Dark City (1998)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Dark City (1998) – A. Proyas

Preface:  I found this blu-ray when cleaning out our laboratory which has now been refurnished as staff office space (students don’t attend class in person now, let alone show up for psychology experiments). I don’t think I can describe it without some spoilers (although I’m sure I watched it decades ago and didn’t remember a thing).  So be warned.

Written and directed by Alex Proyas (who had previously made The Crow, 1994, and subsequently made I, Robot, 2004, among other less successful films), this takes its cues from film noir, with Rufus Sewell waking up in a sordid room with a dead prostitute and no memory of who he is or how he got there.  The film seems to take place in the 1940s to boot, with wife Jennifer Connolly singing in a nightclub and detective William Hurt traversing the city at night looking for clues (and for Sewell who has fled the scene).  But all is really not what it seems, as Proyas melds science fiction onto the noir frame to create something much more unique (but which still plays like a crazy homage to cinema classics gone by). I suppose the film could be called “high concept” if you had time to dwell on whether our memories make us who we are or whether there is something more fundamental or innate than that.  But there is no time for that, what with Kiefer Sutherland’s mad psychiatrist running around with huge hypodermics at the beck and call of some bizarre alien creatures animating corpses from the nearest morgue (including children) to pump everyone full of other people’s data.  There, I’ve done it – but isn’t this a spoiler that just makes you want to see what kind of insane work this may be, a work that Roger Ebert called “a great visionary achievement”?  For the record, I watched the Director’s Cut.

The Celebration (1998)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Celebration (1998) – T. Vinterberg

Obviously, Thomas Vinterberg’s film is intended to shock – with the key “reveal” treated almost like a jump scare, for the audience and most of the characters in the film. Of course, Festen is also famous as the first Dogme film, following the “rules” set forth by Lars von Trier and his associates in 1995 (e.g., location shooting, handheld camera, diegetic sound only, natural lighting, no action, etc.).  Despite this spartan approach, Vinterberg has concocted a film from which it is hard to look away.  A family gathers for the 60^th birthday of the patriarch.  His three grown children have very different personalities (and perhaps personality problems) and they are mourning the recent death of the fourth sibling.  The events take place in the magnificent hotel owned by the family which has been reserved for the occasion.  In turn, we learn about each sibling, but only in dribs and drabs, until eventually the truth comes out.  It’s ultimately a gut-wrenching experience, determined to shock and wound – not unlike the confrontational moves by von Trier in his own films.  This deliberateness might actually lessen the power of the film and mute any discussion of its real issues.  But nevertheless it does force them out there.  I suspect trigger warnings are in order.

  

Autumn Tale (1998)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Autumn Tale (1998) – E. Rohmer

Unmistakably an Eric Rohmer film – all that talk, talk, talk!  But what beguiling talk it is, developing the characters, setting out their wants and needs, orchestrating a delicious plot, and finally resolving in a conclusion that feels true and earned.  Yet at the same time, the film is romantic and even a bit of a fantasy, as things play out exactly as we hope they will (despite some narrative tension).  It is a beautiful autumn in France, somewhere in the south, a countryside winegrowing region, so the film basks in wonderful weather and picturesque surroundings.  The characters, too, are reaching the autumn of their lives (mid-forties!) and the film may resound especially for those of us in these middle years.  Isabelle (Marie Rivière) decides to find a new partner for her widowed friend Magali (Béatrice Romand), who seems a bit of a curmudgeon, focused only on her vineyard.  She puts a personal ad in the local newspaper for her.  At the same time, Magali’s son’s new girlfriend (Alexia Portal) hopes to match Magali with her philosophy professor (Didier Sandre) with whom she has had an affair herself.  When Isabelle finds Gérald (Alain Libolt), a possible suitor for Magali, there is suddenly competition for her attention.  It all comes to a head at Isabelle’s daughter’s wedding reception, held in the country garden at Isabelle and her husband’s estate.  All of these events and relationships are chewed over more or less realistically but it is the director’s nudging hand, pushing the characters in the right direction that makes the film so magical.  Somehow Rohmer manages to have both realism and a very orchestrated plot together at the same time.  Sheer delight!

