5. Narc
4. Birth
3. The Gangs of New York
2. We Own the Night
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Top 5 List: Best Movie Openings
In conjunction with Film.com and their 50 best movie openings of all time, here's my humble five that missed the cut:
5. Narc
1. Ali
5. Narc
Sunday, March 24, 2013
The Current Cinema 18
Dead Man Down
After the international smash success of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”, it was only a matter of time before filmmaker Niels Oplev got the opportunity to helm a big American picture, and here it is with “Dead Man Down”. Clearly still pre-occupied with his previous ideas of revenge bracketed against a moody urban landscape, “Dead Man Down” retains Oplev’s visual flair but loses something in translation. Starring Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace as neighbors who form an uncommon bond of violence, “Dead Man Down” wants to be two things at once- a unique character romance and an action picture. She wants revenge for a drunk driving accident that caused a scar on her face and he’s in the middle of exacting revenge on a crime boss (Terence Howard) who killed his family years ago. Their relationship starts and stutters like a Justin Timberlake rom-com (complete with Rapace’s mother, played by Isabella Huppert, stressing over Tupperware) and then morphs into something a little more violent. The problem with “Dead Man Down”, besides its uneven grasping at genre, is that Oplev seems to be working in a hermetic universe that feels so out of touch. Men wander around New York City rooftops with guns, approach FedEx delivery men with assault rifles and carry out their actions with little ramifications on the larger world. It all just feels unrealistic and moody for the sake of being moody… .everything building to a resolution that’s at once unsatisfying chaotic and abbreviated David Fincher did the sulky black urban landscapes so much better years ago.
Stoker
Another international director channeling his art house sensibilities to the mainstream American shores is Park Chan Wook with “Stoker”. Much like “Dead Man Down” above, the results are middling. What is terrific about “Stoker” is its mise-en-scene, calculated and choreographed as part fairy tale and part gothic horror…. Perfectly Park Chanian in one scene where the big murder happens and the frame is overtaken by a large bed where a head sticks out from the floor on one end and the blood splatter slowly drips down the wall on the left side of the frame. Starring “it” girl Mia Wasikowska, as India “Stoker” begins with the death of her father (Dermot Mulroney) and the arrival of creepy uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode). Charlie and India clearly share a connection, even though mom (Nicole Kidman) has the hots for him too. What plays out is a decidedly awkward family drama, highlighted by Chan Wook’s twisted sub current of sexual deviation, dark family history and muted revenge. If “Stoker” doesn’t fully reach its potential for me it’s because I was once so over the moon about “Oldboy” and feel Chan-wook has yet to regain that level of meteoric filmmaking. In that film and his revenge trilogy, I felt something for the characters, whether it was sympathy, disgust or shudders. While “Stoker” is far from an empty exercise in style, Wasakowski’s India is a bit of a blank slate and the tone wavers a bit in its uncoiling of her eventual mental state. And while the idea of violence begetting violence thru the generations is an intriguing idea Cham-wook has been surveying over the years, “Stoker” is less convincing. Perhaps it’s a film that’ll grow on me.
No
The third film in Pablo Lorrain’s very angry trilogy about the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile is his best. Starring Gael Garcia Bernal, “No” observes the campaign of the Chilean people to vote either yes or no to keep Pinochet in power in 1987. Combining actual news and advertisement footage with Lorrain’s choice to film on low grade VHS type celluloid creates a wave of immersion where the viewer never knows whether we’re in the artificial 80’s footage or back to real life. Though that choice is a head scratcher (and visually terrible at times), it works. Lorrain is an actively political filmmaker, not without his leftist nudges and completely unbiased point of view, of course. Propaganda aside, “No” succeeds through its niche subject to not only give us a wholly believable main character- Bernal, ad man who becomes the driving conceptual force behind the “no” television commercial campaign- but an enveloping sense of time and place.
After the international smash success of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”, it was only a matter of time before filmmaker Niels Oplev got the opportunity to helm a big American picture, and here it is with “Dead Man Down”. Clearly still pre-occupied with his previous ideas of revenge bracketed against a moody urban landscape, “Dead Man Down” retains Oplev’s visual flair but loses something in translation. Starring Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace as neighbors who form an uncommon bond of violence, “Dead Man Down” wants to be two things at once- a unique character romance and an action picture. She wants revenge for a drunk driving accident that caused a scar on her face and he’s in the middle of exacting revenge on a crime boss (Terence Howard) who killed his family years ago. Their relationship starts and stutters like a Justin Timberlake rom-com (complete with Rapace’s mother, played by Isabella Huppert, stressing over Tupperware) and then morphs into something a little more violent. The problem with “Dead Man Down”, besides its uneven grasping at genre, is that Oplev seems to be working in a hermetic universe that feels so out of touch. Men wander around New York City rooftops with guns, approach FedEx delivery men with assault rifles and carry out their actions with little ramifications on the larger world. It all just feels unrealistic and moody for the sake of being moody… .everything building to a resolution that’s at once unsatisfying chaotic and abbreviated David Fincher did the sulky black urban landscapes so much better years ago.
Stoker
Another international director channeling his art house sensibilities to the mainstream American shores is Park Chan Wook with “Stoker”. Much like “Dead Man Down” above, the results are middling. What is terrific about “Stoker” is its mise-en-scene, calculated and choreographed as part fairy tale and part gothic horror…. Perfectly Park Chanian in one scene where the big murder happens and the frame is overtaken by a large bed where a head sticks out from the floor on one end and the blood splatter slowly drips down the wall on the left side of the frame. Starring “it” girl Mia Wasikowska, as India “Stoker” begins with the death of her father (Dermot Mulroney) and the arrival of creepy uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode). Charlie and India clearly share a connection, even though mom (Nicole Kidman) has the hots for him too. What plays out is a decidedly awkward family drama, highlighted by Chan Wook’s twisted sub current of sexual deviation, dark family history and muted revenge. If “Stoker” doesn’t fully reach its potential for me it’s because I was once so over the moon about “Oldboy” and feel Chan-wook has yet to regain that level of meteoric filmmaking. In that film and his revenge trilogy, I felt something for the characters, whether it was sympathy, disgust or shudders. While “Stoker” is far from an empty exercise in style, Wasakowski’s India is a bit of a blank slate and the tone wavers a bit in its uncoiling of her eventual mental state. And while the idea of violence begetting violence thru the generations is an intriguing idea Cham-wook has been surveying over the years, “Stoker” is less convincing. Perhaps it’s a film that’ll grow on me.
No
The third film in Pablo Lorrain’s very angry trilogy about the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile is his best. Starring Gael Garcia Bernal, “No” observes the campaign of the Chilean people to vote either yes or no to keep Pinochet in power in 1987. Combining actual news and advertisement footage with Lorrain’s choice to film on low grade VHS type celluloid creates a wave of immersion where the viewer never knows whether we’re in the artificial 80’s footage or back to real life. Though that choice is a head scratcher (and visually terrible at times), it works. Lorrain is an actively political filmmaker, not without his leftist nudges and completely unbiased point of view, of course. Propaganda aside, “No” succeeds through its niche subject to not only give us a wholly believable main character- Bernal, ad man who becomes the driving conceptual force behind the “no” television commercial campaign- but an enveloping sense of time and place.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Produced and Abandoned #15
Ten more titles deserving a Region 1 DVD release:
1. We Still Kill the Old Way (1967)- I think the two most under appreciated Italian directors of all time are probably Francesco Rosi and Elio Petri. Both are extremely political in their cinematic explorations and not very easily interpreted. Basically, they craft some tough films with harsh messages. Petri's real claim to fame is his marvelous "An Investigation of a Citizen Under Suspicion" in which police captain Gian Maria Volonte kills his lover just to prove he can get away with it. From the description of Petri's "We Still Kill the Old Way", this film is yet another brutal examination of power and untamed corruption: "A leftist professor wants the truth about two men killed during a hunting party; but the mafia, the Church and corrupt politicians don't want him to learn it." from the imdb description.
2. Naked Massacre (1976)- French filmmaker Denis Heroux's splatterfest is one of the more sought after films on the bit torrent circuit. Spoken about at length here by someone who has seen it and highly recommends it.
3. Disorder (1986)- My quest to track down Olivier Assayas's three early films (this one as well as "Paris Awakens Us" and "A New Life") has been an exhaustive adventure. This film is available on a 2005 R2 french disc, but I've never found one to surface with English subs. The film itself, about a group of musicians who burglarize a business and then have to deal with their guilt, sounds promisingly Assayas. I know there have been several complete Assyas retrospectives out there, so the prints do exist. Please Criterion or Masters of Cinema, release the early Assayas now!
4.Time Masters (1982)- I'm not sure if I saw this film as a youngster, but screenshots of it do look so familiar. Apparently I'm not the only one, as this seems to be one of those films that people search for forever. French filmmaker Rene Laloux made some trippy cartoons back in the day and "Time Masters" seems to be regarded as his second masterpiece behind 1973's "Fantastic Planet". The world needs more trippy French cartoons readily available.
5. Sandra of a Thousand Delights (1965)- With TCM running an appreciation of Roberto Rossellini this month, maybe a Visconti retrospective isn't far behind. Far too little of his incredible output is available on DVD, "Sandra of a Thousand Delights" being one of them. Not only does the story of this film sound fascinating, but it stars the ever luminous Claudia Cardinale.
6. Boat People (1982)- Causing a huge rumble at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival for its depiction of Vietnamese people trying to recover after the Vietnam War, Ann Hui's "Boat People" has since disappeared off the map. Hui herself has gone on to direct over 25 more films, but "Boat People", perhaps the film that put her on the international map- has been largely forgotten. Read about the Cannes experience from writer Harlan Kennedy here.
7. The Secret Killer (1965)- French actor Robert Hossein has graced his presence in over 125 films, but I only found out recently he directed and wrote a few as well. This film from 1965, aka "The Vampire of Dusseldorf", takes on the same subject presented by Fritz Lang and Robert Siodmak earlier... that of a serial killer stalking people around Germany during the 1930's. Everything I've read about this film sounds like an atmospheric triumph.
8. My Twentieth Century (1989)- I remember reading about this Hungarian film in the early 90's when I first became attuned to the magazine Film Comment where it appeared on so many 'best of' lists. Like "Boat People" and so many others before it, critical acclaim doesn't always translate into commercial viability. Directed by Ildiko Enyedi, "My Twentieth Century" sounds like an esoteric and arty experience (filmed in black and white, dealing with twin sisters separated at birth at the turn of the century etc) yet so deceptively charming as well. I think this aired on IFC or Sundance back in the day, but still lost nowadays.
9. The Squeeze (1978)- No list of mine would be complete without a lost 70's film, so I present "The Squeeze". Starring Stacy Keach as the leader of a gang who kidnaps the daughter of a rich man and extorts money. This is the 70's and a crime movie, so of course nothing goes right. Update: look like Warner Archive has released it!
10. Village of Eight Gravestones (1977)- After recently raving about Japanese filmmaker Yoshitaro Nomura's "The Castle of Sand", my new quest is to find a majority of his films (all 36 of them!). Easily said than done. "Village of Eight Gravestones", like "The Demon", seems to be the easiest to find in certain places. Clocking in at 2 hours and 30 minutes, the film deals with curses and roaming samurai- all the right ingredients for a Saturday night.
1. We Still Kill the Old Way (1967)- I think the two most under appreciated Italian directors of all time are probably Francesco Rosi and Elio Petri. Both are extremely political in their cinematic explorations and not very easily interpreted. Basically, they craft some tough films with harsh messages. Petri's real claim to fame is his marvelous "An Investigation of a Citizen Under Suspicion" in which police captain Gian Maria Volonte kills his lover just to prove he can get away with it. From the description of Petri's "We Still Kill the Old Way", this film is yet another brutal examination of power and untamed corruption: "A leftist professor wants the truth about two men killed during a hunting party; but the mafia, the Church and corrupt politicians don't want him to learn it." from the imdb description.
2. Naked Massacre (1976)- French filmmaker Denis Heroux's splatterfest is one of the more sought after films on the bit torrent circuit. Spoken about at length here by someone who has seen it and highly recommends it.
3. Disorder (1986)- My quest to track down Olivier Assayas's three early films (this one as well as "Paris Awakens Us" and "A New Life") has been an exhaustive adventure. This film is available on a 2005 R2 french disc, but I've never found one to surface with English subs. The film itself, about a group of musicians who burglarize a business and then have to deal with their guilt, sounds promisingly Assayas. I know there have been several complete Assyas retrospectives out there, so the prints do exist. Please Criterion or Masters of Cinema, release the early Assayas now!
4.Time Masters (1982)- I'm not sure if I saw this film as a youngster, but screenshots of it do look so familiar. Apparently I'm not the only one, as this seems to be one of those films that people search for forever. French filmmaker Rene Laloux made some trippy cartoons back in the day and "Time Masters" seems to be regarded as his second masterpiece behind 1973's "Fantastic Planet". The world needs more trippy French cartoons readily available.
5. Sandra of a Thousand Delights (1965)- With TCM running an appreciation of Roberto Rossellini this month, maybe a Visconti retrospective isn't far behind. Far too little of his incredible output is available on DVD, "Sandra of a Thousand Delights" being one of them. Not only does the story of this film sound fascinating, but it stars the ever luminous Claudia Cardinale.
6. Boat People (1982)- Causing a huge rumble at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival for its depiction of Vietnamese people trying to recover after the Vietnam War, Ann Hui's "Boat People" has since disappeared off the map. Hui herself has gone on to direct over 25 more films, but "Boat People", perhaps the film that put her on the international map- has been largely forgotten. Read about the Cannes experience from writer Harlan Kennedy here.
7. The Secret Killer (1965)- French actor Robert Hossein has graced his presence in over 125 films, but I only found out recently he directed and wrote a few as well. This film from 1965, aka "The Vampire of Dusseldorf", takes on the same subject presented by Fritz Lang and Robert Siodmak earlier... that of a serial killer stalking people around Germany during the 1930's. Everything I've read about this film sounds like an atmospheric triumph.
8. My Twentieth Century (1989)- I remember reading about this Hungarian film in the early 90's when I first became attuned to the magazine Film Comment where it appeared on so many 'best of' lists. Like "Boat People" and so many others before it, critical acclaim doesn't always translate into commercial viability. Directed by Ildiko Enyedi, "My Twentieth Century" sounds like an esoteric and arty experience (filmed in black and white, dealing with twin sisters separated at birth at the turn of the century etc) yet so deceptively charming as well. I think this aired on IFC or Sundance back in the day, but still lost nowadays.
9. The Squeeze (1978)- No list of mine would be complete without a lost 70's film, so I present "The Squeeze". Starring Stacy Keach as the leader of a gang who kidnaps the daughter of a rich man and extorts money. This is the 70's and a crime movie, so of course nothing goes right. Update: look like Warner Archive has released it!
