Review of David Lynch's Los Angeles Trilogy

I watched this film for Cinema and Digital Technology, a film course I took. So far I have watched David Lynch's Los Angeles trilogy; Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, and Inland Empire. Lost Highway may be the best of the three and it also is, perhaps, the easiest one to follow.

Lost Highway is a film about changing identities. Bill Pullman's character changes, his wife's character changes. Eventually all of the characters lives intertwine. This thriller uses a unique narrative structure. It flashes between one character and another. The action revolves around the Pullman/mechanic character. There are some sex scenes and use of music to bring the audience deeper into the dark recesses of humanity; a gangster, a woman who was forced into pornography, juxtaposed against the mechanic and Pullman who is trying to protect his wife. Eventually the narrative circles back to the house. There the movie ends.

Mulholland Drive is similar to Lost Highway in that there is a narrative structure that is disjointed and changes of identity within the main characters. The two women become a lesbian couple and Lynch offers several scenes of softcore, lipstick lesbian erotica. I thought that Mulholland Drive was anti-climatic compared to Lost Highway and both Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive to be more linear then Inland Empire.

In Mulholland drive there is, like Lost Highway a plot shrouded in mystery. The lost girl doesn't know her name or where she lives. Eventually, with the opening of the blue cube, the McGuffin of the movie, the two women's identities are changed. One becomes a starlet and the other a jilited lover who contracts for the starlet's murder.

Inland Empire is different from both film. It has a very non-linear structure. If you thought the plot was hard to understand in Lost Highway or Mulholland Drive, then you will be even more confused by the plot in Inland Empire. There is very little exposition. The only thing holding together the film is the character of Laura Dern. We follow her through different places, different times, and, perhaps, different dimensions. Again there are changes of identity and there is little closure to the film.

Even more than Highway or Drive, Inland Empire becomes self-referential and odd. Particularly the sequence with the rabbit family.

Each film is difficult to grasp and interpret. I think Lynch does this on purpose. He pushes the boundaries of film in new directions in terms of cinematography and narrative structure.

Review of Breathless

Thoughts on Dogme 95

After reading Jack Stevenson's book Dogme Uncut and watching several Lars Von Trier films, as well as Thomas Vinterberg's masterpiece The Celebration, I thought I might voice some of my opinions about Dogme 95. I was guided in the direction of Dogme 95 after I chose to show Europa in Contemporary Film Analysis class, a course I ta. Anyway, I brought up the film to one of my professors in another Cinema class I was taking, and I purchased the book, watched some films, and am now writing about it. This is a sketch (or blog) of some initial impressions about Dogme 95. Hopefully, this will grow into a larger work, either my own Dogme influenced film, or some type of scholarly work submitted for a grade. Anyway it's fun to watch so many great films!

I had watched The Celebration years ago on the IFC channel. Not knowing about Dogme or Lars Von Trier, I was shocked and mesmerized by its content. Watching it for a second time, recently, I saw it in its totality. I noticed how it followed the Dogme vow of chastity. It only used DV video cameras, no articial light, no stage or props, no music, etc.

I was thoroughly amazed. It is one of the best movies to come along in years. It is based on a real story. The feel of the movie is as if its in real time. I thought the movie especially with its disturbing narrative, was fascinating. The narrative is linear, no flashbacks, not a period piece (another Dogme rule). It centers around a father's birthday where a son, in the wake of his twin sister's suicide, accuses the father of sexual abuse. The family is shocked and all of their reactions are precisely recorded by a camera that catches all the nuances of each family member's character. In the end the sister's suicide note reveals that the father really did it. The father is then left alone, ostracized from his family. The celebration reveals so much about Danish society. The strong alegiance to family. The racism and anti-immigrant strains. The incest.

Vinterberg was a prodigy. The Celebration is a true masterpiece of World Cinema

The Celebration was Dogme film #1. Von Trier followed with The Idiots Dogme #2 and many more followed. The most commercially successful Dogme film was Italian for Beginners, which I have not yet seen.

