Withnail and I (1987)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Withnail and I (1987) – B. Robinson

I was prompted to watch this again after seeing Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) where Richard E. Grant plays Jack Hock, a hedonistic but down-and-out hustler who hasn’t aged too well but keeps up the pretence.  There are a number of clues that suggest that Hock could be another version of Withnail, Grant’s first feature role for which he will forever be remembered.  Indeed, Withnail too is a dissolute hedonist, a struggling actor whose best performances are with his friend (“I” or Marwood, played by Paul McGann).  At the end of the Sixties, the two need a break from the crushing reality that is their squalid flat and drug-addled friends (and so apparently did writer-director Bruce Robinson).  So, they trick a gullible gay uncle (Richard Griffiths) into letting them borrow his country villa in Penrith (Lake District, Northern England) to which they travel in a run-down old Jag, perilously.  Things are rustic there, to say the least, and the two have a number of misadventures, particularly once the uncle shows up with designs on Marwood.  Of course, the plot isn’t really the point – instead this is a fine rendering of the last days of youth, as career paths need to be chosen or another less secure path taken (leading to Jack Hock?).  The script is brilliant, full of caustic and quotable one-liners, employed with vigor by Grant especially.  Sure, it’s dank, beyond-the-pale, and not for your parents – but that period in life was never going to be viewer-friendly, was it?  A cult film that will live on in our memories (aside those real memories?). 

Matewan (1987)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Matewan (1987) – J. Sayles

Director John Sayles and his ensemble present a nuanced look at the union movement’s struggles in the 1920s, focusing specifically on a coal mining town in West Virginia.  Chris Cooper (in his first leading role) plays the organiser who arrives to support the miners who are being completely taken advantage of by the Company (they owe their souls to the company store).  The workers are divided and swiftly being replaced by scabs, drawn from the black and Italian communities – but Cooper is able to convince the entire group to strike together.  His main goal is a peaceful strike but the men are ready to fight back violently, particularly when the Company sends a few head breakers in.  Of course, this is exactly what the Company wants – to complete decimate the Union and frighten the men.  Moreover, a Company mole inside the movement threatens to destroy all that Cooper has worked for.  Will Oldham (Bonnie Prince Billy) and Mary McDonnell run the boarding house where Cooper first stays – before everyone is moved to a camp when the Company evicts them.  Sayles captures the feel of rural America in the 20s with its mix of evangelical religion, hillbillies, cultural divides, and poverty.  But most of all he shows us how the working rights we enjoy today were secured by the sacrifices of men and women who unionised.

  

The Last Emperor (1987)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Last Emperor (1987) – B. Bertolucci

Truly epic, particularly because I watched the 218 minute cut created for Italian television rather than the theatrical release.  Bernardo Bertolucci’s film follows the last emperor of China, Pu Yi, who was brought to the Forbidden City at age 3 but forced to abdicate only a few years later in 1912, retaining some privileges until he and his entourage were expelled in 1924.  The film views these events from the future, in 1950, when Pu Yi is imprisoned by the People’s Republic and put through a 10-year period of re-education, eventually recanting his right to the throne.  However, we see his journey to this point as a painful one, as he grows from a selfish sheltered boy into a wilful adolescent, sparring with his Scottish tutor (Peter O’Toole, at home in another epic after his tenure with David Lean) and demanding to be treated as special.  Eventually he is played as an adult by John Lone and Joan Chen is chosen to be his bride (he also has a concubine or two).  All of this happens quite outside of the public eye – and Pu Yi is apparently unaware of the various transitions in Chinese society and government outside the walls of the Forbidden City (where the production actually filmed, with the blessing of the current Chinese leadership).  His ignorance and desire to return to ruling the entire country made him an easy pawn of the Japanese who eventually took over Manchuria (from where the emperor’s family originated) and coronated Pu Yi as (puppet) leader.  In prison, he claims that his actions were forced but in flashback we see this not to be the case.  Things become depressing and decadent.  After his release from prison in 1959, Pu Yi takes on the role of gardener and, alone, after his separation from his spouse(s) and all others, he dies quietly during the era of Mao.  Bertolucci and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro make the most of this material, offering up beautiful images, richly coloured according to era (and eventually reminding one of the deco period glamour of The Conformist, 1970).  Although I suspect the theatrical cut (which won 9 Oscars) was tighter, I found this unfamiliar story engrossing, an experience that was heightened by the magnificent style of the film.

  

The Cyclist (1987)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Cyclist (1987) – M. Makhmalbaf

Peculiar tale of an Afghani migrant to Iran who, in order to raise funds for his wife’s emergency hospital stay, agrees to ride a bicycle in a small circle for seven days non-stop.  Of course, this is a circus, especially when extreme bets are placed on the outcome and the opposing forces seek to influence the result – both have teams of doctors attempting to fill Nazim (or breeze, nee Ateh) with either vitamins or Valium.  Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf creates a weird feeling of hyper-reality which might be the result of the woozy Arabic music, the occasionally bright colour scheme (many blues) and the strange and surreal proceedings.  Standing back a bit, it seems that the film could be seen as an allegory for the exploitation of the desperate among us -- perhaps Afghanis in Iran, particularly, but humans more generally.  What won’t they do for money and what sort of sick game might it be for those who are rich and powerful to make sport out of or money as a result of suffering.  Yet, the film never feels preachy or horrible, just strange and rather suspenseful – will Ateh complete the feat or not?

  

Where is the Friend’s Home (1987)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Where is the Friend’s Home (1987) – A. Kiarostami

Kiarostami's first great success tells the simple tale of a boy who mistakenly takes home a classmate's notebook and wants to return it so his friend won't get into trouble. However, this is more difficult than it seems. Beautifully depicted, compelling and suspenseful, though minimalist. Kiarostami's trademark wit is already in place (as we too struggle to make out whether that really is the friend over there behind the horse!).