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Saving Private Ryan (1998) – S. Spielberg

It took me 20 years to decide to watch this, due to my general aversion to Tom Hanks alone or in combination with Steven Spielberg (who, as a director, often veers toward heavy-handedness).  However, this war movie is visceral and gripping enough to overcome the inevitable weaknesses associated with its star and auteur director.  So, yes, we are strongly encouraged to endorse Spielberg’s view of the “greatest generation” as uniquely courageous and noble, overcoming horrific obstacles and bonding together as a team, with John Williams’ soundtrack sweeping us along and Hanks’ central Captain modelling bravery as a do-no-wrong caring and sympathetic but ordinary guy thrust into an impossible situation.  Maybe the war really was like this for some and I offer all of the veterans my thanks and gratitude.  Fortunately, the film isn’t all glorification – we do see moments of fear, cowardice, dissent, and cruelty from the Americans that probably better reflect the width of human experience in this sort of crucible.  However, critic Jonathan Rosenbaum argues that Spielberg hasn’t offered anything new that past war movies haven’t also shown and perhaps that is true.  But this production added a level of grotesque “realism” and “you are there” action/violence that might not have been possible before 1998 – it led to Spielberg’s subsequent involvement with WWII based video games and you can see the influence (bi-directional, most likely).  The central plot conceit, that Hanks and his small band (of soon-to-be known young actors) must find Private Ryan (Matt Damon) whose three brothers have already been killed in order to send him home to his grieving mama, allows the characters to reflect on the meaningfulness of their actions and adds another dimension to the film, a focus on the guilt and sadness of those who survived.  Although the film doesn’t seem to contain any anti-war messages (perhaps because the moral justifications were so strong in that particular war), thinking about the post-traumatic stress of the former combatants (after seeing the visceral and brutal re-enactments here) is enough to ward anyone off from promoting war as a way to resolve differences.  That said, a case could be made for the film as an army recruitment campaign for those who love action, maybe.

  

The Big Lebowski (1998)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Big Lebowski (1998) – J. Coen & E. Coen

Sublimely ridiculous or ridiculously sublime?  Somehow the Coen Brothers managed to create a pair of hilarious and vivid characters (laid back but put upon Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski and aggressively wrong-headed Walter Sobchak) and situate them in a sprawling “mystery” plot that riffs on The Big Sleep, the early 90’s, the art world, bowling, pornography, nihilism, and just about anything and everything else that popped into their brains at the time.  But it all holds together (more or less and not worse than The Big Sleep), courtesy of Jeff Bridges as the Dude and John Goodman as Walter, and contains enough laughs to have become a phenomenon.  Just think of John Turturro as the Jesus in a purple jumpsuit taunting our heroes at the bowling alley.  Or the amazing dream montage set to The First Edition (with Kenny Rogers) song, “Just Dropped In (to see what condition my condition was in).”   There are dozens more absurd, knowing, and very funny moments.  All you can think is “who thinks this shit up?  (“Cussing” is common here, despite Sam Elliott’s suggestion that they tone it down).  But we know the answer – it springs from the very bizarre brains of the Brothers Coen: one of their very best.  

Ringu (1998)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Ringu (1998) -- H. Nakata

Perhaps not quite as scary on the third or fourth viewing, but Ringu still evokes a sense of spookiness and dread that is hard to forget. If you haven't seen this tale of the videotape that when watched leads to a mysterious and horrific death in 7 days, then surely you should.  There is an American version (The Ring) that puts the plot together in a much more matter-of-fact way but it loses the mysterious essence of the Japanese version.  To say more would be criminal -- except that now I have to watch Ringu 2 again, as it may be even more scary.