The Dogme movement was Von Trier's brainchild. He led the movement and with three other filmmakers, Vinterberg being one of the three, put out a manifesto and Vow of Chastity. From the start it was against big, "Hollywood" productions. It was somewhat of a manual for filmmakers working on a low budget. Its result was the most influential Cinema movement of recent history. It brought Danish film to international theatres and made Danish directors and actors internationally known. Yet, aside from Italian for Beginners, and, perhaps, Von Trier, most of the films were critically acclaimed but didn't result in much commercial success.

I am happy to have learned of Dogme 95 and I can't wait to watch Italian for Beginners, which I initially thought was an Italian movie! Anyway, I hope to lecture and present a film about Dogme 95 next semester in Contemporary Film Analysis.

Thoughts on French New Wave Cinema

Review of Dancer in the Dark

This is the third Lars Von Trier film that I have watched. It is, by what awards it has won, the most critically acclaimed film by Von Trier. The other movies I have watched are his pre- Dogme film Europa and the recently released Melancholia. Like Von Trier's other films, this one is stylistically different from his other films pushing new ground by including musical numbers in its narrative.

The film is at once about injustice in America, and again a story of sacrifice by a mother for her son. Bjork, who stars and sings throughout the film, plays an immigrant factory worker barely surviving in Washington State. Her character is prone to daydreaming and setting reality to musical numbers. I'm someone who doesn't normally enjoy musicals, but when I saw a musical number taking place inside a factory I was mesmerized.

The film starts and proceeds innocently enough. It focuses on the lives of factory workers; Bjork and her son, a man who courts Bjork, and Catherine Denueve. The action takes a dramatic turn when Bjork's landlord, also a policeman, steals all the money she was saving for her son's operation to fix his eyes so he could see his grandchildren. Bjork is framed, but she refuses to tell anyone that she was robbed and was saving the money for her son. Bjork refuses to pay for a good lawyer instead using the money for her son's operation. This means she is sentenced to death.

The death scene is shocking, the epitome of tragedy. How can Bjork be hanged? How can her character recieve the death sentence? The film is set in 1960s America, so, perhaps, the justice system is biased against women. Clearly, something more could have been done to avoid such a horrible treatment of Bjork by the American justice system. I think that is what Von Trier's major theme is; injustice was at the core of America in those years. Ill treatment for women and other minorities was standard.

Like Europa and Melancholia, this film ends tragically. Yet, this film is better developed the Europa. I felt like Europa ended on a confused note, that the only option Jean-marc Barr had was to kill everyone. It seemed to border on predigested endings. In Dancer the ending is excrutiatingly emotionally. The end comes along slowly and evermore tragic. As much as I liked Europa, I must say that Dancer and Melancholia are better developed films. They are both better paced and better written than Europa. Yet, Europa is still a great film.

Review of Vivre sa Vie

Vivre sa Vie is a tragedy in the modern sense. The life of an actress who must resort to prostitution to support herself is depicted in a realist style. Many of the scenes bear the stamp of Godard who is the auteur behind this film. In the most memorable scene the actress turned prostitute dances around as her fate is bargained away.

The scenes of her working in the sex trade are not so tawdry. In fact they are sensual for 60s standards. We are left with the impression that prostitution is legal and regulated by the government. In a voice over from the protagonist's pimp's perspective we are informed of all the details of what a sex worker's life is like in 60s Paris. Even by today's standard this exposition of material is and the scenes that accompany it, are risque.

The ending of the movie is, perhaps, the most shocking of all the scenes. The dance sequence seduces the audience, it causes us to sympathize with the prostitute, and, indeed, fall in love with her. The end sequence brings us to a heart wrenching conclusion. It becomes obvious that the pimp has sold the prostitute off to other gangsters. The pimp sense that the other gangsters are trying to rip him off. In the fight that ensues, the prostitute is shot dead, left lying in the middle of the street.