10. Village of Eight Gravestones (1977)- After recently raving about Japanese filmmaker Yoshitaro Nomura's "The Castle of Sand", my new quest is to find a majority of his films (all 36 of them!). Easily said than done. "Village of Eight Gravestones", like "The Demon", seems to be the easiest to find in certain places. Clocking in at 2 hours and 30 minutes, the film deals with curses and roaming samurai- all the right ingredients for a Saturday night.
Thursday, March 07, 2013
The Current Cinema 17
Lore
Giving some type of emotional complexity to the German point of view immediately following the Allied invasion and subsequent end to World War 2, initially, seems like a frivolous effort. Yet, that’s exactly what Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland achieves in “Lore”, a dizzying and harrowing account of five children and their trek across country when good German mother and father are dispatched of in the opening moments. As the eldest, Saskia Rosendahl as Lore is magnificent, leading her younger siblings and baby into the recesses of hell, otherwise known as occupied Germany and its scattered, scarred and confused population. The idea of Lore’s forced adulthood, complicated by national pride and sexual confusion when she meets a local boy who helps in their journey, is always at the forefront and handled magnificently. As she did in her previous film “Somersault”, Shortland is a filmmaker attracted to the tactile. While her handheld camera breathlessly darts around her characters, giving prominence to the edges of dresses, dirty feet and blowing fields of flowers rather than eyes and voices, “Lore” is an extremely ‘arty’ film that still manages to dispense narrative and feeling with authority. Like few other current filmmakers- namely female peers such as Andrea Arnold and Claire Denis- Shortland’s bouncing camera is not a detriment to the process, but a voyeur that catches kinetic atmosphere and images. Consistently challenging and terrifying in its family-in-the-war-torn-wilderness-adventure genre, “Lore” is a great sophomore effort and a hopeful bar for the rest of the art house crowd this year.
Snitch
During the first few minutes of Ric Roman Waugh’s “Snitch”, my heart sank into my chest when a foot chase between juvenile Jason (Ravfi Gavron) and local DEA agents devolved into a herky-jerky affair with an illogical sense of time or place. Thankfully, “Snitch” recovers from that initial bout of amateurishness and settles into a modest if not surprising character study of a father (Dwayne Johnson) turning informant to reduce his son’s prison sentence. As an actor, I’ve seen plenty of Johnson films, but he really nails the performance here, shrinking his bulky presence to reveal a motivated and real persona. For the most part, “Snitch” rarely amps up the action side of its running time (one quick car chase at the end and a few bullets here and there) and relies on old fashioned tension and personal conflict to propel the story along. A nice surprise.
Like Someone In Love
Abbas Kiarostami’s “Like Someone In Love” is an introspective look at the connection made between prostitute Akiko (Rin Takanashi) and elderly Takashi (Tadashi Okuno) over the course of a day. She is quietly stewing over the status of her current life and he just wants conversation and company. And once Akiko’s jealously violent boyfriend enters the picture, Takashi turns from client to protector. Like his previous film, “Certified Copy”, “Like Someone In Love” excels in the imaginary curtains of playacting between two strangers and the relationships they devise for comfort. The delicate asides this film makes- an elderly neighbor, an old student of Takashi and the bustling city of Tokyo itself seen through cab and car windows- are impressive even when they’re static and pregnant with wordless stretches between Akiko and Takashi. Kiarostami has made a lifetime of movies from the hood of a car, and “Like Someone In Love” is no exception, slicing the frame up brilliantly through rear view mirrors, car doors and television set reflections. Even if the overall effect of “Like Someone In Love” is a bit muted through its oblique characters (I’d love to see more about Akiko herself), this is the cinema of Kiarostami… where nothing is overtly spelled out and even the slightest action, such as a rock shattering a window, seems groundbreaking.
Giving some type of emotional complexity to the German point of view immediately following the Allied invasion and subsequent end to World War 2, initially, seems like a frivolous effort. Yet, that’s exactly what Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland achieves in “Lore”, a dizzying and harrowing account of five children and their trek across country when good German mother and father are dispatched of in the opening moments. As the eldest, Saskia Rosendahl as Lore is magnificent, leading her younger siblings and baby into the recesses of hell, otherwise known as occupied Germany and its scattered, scarred and confused population. The idea of Lore’s forced adulthood, complicated by national pride and sexual confusion when she meets a local boy who helps in their journey, is always at the forefront and handled magnificently. As she did in her previous film “Somersault”, Shortland is a filmmaker attracted to the tactile. While her handheld camera breathlessly darts around her characters, giving prominence to the edges of dresses, dirty feet and blowing fields of flowers rather than eyes and voices, “Lore” is an extremely ‘arty’ film that still manages to dispense narrative and feeling with authority. Like few other current filmmakers- namely female peers such as Andrea Arnold and Claire Denis- Shortland’s bouncing camera is not a detriment to the process, but a voyeur that catches kinetic atmosphere and images. Consistently challenging and terrifying in its family-in-the-war-torn-wilderness-adventure genre, “Lore” is a great sophomore effort and a hopeful bar for the rest of the art house crowd this year.
Snitch
During the first few minutes of Ric Roman Waugh’s “Snitch”, my heart sank into my chest when a foot chase between juvenile Jason (Ravfi Gavron) and local DEA agents devolved into a herky-jerky affair with an illogical sense of time or place. Thankfully, “Snitch” recovers from that initial bout of amateurishness and settles into a modest if not surprising character study of a father (Dwayne Johnson) turning informant to reduce his son’s prison sentence. As an actor, I’ve seen plenty of Johnson films, but he really nails the performance here, shrinking his bulky presence to reveal a motivated and real persona. For the most part, “Snitch” rarely amps up the action side of its running time (one quick car chase at the end and a few bullets here and there) and relies on old fashioned tension and personal conflict to propel the story along. A nice surprise.
Like Someone In Love
Abbas Kiarostami’s “Like Someone In Love” is an introspective look at the connection made between prostitute Akiko (Rin Takanashi) and elderly Takashi (Tadashi Okuno) over the course of a day. She is quietly stewing over the status of her current life and he just wants conversation and company. And once Akiko’s jealously violent boyfriend enters the picture, Takashi turns from client to protector. Like his previous film, “Certified Copy”, “Like Someone In Love” excels in the imaginary curtains of playacting between two strangers and the relationships they devise for comfort. The delicate asides this film makes- an elderly neighbor, an old student of Takashi and the bustling city of Tokyo itself seen through cab and car windows- are impressive even when they’re static and pregnant with wordless stretches between Akiko and Takashi. Kiarostami has made a lifetime of movies from the hood of a car, and “Like Someone In Love” is no exception, slicing the frame up brilliantly through rear view mirrors, car doors and television set reflections. Even if the overall effect of “Like Someone In Love” is a bit muted through its oblique characters (I’d love to see more about Akiko herself), this is the cinema of Kiarostami… where nothing is overtly spelled out and even the slightest action, such as a rock shattering a window, seems groundbreaking.
Monday, March 04, 2013
An Appreciation: Shohei Imamura
Endless Desire (1958) ***- Imamura’s deeply black comedy is an interesting set-up for what will come in the rest of his career. A rag-tag group of thieves (including one woman) rent a shack in the center of town in order to tunnel beneath the ground and steal a cache of morphine hidden before the war. While the copy I was able to view is saddled with a horrible set of subtitles, Imamura’s dark humor and fondness for the impossibility of the lower class to get ahead is clear. “Endless Desire” also features some stunning camerawork for the late 50’s. When a majority of Japanese cinema was imbued with the static low gaze of Ozu, Imamura is playful and almost Hitchcockian in the way he frames several scenes right at the floorboard level, raising the tension of the men burrowing underneath and staying quiet while visitors and the police rummage around on the wooden floor above them. Not available on DVD.
Stolen Desire (1958)- **1/2- The trials and tribulations of a theater troupe when they're forced to leave the city and ply their trade in the countryside allows Imamura lots of room for broad comedy. Chicken theft, revolving attractions and slapstick comedy are all par for the course. It's harmless and even highly entertaining at times, but Imamura feels like he's going through the motions.
In Front of West Ginza Station (1958) ***- The film’s first five minutes- with a man talking directly to the audience and crooning a song- tells you that Imamura is in full blown comedic (and satiric) mood. From there, the man (Frank Nagai) spins a story about a repressed married man and the flirtatious relationship he starts up with the boutique shop girl next door when his wife goes away on holiday. Fantasy and reality merge in gentle ways, and while Imamura subtly exposes us to the carnality of female flesh that will infuse so much of his later work, “In Front of West Ginza Station” remains a lightweight pleasure. Not available on DVD.
My Second Brother (1960) **- Taking as his subject a group of four siblings whose father dies and leaves them to fend for themselves in a dilapidated mining town, “My Second Brother” is a minor Imamura film that owes some to the Italian neo-realism movement, especially in its point of view from the youngest of the two boys. Striking cinematography- including one shot which rests atop a mining car as it slowly propels up the mountainside and two young boys talk about their future- and reverent acting never fully ascend to the heights of emotion that the story seems capable of producing. Not available on DVD.
Pigs and Battleships (1961) ***½- A huge leap forward for Imamura, and an effort rightly praised as one of the sounding blows to the Japanese New Wave. From its opening tracking shot, which follows a group of people wandering down a neon-lit street and feels like something elaborately borrowed by Kubrick/Scorsese/PT Anderson later, “Pigs and Battleships” is a visual wonder, bolstered by its scathing sentiments about a seaside Japanese port town dominated by prostitution, American naval personnel and a yakuza war over a pig farm. The young couple Kinta (Hiroyuki Nagato) and Haruko (Jitsuko Yoshimura) shoulder most of the film’s consequences and Imamura spends a great deal of time espousing the corruption of American presence along the Japanese coastline, yet “Pigs and Battleships” doesn’t lose any power in its indictment. If nothing else, the film is a tremendous merging of the personal and the creative.
The Insect Woman (1962) ***½- With this film and “Pigs and Battleships”, one can sense the New Wave happening right before our eyes. Imamura’s camera compositions, stark black and white images and extremely taboo-pushing narrative elevate these works. The films also feel very modern, as if one were watching a film made only 10 years ago. “The Insect Woman” stars Sachiko Hidari as Tome, the central figure followed from birth to old age as she morphs and transcends her poverty-ridden, sexually abusive early life and becomes a successful madam in a brothel. Routinely seen as an allegory to Japan’s own transfigured landscape from post-war reconstruction to 50’s boom, Imamura’s devious storytelling is (as usual) a bit scathing as people use and abuse consistently. While negating a majority of the empathy for Tome, “The Insect Woman” remains an intimately epic portrait of both one person and a country.
Intentions of Murder (1964) **½ - It’s probably unfair, but when compared to the two films released before this one, “Intentions of Murder” pales in comparison. Taking as his subject another abject, lower class woman, Imamura really begins to pile on the misery. Sadako (Masumi Harukawa) is not respected by her husband’s family due to a generations-old-curse and dutifully cares for her womanizing husband. So it’s probably only natural that a troubled drifter breaks into her home one night and rapes her. Sadako unflinchingly gravitates towards the troubled drifter due to her crummy existence and what’s set in motion in the final half of the film is a beautifully twisted third world noir. Imamura’s dazzling cinematography reaches new heights with one scene in a snow-covered tunnel as the woman and drifter struggle over a fatal poisoning, but, strangely, “Intentions of Murder” left me unmoved compared to the intimately sweeping indictments of his previous two films.
The Pornographers (1966) ****- Also known as the dissolution of a family through windows and doors… and, in my opinion, Imamura’s first great film. Ogata (Shoichi Ozawa) makes a living filming porn movies on the side. He cares for his wife (Sumiko Sakamoto) and is perversely attracted to his 16 year old daughter. His son, in between stealing money from him and passively avoiding any conflict in the house, barely exists. Not only does Ogata have to worry about a possible curse from his wife’s dead husband (in the form of an omniscient fish), but the local yakuza when they find out about his profitable smut business. While this premise sounds promisingly tawdry, Imamura wisely avoids slipping into a ‘pinku’ film. Whether observing an office business party or the filming of a very uncomfortable sex scene between a mentally challenged girl and an older man, Imamura’s camera is perched carefully outside the action, creating an even more meta-movie experience than the film’s opening where three men are watching the same movie we are. We are truly observers in this bracing idea of a film. For 1966, “The Pornographers” is a richly textured, envelope-pushing masterwork.
A Man Vanishes (1967) **- I don’t discredit this film’s invaluable presence in the art film world- especially its debt to the now infamous ‘mockumentary’ genre- but Imamura’s dizzying, cerebral pseudo documentary is one I appreciate more than like. The barriers of truth and fiction, real and unreal are the basic underpinnings of Imamura’s seemingly straight-forward film that begins as a documentary in search of a missing man in 1964. His fiancé is involved with the interviewing along with an actor (Shigeru Tsuyuguchi) as they attempt to trace his final journeys in and around Tokyo as a traveling salesman. There are intimations of affairs, embezzlement from his company and then a damaging eyewitness account that places him in the company of the fiancé’s sister. After a carefully modulated conversation between the two sisters that plays out like a suspenseful police interrogation, Imamura chooses to abolish the reality and turn the film into something more. I do agree, the minute this break in documentary happened, I gasped. This is something never seen before. But that unsettling moment is one in a few. Much of “A Man Vanishes” drones on a bit too long, and the investigation itself of the missing man is mired in confusing speculation and false leads. Perhaps Imamura’s point is the break in reality and the insular nature of how we expect a documentary to proceed can be so easily warped, and in this, “A Man Vanishes” is a triumph. If only that stunning 20 minute sequence towards the end of the film had sustained itself longer.
The Profound Desire of the Gods (1968) *½- Upon adjusting to the orgasmic color world of Imamura after all these black and white efforts, there’s little to recommend about “The Profound Desire of the Gods”. Ambitious yes, as the tale of a divided island community deals with encroaching technology and world-weary family curses, but beyond that, the film feels very inconsequential. Perhaps I’m missing some deep rooted, obscure Japanese parables and symbols here, but “The Profound Desire of the Gods” is a three hour mess of sorts. Not available on DVD.
