Witty script and a finely tuned comic performance from Garbo, who comes
off sweet (not sophisticated) as the dour Soviet envoy who falls for Melvyn
Douglas in Paris.
Although it sags a bit in the middle, the Lubitsch touch generates enough warm
feelings to carry the day. No wonder this was banned in the USSR.
One of the 1001 films you must see before you die. An intense family
drama focused on the older sister who sacrifices her own happiness for a
largely ungrateful family, living in poverty. Bleak but with transcendent
moments (in both sound and vision). I may have missed some of the political or
allegorical subtext apparently related to the partition of Bengal in 1947 (when
India became independent and
Pakistan
was split off). Perhaps Ghatak saw those who were made refugees by the
partition making a sacrifice without objecting just as the sister does here?
Satyajit Ray's sequel
to Pather Panchali finds Apu growing from a small boy to a young man. Ready for
independence and adventure, Apu abandons his mother for Calcutta and studies, leaving her lonely and
weak. Close-ups (and Ravi Shankar's lilting
score) heighten the emotion. The film ends abruptly, as Apu departs after
another life transition.
There's some kind of alchemy
going on in this quiet Taiwanese family melodrama that elevates it to something
special. Whether that is the nuanced portrayals of the dad, NJ, and daughter,
Ting-Ting, (not to mention Japanese business guy, Ota) or the superb use of
off-screen space and stunning camera shots (such as the nighttime window
reflections) that are reminiscent of countryman HHH or even Wong Kar Wai, I'm
not sure. But this film is never less than moving and insightful.
Sweet
Sweetback’s Badasssss Song (1971) – M. Van Peebles
So, is it an experimental film with a
Blaxploitation theme or a Blaxploitation film using experimental methods? (Or
an experimental Blaxploitation film, as if such a genre existed?). Melvin Van Peebles uses every trick in the
filmmaker’s bag (and on a very low budget) to create a somewhat crazy
meditation on our Black hero’s trouble with The Man (he defends a brother who
is being shaken down by two White cops) and his flight on foot from L.A. to
Mexico. Earth Wind and Fire provide
elements of the soundtrack – or is it just that one riff played over and over
and over? The rest of the soundtrack is,
again, experimental and full of subjective effects and non-diegetic sounds. Van
Peebles himself plays Sweetback who is renowned for his prowess in the sack (he
grew up in a brothel). Shall I mention
that this film also breaks taboos and must have been rated X in its day
(although would be seen as somewhat tamer today, though definitely laced with
nudity/sex and a tiny bit of fake blood).
Nothing like Shaft or the mainstream Blaxploitation films (you have been
warned); so, probably not worth your time if you wouldn’t also enjoy plotless
experimental fare. But otherwise great!
There is much to chew on in Nuri Bilge
Ceylan’s three hour palme d’or winning character study of a rich self-satisfied
man too unable to feel empathy for those around him. Haluk Bilginer fully inhabits the
small-minded man (named Aydin, or “Intellectual” in Turkish) who wants to see
himself in larger-than-life terms but in fact is the epitome of Sartre’s
concept of bad faith. He pretends not to
notice the hardships and dissatisfaction of those around him and his role in
their fates. He allows an intermediary
to repossess a TV and furniture from his tenants and to threaten them with
eviction. He traps his younger wife into a secluded life where she is unable to
pursue her own ambitions and he condescendingly meddles when she tries. But Ceylan asks more questions than he
answers. When the wife attempts to act in good faith by donating money to
charity and to others who she thinks are needy, has she done the wrong thing or
the right thing? More than once, it is
suggested that she just seeks to assuage her own guilt at being well-off and it
seems that hand-outs probably don’t allow the recipient to retain enough dignity
to be acceptable. Apparently based
loosely on Chekhov, the themes are mulled over through conversation after
conversation, many ending in bitterness.
Through it all, Aydin has his defences up, even as he seems to be
acknowledging his own flaws – an easy trick that anyone can play. Perhaps this is why the title refers to
hibernation and Ceylan sets the film in Turkey’s rocky and isolated Cappadocia
region; this is a man who has receded into himself, no longer willing to accept
that he should act differently or to pay attention to the world around him and
the other people in it (aside from his perception of what they are or should
be). Finally, even without all these
ideas swirling around, the film would be worth seeing just for the stunning
cinematography: amazing snowy landscapes
and cosy fire-lit interiors abound. And
I’m still chewing.
When I saw that the latest Dardenne
Brothers film had arrived in the mail, I thought “uh-oh”. Not because I expected the film to be bad but
rather because their films are so morally complex and heart-wrenching (often
dealing with blue-collar or disadvantaged people in tough situations or at the end
of their tether) that I thought it would be a tough watch. Once again, the Dardennes have come up with a
simple moral dilemma and then appear to have sat back and allowed their characters
to deal with it. Specifically, Marion
Cotillard’s boss has told the 16 employees at her workplace that they have to have
a vote to decide whether to keep Marion at work or to sack her and take 1000
Euros each as a bonus. So, the movie
follows poor Marion as she visits each of her co-workers in turn over the
course of a weekend to try to influence them to let her stay. Of course, each
person visited has their own issues and a different relationship to
Marion. It also emerges that Marion
herself has had a period away from work due to depression and that the foreman
has been trying to influence others to vote against her. Yet, somehow the
Dardennes find a way to make the story both realistic and uplifting and
Cotillard holds her own in a tough part. If you haven’t seen any films by these
Belgian masters, you really are missing out -- but you might find that they
come too close to depicting the stresses of real life!