Review of Masculin Feminin

This is one of Godard's best early films. As Roger Ebert says, "we know the charactes, but not that well, we understand something because of the movie, but we are not sure exactly what." I was thoroughly entranced by the scenes at the cafes, the music soundtrack, and the lives of each of the characters. I don't know exactly what Godard wanted the audience to understand, but I think that's intentional. He goes against the classical film structure to present the lives of Parisian youth. He presents us with young people who strive for success, for revolution, but live pointless lives that seem to lead only back to the cafe.

The film is shot in a realist visual style with a linear narrative. Yet the narrative is not straight forward, as in Godard's most well known film Breathless. Unlike Breathless, Masculin Feminin has no plot structure. The major theme that holds it together is the relationship between the boy and the girl. Otherwise it is very free form.

I was very pleased for watching this film. Although it was not as momentous as Breathless, the energy infused by the soundtrack is hard to resist. It is one of the best Art Cinema productions of the 1960s.

Review of 400 Blows

In the film that started the French New Wave, Francios Truffaut presents his autobiographical film the 400 Blows. It is a film about his childhood; his struggles at school, his troubled home life, but, there are moments of light-heartedness throughout. The film follows the young Jean pierre Leaud around Paris. He gets into trouble at school. More by circumstance then intention, he suffers at the hand of the head teacher. He hides his troubles at school from his parents. Gradually things get worse and he skips school, lies about it, gets into more trouble, and is, finally, arrested and sent away to a discplinary "observation camp." The film ends with the young boy reaching the ocean for the first time. The ending does not give closure. Has he escaped? Found peace or meaning? We are left to speculate about the future of the lost boy.

Clearly this film depicts Truffaut troubled life as a youth in a working class home in Paris. The family struggles with money, employment, marital problems, and finding some way to eek out a living or grasp a sense of hope or advancement in French society. In what is traditionally the stepping stones to advancement, school, each member of the family has struggled. The step-father never made it through high school, the mother never made it to college, and the young boy struggles to get through grade school.

Despite of these struggles and failures, the family derives great joy from going to the movies. The movies, Truffaut has said, saved his life many times and became his life's work. The film is shot in a realist style. It is typical of French New Wave films because of it's emphasis on Realism and it's obviously low budget.

There are definate antecedents in 400 Blows with Rosselini's War Trilogy. Its not just because they are both shot in black and white. There are both shot in a realist style. The acting is based on real characters. But, unlike Rosselini's work, Truffaut's 400 Blows is a distinctly auteur film. It is based on his life. It has his distinct influence over the whole movie.

This film was an astounding success at the Cannes Film Festival when it debuted. To this day it is entertaining to see a depiction of a French film director's journey from troublemake to filmmaker.

Interesting article from nytimes.com about Digital Film

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/movies/how-digital-is-changing-the-nature-of-movies.html?ref=moviesspecial

Here is a link to books acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky reccomends for aspiring filmmakers

http://thebrowser.com/interviews/darren-aronofsky-on-making-movies

Review of Welles' Citizen Kane

Called the greatest film ever for decades Citizen Kane tells the story of the American dream gone awry. It poses the question of whether money and fame are better than an unspoiled, simple, childhood? The final scene presents this in symbolic form, with the sleigh imprinted with the word “rosebud” symbolizing Kanes’s lost childhood.

            Made in 1941 this film is, perhaps, a reflection of the prevailing depression era ideology. That money and fame are not as important as family and childhood surely left depression era audiences sympathizing with the character of Charles Foster Kane.

            Citizen Kane was one of the first great productions to be a “talkie.” Orson Welles plays the lead as well as director. Throughout the rest of his career he was unable to live down the magnitude of Citizen Kane. He never made a film that, sadly, lived up to the success of Citizen Kane.

            The plot is told through a series of flashbacks that are told in chronological order. Starting from Kane’s placement into the custodianship of Mr. Thatcher to his lonely death at Xanadu. This is a clever plot device indeed. Using flashback could be tricky. Keeping an audience attentive while following Kane’s live could’ve been confusing or even worse boring. But Welles pulls it off with greatness. He uses a repeat shot of his second wife’s interview to reinforce the narrative structure. The story is a lively journey through the career of a man born to wealth; thought to be based on William Randolph Hearst.