Following the Unreturned Soldiers parts 1 and 2 (1970) ***- This film, broken into two parts, attempts to track down Japanese soldiers who stayed in Malaysia and Thailand as natives after the war and their reasons for it. Alongside “A Man Vanishes” which I found a bit underwhelming, it’s evident that Imamura’s now burgeoning documentary style is a bit radical. Instead of probing a certain incident or theology as most documentaries of the time did, Imamura seems much more interested in the mysteries of human nature and the subsequent lapses in rational action. In “A Man Vanishes”, it’s the unexplained disappearance of a well adjusted man and in “Following the Unreturned Soldiers”, his focus lies in the rational betrayal of someone’s national pride. Part 1 focuses on the search for soldiers in Malaysia and while it’s a bit rambling and unfocused, the film’s power is derived from the unrelenting search as Imamura himself tracks down these men, sometimes hitting a blind alley and at other times coming in contact with a soldier whose reasons for staying are far more universal and moving. Part 2, which deals with Thailand, is far less intriguing in the fact that Imamura finds three men in the first minute and then spends the next 45 minutes recording their day-long conversation. The sake and accusations fly and the message (or reasons) is a bit confusing, but what eventually merges out of “Following the Unreturned Soldiers” is the devotion Imamura provides these lost souls as part priest and part documentarian. Available on specialized DVD.
History of Postwar Japan As Told By a Bar Hostess (1970) **- Attempting yet another form of radical documentary filmmaking, Imamura juxtaposes a candid conversation with a bar hostess against the atrocities of post World War 2 Japan, although this time with mixed results. The initial problem with the film is the hostess, Cheiko Akaza, is just not that interesting of a subject, recounting her various abortive (literally) love affairs and discontent with provincial Japanese life in the 40’s and 50’s. It’s a brave attempt to draw parallels between the interior and the political, but “History of Postwar Japan As Told By a Bar Hostess” fails to effectively grapple the intellect or emotion. Not available on DVD.
Karayuki-san, the Making of a Prostitute (1975) ***½ - While crafting his 1970 documentary "Following the Unreturned Soldiers", Imamura stumbled upon the narrative of thousands of women being kidnapped from Japan in the early 1900's and shipped to Malaysia to work as prostitutes. "Karayuki-san" is that modest story told from one woman's point of view. Immensely sad, what sets this apart from Imamura's other middling nonfiction efforts is the empathy and warmth exuded from his subject, Keiko. Not only does she efficiently tell her own story, but gives Imamura access to other women she knew. What emerges is a fascinating and sordid tale that not only documents the personal, but highlights the various sociopolitical aspects of a completely maddening time in Japan and China. Available on specialized DVD.
Vengeance Is Mine (1979) ***- After a few years in the documentary wilderness, Imamura returned to fiction filmmaking with this fascinating but dispassionate portrait of a serial killer. Feeling like something David Fincher would have made in the 70’s, “Vengeance Is Mine” gives little screen time to the brutal murders, instead choosing to show the boring moments of the killer as he spends his time on the run. And I don’t mean to say this is a bad thing. As the killer, Ken Ogata is terrific, alternating between tenderness with an inn owner and seething hatred of his father. Actually, “Vengeance Is Mine” is a film about the relationship of other people with a serial killer and not the other way around. It’s ultimately a film that defies the genre and goes somewhere much deeper into the psyche.
Eijanaika (1981)- **½- Another seemingly impenetrable affair by Imamura, this time charting the relationship of a man and woman against the shifting cultural and political backdrop of Edo (Tokyo before it was called Tokyo). When the film focuses on the hectic, robust marriage of Genji (Shigeru Izumiya) and Ine (Kaori Momoi) inside a traveling circus, the film really breathes life and becomes a wondrous black comedy. But when the various machinations of the Shogun come into view, Imamura loses his touch a bit and the film flounders in a vortex of hard-to-follow back stabbings and political alliances. Perhaps a more solid foundation of the time’s politics would yield a better understanding of “Eijanaika”. Not available on DVD.
The Ballad of Narayama (1983)- ***½- Like “The Profound Desire of the Gods”, Imamura’s early 80’s film “The Ballad of Narayama” deals with a cloistered society on the edge of the world… this time a mountain village where the elderly have to make a fateful trek up the mountain when they reach 70. But before that, grandmother Orin (Sumiko Satamato) wants to provide for the well being of her family by arranging marriages and leaving her children in good shape. Like so many of Imamura’s films, the emphasis is on community and ancient customs. “The Ballad of Narayama” runs through so many emotions. At once it feels exceedingly violent- when the community turns on one family for theft and buries them alive- and the next it reaches heights of zen-like serenity. But the blunt force trauma of its story hits the viewer in the final 30 minutes as son (Ken Ogata) carries his elderly mother up the mountain. For sheer visual storytelling, I don’t believe there’s another sequence like it in Imamura’s canon.
Zegen (1987) *** - Intimately sweeping and biting satire about nationalism and the warped pride it can instill in its citizens. As the lead character, Ken Ogata zealously pounces on his role as an exiled man (through coincidence and timing with others) who becomes a franchising pimp of sorts, hoping to nationalize brothels around the world in the name of his beloved Japan. Taking place in the thirty years or so before the outbreak of WW2, "Zegen" plays like a comedic overlay of the broiling atmosphere of entitlement and imperialism that led up to the war outbreak. Like so many of his other films, "Zegen" finds Imamura firmly gripping the pulse of the whirlwinds of change while imprinting a sly smile on the horrors. If ultimately the film falls slightly short of reaching the heights of his other films, its because middle portions feel a bit redundant in the shameless promotion of skin for sale.
Black Rain (1987) **** - In one scene, a character comments on the possible rumors that young Yasuko (Yoshiko Tanaka) is infected by the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima with the phrase “society likes to believe the bad news over the good news”. If only that weren’t even more true today. Imamura’s sobering examination of Japanese life post-Hiroshima is intensely moving. The sequences of the bombing and the aftermath as Yasuko and her family slowly migrate out of the city are some of the most terrifying sequences in Imamura’s career. But, “Black Rain” is about healing and moving on as the family search for a suitable husband for young Yasuko. Again working with the lower middle class and expounding on the fringes of their small village as in earlier efforts, “Black Rain” doesn’t exactly condemn anyone specifically for the bombing, instead choosing to condemn all of mankind for “strangling itself”. Alongside “The Pornographers”, this is Imamura’s masterpiece.
The Eel (1997) ***½ - A low key character study not without Imamura’s usual flair for opening up the view to a small knit community of unique individuals. Essentially a story about a man’s slow re-acceptance into the world after serving 8 years for murdering his wife, “The Eel” takes an ordinary narrative and creates such an intimate portrait of damaged people trying to reconcile their pasts. As the released murderer Yamashita, (longtime Kiyoshi Kurosawa regular Koji Yakusho) is a quiet force of slow burning guilt and self emasculation when pretty Keiko (Misa Shimizu) begins to fall in love with him in the small seaside town they’ve both ended up in. With this film and the ensuing “Dr Akagi”, it’s a film that marks a gentle slide for Imamura, no less prone to honest human interaction and still attuned to the slight vagaries of time, place and person.
Dr Akagi (1998) ****- As the title character, Akira Emoto’s portrait of a provincial doctor during World War 2 may be my favorite Imamura incarnation. Often seen literally running to tend to his patients on house calls, “Dr Akagi” is a film of many fronts- an indictment of the war’s presence across Japan when Akagi and his female servant Sonoko (Kumiko Aso) harbor a wounded Dutch soldier…. The advancement of intelligent medical diagnosis and the spread of hepatitis across Japan during the 40’s…. and Imamura’s enduring penchant for creating a universe of neighbors and villagers whose interaction with each other and the larger society is always an important process. A stunning film on all accounts, “Dr Akagi” reaches an emotional high when the quiet doctor kneels in front of his deceased son’s picture and lets out a grueling cry. I can’t think of a moment in Imamura’s career that cements pain and loss more succinctly than this subtle moment.
Warm Water Under a Red Bridge (2000) *½ - Reuniting a majority of the cast from “The Eel”, “Warm Water Under a Red Bridge” is a unique tale to say the least. Spurred on by the knowledge that a golden Buddha statue is hidden in a house, unemployed Yosuke (Koji Yakusho) travels to the town looking for it. Instead of wealth, he finds lonely Saeko (Misa Shimizu) living in the house…. A woman who literally fills up with water and whose only release point is either shoplifting or impetuous sex. As his final film, “Warm Water Under a Red Bridge” offers all the usual for Imamura as marginal characters of the town inhabit their own stories and weave into the main narrative. Still, it’s a film that feels flat and lifeless and whimsical to no avail.
Stolen Desire (1958)- **1/2- The trials and tribulations of a theater troupe when they're forced to leave the city and ply their trade in the countryside allows Imamura lots of room for broad comedy. Chicken theft, revolving attractions and slapstick comedy are all par for the course. It's harmless and even highly entertaining at times, but Imamura feels like he's going through the motions.
In Front of West Ginza Station (1958) ***- The film’s first five minutes- with a man talking directly to the audience and crooning a song- tells you that Imamura is in full blown comedic (and satiric) mood. From there, the man (Frank Nagai) spins a story about a repressed married man and the flirtatious relationship he starts up with the boutique shop girl next door when his wife goes away on holiday. Fantasy and reality merge in gentle ways, and while Imamura subtly exposes us to the carnality of female flesh that will infuse so much of his later work, “In Front of West Ginza Station” remains a lightweight pleasure. Not available on DVD.
My Second Brother (1960) **- Taking as his subject a group of four siblings whose father dies and leaves them to fend for themselves in a dilapidated mining town, “My Second Brother” is a minor Imamura film that owes some to the Italian neo-realism movement, especially in its point of view from the youngest of the two boys. Striking cinematography- including one shot which rests atop a mining car as it slowly propels up the mountainside and two young boys talk about their future- and reverent acting never fully ascend to the heights of emotion that the story seems capable of producing. Not available on DVD.
Pigs and Battleships (1961) ***½- A huge leap forward for Imamura, and an effort rightly praised as one of the sounding blows to the Japanese New Wave. From its opening tracking shot, which follows a group of people wandering down a neon-lit street and feels like something elaborately borrowed by Kubrick/Scorsese/PT Anderson later, “Pigs and Battleships” is a visual wonder, bolstered by its scathing sentiments about a seaside Japanese port town dominated by prostitution, American naval personnel and a yakuza war over a pig farm. The young couple Kinta (Hiroyuki Nagato) and Haruko (Jitsuko Yoshimura) shoulder most of the film’s consequences and Imamura spends a great deal of time espousing the corruption of American presence along the Japanese coastline, yet “Pigs and Battleships” doesn’t lose any power in its indictment. If nothing else, the film is a tremendous merging of the personal and the creative.
The Insect Woman (1962) ***½- With this film and “Pigs and Battleships”, one can sense the New Wave happening right before our eyes. Imamura’s camera compositions, stark black and white images and extremely taboo-pushing narrative elevate these works. The films also feel very modern, as if one were watching a film made only 10 years ago. “The Insect Woman” stars Sachiko Hidari as Tome, the central figure followed from birth to old age as she morphs and transcends her poverty-ridden, sexually abusive early life and becomes a successful madam in a brothel. Routinely seen as an allegory to Japan’s own transfigured landscape from post-war reconstruction to 50’s boom, Imamura’s devious storytelling is (as usual) a bit scathing as people use and abuse consistently. While negating a majority of the empathy for Tome, “The Insect Woman” remains an intimately epic portrait of both one person and a country.
Intentions of Murder (1964) **½ - It’s probably unfair, but when compared to the two films released before this one, “Intentions of Murder” pales in comparison. Taking as his subject another abject, lower class woman, Imamura really begins to pile on the misery. Sadako (Masumi Harukawa) is not respected by her husband’s family due to a generations-old-curse and dutifully cares for her womanizing husband. So it’s probably only natural that a troubled drifter breaks into her home one night and rapes her. Sadako unflinchingly gravitates towards the troubled drifter due to her crummy existence and what’s set in motion in the final half of the film is a beautifully twisted third world noir. Imamura’s dazzling cinematography reaches new heights with one scene in a snow-covered tunnel as the woman and drifter struggle over a fatal poisoning, but, strangely, “Intentions of Murder” left me unmoved compared to the intimately sweeping indictments of his previous two films.
The Pornographers (1966) ****- Also known as the dissolution of a family through windows and doors… and, in my opinion, Imamura’s first great film. Ogata (Shoichi Ozawa) makes a living filming porn movies on the side. He cares for his wife (Sumiko Sakamoto) and is perversely attracted to his 16 year old daughter. His son, in between stealing money from him and passively avoiding any conflict in the house, barely exists. Not only does Ogata have to worry about a possible curse from his wife’s dead husband (in the form of an omniscient fish), but the local yakuza when they find out about his profitable smut business. While this premise sounds promisingly tawdry, Imamura wisely avoids slipping into a ‘pinku’ film. Whether observing an office business party or the filming of a very uncomfortable sex scene between a mentally challenged girl and an older man, Imamura’s camera is perched carefully outside the action, creating an even more meta-movie experience than the film’s opening where three men are watching the same movie we are. We are truly observers in this bracing idea of a film. For 1966, “The Pornographers” is a richly textured, envelope-pushing masterwork.
A Man Vanishes (1967) **- I don’t discredit this film’s invaluable presence in the art film world- especially its debt to the now infamous ‘mockumentary’ genre- but Imamura’s dizzying, cerebral pseudo documentary is one I appreciate more than like. The barriers of truth and fiction, real and unreal are the basic underpinnings of Imamura’s seemingly straight-forward film that begins as a documentary in search of a missing man in 1964. His fiancé is involved with the interviewing along with an actor (Shigeru Tsuyuguchi) as they attempt to trace his final journeys in and around Tokyo as a traveling salesman. There are intimations of affairs, embezzlement from his company and then a damaging eyewitness account that places him in the company of the fiancé’s sister. After a carefully modulated conversation between the two sisters that plays out like a suspenseful police interrogation, Imamura chooses to abolish the reality and turn the film into something more. I do agree, the minute this break in documentary happened, I gasped. This is something never seen before. But that unsettling moment is one in a few. Much of “A Man Vanishes” drones on a bit too long, and the investigation itself of the missing man is mired in confusing speculation and false leads. Perhaps Imamura’s point is the break in reality and the insular nature of how we expect a documentary to proceed can be so easily warped, and in this, “A Man Vanishes” is a triumph. If only that stunning 20 minute sequence towards the end of the film had sustained itself longer.
The Profound Desire of the Gods (1968) *½- Upon adjusting to the orgasmic color world of Imamura after all these black and white efforts, there’s little to recommend about “The Profound Desire of the Gods”. Ambitious yes, as the tale of a divided island community deals with encroaching technology and world-weary family curses, but beyond that, the film feels very inconsequential. Perhaps I’m missing some deep rooted, obscure Japanese parables and symbols here, but “The Profound Desire of the Gods” is a three hour mess of sorts. Not available on DVD.
