times (in a good way)!  Mild spoilers ahead. John David Washington plays The Protagonist, the secret agent recruited to stop evil mastermind Sator (Kenneth Branagh) from destroying the world. The gimmick here is that Sator has learned how to travel through time in reverse and he has been letting time unfold and then going back in time to "the present" in order to better plan his diabolical acts (but always with an eye to the future).  Of course, The Protagonist and his team (including Robert Pattinson) on this mission called “Tenet” (names taken from the palindromic Sator Square) also learn how to reverse time and they persuade Sator’s estranged wife Kat (Elizabeth Debicki) to help them foil his plans. Soon, everyone is moving forward and backwards in time … at the same time. I have to assume that the plot holds up to scrutiny because, to be honest, I can’t really be sure that all the actions really line up.  So, similarly to Memento and Inception, this would likely reward a second viewing.  Beyond this delirium, the action sequences are well choreographed (the opening set-piece really got my heart racing) and Washington makes a charismatic hero. They really filmed everything both frontwards and backwards, apparently. Worth a look if you’ve enjoyed being befuddled by Nolan’s other films in this vein.   

Promising Young Woman (2020)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Promising Young Woman (2020) – E. Fennell

This is clearly a provocation but one that is absolutely grounded in reality. No one can deny that women’s maltreatment at the hands of men is a constant in human history and continues to this day. Fortunately, there appears to be a growing awareness of this problem and public resistance to its continuance.  (I’m talking not only of sexual assault but of a range of behaviours that perpetuate gender inequality). Emerald Fennell’s film is pitched as a very black comedy, although one would be forgiven for not finding any reason to laugh. I guess there might be spoilers below (but I won’t reveal the ending). Carey Mulligan plays Cassandra Thomas, who has taken on the role of “avenging angel” to seek revenge on men for the abuse of her best friend years earlier; she pretends to be drunk, gets picked up by men, and then confronts them to give them a scare. This is pitched as a reaction to trauma and seems accompanied by depression – her life is stalled, she’s dropped out of medical school, works at a coffee shop and still lives with her parents at age 30.  Yet some hope for Cassie seems possible when she meets Ryan (Bo Burnham), a funny and sensitive doctor (formerly in her med school class).  However, through him, she learns that her friend’s rapist has returned from England and is about to get married – this intensifies her quest for revenge on the specific perpetrator(s) of the outrage against her friend.  So, is it funny? The banter between Thomas and Burnham is witty and Fennell keeps things upbeat, particularly with the use of (extremely well selected) pop songs.  But there is no warding off the darkness here – and I’ve read that the current ending was originally omitted completely which would have sharpened the impact even more – you won’t be able to shake off the grim feeling that results.  Of course, if this sort of film can be a cause (and not just a consequence) of changing attitudes toward women, then we need more like this, no matter how difficult.

 

Forbrydelsen (The Killing; Season 1, 2007)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Forbrydelsen (The Killing; Season 1, 2007) – S. Sveistrup

On a whim, I decided to check out this Danish police procedural, streaming on our local public broadcaster SBS. Little did I know that I was about to be sucked into a “binge watch”!  I don’t actually find binge-watching all that pleasant – it is a huge time commitment (this was twenty 50-minute episodes) and the fact that each viewing ends with a melodramatic cliff-hanger means there is a constant distraction and some emotional wear-and-tear throughout the day (and perhaps even while asleep).  But I got through it all in about two weeks – being locked down due to the pandemic probably helped.  I have to hand it to series creator Søren Sveistrup and his writers, however, for creating a gripping drama that ramps up the intrigue and tension on the usual “hunt for the killer” front as well as the less common political campaign front. Indeed, a lot of the novelty here had to do with the behind-the-scenes look at the battle to be mayor of Copenhagen.  I understand that the writers kept the killer’s identity secret from all of the actors (except lead Sofie Gråbøl as obsessive Detective Sarah Lund) and there are so many characters and suspicion falls on so many of them across the series that you can see how they wouldn’t know.  I only figured things out quite close to the end.  Even with so many involved, over that many hours you really do get familiar with (and attached to) the lead characters, particularly Gråbøl but also Søren Malling as her partner Jan Meyer and Lars Mikkelsen as mayoral candidate (and suspect!) Troels Hartmann.  I guess there are two more series after this one (in 2009 and 2012) and perhaps even a final voyage happening later this year.  I’m not ready for more just now (too many heart-stopping twists!) but I might check in again later.