            The film also uses authorial selection to tell the story of Charles Foster Kane. Each flashback is told from a different perspective. First from his guardian Mr. Thatcher, then Mr. Bernstein, then his best friend, then his second wife, and finally his butler who was there at his death. All of the interviews are initiated by a journalist assigned the story of finding out what Kane meant when he said “rosebud” just before he died. The journalist never finds out what “rosebud” means, but the audience is left to ponder one of cinema history’s greatest cliffhangers.

            What is the symbolic value of the sleigh with the word “rosebud’ on it? It has to symbolize Kane’s lost childhood. Perhaps after all the wealth and fame Kane had resided to the fact that it would have been better to live an undisturbed live in Colorado rather than the live of a wealthy man of the world. I think the question is whether a capitalist society at it’s extremes of wealth is satisfying. Clearly, Kane can buy anything except high office. At the beginning of the film Kane is living the dream life of capitalist society, his young, extremely wealthy, and can choose his own way of life. By the end of the film he is a lonely, heartbroken man who longs to be back in Colorado, back to innocence, to childhood because money cannot replace a childhood, a mother, a sleigh.

            The film uses light and shadow effectively. Perhaps not too subtley, but just enough to increase the emotional intensity of character’s reaction. Used beautifully over Orson Welles face it shows him in the dark when he is experience a tough time. The film also uses over the shoulder shots to show Kane’s point of view.

            It also begins with news reel footage of Kane. This is a unique device used by Welles to tell Kane’s story. I thought it was a very effective tool. It sets up the narrative, it informs the audience, and it reveals the characters little by little. It inflates the character of Kane. It makes him a larger than life personality.

            There isn’t a better film that exemplies classical Hollywood style than Citizen Kane. It’s all there, the 180 degree axis, the shot reverse shot, the over the top angles, language, and characterization. The documentary beginning only adds to the intrigue and creative plot. I don’t think Citizen Kane is the best film ever made. I think other films have surpassed it. But, as I have said, it may be the best example of classical Hollywood filmmaking of the “golden age.”

Review of Kubrick's Barry Lyndon

            This is the first of a series of reviews about classic films. The first film I have selected to review is Stanley Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon. Made in 1975 it just makes the cut of a classic film, in my opinion at least, for the 1970s were a time of dramatic change for the film industry. I will comment on Kubrick’s style directorial choices and the strengths and weaknesses of the film.

            First, I cannot say enough of the photography or cinematography of Barry Lyndon. Scene after scene is presented near to a painting from the 18^th century. Saying it is well done is an understatement. I was repeatedly made breathless by the scene composition of natural scenes like forests, etc and other scenes of soldiers marching in battle and the grand house of the Lyndons.

            I thought the acting was good, but no really strong performances. Perhaps Ryan O’neil as Barry Lyndon or Lord Bullingdon put forth the best efforts. The script was an adaptation of a novel and was well done. It used narration to explain most of the scenes, practically telling the  viewer what would happen. There was a transition between several sequences; one in Ireland, one on the continent, and one as a member of the English nobility.

            I thought the best scene of the film was when Lord Bullingdon makes a scene and ruins his stepfather’s plans to attain noble status. It is a rare example to see Aristocrats from the Age of Reason to lose all sense of rationality, composure, and restraint. The scene shows, perhaps foreshadows, Mr. Lyndon’s ultimate end.

            The film starts out with Lyndon trying to gain the hand of his cousin. It ends in a dual which he thinks he has shot an English Captain. Later on in the film he discovers that he was setup to think he won the duel to get him out of the way. Barry then joins the British army and travels to the continent. There he deserts to Prussia and is found to be an imposter by a Prussian officer. He is then forced to join the Prussian army and only escapes after gaining the favor of a fellow Irishman.

            At the beginning and end of the film conflict between Barry and his English oppresors becomes apparent. The English always hold the strings. In the beginning sequence he is obstructed by an English army captain from his cousin’s hand in marriage. At the end he is obstructed to noble title by his step-son, an Englishman.