Following the Unreturned Soldiers parts 1 and 2 (1970) ***- This film, broken into two parts, attempts to track down Japanese soldiers who stayed in Malaysia and Thailand as natives after the war and their reasons for it. Alongside “A Man Vanishes” which I found a bit underwhelming, it’s evident that Imamura’s now burgeoning documentary style is a bit radical. Instead of probing a certain incident or theology as most documentaries of the time did, Imamura seems much more interested in the mysteries of human nature and the subsequent lapses in rational action. In “A Man Vanishes”, it’s the unexplained disappearance of a well adjusted man and in “Following the Unreturned Soldiers”, his focus lies in the rational betrayal of someone’s national pride. Part 1 focuses on the search for soldiers in Malaysia and while it’s a bit rambling and unfocused, the film’s power is derived from the unrelenting search as Imamura himself tracks down these men, sometimes hitting a blind alley and at other times coming in contact with a soldier whose reasons for staying are far more universal and moving. Part 2, which deals with Thailand, is far less intriguing in the fact that Imamura finds three men in the first minute and then spends the next 45 minutes recording their day-long conversation. The sake and accusations fly and the message (or reasons) is a bit confusing, but what eventually merges out of “Following the Unreturned Soldiers” is the devotion Imamura provides these lost souls as part priest and part documentarian. Available on specialized DVD.
History of Postwar Japan As Told By a Bar Hostess (1970) **- Attempting yet another form of radical documentary filmmaking, Imamura juxtaposes a candid conversation with a bar hostess against the atrocities of post World War 2 Japan, although this time with mixed results. The initial problem with the film is the hostess, Cheiko Akaza, is just not that interesting of a subject, recounting her various abortive (literally) love affairs and discontent with provincial Japanese life in the 40’s and 50’s. It’s a brave attempt to draw parallels between the interior and the political, but “History of Postwar Japan As Told By a Bar Hostess” fails to effectively grapple the intellect or emotion. Not available on DVD.
Karayuki-san, the Making of a Prostitute (1975) ***½ - While crafting his 1970 documentary "Following the Unreturned Soldiers", Imamura stumbled upon the narrative of thousands of women being kidnapped from Japan in the early 1900's and shipped to Malaysia to work as prostitutes. "Karayuki-san" is that modest story told from one woman's point of view. Immensely sad, what sets this apart from Imamura's other middling nonfiction efforts is the empathy and warmth exuded from his subject, Keiko. Not only does she efficiently tell her own story, but gives Imamura access to other women she knew. What emerges is a fascinating and sordid tale that not only documents the personal, but highlights the various sociopolitical aspects of a completely maddening time in Japan and China. Available on specialized DVD.
Vengeance Is Mine (1979) ***- After a few years in the documentary wilderness, Imamura returned to fiction filmmaking with this fascinating but dispassionate portrait of a serial killer. Feeling like something David Fincher would have made in the 70’s, “Vengeance Is Mine” gives little screen time to the brutal murders, instead choosing to show the boring moments of the killer as he spends his time on the run. And I don’t mean to say this is a bad thing. As the killer, Ken Ogata is terrific, alternating between tenderness with an inn owner and seething hatred of his father. Actually, “Vengeance Is Mine” is a film about the relationship of other people with a serial killer and not the other way around. It’s ultimately a film that defies the genre and goes somewhere much deeper into the psyche.
Eijanaika (1981)- **½- Another seemingly impenetrable affair by Imamura, this time charting the relationship of a man and woman against the shifting cultural and political backdrop of Edo (Tokyo before it was called Tokyo). When the film focuses on the hectic, robust marriage of Genji (Shigeru Izumiya) and Ine (Kaori Momoi) inside a traveling circus, the film really breathes life and becomes a wondrous black comedy. But when the various machinations of the Shogun come into view, Imamura loses his touch a bit and the film flounders in a vortex of hard-to-follow back stabbings and political alliances. Perhaps a more solid foundation of the time’s politics would yield a better understanding of “Eijanaika”. Not available on DVD.
The Ballad of Narayama (1983)- ***½- Like “The Profound Desire of the Gods”, Imamura’s early 80’s film “The Ballad of Narayama” deals with a cloistered society on the edge of the world… this time a mountain village where the elderly have to make a fateful trek up the mountain when they reach 70. But before that, grandmother Orin (Sumiko Satamato) wants to provide for the well being of her family by arranging marriages and leaving her children in good shape. Like so many of Imamura’s films, the emphasis is on community and ancient customs. “The Ballad of Narayama” runs through so many emotions. At once it feels exceedingly violent- when the community turns on one family for theft and buries them alive- and the next it reaches heights of zen-like serenity. But the blunt force trauma of its story hits the viewer in the final 30 minutes as son (Ken Ogata) carries his elderly mother up the mountain. For sheer visual storytelling, I don’t believe there’s another sequence like it in Imamura’s canon.
Zegen (1987) *** - Intimately sweeping and biting satire about nationalism and the warped pride it can instill in its citizens. As the lead character, Ken Ogata zealously pounces on his role as an exiled man (through coincidence and timing with others) who becomes a franchising pimp of sorts, hoping to nationalize brothels around the world in the name of his beloved Japan. Taking place in the thirty years or so before the outbreak of WW2, "Zegen" plays like a comedic overlay of the broiling atmosphere of entitlement and imperialism that led up to the war outbreak. Like so many of his other films, "Zegen" finds Imamura firmly gripping the pulse of the whirlwinds of change while imprinting a sly smile on the horrors. If ultimately the film falls slightly short of reaching the heights of his other films, its because middle portions feel a bit redundant in the shameless promotion of skin for sale.
Black Rain (1987) **** - In one scene, a character comments on the possible rumors that young Yasuko (Yoshiko Tanaka) is infected by the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima with the phrase “society likes to believe the bad news over the good news”. If only that weren’t even more true today. Imamura’s sobering examination of Japanese life post-Hiroshima is intensely moving. The sequences of the bombing and the aftermath as Yasuko and her family slowly migrate out of the city are some of the most terrifying sequences in Imamura’s career. But, “Black Rain” is about healing and moving on as the family search for a suitable husband for young Yasuko. Again working with the lower middle class and expounding on the fringes of their small village as in earlier efforts, “Black Rain” doesn’t exactly condemn anyone specifically for the bombing, instead choosing to condemn all of mankind for “strangling itself”. Alongside “The Pornographers”, this is Imamura’s masterpiece.
The Eel (1997) ***½ - A low key character study not without Imamura’s usual flair for opening up the view to a small knit community of unique individuals. Essentially a story about a man’s slow re-acceptance into the world after serving 8 years for murdering his wife, “The Eel” takes an ordinary narrative and creates such an intimate portrait of damaged people trying to reconcile their pasts. As the released murderer Yamashita, (longtime Kiyoshi Kurosawa regular Koji Yakusho) is a quiet force of slow burning guilt and self emasculation when pretty Keiko (Misa Shimizu) begins to fall in love with him in the small seaside town they’ve both ended up in. With this film and the ensuing “Dr Akagi”, it’s a film that marks a gentle slide for Imamura, no less prone to honest human interaction and still attuned to the slight vagaries of time, place and person.
Dr Akagi (1998) ****- As the title character, Akira Emoto’s portrait of a provincial doctor during World War 2 may be my favorite Imamura incarnation. Often seen literally running to tend to his patients on house calls, “Dr Akagi” is a film of many fronts- an indictment of the war’s presence across Japan when Akagi and his female servant Sonoko (Kumiko Aso) harbor a wounded Dutch soldier…. The advancement of intelligent medical diagnosis and the spread of hepatitis across Japan during the 40’s…. and Imamura’s enduring penchant for creating a universe of neighbors and villagers whose interaction with each other and the larger society is always an important process. A stunning film on all accounts, “Dr Akagi” reaches an emotional high when the quiet doctor kneels in front of his deceased son’s picture and lets out a grueling cry. I can’t think of a moment in Imamura’s career that cements pain and loss more succinctly than this subtle moment.
Warm Water Under a Red Bridge (2000) *½ - Reuniting a majority of the cast from “The Eel”, “Warm Water Under a Red Bridge” is a unique tale to say the least. Spurred on by the knowledge that a golden Buddha statue is hidden in a house, unemployed Yosuke (Koji Yakusho) travels to the town looking for it. Instead of wealth, he finds lonely Saeko (Misa Shimizu) living in the house…. A woman who literally fills up with water and whose only release point is either shoplifting or impetuous sex. As his final film, “Warm Water Under a Red Bridge” offers all the usual for Imamura as marginal characters of the town inhabit their own stories and weave into the main narrative. Still, it’s a film that feels flat and lifeless and whimsical to no avail.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
The Yoshitaro Nomura Files: The Castle of Sand
Yoshitaro Nomura's 1974 police procedural "The Castle of Sand" is an intensely microscopic view about the search for a killer where dead ends become routine and several narrative strands are shown in unison. Like the best procedurals, including "Zodiac", "Memories of Murder" and "The Day of the Jackal", "The Castle of Sand" examines the doggedness of several people to bring justice against a heinous act. And by mentioning those three illustrious films, I hold that Nomura'a film belongs alongside them.
After a 60 year old man's body is found bludgeoned to death in a rail yard, Tokyo detectives Imanishi (Tetsuro Tanba) and Yoshimura (Kensaku Morita) are assigned to the case. Having little to go on besides a brief conversation overheard in a bar that may have featured a certain word spoken in a certain Japanese dialect, the detectives embark on a frustrated investigation that yields little advancement. Over time, the younger detective Yoshimura is re-assigned, but elder policeman Imanishi continues with the case, eventually uncovering a sordid family drama that would feel right at home in a Shakespearean play.
Nomura, whose films are barely available here even though he directed over 35 of them, released "The Castle of Sand" in 1974, several years before his biggest hit "The Demon" in 1978. Given a bare bones DVD release that features some shoddy subtitling, "The Castle of Sand" is one of those films whose visible greatness lies in its unassuming narrative. At two and half hours, "The Castle of Sand" could be called epic, especially in the way it's final third plays out. With the killer identified, the police detectives plead their case for a warrant, spelling out the mystery we've been trying to uncoil for over 90 minutes. With blaring orchestra music overplaying the images, Nomura visualizes the development of a killer in a protracted, numbing sequence that swerves into melodrama and back with ease. It's a stunning third act that not only redefines the root cause of evil, but questions what exactly evil is. "The Castle of Sand" raise these intriguing questions, but it also succinctly proves that there's no fury scorned like that of a frustrated detective.
After a 60 year old man's body is found bludgeoned to death in a rail yard, Tokyo detectives Imanishi (Tetsuro Tanba) and Yoshimura (Kensaku Morita) are assigned to the case. Having little to go on besides a brief conversation overheard in a bar that may have featured a certain word spoken in a certain Japanese dialect, the detectives embark on a frustrated investigation that yields little advancement. Over time, the younger detective Yoshimura is re-assigned, but elder policeman Imanishi continues with the case, eventually uncovering a sordid family drama that would feel right at home in a Shakespearean play.
Nomura, whose films are barely available here even though he directed over 35 of them, released "The Castle of Sand" in 1974, several years before his biggest hit "The Demon" in 1978. Given a bare bones DVD release that features some shoddy subtitling, "The Castle of Sand" is one of those films whose visible greatness lies in its unassuming narrative. At two and half hours, "The Castle of Sand" could be called epic, especially in the way it's final third plays out. With the killer identified, the police detectives plead their case for a warrant, spelling out the mystery we've been trying to uncoil for over 90 minutes. With blaring orchestra music overplaying the images, Nomura visualizes the development of a killer in a protracted, numbing sequence that swerves into melodrama and back with ease. It's a stunning third act that not only redefines the root cause of evil, but questions what exactly evil is. "The Castle of Sand" raise these intriguing questions, but it also succinctly proves that there's no fury scorned like that of a frustrated detective.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
The Current Cinema 16
Side Effects
Ahh, the comforts of Steven Soderbergh. One knows exactly what they're getting nowadays with his films (and sadly rumored to be his last).... efficient, intelligent and well manicured. This one begins like "Contagion", explicitly charting the effects of a disease (this time depression) with frightening accuracy as Rooney Mara struggles to lead a normal life after ex-convict husband (Channing Tatum) returns home. Then, about two-thirds of the way through, "Side Effects" shifts into murder-thriller mode as if it were a mid nineties direct-to-video Sharon Stone film. And I mean that in the highest regard. Jude Law, as Rooney's embattled psychiatrist, is very good as the Hitchockian everyman caught up in a wed of deceit. Still, the real greatness of "Side Effects" is its chilling representation of modern society's dependence on prescription medication to stun the reverberations of everyday life. And of course it looks magnificent, with Soderbergh's usual palate of greens, browns and golds dressing each scene. There's also one scene between Mara and Law in a quiet office building that punctuates the humming noise of a window air conditioning unit unlike any other I've seen. As a technical exercise (and basically like all of his recent films but especially "The Girlfriend Experience") "Side Effects" is peerless, even when it swerves into cheap potboiler territory.
Parker
Taylor Hackford's contemporization of Donald E. Westlake's 2000 novel "Flashfire" feels like a rushed attempt to capitalize on the sudden intrigue of the Westlake universe. It's needlessly profane and features very dull performances by both Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez. I know there are Statham fans out there, but not only does he repeat his monotonous tough guy posturing here, but there's zero chemistry between he and Lopez. He just doesn't feel like a Parker and the film never quite recovers.
A Good Day To Die Hard
Hoping for a guilty pleasure, the fifth installment of the Die Hard trilogy (which should have ended at three) delivers a malignant punch to the gut as Bruce Willis has morphed into a superhuman where no car accident causes a single cut or bruise and the bad guys shoot about as good as an 80's John Woo movie. Transferring the action to Russia where a group of bad guys do battle with two McLanes (Willis' son Jack, played to numbing monotony by Jai Courtney), "A Good Day To Die Hard" alternates between terribly choreographed CGI shoot outs and DOA puns ("I'm on vacation!"). What made the first couple of "Die Hard" films so enthralling- besides their genre pushing realistic violence and claustrophobic environments- was the outright punishment taken by Bruce Willis. "A Good Day To Die Hard" propagates the video game mentality of inconsequential car chases and shoot outs wrapped up in a boring story of old nukes. This is a real disappointment, even with low expectations.
Ahh, the comforts of Steven Soderbergh. One knows exactly what they're getting nowadays with his films (and sadly rumored to be his last).... efficient, intelligent and well manicured. This one begins like "Contagion", explicitly charting the effects of a disease (this time depression) with frightening accuracy as Rooney Mara struggles to lead a normal life after ex-convict husband (Channing Tatum) returns home. Then, about two-thirds of the way through, "Side Effects" shifts into murder-thriller mode as if it were a mid nineties direct-to-video Sharon Stone film. And I mean that in the highest regard. Jude Law, as Rooney's embattled psychiatrist, is very good as the Hitchockian everyman caught up in a wed of deceit. Still, the real greatness of "Side Effects" is its chilling representation of modern society's dependence on prescription medication to stun the reverberations of everyday life. And of course it looks magnificent, with Soderbergh's usual palate of greens, browns and golds dressing each scene. There's also one scene between Mara and Law in a quiet office building that punctuates the humming noise of a window air conditioning unit unlike any other I've seen. As a technical exercise (and basically like all of his recent films but especially "The Girlfriend Experience") "Side Effects" is peerless, even when it swerves into cheap potboiler territory.
