Time Bandits (1981)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Time Bandits (1981) – T. Gilliam

Early outing by director Terry Gilliam (fresh from Monty Python) that holds up surprisingly well.  Young Kevin’s life with his boorish consumerist parents is disrupted by six time-travelling dwarves who have stolen a map from the Supreme Being that shows all of the holes in space-time, allowing them to steal treasures from various epochs. Unfortunately, the Evil Genius, who has been imprisoned in the Fortress of Darkness by the Supreme Being also wants the map in order to escape and refigure the world. Kevin and the little people meet Napoleon (Ian Holm), Robin Hood (John Cleese), and King Agamemnon (Sean Connery) before entering the Land of Legends where things get weirder. The special effects are pretty cool (for the time period) and although things get dark, it seems appropriate for kids.  At least until the end, when Kevin’s parents are turned into lumps of coal – Amon (aged 10) did not appreciate this and thought it spoiled the film.  So much for black comedy.

Body Heat (1981)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Body Heat (1981) – L. Kasdan

Excellent neo-noir from director Lawrence Kasdan that updates The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) for less repressed times (and is heaps better than the Bob Rafelson direct remake, also from 1981).  William Hurt is an easy-going lawyer at the bottom of the food chain in a sultry south Florida town, hanging out with his buddies, assistant district attorney Ted Danson and detective J. A. Preston.  He’s a ladies man who isn’t seeking commitment.  When he runs into Kathleen Turner, he is intrigued and soon they are having a tempestuous affair, despite the fact that she’s married.  Her husband (Richard Crenna) is a shady financier who is only home on weekends.  Eventually, they hatch a plan to murder him so that she’ll inherit a fortune. After the deed, Hurt discovers that things weren’t exactly how he thought they were…  Although hyped for its sex scenes, what really makes this film outstanding is Hurt’s performance – he’s cocky and confident at the start, then clearly obsessed by Turner (also good, in her film debut), and then slowly it dawns on him that he’s been played. Kasdan warns viewers again and again that Hurt is taking risks and that Turner is trouble – we know it, but still we only gradually realise just how clever she really is and how ****ed he is.  Well worth a revisit. 

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – S. Spielberg

Purportedly my Dad’s favourite movie, but it had been yonks since I’d seen it.  Harrison Ford, right in the midst of his Star Wars stardom, created another classic character, Indiana Jones, the archaeologist, treasure hunter, and all round adventurer of the 1930s (from the story by George Lucas himself and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan).  As I watched the opening sequence, which sees Indy hoping to steal a golden idol from a hidden and very booby-trapped cave, I thought “It’s for kids!” and “Wouldn’t my boys enjoy this!” but then, there’s a fair bit of violence, some of it gruesome and gory.  In fact, the film apparently barely dodged an R rating.  Common Sense Media recommends this for Age 11 and I think that’s probably apt – it is very much a boy’s own adventure.  Which is not to say that feisty Karen Allen doesn’t try to hold her own as Jones’ love interest and a bit of an adventurer herself (but the script keeps tying her up and putting her into frilly dresses and negligees).  The plot has Indiana heading to Egypt to dig up the Lost Ark of the Covenant (containing the original pieces of the stones on which the 10 commandments were written).  But the Nazis got there first, with their French archaeologist (and Jones arch-nemesis) to guide them.  They match wits and Indy finds himself in some tight spots (with snakes) and even loses the Ark to Hitler’s crew.  But all’s well that ends well and produces three sequels.  This turns out to be one of the highlights of Steven Spielberg’s directorial career – still high gloss and manipulative of the audience but with a true sense of fun and wonder.