            Barry is, like Ireland, obstructed from gaining independence and freedom from the English. He lives on the run, lives aimlessly, only to be foiled again by the English. Perhaps this is the overriding theme of the film. In both cases of conflict there is Barry, Irish, peasant, and unknown, and blocking his way to marriage and nobility is English, and noble. Both conflicts are resolved against Barry. In the first instance he is conned into thinking that he has killed the British officer only to learn later on that the officer is still alive and married to the woman Barry wanted to marry. In the second instance, and perhaps the more bitter, Barry is confronted by his step-son Lord Bullingdon, and loses in a duel.

            The film is well-crafted by Kubrick. It won several BAFTA awards (British Academy Awards) and was well-received by critics. It shows the range of Kubrick and what he was capable of producing. Only a very highly regarded director such as Kubrick could’ve pulled off Barry Lyndon. With Barry Lyndon Kubrick adds to his range of films and solidifies his reputation as director of legendary status. In other words, has Kubrick made a “bad” movie?

Review of Polanski's Chinatown

Polanski’s Chinatown is lauded as a film noir classic. I watched it in freshman literature class, watched again some years later, came across in a screenwriting book, and finally read the screenplay and watched the film. In the following review I will address the most memorable facets of the film and how the screenplay is different from the actual film.

            To begin with, the film is a memorable piece of cinematic art. Perhaps solidifying screen legend status for Jack Nicholson, Chinatown is studded with a memorable cast, a great screenplay, and, perhaps, the most memorable trumpet in film history.

            Following typical film noir themes Chinatown is set amidst a crumbling society where there is no justice, no one trustworthy. Greed, money, power dominate society from the top down. By the end of the film these themes become obvious. Cross, a slimy character played memorably by John Huston, has, apparently, gotten away with rape, incest, and murder. He is the villain in the story. He has killed the good person that Hollis Mulray was and has raped the innocent Faye Dunaway. The police, buffoons or corrupt, do not arrest him at the end of the film. He takes possession of the daughter born out of incest and gets away scot free.

            Gittes, played by Nicholson, is the flawed hero of Chinatown. He works to uncover the truth behind the water scandal only to be deeply disturbed by the end of the film He stares blankly in utter disbelieve at the sight of Dunaway’s bloodied face. How could this happen? How could injustice be so wretchedly perpetrated against the innocent, against the righteous? These are the lasting ideas which Chinatown impresses upon it’s viewers. In the last scene Dunnaway shouts out as she attempts to escape with her daughter from Huston, “he owns the police!”

            The production qualities of Chinatown are superb. The scenes are period pieces right out of the 1930s. Clothes, hair styles, and cars are all dutifully reconstructed to evoke a past era. The scenes evoke a deep, mysterious aura. As the tension rises the scenes get shorter, more intense, and that memorable trumpet plays away as the action rises to the final confrontation between Nicholson, Dunnaway, and Huston in the streets of Chinatown.

            I thought the best scene of Chinatown is when Gittes confronts Cross. Although, I wondered why didn’t Gittes come clean to the police in the first place? Perhaps he thought he could bribe Cross? Perhaps he doesn’t trust the police? Whatever the reason was, Gittes, for some reason, had to confront Cross. In the scene where he asks Cross how much he is worth and then asks those memorable lines, “how much better can you eat? What more can you buy that you don’t already have?” I think is one of the most memorable scenes of film history. It portrays a society dominated by money, unrestrained in greed, and rapaciousness.

            After reading the screenplay and watching the movie there are a few minor differences. One scene is left out and the end is portrayed differently. These are only minor changes. I thought the screenplay was very well written. It followed the conventions of the Film-noir tradition. It was about 120 pages and transitioned smoothly between scenes. A truly memorable piece of Cinematic literature.

Which is the better Scorsese film? Raging Bull or Taxi Driver?

Great interview with Oliver Stone about his latest film "Savages" from Filmcomment magazine.

http://www.filmcomment.com/article/oliver-stone-interview-savages#main

Books I've read about Film

Here are some books that I've read about Film:

A World History of Film by Robert Sklar- Great overview of Cinema History. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Packed with interesting information. Sparked much interest in Film.

Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field- Excellent introduction about screenwriting. Covered all the basics, great intro to screenwriting.

Short Guide to Writing about Film- Useful book about how to write about film

Film Art: An Introduction- Very good book covering all aspects of Film; from production to criticism and excellent introduction

Here is a link to a short documentary film I made for Cinema 111 class

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfWnsRPKdRA

Last Ten Films I've Watched

In no particular order or rank here are some of the films that I have watched recently at home or in the theater:

Taxi Driver
Cariolanus
The Searchers
Kagemusha
Blue Velvet
Ugetsu
Hunger
Prometheus
Chinatown
Black Rain

Review of Kurosawa's Kagemusha

A second selection from a Japanese director who is associated with the Japanese Art Cinema movement of the late 50s and early 60s. It is Kagemusha by Akira Kurosawa. Kurosawa is, perhaps the best, and most well known of Japanese directors. His early films like Seven Samurai depict Japan in it’s medieval period. Kagemusha is a story that could be re-told in a Japanese history book.

            The film begins with a lot of dialogue and little movement. The Lord of one clan is wounded and they must use an impersonator while the clan finds another leader. The look alike is a common thieve who was to be crucified until he was saved to serve as the Lord’s double. Eventually the Lord’s double accepts his role as impersonator. He plays his plays his part until, after a battle, thinking he is as brave and strong as the real Lord, he attempts to mount the Lord’s horse. The horse recognizes that it is an impostor and throws the impersonator from his mount. This reveals the impersonator and confirms that the real Lord is dead.

            In the end  of the film the Lord’s son, who was passed over as heir, leads the Takeda clan into a foolish battle. The Takeda clan is annihilated. In the final sequence we see the impersonator make a rush to the enemy lines. He is shot and dies in the lake.

            I found the film somewhat slow, confusing, and long. The end scene was long. Perhaps, upon reflection, this was to drive home the devastation and horror of war. In the scene Kurosawa pans over the dead soldiers and horses again and again. It really emphasizes how badly the Takeda clan has lost. It does have the affect of depicting the thousands of lost lives by focusing on the carnage for an extended period. The beginning of the film starts out with a lot of dialogue and little action. It is only at the end of the film that major action takes place. Lastly, it was hard to follow the battle scenes, who was fighting who, who were allies, etc. Perhaps that was not the point of the film. Perhaps the point of the film was to demonstrate how crucial leadership can be in battle. By depicting the death of a great Lord we see how his clan goes into steep decline thereafter.

            I thought the cinematography was good. There are many great long shots showing soldiers moving, the sun reflecting, and so on. The dream sequence with the dead Lord is surreal. The battle scenes are also very good. Close shots of charging soldiers give the effect that the army is huge and the conflict massive.

            Kagemusha is definitely a precursor to Kurosawa’s Ran. I think Ran is the better film. But, Kurosawa may not have been able to make Ran without first having to make Kagemusha. The fight scenes are better, the action is more engrossing, and the story line plays out better in Ran. Yet, both of the films depict the chaos of medieval Japan and Kurosawa must be commended for his efforts at making grand epic films like Kagemusha and Ran.

            The acting is well done. The lighting is a bit dark. In some early battle scenes the soldiers are hard to make out. Yet, this was a turning point for Kurosawa. His previous films had not succeeded. This was a comeback and it goes over well.

Review of Ozu's Floating Weeds

This is the second Ozu film I have reviewed. I really enjoy watching Japanese Art Cinema from the period after the war. I have watched many films by Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu, and Ugetsu by Mizzoguchi, which I have reviewed for this blog. Perhaps in another blog I will comment on who is the best film director from this period of Japanese Art Cinema. Certainly, Japan carried the torch of great cinema productions in world Cinema after the decline of Italian neo-realist Cinema. (Sklar)

            The film seems to be typical Ozu. A melodramatic film about a Japanese family hiding a secret, until a scorned lover forces a confrontation and revelation of the secret. The film begins simply enough in a small town. A theatre troupe is visting and will perform. The lead actor, however, has gone to visit his former mistress; who has a child. We learn through dialogue that the actor is the adolescent’s father. Yet, he is posing as his uncle. He spends time with the boy. They go fishing and play games with each other. Everything seems peaceful. This is about thirty minutes into the film.