Parker
Taylor Hackford's contemporization of Donald E. Westlake's 2000 novel "Flashfire" feels like a rushed attempt to capitalize on the sudden intrigue of the Westlake universe. It's needlessly profane and features very dull performances by both Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez. I know there are Statham fans out there, but not only does he repeat his monotonous tough guy posturing here, but there's zero chemistry between he and Lopez. He just doesn't feel like a Parker and the film never quite recovers.
A Good Day To Die Hard
Hoping for a guilty pleasure, the fifth installment of the Die Hard trilogy (which should have ended at three) delivers a malignant punch to the gut as Bruce Willis has morphed into a superhuman where no car accident causes a single cut or bruise and the bad guys shoot about as good as an 80's John Woo movie. Transferring the action to Russia where a group of bad guys do battle with two McLanes (Willis' son Jack, played to numbing monotony by Jai Courtney), "A Good Day To Die Hard" alternates between terribly choreographed CGI shoot outs and DOA puns ("I'm on vacation!"). What made the first couple of "Die Hard" films so enthralling- besides their genre pushing realistic violence and claustrophobic environments- was the outright punishment taken by Bruce Willis. "A Good Day To Die Hard" propagates the video game mentality of inconsequential car chases and shoot outs wrapped up in a boring story of old nukes. This is a real disappointment, even with low expectations.
Friday, February 15, 2013
The Last Few Films I've Seen, late January edition
1. Tom Horn (1980)- The next to last film actor Steve McQueen would participate in (the still unseen "The Hunter" would be the last), this introspective western is simply stunning. As the legendary titular character Tom Horn who's hired to clean up a turf war in 1890's Montana and then betrayed by his employers and sentenced to murder, one can feel the mortality oozing off the screen from McQueen. Ok, perhaps that's an overstatement, but "Tom Horn" is still a moving example of the emotions we as an audience project onto the screen. Bloody in all the right places- look how he dispatches the bad guys!- and quiet in the final third as McQueen's gruff cowboy silently accepts his fate, "Tom Horn" is an under seen classic.
2. Headshot (2011)- There are two camps of Thailand cinema- the Apitchatpong Weerasethakul experimental group (which I'm not a fan of) and the more genre-driven like Pen-ek Ratanaruang. If you haven't seen his 2003 film "Last Life In the Universe", then I strongly encourage it. "Headshot" is a different animal altogether. Not only does it use a majestic, brooding style to perfection, but the film's use of squibs is completely incredible... and not overdone. An assassin (Nopachai Chaiyanam) is shot in the head and when he awakes, his vision is inverted. The film follows two time lines, as he moves forward with his life and how he got into the hit man lifestyle in the first place. While some of the plot curves are characteristically ordinary, "Headshot" is an enjoyable ride.
3. About Cherry (2012)- There's no doubt young star Ashley Hinshaw is beautiful, and that's about all "About Cherry" has going for it. Yes, the film is about her slow entrance into the world of the San Francisco pornography scene, but everything within the film screams mediocrity, from the handheld camera in all the right moments to the lackluster characterizations that exhibit no depth or complexity.
4. Forced Entry (1975)- One of the more sought after 'sleazoid express' movies of the 70's, Jim Sotos's video nasty does overcome its cheap production values even if its story of deranged mechanic rapist Carl (Ron Max) is strictly ordinary. His eventual focus falls on young Nancy.... Tanya Roberts in her first film role. Now, I have an indelible crush on 70's Tanya Roberts (hey, we're born on the same day) and the final third of the film details the break-in and mentally unstable power play between the two. Director Sotos stretches out Carl's attack on Nancy to almost unbearable proportions, positioning the camera just around corners and at the bottom of the staircase, allowing the dread to reach cacophonous heights before the violence occurs. "Forced Entry" is certainly a product of its time, but a good one. Unavailable on home video for years, but a search on the internet will yield some results if one so desires.
5. Pursuit (1975)- Directed by Michael Crichton, this made-for-tv movie stars Ben Gazzara as a cop hunting down a domestic terrorist (E.G. Marshall) before he launches a dirty bomb attack on Los Angeles. Crichton has serious, intelligent chops as a writer and director (see his "The Andomeda Strain" and "The Great Train Robbery" for further proof) and for two-thirds of the film, intelligence is the key as Gazzara tries to put the pieces together. But then it all gets kinda stupid and the television budget constraints shine through. A disappointment. If the film could have stuck to the cat and mouse chase between Gazzara and Marshall, we might have something here.
6. The Take (2009)- BBC television series starring Tom Hardy as a British thug overtaking a crime syndicate. Hardy has positioned himself as one of the more dynamic and exciting young talents today and director David Drury is tv journeyman, and "The Take" was released right before Hardy scored it big on these shores. First observation- Hardy does the scowling tough guy like no one else. Secondly, I got lung cancer just watching him pound away cigarettes in this series. But seriously, this is hardcore, big-boy television, featuring a brutal rape sequence, a shovel beating of his own father and a manic, drunken, hulking performance by Hardy.
7. Stand Up Guys (2013)- Oh how I wanted to like this, but came out shaking my head in disbelief at its erratic tone. At once a comedy, then a road movie and finally an all out action film, Pacino and Walken just look tired. Directed by Fisher Stevens, this is a film that feels like a warmed over script from 1996.
8. The Imposter (2012)- The best documentary of last year (with "Jiro reams of Sushi" a close second), alternatively puzzling, shocking and so full of "what the hell" moments that I easily see a fictional re-incarnation in the not too distant future.
9. The Split (1968)- Based on a Donald Westlake novel, this film exudes late 60's coolness, primed by Jim Brown's starring role as a released con attempting one big score... which involves robbing the Los Angeles coliseum during a Rams game! Packed with a stellar supporting cast (Ernest Borgnine, Donald Sutherland, Jack Klugman and Warren Oates), "The Split" needs a DVD release now.
2. Headshot (2011)- There are two camps of Thailand cinema- the Apitchatpong Weerasethakul experimental group (which I'm not a fan of) and the more genre-driven like Pen-ek Ratanaruang. If you haven't seen his 2003 film "Last Life In the Universe", then I strongly encourage it. "Headshot" is a different animal altogether. Not only does it use a majestic, brooding style to perfection, but the film's use of squibs is completely incredible... and not overdone. An assassin (Nopachai Chaiyanam) is shot in the head and when he awakes, his vision is inverted. The film follows two time lines, as he moves forward with his life and how he got into the hit man lifestyle in the first place. While some of the plot curves are characteristically ordinary, "Headshot" is an enjoyable ride.
3. About Cherry (2012)- There's no doubt young star Ashley Hinshaw is beautiful, and that's about all "About Cherry" has going for it. Yes, the film is about her slow entrance into the world of the San Francisco pornography scene, but everything within the film screams mediocrity, from the handheld camera in all the right moments to the lackluster characterizations that exhibit no depth or complexity.
4. Forced Entry (1975)- One of the more sought after 'sleazoid express' movies of the 70's, Jim Sotos's video nasty does overcome its cheap production values even if its story of deranged mechanic rapist Carl (Ron Max) is strictly ordinary. His eventual focus falls on young Nancy.... Tanya Roberts in her first film role. Now, I have an indelible crush on 70's Tanya Roberts (hey, we're born on the same day) and the final third of the film details the break-in and mentally unstable power play between the two. Director Sotos stretches out Carl's attack on Nancy to almost unbearable proportions, positioning the camera just around corners and at the bottom of the staircase, allowing the dread to reach cacophonous heights before the violence occurs. "Forced Entry" is certainly a product of its time, but a good one. Unavailable on home video for years, but a search on the internet will yield some results if one so desires.
5. Pursuit (1975)- Directed by Michael Crichton, this made-for-tv movie stars Ben Gazzara as a cop hunting down a domestic terrorist (E.G. Marshall) before he launches a dirty bomb attack on Los Angeles. Crichton has serious, intelligent chops as a writer and director (see his "The Andomeda Strain" and "The Great Train Robbery" for further proof) and for two-thirds of the film, intelligence is the key as Gazzara tries to put the pieces together. But then it all gets kinda stupid and the television budget constraints shine through. A disappointment. If the film could have stuck to the cat and mouse chase between Gazzara and Marshall, we might have something here.
6. The Take (2009)- BBC television series starring Tom Hardy as a British thug overtaking a crime syndicate. Hardy has positioned himself as one of the more dynamic and exciting young talents today and director David Drury is tv journeyman, and "The Take" was released right before Hardy scored it big on these shores. First observation- Hardy does the scowling tough guy like no one else. Secondly, I got lung cancer just watching him pound away cigarettes in this series. But seriously, this is hardcore, big-boy television, featuring a brutal rape sequence, a shovel beating of his own father and a manic, drunken, hulking performance by Hardy.
7. Stand Up Guys (2013)- Oh how I wanted to like this, but came out shaking my head in disbelief at its erratic tone. At once a comedy, then a road movie and finally an all out action film, Pacino and Walken just look tired. Directed by Fisher Stevens, this is a film that feels like a warmed over script from 1996.
8. The Imposter (2012)- The best documentary of last year (with "Jiro reams of Sushi" a close second), alternatively puzzling, shocking and so full of "what the hell" moments that I easily see a fictional re-incarnation in the not too distant future.
9. The Split (1968)- Based on a Donald Westlake novel, this film exudes late 60's coolness, primed by Jim Brown's starring role as a released con attempting one big score... which involves robbing the Los Angeles coliseum during a Rams game! Packed with a stellar supporting cast (Ernest Borgnine, Donald Sutherland, Jack Klugman and Warren Oates), "The Split" needs a DVD release now.
Thursday, February 07, 2013
Michael Mann at 70
To commemorate one of my very favorite directors turning 70, here's a random link that exudes coolness... something Mann often excels at within his neon, crime-ridden worlds.
Sunday, February 03, 2013
Top 5 List: Men On A Mission Genre
4. The Dirty Dozen- After watching this again for the first time in years, I’m reminded how much of a genre-stealing hack Quentin Tarantino really is. With an all-star cast, Aldrich basically upped the ante on the “men on a mission” war genre that would see itself re-invented and re-imagined for years to come- and on both sides of the ocean as well. The great conceit in Aldrich’s adrenalized affair is just how long he spends humanizing the ‘dirty dozen’ before their fatalistic mission to wipe out the German high command at a Paris chateau. Nihilism doesn’t begin to describe the lengths Aldrich goes in that final battle, and its all very non-Hollywood, which probably earns the film even higher regards nowadays. This was 1966 and we’re treated to Lee Marvin sadistically trying to break off the vent hoods so his men can drop grenades down into the underground hideout of the German men and their party-goers. As an action film, “The Dirty Dozen” is aces. As a film that successfully inverts our expectations about the ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys’, it’s a revelation. Probably the prototypical men-on-a-mission film that almost everyone identifies with.
2. Wages of Fear
Henri Georges Clouzot's 1953 film about a group of men hired to transport a truck full of nitroglycerin across a rugged South American jungle is such an underrated film. The tension reaches unbearable lengths and sweat, grime and an almost silent cinema mise-en-scene overtakes the second half of the film. I regret to say I've never seen William Friedkin's remake, titled "Sorcerer" due to a terrible DVD print, but I may have to buck up and bear it soon. As it stands, "Wages of Fear" is a classic men on a mission entry.
1. The Untouchables
Sunday, January 27, 2013
70's Bonanza: Play It As It Lays
Tuesday Weld is just beautiful... and that beauty makes it all the more heartbreaking in the way she stumbles through her days in Frank Perry's dark deconstruction of a Hollywood starlet's psyche. Released in 1972 (and never available on DVD, although the Sundance channel once had it in its rotation about 6 years ago), "Play It As It Lays" is a fragmented and very loose character study as Maria (Weld) has her marriage to hotshot director Carter Lang (Adam Roarke) dissolve early in the film. She then faces an abortion, whose sounds and images are replayed like bad nightmares throughout the remainder of the film. Her best friend, a producer played tremendously by Anthony Perkins, is there for long walks on the beach and drunken conversations, but he can barely stand his own insufferable existence and eventually, Maria has nothing better to do than hang around the desert set of her ex-husband's new film and shoot live ammo with the stunt coordinator. Yes, "Play It As It Lays" borders on the misanthropic side, to say the least, all held together by a swooning visual style that heightens the smog across Los Angeles and plays like a feminist version of a later Brett Easton Ellis novel. Even the shadowy chauffer who leads her to her bayside abortion is more worried about the gas mileage of her corvette than her state of well being.
Based on a short story by Joan Didion and with a screenplay by Didion and John Gregory Dunne, "Play It As It Lays" makes for a startling double feature of mid-life crisis when paired with director Perry's previous film "The Swimmer". In that film, Burt Lancaster is on an almost mythological adventure as he's trying to swim home through the backyard pools of his neighbors, getting caught up in their waifish lifestyles and obviously running from something himself. Also not available on DVD, "The Swimmer" is an amazing film for 1968 whose message is oblique yet somewhat disturbing. In "Play It As It Lays", Tuesday Weld reaches a state of emotional and physical paralysis at one point which prompts Anthony Perkins to remark her state of "catatonia" is not pretty. Like Lancaster, Maria is a stunted individual suffering through the empty Southern California lifestyle. But what makes her story more damaging is the fact she does hold out some hope for a brighter future as her young daughter is confined to a children's home for unspecified reasons. In her fractured voice over that frames part of the film, no answer is given for this although we know she deeply cares for her daughter as it seems to be the only part of her life that means something, held out in her mind like an oasis from the shit of SoCal.
As stated here many times, filmmaker Frank Perry is such an under rated talent, equally depressing that his very adult films are rarely available on home video distribution, "The Swimmer" and "Play It As It Lays" being front and center. By the time Tuesday Weld, hair messy and eyes wide, stares straight into the camera and answers her off-screen director to break the wall between film and confessional in the final scene of "Play It As It Lays" attests, there are beautiful disasters still waiting to be discovered.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
RetroGrade: The Best Non-2012 Films I Saw In 2012
10. The Night of the Generals (1967), directed by Anatole Litvak
Anatole Litvak's delirious mix up of revisionist history, detective pulp thriller and Nazi hunting is one terrific ride, largely ignored by pretty much everyone. It is available on DVD, so do yourself a favor and catch up with this epic gem.