Modern Romance (1981)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Modern Romance (1981) – A. Brooks

Albert Brooks makes things funny and painful (even excruciating) for viewers at the same time with this extended skit about an extremely neurotic film editor in an unstable relationship (the instability is his own doing).  Kathryn Harrold is his impossibly patient girlfriend who works in a bank.  Things start with Brooks breaking the relationship up because he feels it isn’t working; cue a slow motion trainwreck night on Quaaludes.  Brooks tortures himself (and the audience) with every false and real move that a man might make when experiencing attachment anxiety.  Of course, he screws everything up – but somehow manages to return to relational harmony (and then royally screws things up again).  The plot aside, it is the little moments that count with Brooks.  We smirk as he gets suckered in a sporting store or when he ridiculously recreates George Kennedy’s footsteps on the Foley stage.  The character Brooks plays isn’t as intellectual as Woody Allen nor as stupid as the fictional George Costanza (two erstwhile peers in pain) -- instead, he is the everyman who worries too much.  As a director, Brooks knows how to draw out a specific incident such that viewers can see the pain coming -- but it still resounds with comic reverberations when it hits; he makes a lot out of a little. I laughed.

Coup de Torchon (1981)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Coup de Torchon (1981) – B. Tavernier

Sun-baked neo-noir, based on a novel by Jim Thompson (Pop. 1280), and directed by Bertrand Tavernier who transposed it from the U. S. South to a French colony in western Africa in the 1930s. Philippe Noiret plays the local cop who, at first, seems none too bright, preferring to give in to get along, rarely arresting anyone and letting those in power kick him around (including his wife and her n’er do well brother).  So, when he starts putting his plan for revenge into effect – or maybe he just cracks, it’s hard to tell – this viewer wasn’t quite sure what was happening.  But slowly and surely, the rude and the mighty get offed and Noiret finds himself bedding the young Isabelle Huppert, more or less oblivious to what the town might think.  Perhaps his lazy manner provides the perfect cover because no one seems too troubled by the deaths, perhaps, indeed, he did the town a favour…  In the end, Coup de Torchon is more of a character study and a snapshot of colonialism gone bad than a tightly plotted film noir, but its looseness and indirect approach is definitely part of its appeal.

Man of Iron (1981)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Man of Iron (1981) – A. Wadja

Fictional characters mix with real events (and Lech Walesa himself) during the period between Solidarity's successful strike and the yet to occur (but thoroughly anticipated) imposition of martial law in 1981 Poland. Filmed at that time by Andrej Wajda, this film is extremely brave in its criticism of the government and its control of the media. Technically a sequel (to Man of Marble) but even with my lack of awareness of the previous film (and faded memory of Polish history), I found it compelling.

Cutter's Way (1981)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Cutter's Way (1981) -- I. Passer

Jeff Bridges plays Richard Bone who is drifting through life, as a part-time gigolo and boat salesman, whereas his friend, Alex Cutter, a Vietnam vet who has lost an arm, a leg, and an eye (played sharply by John Heard), is passionately and pointedly committed to a singularly bitter viewpoint (that the rich and powerful will screw over everyone).  Cutter is an exceptional character (almost doing an alcoholic and manic early Tom Waits impression) -- as memorable as any to appear in any film -- but ultimately the movie may be more about Bone's ability or inability to make a real decision.  A conspiracy theory plot remains resolutely out-of-focus as a kind of lingering hangover from 1970s films, but this is almost purely about characters and not about how they get from point A to Z.

Blow Out (1981)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Blow Out (1981) -- B. DePalma

On its own terms, as a B-movie with "aspirations", Blow Out is pretty great.  DePalma nods (or winks) at both Antonioni and Hitchcock, probably rips off Coppola's The Conversation, and even steals the feel of the ending of Chinatown.  Young John Travolta is a sulky sound man who accidentally records a possible gubernatorial assassination and then spends the rest of the film trying to convince people.  Nancy Allen is a dopey pawn/love interest/victim and John Lithgow brings the evil.  There are tracking shots up the wazoo. Good for popcorn munching.

Lola (1981)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Lola (1981) – R. W. Fassbinder

Bathed in candy-colored lights, Armin Mueller-Stahl succumbs to capitalism's temptations, while Barbara Sukowa negotiates her self into the power elite. Fassbinder's stylistically audacious and artificial film tackles politics, economics, and German/film history with satirical precision.