            Then, the kabuki master’s current girlfriend drops in on the actor with his former mistress. She makes a scene and the actor and the current girlfriend argue about what he is doing there with the older woman. Later on, the young actress pays off her friend to seduce the young boy. This occurs in what is a great scene. Two Japanese actresses sitting side by side, putting on make-up, preparing for to go on stage, and discussing how one of them will seduce the young boy. The seductress takes the money from the other girl. In the next scene we see the young actress showing up at the post office to seduce the young boy. Her charms could not be resisted and the boy falls hard for her. He takes leave from his job and they spend all their time together. Eventually he finds out that she was paid to seduce him. But, she, apparently has fallen for him.

            In the climax of the film the young boy and young actress show up at the older woman’s house, presumably to declare that they are getting married. The older woman and older actor think she has told him that he is his father. An argument ensues and the older actor slaps the young actress and calls her a slut. He then begins to slap the young boy. The young boy pushes his father down. Emotionally upset, he runs upstairs. The old actor leaves to return to the road and the life of an itinerant actor.

            I thought Floating Weeds was a very good melodramatic film. Similar to another Ozu film Tokyo Story. Yet, Tokyo Story has a more visceral emotional impact, the death of the mother and the conflict between modernity, urban living and respect for tradition and traditional ways of life. There is no larger theme in Floating Weeds. It is one of humiliation of the actor. He is embarrassed about his status as an itinerant actor. He is ashamed that he cannot be a better father. He is ashamed of who he is.

            Another film that I think draws a comparison is Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Both have a secret that is revealed in the end and both end with the humiliation of the male lead. Yet, again, Floating Weeds doesn’t have that powerful of an ending. The father simply leaves like he has done in the past and returns to the road

            The editing style is simple. A lot of shots from a distance within the house. No extreme close-ups but angles on characters when they are talking. There are several establishing shots of a light house. The camera doesn’t move so much. In terms of lighting, Ozu makes use of it in the critical scene where the boy falls in love with the actress sent to seduce him. The teenage boy is seen standing in the dark. Perhaps to symbolize is ignorance of the secret about the young actress’s intentions to seduce him and disrupt his relationship with his uncle. The scene works well.

            Ozu is a master of building up to confrontation. In Floating Weeds we are led into a small town, enjoying the scenery, the world seems at peace. Yet, Ozu builds up the tension. The audience learns of the secret. A plan is hatched to reveal the boy’s father. All this comes to a culmination of conflict between the teenage boy and his mother and father.

            Perhaps this film would not get made in current times. The film has a soap opera quality. The emotional understatement also belongs to the era in which it was made. It belongs to the pre-1960s era of understatement and respect for a morality typical of the 1950s and early 1960s. Much of this changed after the social changes of the 60s and 70s. Floating Weeds is an example of how Japan was prior to the changes of the 60s.

Review of Felini's La Dolce Vita

My first impressions of Felini’s La Dolce Vita was that it is a pointless film. The plot wallows around with no apparent direction for practically the whole time. Yet, on reflection, the film develops from an innocence and naivety to a lost world of hedonism and consumerism.  Shot in 1960, I think this film is in a similar genre as other neo-realist films of the 50s. It delves deeply into the life of a journalist seeking meaning in life; as a lover and writer. Yet, the only way he finds fulfillment is through money and sex leading to the conclusion that Italian society was empty, soul-less, and lacking any meaning.

            The film begins simply enough with helicopters bringing the Pope a statue of Christ to St. Peter’s square; a gesture of religiosity and of high morals and purpose. Contrasted with the end of the film and we see that the main character has devolved into something unholy, less then when we began the film. The dead fish perhaps symbolizing his dead mortal soul.