9. Mother, Jugs and Speed (1976), directed by Peter Yates
8. The Seventh Cross (1944), directed by Fred Zinneman
A great film of two halves. The first part is a tense and dirty road movie in which an escaped Jewish prisoner (Spencer Tracy) desperately tries to seek refuge from his Nazi captors. Once under roof, the film plays out like a film noir as old friends could become betrayers and every shadow looms with danger. Directed by Fred Zinneman, its an unheralded classic.
7. Sky Riders (1976), directed by Douglas Hickox
Terrorism. Susannah York kidnapped. James Coburn. Hang gliding. Need I say more for pure, unadulterated 1970's bliss? In all seriousness, Douglas Hickox's "Sky Riders" (aka "Assault On the Hidden Fortress", which is a pretty kick ass name in and of itself) is great fun... an actioner that never takes itself too seriously and dispenses with deep characterizations and motives and focuses on it's loopy, Saturday afternoon serial style.
6. The Last Sunset (1961), directed by Robert Aldrich
An interior western and a superior one. All the regular genre tropes are there: a cattle drive, outlaw and sheriff, open vistas…. But the real tension in Aldrich’s understated masterpiece is the simmering tension boiling between all involved. Kirk Douglas is an outlaw on the run when he finds his way to the cabin of an old flame (Dorothy Malone), immediately hooks up with her and her husband’s cattle drive, and then finds the sheriff chasing him (Rock Hudson) join the fray as well in order to serve the existing warrant on him the minute they cross the Texas border. Throw in a 17 year old daughter (Carol Lynly) who develops a crush on Douglas, and “The Last Sunset” turns into a chamber drama under the sun with every principal character hiding an ulterior motive. The way in which Aldrich moves the chess pieces around the board is hugely satisfying, and it all culminates in an extremely moving testament to the individual lost amidst the lawlessness of the Old West and his quiet redemption. Viewed while catching up with the entire career of filmmaker Robert Aldrich.
5. The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978), directed by Ermanno Olmi
On paper, Ermanno Olmi's three hour epic sounds like a snoozer- the lives of three families who live and work on a large tract of land and their daily activities. What we get is a nuanced, intricate and brave depiction that never falters and continually creates passion out of the mundane.
4. Onimasa, A Japanese Godfather (1983), directed by Hideo Gosha
Hideo Gosha's epic rendering of a young girls' introduction into the home of a yakuza mobster. Spanning some thirty years, "Onimasa" feels like a precursor to so many later films. Moving, violent, unexpected... it's simply one of the best films of its time.
3. The Pornagrophers (1966), directed by Shohei Imamura
2. State of Siege (1972), directed by Costas-Gavras
9. Mother, Jugs and Speed (1976), directed by Peter Yates
Terrific, fast paced comedy-drama starring Harvey Keitel, Bill Cosby and Raquel Welch as Los Angleles ambulance drivers. Immensely funny in parts, disturbing in others (see the performance of Larry Hagman), Peter Yates' film turns on a dime and jams so much into this energetic farce.
7. Sky Riders (1976), directed by Douglas Hickox
6. The Last Sunset (1961), directed by Robert Aldrich
An interior western and a superior one. All the regular genre tropes are there: a cattle drive, outlaw and sheriff, open vistas…. But the real tension in Aldrich’s understated masterpiece is the simmering tension boiling between all involved. Kirk Douglas is an outlaw on the run when he finds his way to the cabin of an old flame (Dorothy Malone), immediately hooks up with her and her husband’s cattle drive, and then finds the sheriff chasing him (Rock Hudson) join the fray as well in order to serve the existing warrant on him the minute they cross the Texas border. Throw in a 17 year old daughter (Carol Lynly) who develops a crush on Douglas, and “The Last Sunset” turns into a chamber drama under the sun with every principal character hiding an ulterior motive. The way in which Aldrich moves the chess pieces around the board is hugely satisfying, and it all culminates in an extremely moving testament to the individual lost amidst the lawlessness of the Old West and his quiet redemption. Viewed while catching up with the entire career of filmmaker Robert Aldrich.
5. The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978), directed by Ermanno Olmi
4. Onimasa, A Japanese Godfather (1983), directed by Hideo Gosha
3. The Pornagrophers (1966), directed by Shohei Imamura
I know I've seen Imamura's "The Pornographers" before, but upon a re-watch in 2012, it struck me as something revelatory and new. Also known as the dissolution of a family through windows and doors, and, in my opinion, Imamura’s first great film. Ogata (Shoichi Ozawa) makes a living filming porn movies on the side. He cares for his wife (Sumiko Sakamoto) and is perversely attracted to his 16 year old daughter. His son, in between stealing money from him and passively avoiding any conflict in the house, barely exists. Not only does Ogata have to worry about a possible curse from his wife’s dead husband (in the form of an omniscient fish), but the local yakuza when they find out about his profitable smut business. While this premise sounds promisingly tawdry, Imamura wisely avoids slipping into a ‘pinku’ film. Whether observing an office business party or the filming of a very uncomfortable sex scene between a mentally challenged girl and an older man, Imamura’s camera is perched carefully outside the action, creating an even more meta-movie experience than the film’s opening where three men are watching the same movie we are. We are truly observers in this bracing idea of a film. For 1966, “The Pornographers” is a richly textured, envelope-pushing masterwork.
2. State of Siege (1972), directed by Costas-Gavras
"State of Siege", directed by Costa-Gavras, has alot in common with the 70's films of Francesco Rosi.... films that are right in my wheelhouse with their dry, intelligent depiction of the vagaries of big government mixed up with corruption, terrorism and bureaucratic mess. Like "The Mattei Affair" or especially "Lucky Luciano", Costa-Gavras' film takes one incident- the kidnapping of a high ranking government official- and spins a narrative from several angles, viewpoints and moral conviction. And because the film opens with a startling discovery, the prime motivation is not in telling the story with a resolution, but in the high--wire act that both sides of the law navigate across. Released in 1973, gaining no real fanfare and relatively lost in home video distribution (my copy is a Region 4 disc from Spain), "State of Siege" is an amazing and angry film.
1. That Day, On the Beach (1983), directed by Edward Yang
Even though director Edward Yang already had one short film under his belt (a portion of the omnibus "In Our Time" in 1983), nothing would quite compare to the ambition and brilliance of his debut feature length film "That Day, On the Beach" one year later. Sprawling and intimately epic, "That Day, On the Beach" has quickly become my very favorite Yang film... and considering his brief but magnificent output, that's saying alot. With a running time of two hours and 45 minutes, "That Day, On the Beach" takes its time in telling a story in flashback (and even flashback within the flashback) of the reunion between old friends JiaLi (Syvlia Chang) and Qin Qin (Terry Hu). Qin is a successful pianist in town for a show when she decides to reach out to her old friend. In casual conversation, JiaLi tells of her struggle after the two friends parted after high school and her subsequent relationship with Daiwei (David Mao) and their turbulent affairs together. To complicate matters, Qin Qin was once in love with JiaLi's brother, and this is the reason she initially wanted to reunite with her. Still, "That Day, On the Beach" is Sylvia Chang's story, seamlessly shifting from past to present as she tells her story to her old friend, including the strange disappearance of her husband and the tender bonds between the family she once left behind.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Moments of 2012
In conjunction with my favorite films of the year list, I offer up some moments out of 2012 films that made an indelible impression on me. Older online buddies will recognize this as a recurring event. This list is a collection of film dialogue, gestures, camera movements, moods or looks and ideas within a given scene. This list is inspired by Roger Ebert's list of movie moments as well as the once great (now defunct) yearly wrap up in Film Comment. Possible spoilers so beware!
1. Gina Carana slipping off her heels before a fight. “Haywire”
2. John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) standing to fight with his dog Woola as a horde of alien warriors encroaches upon them in “John Carter of Mars”
3.“oh shit… our donkey’s in the ditch” Texan poetry in “Bernie”
4. Penny (Kiera Knightely) and Dodge (Steve Carell) looking into each other’s eyes as the world crumbles around them… probably the finest scene in film this year “Seeking A Friend For the End of the World”
5. In a long tracking shot, a group of men hide behind trucks and vehicles underneath a highway overpass and engage in a confusing shoot-out- and then a burning tire rolls by….. The excitement of Gerardo Naranjo’s “Miss Bala”
6. In “Beasts of the Southern Wild”- in what feels like an improvised moment- a man (Dwight Henry) looks at the camera and says “I got this”
7. In a jail cell, a man and woman sit with their backs to each other and talk “Seeking A Friend For the End of the World”
8. In a wordless, dreamy sequence lit only by candlelight, the expression on each man’s weary face as they look up at the beautiful girl serving them drinks…. A brief, melancholy respite from the doldrums of searching for a murdered body in “Once Upon A Time In Anatolia”
9. “Polisse” and the disco dance of a group of cops at play
10. The small hesitation of the hunter (Willem DaFoe), his gun slightly lowered, and the almost welcoming head bob of the Tasmanian tiger he’s been hunting. “The Hunter”
11. At a house party, the gently protracted long shot as Monica Bellucci dances with various partners….. Yet another glorious musical interlude in the work of Philippe Garrel in “A Burning Hot Summer”
12. Against a sunset backdrop, Christopher Walken talks into a tape recorder and weaves a story about a homicidal priest and his few final last thoughts…. While intentionally self deprecating for most of its running time, “Seven Psychopaths” turns genuinely moving
13. The way Pete (Paul Rudd) begins to walk into the kitchen, and sees his wife (Leslie Mann) and father (Albert Brooks) talking.... then slowly backs out of the room. "This Is 40"
14. The stuttering and stammering of Mark Duplass with “what did you, how did you, what did you, what are you doing here?” as Emily Blunt crashes a drunken hangover in a cabin…. “Your Sister’s Sister”
15. A man walking up the pier, the camera seamlessly going in and out of focus on him, then a yacht, back to him as if the two images are inextricably linked in “The Master”
16. In “The Day He Arrives”, a group of people stumble into the cold morning waiting for a cab and the way one of them leans forward to hold his balance. The drunken state we’ve all experienced in a patient long take
17. “Jack Reacher” and the very 70’s car chase
18. “I wanna do heroin and listen to Radiohead!” Patton Oswalt in “Seeking A Friend For the End of the World”
19. Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) meeting “The Master” and a series of questions where the camera holds on is face for an uncomfortable amount of time, then tears begin to fall and he fights them back
20. The sound of fists pummeling a sheet of ice. "Rust and Bone"
21. Inside a wooden bridge, two dark shadows fight and the sounds of a knife ripping open skin... probably one of the more boldly staged final fights I've ever seen in "Lawless" where foreground and background are blurred into one another
22. A slow motion death.... a simply breathtaking puzzle of images and sounds as Garret Dillahunt meets his end. "Looper"
23. A hand fan, fluttering at the speed of running horses, and then the scream that erupts from Anna (Keira Knightley) as her lover is tossed from his horse.... and the crowd turns to face her. "Anna Karenina"
24. In "Rust and Bone", a woman (Marion Cotillard) walks up to a glass of blue water that fills the screen and summons a whale with a gentle tap on the glass and then forgives it.
25. The reverberating sound of a car bomb... one of the most realistic sounding explosions I've ever heard. "Zero Dark Thirty"
26. The performance of Lola Creton in "Goodbye First Love" and the way she carefully puts a straw hat back onto her head after years of leaving one like it behind
27. After being asked if Django should be taken into the house, the way Don Johnson replies "no!" to Christoph Waltz "Django Unchained"
28. The droning music of "The Turin Horse". I'm still not a Bela Tarr convert, but the music made his final film all the more haunting and disturbing
29. In Sam Mendes' "Skyfall", a gunfight at the top of a glass building that ranks as the best Bond set piece in years
30. A boy suddenly falling from a tree and then the impending silence. "The Kid With a Bike"
31. When asked "where to", the complete look of utter cluelessness and relief on Mya's face in "Zero Dark Thirty"
32. A volleyball game in the Vatican courtyard. "We Have a Pope"
33. The tracking shot, partly underwater as a man swims for his life and then a giraffe swims the opposite direction in "Life of Pi"
34. Making small talk with a neighboring hotel resident and the sense of normalcy, for a fleeting moment, for "Barbara" (Nina Hoss)
35. The close up on Philip Seymour Hoffman's face as a bike disappears into the desert and he screms "Freddie!" "The Master"
1. Gina Carana slipping off her heels before a fight. “Haywire”
2. John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) standing to fight with his dog Woola as a horde of alien warriors encroaches upon them in “John Carter of Mars”
3.“oh shit… our donkey’s in the ditch” Texan poetry in “Bernie”
4. Penny (Kiera Knightely) and Dodge (Steve Carell) looking into each other’s eyes as the world crumbles around them… probably the finest scene in film this year “Seeking A Friend For the End of the World”
5. In a long tracking shot, a group of men hide behind trucks and vehicles underneath a highway overpass and engage in a confusing shoot-out- and then a burning tire rolls by….. The excitement of Gerardo Naranjo’s “Miss Bala”
6. In “Beasts of the Southern Wild”- in what feels like an improvised moment- a man (Dwight Henry) looks at the camera and says “I got this”
7. In a jail cell, a man and woman sit with their backs to each other and talk “Seeking A Friend For the End of the World”
8. In a wordless, dreamy sequence lit only by candlelight, the expression on each man’s weary face as they look up at the beautiful girl serving them drinks…. A brief, melancholy respite from the doldrums of searching for a murdered body in “Once Upon A Time In Anatolia”
9. “Polisse” and the disco dance of a group of cops at play
10. The small hesitation of the hunter (Willem DaFoe), his gun slightly lowered, and the almost welcoming head bob of the Tasmanian tiger he’s been hunting. “The Hunter”
11. At a house party, the gently protracted long shot as Monica Bellucci dances with various partners….. Yet another glorious musical interlude in the work of Philippe Garrel in “A Burning Hot Summer”
12. Against a sunset backdrop, Christopher Walken talks into a tape recorder and weaves a story about a homicidal priest and his few final last thoughts…. While intentionally self deprecating for most of its running time, “Seven Psychopaths” turns genuinely moving
13. The way Pete (Paul Rudd) begins to walk into the kitchen, and sees his wife (Leslie Mann) and father (Albert Brooks) talking.... then slowly backs out of the room. "This Is 40"
14. The stuttering and stammering of Mark Duplass with “what did you, how did you, what did you, what are you doing here?” as Emily Blunt crashes a drunken hangover in a cabin…. “Your Sister’s Sister”
15. A man walking up the pier, the camera seamlessly going in and out of focus on him, then a yacht, back to him as if the two images are inextricably linked in “The Master”
16. In “The Day He Arrives”, a group of people stumble into the cold morning waiting for a cab and the way one of them leans forward to hold his balance. The drunken state we’ve all experienced in a patient long take
17. “Jack Reacher” and the very 70’s car chase
18. “I wanna do heroin and listen to Radiohead!” Patton Oswalt in “Seeking A Friend For the End of the World”
19. Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) meeting “The Master” and a series of questions where the camera holds on is face for an uncomfortable amount of time, then tears begin to fall and he fights them back
20. The sound of fists pummeling a sheet of ice. "Rust and Bone"
21. Inside a wooden bridge, two dark shadows fight and the sounds of a knife ripping open skin... probably one of the more boldly staged final fights I've ever seen in "Lawless" where foreground and background are blurred into one another
22. A slow motion death.... a simply breathtaking puzzle of images and sounds as Garret Dillahunt meets his end. "Looper"
23. A hand fan, fluttering at the speed of running horses, and then the scream that erupts from Anna (Keira Knightley) as her lover is tossed from his horse.... and the crowd turns to face her. "Anna Karenina"
24. In "Rust and Bone", a woman (Marion Cotillard) walks up to a glass of blue water that fills the screen and summons a whale with a gentle tap on the glass and then forgives it.
25. The reverberating sound of a car bomb... one of the most realistic sounding explosions I've ever heard. "Zero Dark Thirty"
26. The performance of Lola Creton in "Goodbye First Love" and the way she carefully puts a straw hat back onto her head after years of leaving one like it behind
27. After being asked if Django should be taken into the house, the way Don Johnson replies "no!" to Christoph Waltz "Django Unchained"
28. The droning music of "The Turin Horse". I'm still not a Bela Tarr convert, but the music made his final film all the more haunting and disturbing
29. In Sam Mendes' "Skyfall", a gunfight at the top of a glass building that ranks as the best Bond set piece in years
30. A boy suddenly falling from a tree and then the impending silence. "The Kid With a Bike"
31. When asked "where to", the complete look of utter cluelessness and relief on Mya's face in "Zero Dark Thirty"
32. A volleyball game in the Vatican courtyard. "We Have a Pope"
33. The tracking shot, partly underwater as a man swims for his life and then a giraffe swims the opposite direction in "Life of Pi"
34. Making small talk with a neighboring hotel resident and the sense of normalcy, for a fleeting moment, for "Barbara" (Nina Hoss)
35. The close up on Philip Seymour Hoffman's face as a bike disappears into the desert and he screms "Freddie!" "The Master"
Friday, January 18, 2013
Faves of 2012
15. Once Upon a Time In Anatolia- Slow moving but hypnotic, this is probably the longest film (2 hours and 37 minutes) that's ever dealt with what is 30 second fodder in most other 'crime' movies. A group of policeman and a doctor scour the countryside in search of a body when the killer can't exactly remember where he buried it. Nuri Bilge Ceylan is a master of composition and lighting here, none more so stunning than one sequence drained in candlelight and each man noticing the beautiful young girl's face behind it. Pure magic. The film's themes about masculinity and past sorrow are also resounding.
14. Cloud Atlas- Hugely ambitious, “Cloud Atlas” stumbles and fumbles a bit, yet by the end of its almost three hour running time, I was largely moved by its multi-narrative tension and star-crossed human connections. This is a film that one has to let go of their inhibitions (namely Tom Hanks and Halle Berry in bad prosthetics and almost infant like speech) and allow the overall tone and mood to take hold. And that it does, ably controlled by the Wachowski siblings and Tom Tywker.
13. The Grey- After nearly 12 months, Joe Carnahan’s moody and atmospheric survival thriller still resonates. What’s most interesting about “The Grey”, besides its unilateral approach to non-commercial expectations in a commercial release, is its open-to-interpretation narrative and denouement. The wolves, designed solely as glaring eyes in the darkness and CGI rendering, may be real or they could all be paranoid projections of the mind by the sick and genuinely disaffected survivors. Like “Narc”, Carnahan seems fascinated by memories of loss and regret and their powerful impact on strong men. “The Grey” would make for a perfect double feature with his previous film. But besides all that lofty praise, “The Grey” is an excellent genre film, owned by Neeson’s steely performance and a sound editing team that creates a scary atmosphere of blistering winds, off-screen howls and crushing metal that linger long after the film is over.
12. Perfect Sense- David Mackinzie’s utterly terrifying and ruminative apocalypse film was barely released this year. Such a shame, as it’s a terrific example of low-fi ingenuity with a strong cast led by Eva Green and Ewan McGregor falling in love as the world tears apart around them. Set against the musical interludes of the great Max Richter, “Perfect Sense” is an astounding film that feels like something Stanley Kubrick would have made in his younger days.
11. Beasts of the Southern Wild- It starts out with a trance-like fervor, endlessly following a group of poverty ridden people living on the outskirts of the levee in Louisiana, and then turns powerfully raw and lyrical. A terrific debut for director Benh Zeitlin that feels a bit like warmed over David Gordon Green, but eventually finds its own magical footing.
10. Kill List- Ben Wheatley's cocktail mix of a film tries its hand at three different genres, each one more terrifying and disturbing than the next, and establishes him as a great talent to watch. The less one knows about this film, the better.
9. Rampart- Oren Moverman’s “Rampart” is a blazing, hard edged character study that features a tremendous performance by Woody Harrelson doing his best “Bad Lieutenant” impersonation. With a script by the legendary James Ellroy, “Rampart” takes place in a very specific time and place- 1999 Los Angeles, hot summer in the middle of the LAPD corruption scandal. As his sophomore film, writer/director Moverman has crafted a film that feels at once organic and kinetic. There’s a scene early on, around the dinner table, that feels so perfectly acted as Harrelson bounces around in flirtation with each ex-wife and then a back-and-forth with his teenage daughters, it would be easy to tag the film as improvised. But, with the pedigree of Ellroy and other scenes that give Harrelson long, stately (and filthy) monologues, the script firmly proves a foundation to a narrative that is otherwise rambling, but only in the best sense.
8. Killer Joe- William Friedkin's "Killer Joe" is an aggressive white-trash film noir that consistently shifts its point of view between its characters, creating a bizarre and almost over-the-top narrative that accelerates as its progresses to its shattering finale. And did I mention it's brutally funny... as well as just brutal?
7. Rust and Bone- A complex and formally ravishing portrait of two damaged people coming together to make one is yet another audacious effort from French filmmaker Jacques Audiard. Marion Cotillard is stunning and Audiard’s fluent camera captures so many fleeting emotions at the edges of the frame that “Rust and Bone” magnificently outstretches its somewhat clichéd narrative to become an engulfing emotional experience. Nothing is more moving than the final phone call between Cotillard and Schoenaerts or the way Cotillard summons a whale against the glass and forgives it.
6. Oslo, August 31- Joachem Trier's sophomore film is spectacular for the way in which it takes an ordinary subject and weaves a devastating tale. It's also a very personal film. It's not long into the film that Trier adds voice overs of unnamed people recalling the various pleasurable memories of growing up in Oslo, Norway. It feels like an old fashioned novel as memories marry against the image of a bustling but quaint cityscape. And into this city ventures recovering addict Anders (Anders Lie). We desperately pull for Anders to come out unscathed from his inner demons. He's not a bad person.... he's just incredibly confused and damaged. “Oslo August 31” documents this struggle with aching reality.
5. Looper- If "Brick" was a modern film noir diluted through the emo tendencies of teenagers and "The Brothers Bloom" was a 1930's caper film, highlighted by bubblegum aesthetics and an almost child-like attention to puppy love, "Looper" is darker, easily borrowing from both the sci-fi dystopia genre and western. And it has a lot on its mind, eventually turning into a dynamic examination of violence, revenge and that sticky scenario known as time travel. Joseph Gordon Levitt and Emily Blunt are fantastic, and the film itself turns on a dime mid-way through to reveal a deeper current… one that posits its true genre assertions into murky emotional waters and makes us care for everyone across several dimensions of time and space.
4. Anna Karenina- Joe Wright’s “Anna Karenina” faces a tough challenge: creating something vibrant and refreshing out of a dusty classic Russian novel without trivialization. It does this magnificently. “Anna Karenina” is a highly imaginative interpretation and a cinematic treat. This is a visualization where the carnal affection of love-at-first-sight between two people dancing is symbolized as they weave across a dance floor against motionless couples around them…. where a torn letter tossed into the air morphs into a snowstorm and one door opens up into the backdrop of another like a star gate transporting the actors through time and space. Or where an ornate hand fan melts into the sound of thumping horse hoofs. Basically, I was riveted from start to finish. Wright has crafted a kinetic film and one that feels superbly connected to the emotions and longueurs of its source novel while opening up the parameters of its antiquated narrative in progressive, thrilling ways.
3. Moonrise Kingdom- At this point in Wes Anderson’s career, his visual style, eccentric characterizations and pop song interludes could be lamentable. And yet, his seventh film entitled “Moonrise Kingdom” excels in all of this, creating a pop color world of infectious young love and cinematic dreaminess. Call it his tweener version of “Pierrot le Fou”… or maybe it’s just my auteur-like appreciation ala Andrew Sarris firmly rooted in place. Yes, writer-director Anderson is infatuated with awkward and unrequited teenager love (see “Rushmore”) but he maintains the pulse on the dour aspects of love as well, none more so touching than the short conversation Murray and McDormand share in bed one night, looking up through their ceiling’s skylight. Perfect production design and camera placement aside, “Moonrise Kingdom” is attuned to all the shaggy, imperfect vagaries of love.
2. Zero Dark Thirty- A crackling military procedural with a terrific performance by Jessica Chastain, Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" is a carefully modulated piece that intelligently deconstructs the great manhunt for Osama bin Laden. Jessica Chastain deserves the Oscar for her outstanding performance, exuding an array of emotions in her eyes behind a relatively steely posture.
1. The Master- Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson has made the father-son relationship complex a recurring theme in many of his films, whether subjugated within his multi-storyline narrative ("Magnolia") or tangentially within genre ("Hard Eight", "Boogie Nights"), but his latest film, "The Master" may be his most pointed and raw effort yet. From the first time stunted, angry seaman Freddy Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) and learned doctor Lancaster Dodd (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) meet, the overtures of the father-son relationship are overt and tense in the way Dodd says "alright..." in that fatherly tone of a man sitting behind a large desk, patiently accepting his sulking son's presence either good or bad. And from there, "The Master" gels into a sublime series of scenes where father and prodigal son connect, disconnect, argue, love and work through repressed emotions caused by post-war stress. “The Master” is a towering, oblique and stunning masterpiece.
Honorable mentions: Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Snow White and the Hunstmen, Seeking A Friend For the End of the World, Barbara, Jack Reacher, Trishna
14. Cloud Atlas- Hugely ambitious, “Cloud Atlas” stumbles and fumbles a bit, yet by the end of its almost three hour running time, I was largely moved by its multi-narrative tension and star-crossed human connections. This is a film that one has to let go of their inhibitions (namely Tom Hanks and Halle Berry in bad prosthetics and almost infant like speech) and allow the overall tone and mood to take hold. And that it does, ably controlled by the Wachowski siblings and Tom Tywker.
13. The Grey- After nearly 12 months, Joe Carnahan’s moody and atmospheric survival thriller still resonates. What’s most interesting about “The Grey”, besides its unilateral approach to non-commercial expectations in a commercial release, is its open-to-interpretation narrative and denouement. The wolves, designed solely as glaring eyes in the darkness and CGI rendering, may be real or they could all be paranoid projections of the mind by the sick and genuinely disaffected survivors. Like “Narc”, Carnahan seems fascinated by memories of loss and regret and their powerful impact on strong men. “The Grey” would make for a perfect double feature with his previous film. But besides all that lofty praise, “The Grey” is an excellent genre film, owned by Neeson’s steely performance and a sound editing team that creates a scary atmosphere of blistering winds, off-screen howls and crushing metal that linger long after the film is over.
12. Perfect Sense- David Mackinzie’s utterly terrifying and ruminative apocalypse film was barely released this year. Such a shame, as it’s a terrific example of low-fi ingenuity with a strong cast led by Eva Green and Ewan McGregor falling in love as the world tears apart around them. Set against the musical interludes of the great Max Richter, “Perfect Sense” is an astounding film that feels like something Stanley Kubrick would have made in his younger days.
11. Beasts of the Southern Wild- It starts out with a trance-like fervor, endlessly following a group of poverty ridden people living on the outskirts of the levee in Louisiana, and then turns powerfully raw and lyrical. A terrific debut for director Benh Zeitlin that feels a bit like warmed over David Gordon Green, but eventually finds its own magical footing.
10. Kill List- Ben Wheatley's cocktail mix of a film tries its hand at three different genres, each one more terrifying and disturbing than the next, and establishes him as a great talent to watch. The less one knows about this film, the better.
9. Rampart- Oren Moverman’s “Rampart” is a blazing, hard edged character study that features a tremendous performance by Woody Harrelson doing his best “Bad Lieutenant” impersonation. With a script by the legendary James Ellroy, “Rampart” takes place in a very specific time and place- 1999 Los Angeles, hot summer in the middle of the LAPD corruption scandal. As his sophomore film, writer/director Moverman has crafted a film that feels at once organic and kinetic. There’s a scene early on, around the dinner table, that feels so perfectly acted as Harrelson bounces around in flirtation with each ex-wife and then a back-and-forth with his teenage daughters, it would be easy to tag the film as improvised. But, with the pedigree of Ellroy and other scenes that give Harrelson long, stately (and filthy) monologues, the script firmly proves a foundation to a narrative that is otherwise rambling, but only in the best sense.
8. Killer Joe- William Friedkin's "Killer Joe" is an aggressive white-trash film noir that consistently shifts its point of view between its characters, creating a bizarre and almost over-the-top narrative that accelerates as its progresses to its shattering finale. And did I mention it's brutally funny... as well as just brutal?
7. Rust and Bone- A complex and formally ravishing portrait of two damaged people coming together to make one is yet another audacious effort from French filmmaker Jacques Audiard. Marion Cotillard is stunning and Audiard’s fluent camera captures so many fleeting emotions at the edges of the frame that “Rust and Bone” magnificently outstretches its somewhat clichéd narrative to become an engulfing emotional experience. Nothing is more moving than the final phone call between Cotillard and Schoenaerts or the way Cotillard summons a whale against the glass and forgives it.
6. Oslo, August 31- Joachem Trier's sophomore film is spectacular for the way in which it takes an ordinary subject and weaves a devastating tale. It's also a very personal film. It's not long into the film that Trier adds voice overs of unnamed people recalling the various pleasurable memories of growing up in Oslo, Norway. It feels like an old fashioned novel as memories marry against the image of a bustling but quaint cityscape. And into this city ventures recovering addict Anders (Anders Lie). We desperately pull for Anders to come out unscathed from his inner demons. He's not a bad person.... he's just incredibly confused and damaged. “Oslo August 31” documents this struggle with aching reality.
5. Looper- If "Brick" was a modern film noir diluted through the emo tendencies of teenagers and "The Brothers Bloom" was a 1930's caper film, highlighted by bubblegum aesthetics and an almost child-like attention to puppy love, "Looper" is darker, easily borrowing from both the sci-fi dystopia genre and western. And it has a lot on its mind, eventually turning into a dynamic examination of violence, revenge and that sticky scenario known as time travel. Joseph Gordon Levitt and Emily Blunt are fantastic, and the film itself turns on a dime mid-way through to reveal a deeper current… one that posits its true genre assertions into murky emotional waters and makes us care for everyone across several dimensions of time and space.
4. Anna Karenina- Joe Wright’s “Anna Karenina” faces a tough challenge: creating something vibrant and refreshing out of a dusty classic Russian novel without trivialization. It does this magnificently. “Anna Karenina” is a highly imaginative interpretation and a cinematic treat. This is a visualization where the carnal affection of love-at-first-sight between two people dancing is symbolized as they weave across a dance floor against motionless couples around them…. where a torn letter tossed into the air morphs into a snowstorm and one door opens up into the backdrop of another like a star gate transporting the actors through time and space. Or where an ornate hand fan melts into the sound of thumping horse hoofs. Basically, I was riveted from start to finish. Wright has crafted a kinetic film and one that feels superbly connected to the emotions and longueurs of its source novel while opening up the parameters of its antiquated narrative in progressive, thrilling ways.
3. Moonrise Kingdom- At this point in Wes Anderson’s career, his visual style, eccentric characterizations and pop song interludes could be lamentable. And yet, his seventh film entitled “Moonrise Kingdom” excels in all of this, creating a pop color world of infectious young love and cinematic dreaminess. Call it his tweener version of “Pierrot le Fou”… or maybe it’s just my auteur-like appreciation ala Andrew Sarris firmly rooted in place. Yes, writer-director Anderson is infatuated with awkward and unrequited teenager love (see “Rushmore”) but he maintains the pulse on the dour aspects of love as well, none more so touching than the short conversation Murray and McDormand share in bed one night, looking up through their ceiling’s skylight. Perfect production design and camera placement aside, “Moonrise Kingdom” is attuned to all the shaggy, imperfect vagaries of love.
2. Zero Dark Thirty- A crackling military procedural with a terrific performance by Jessica Chastain, Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" is a carefully modulated piece that intelligently deconstructs the great manhunt for Osama bin Laden. Jessica Chastain deserves the Oscar for her outstanding performance, exuding an array of emotions in her eyes behind a relatively steely posture.
1. The Master- Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson has made the father-son relationship complex a recurring theme in many of his films, whether subjugated within his multi-storyline narrative ("Magnolia") or tangentially within genre ("Hard Eight", "Boogie Nights"), but his latest film, "The Master" may be his most pointed and raw effort yet. From the first time stunted, angry seaman Freddy Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) and learned doctor Lancaster Dodd (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) meet, the overtures of the father-son relationship are overt and tense in the way Dodd says "alright..." in that fatherly tone of a man sitting behind a large desk, patiently accepting his sulking son's presence either good or bad. And from there, "The Master" gels into a sublime series of scenes where father and prodigal son connect, disconnect, argue, love and work through repressed emotions caused by post-war stress. “The Master” is a towering, oblique and stunning masterpiece.
Honorable mentions: Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Snow White and the Hunstmen, Seeking A Friend For the End of the World, Barbara, Jack Reacher, Trishna
Thursday, January 10, 2013
The Last Few Films I've Seen, December edition
1. 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960)- Finally tracked down a copy of the final episode of Fritz Lang's Mabuse trilogy and it didn't disappoint. The idea of a hotel being the epicenter for a crazy criminal, completely under electronic surveillance control, looks ahead to terrific paranoid efforts like "The Anderson Tapes", "Red Road" or Wenders "End of Violence". As usual, Fritz Lang is about 40 years ahead of everyone else.
2. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)- A crackling procedural that tirelessly documents the manhunt for Osama bin Laden, expertly crafted by Bigelow and propulsive from start to finish. Jessica Chastain deserves the Oscar for her outstanding performance, exuding an array of emotions in her eyes behind a relatively steely posture. One of the very best films of the year.
3. Red Hook Summer (2012)- Self indulgent and almost unwatchable, framed by Spike Lee's tiring penchant for fish eye lenses and broad performances.
4. The Impossible (2012)- J.A. Bayona helms this survival story with panache and some striking cinematography (including depicting the tsunami itself and Naomi Watts' struggle for survival with harrowing precision) yet the film hits one too many emotionally manipulative moments. The most egregious moment comes when a pivotal reunion occurs right in front of a school bus full of native children.
5. The Invisible War (2012)- This documentary would make for a very confusing double bill with "Zero Dark Thirty". The documentary genre is becoming a journalistic search for buried truths hidden right in front of our eyes, and this is an especially compelling and infuriating one.
6. The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)- On paper, Ermanno Olmi's three hour epic sounds like a snoozer- the lives of three families who live and work on a large tract of land and their daily activities. What we get is a nuanced, intricate and brave depiction that never falters and continually creates passion out of the mundane.
7. Your Sister's Sister (2012)- Oh Emily Blunt how I love you. And how I hate you for falling in love with a slacker jackass like Mark Duplass in this film. Other than that, Lynn Shelton's tale of a treacherous love triangle starts out promising (with a piercing memorial service over drinks), dovetails a bit when the emotional static kicks in, then ends on a relatively sweet (and ambiguous) note.
8. Turn Me On, Dammit (2011)- Bad, really bad. I honestly couldn't even finish it.
9. The Day He Arrives (2012)- Hong Sang Soo is especially prolific. This his first of two films that got released this year is a bit of a headscratcher as an ex-film director returns to an old friend, visits his ex-girlfriend, then spends the rest of his days meeting a girl who looks just like his girlfriend as the film charts the various ways this new found relationship might progress. On the surface level, it feels superficial. But on reflection, the film grew on me and it became a sort of Fellini-esque tale about stalled adulthood.
2. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)- A crackling procedural that tirelessly documents the manhunt for Osama bin Laden, expertly crafted by Bigelow and propulsive from start to finish. Jessica Chastain deserves the Oscar for her outstanding performance, exuding an array of emotions in her eyes behind a relatively steely posture. One of the very best films of the year.
3. Red Hook Summer (2012)- Self indulgent and almost unwatchable, framed by Spike Lee's tiring penchant for fish eye lenses and broad performances.
4. The Impossible (2012)- J.A. Bayona helms this survival story with panache and some striking cinematography (including depicting the tsunami itself and Naomi Watts' struggle for survival with harrowing precision) yet the film hits one too many emotionally manipulative moments. The most egregious moment comes when a pivotal reunion occurs right in front of a school bus full of native children.
5. The Invisible War (2012)- This documentary would make for a very confusing double bill with "Zero Dark Thirty". The documentary genre is becoming a journalistic search for buried truths hidden right in front of our eyes, and this is an especially compelling and infuriating one.
6. The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978)- On paper, Ermanno Olmi's three hour epic sounds like a snoozer- the lives of three families who live and work on a large tract of land and their daily activities. What we get is a nuanced, intricate and brave depiction that never falters and continually creates passion out of the mundane.
7. Your Sister's Sister (2012)- Oh Emily Blunt how I love you. And how I hate you for falling in love with a slacker jackass like Mark Duplass in this film. Other than that, Lynn Shelton's tale of a treacherous love triangle starts out promising (with a piercing memorial service over drinks), dovetails a bit when the emotional static kicks in, then ends on a relatively sweet (and ambiguous) note.
8. Turn Me On, Dammit (2011)- Bad, really bad. I honestly couldn't even finish it.
9. The Day He Arrives (2012)- Hong Sang Soo is especially prolific. This his first of two films that got released this year is a bit of a headscratcher as an ex-film director returns to an old friend, visits his ex-girlfriend, then spends the rest of his days meeting a girl who looks just like his girlfriend as the film charts the various ways this new found relationship might progress. On the surface level, it feels superficial. But on reflection, the film grew on me and it became a sort of Fellini-esque tale about stalled adulthood.
Friday, January 04, 2013
The Current Cinema 15
Rust and Bone
Jacques Audiard’s “Rust and Bone” is a complex and formally ravishing portrait of two damaged people coming together to make one. Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts, as the couple, each deal with staggering personal blows in their life and form an unlikely (and even unsentimental) bond. As with his previous film “A Prophet”, Audiard has crafted another masterpiece…. his fluttering camera capturing so many fleeting emotions at the edges of the frame and involving us wholly into a story whose corners and turns elicit gasps of exhilaration and surprise. Nothing is more moving than the final phone call between Cotillard and Schoenaerts or the way Cotillard summons a whale against the glass and forgives it.
Barbara
I suppose the legend for the New New German Cinema wave was Florian von Donnersmarck’s “The Lives of Others” in 2006.… a film that turned the Cold war thriller on its ear through paranoia and devout understanding of its devious times. I nominate director Christian Petzold as the new carrier of the flag. His noir tinged “Jerichow” from a few years back is an understated gem and his latest effort, “Barbara” is not far behind. Call it an interior Stasi-thriller. Giving a fiercely quiet performance, Nina Hoss is terrific as the titular character, a nurse exiled to the country provinces for unnamed reasons. She’s constantly monitored by cars parked across the street and shuns the warm advances of her doctor co-worker (Ronald Zehrfeld). Petzold’s drama is one to be heard and seen. The omniscient wind as Barbara rides her bike…. the clack of her heels as she walks the corridors of the hospital…. and the sound of approaching cars outside her window spell both disaster and anticipation. Little is said in “Barbara”, but much is inferred and Hoss gives a full bodied performance through her steely eyes and stiffened posture. Plans of escape of made, sympathy is shown for patients, but overall, “Barbara” is a damning examination of a very particular place and time.
Django Unchained
I complain about this every time, but I continue to give Tarantino a chance to redeem himself with me. Sadly, “Django Unchianed” doesn’t satisfy. Yet another empty pastiche of genre (this time the spaghetti western, that, oddly, doesn’t even feel like a spaghetti western despite its mimicked Ennio Morricone soundtrack and presence of Franco Nero himself), Tarantino’s films are so far inside his own head, he doesn’t even know when too long is too much. Carrying on for close to three hours, featuring protracted conversations that drain the energy out of any established momentum, and charmless performances, “Django Unchained” revels in exaggerated bloodshed and farcical humor to a much less degree even for Tarantino’s usual self reflexive cinema.
Jack Reacher
Before even seeing “Jack Reacher”, I had two different people tell me that Tom Cruise just didn’t fit their idealized vision of the novel’s lean and mean protagonist. Being a neophyte to the Jack Reacher universe, this didn’t bother me at all. What I found was a lean and mean film itself. Scripted and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who hit all the right notes over a decade ago with “Way of the Gun”, again crafts an exacting, intelligent film. McQuarrie’s affinity for the more muscular tropes of the genre (specifically the western standoff) carry over into “Jack Reacher” as well. For once there’s a final shootout that understands the logistics of its inhabitants and a very 1970’s car chase that succeeds in sound editing over crash-bang musical cues. All in all, “Jack Reacher” feels like a very different action film, one that respects its audience instead of pandering to the lowest common denominator. McQuarrie is a very exciting talent and “Jack Reacher” is an immense surprise.
Jacques Audiard’s “Rust and Bone” is a complex and formally ravishing portrait of two damaged people coming together to make one. Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts, as the couple, each deal with staggering personal blows in their life and form an unlikely (and even unsentimental) bond. As with his previous film “A Prophet”, Audiard has crafted another masterpiece…. his fluttering camera capturing so many fleeting emotions at the edges of the frame and involving us wholly into a story whose corners and turns elicit gasps of exhilaration and surprise. Nothing is more moving than the final phone call between Cotillard and Schoenaerts or the way Cotillard summons a whale against the glass and forgives it.
Barbara
I suppose the legend for the New New German Cinema wave was Florian von Donnersmarck’s “The Lives of Others” in 2006.… a film that turned the Cold war thriller on its ear through paranoia and devout understanding of its devious times. I nominate director Christian Petzold as the new carrier of the flag. His noir tinged “Jerichow” from a few years back is an understated gem and his latest effort, “Barbara” is not far behind. Call it an interior Stasi-thriller. Giving a fiercely quiet performance, Nina Hoss is terrific as the titular character, a nurse exiled to the country provinces for unnamed reasons. She’s constantly monitored by cars parked across the street and shuns the warm advances of her doctor co-worker (Ronald Zehrfeld). Petzold’s drama is one to be heard and seen. The omniscient wind as Barbara rides her bike…. the clack of her heels as she walks the corridors of the hospital…. and the sound of approaching cars outside her window spell both disaster and anticipation. Little is said in “Barbara”, but much is inferred and Hoss gives a full bodied performance through her steely eyes and stiffened posture. Plans of escape of made, sympathy is shown for patients, but overall, “Barbara” is a damning examination of a very particular place and time.
Django Unchained
I complain about this every time, but I continue to give Tarantino a chance to redeem himself with me. Sadly, “Django Unchianed” doesn’t satisfy. Yet another empty pastiche of genre (this time the spaghetti western, that, oddly, doesn’t even feel like a spaghetti western despite its mimicked Ennio Morricone soundtrack and presence of Franco Nero himself), Tarantino’s films are so far inside his own head, he doesn’t even know when too long is too much. Carrying on for close to three hours, featuring protracted conversations that drain the energy out of any established momentum, and charmless performances, “Django Unchained” revels in exaggerated bloodshed and farcical humor to a much less degree even for Tarantino’s usual self reflexive cinema.
Jack Reacher
Before even seeing “Jack Reacher”, I had two different people tell me that Tom Cruise just didn’t fit their idealized vision of the novel’s lean and mean protagonist. Being a neophyte to the Jack Reacher universe, this didn’t bother me at all. What I found was a lean and mean film itself. Scripted and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who hit all the right notes over a decade ago with “Way of the Gun”, again crafts an exacting, intelligent film. McQuarrie’s affinity for the more muscular tropes of the genre (specifically the western standoff) carry over into “Jack Reacher” as well. For once there’s a final shootout that understands the logistics of its inhabitants and a very 1970’s car chase that succeeds in sound editing over crash-bang musical cues. All in all, “Jack Reacher” feels like a very different action film, one that respects its audience instead of pandering to the lowest common denominator. McQuarrie is a very exciting talent and “Jack Reacher” is an immense surprise.
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