            Throughout the film we are taken on short story after short story about Mastroianni finding peace and contentment in life, finding the “sweet life.” He is a reporter who wants to be a serious writer, but he covers movie stars and sensational stories. He also works with the paparazzi. The film is setup as a conflict between Mastroianni and his choice of lifestyle; what will he choose? The life of a serious journalist who marries his fiancé or the life of a publicity agent who lives the life of a free bachelor? In the end Mastroianni chooses the life of the carefree bachelor. Essential to this choice is the suicide of his idol, the intellectual who plays the organ and socializes with poets, artists, and so on. His suicide, is the conflict of the film. It depicts Mastroianni’s conflict about settling down or living an, apparently, meaningless lifestyle of parties, sorely lacking in morality or seriousness. But that is what Mastroianni’s character chooses; the hedonistic life of Rome, not the life of a serious journalist and dedicated husband, a scoundrel who sells his words to the highest bidder.

            I thought the film was excellent. Perhaps the best neo-realist film. It portrays the changes taking hold of modern industrialized society. The main character goes through rejection, confusion, and aimlessness. The plot reveals this lack of direction, this apparent crisis in Italian society. In contrast Rosselini had subjects to write about, the war in Italy and Germany, the devastation that Italy suffered at the hands of allied bombing raids. But, La Dolce Vita has moved past all that. It focuses on the high modernist times in Rome. A time of apparent lack of direction, of aimlessness, of hedonism. The central unifying theme is whether Mastroianni should remain committed to his life as a journalist and to his fiancé or whether he should reject those bourgeoisie values and turn to a life focused on money and sex, which he does.

            I think Felini’s major conclusion is that the “sweet life” is better than a typical middle class bourgeoisie lifestyle. By choosing to have Steiner commit suicide, I think, he is choosing to show the hollowness and insanity of bougeosie life. Hedonism, sex, money, freedom, that is what Mastroianni wants, that’s what he chooses against the prevailing bourgeoisie culture and values of the times. Is it the wrong choice? I think that is the question which the viewer is left to decide.

            Italian film history takes a turn with Felini’s film La Dolce Vita. Clearly it is still in a similar vein as the neo-realist films of the 40s. But it shows a new and different society that has emerged out of the immediate post- WWII era.

Review of My Week With Marilyn

My week with Marilyn marks a departure for me. Not affiliated with any specific film movement such as Italian neo-realism, the film is a period piece about the dark side of Marilyn Monroe that would ultimately lead to her untimely death due to overdose.

            The film has a docu-drama quality to it. The film’s main character wrote the book on which the film is based He was a documentary filmmaker and writer which is probably why the film version has a documentary quality to it. Set in London around the high modern time of the early 1960s the film follows a young British elite as he chases his dreams of stardom. Employed by Laurence Olivier productions he develops a relationship with Marilyn. He aids her through the production of the film with Olivier. In the climax of the movie Marilyn and the young man tour around England and she leads him on enflaming his infatuation with her. In the end she finishes the movie and as foreshadowed throughout the movie moves on to her untimely death.

            The scene is set with Marilyn and the young man headed for some kind of collision. Marilyn seeks to be respected as an actress and loved by her husband Arthur Miller. She constantly has to struggle against her own perception of inferiority as an actress. She doesn’t think she’s talented enough to do the picture with Olivier, who, throughout the movie, complains about Marilyn’s tardiness and unpreparedness. Yet, by the end of the film she has convinced everyone that she has talent and is a great actress. In the final scene Olivier and the young man sit watching Marilyn perform star struck by her ability to act and mesmerize an audience.

            I thought the film touched on issues about the legacy of Marilyn; was she just a sex symbol? Did she ever gain the respect of critics as a serious actress? Did her personal life lead to addiction and overdose? Why do famous people continue to in a career that has brought them so much pain and suffering? The film portrays the dark side of Marilyn. It shows her trying to gain credibility and a “normal” way of life, something she has craved since childhood. So, I suppose, the essential question is when the young man asks her why doesn’t she give it up? Why must she continue her show business career? Marilyn doesn’t answer this question and, perhaps, we will never know the answer to why this tormented soul could not find a home, family, and the bourgeoisie life she evidently desired.

            The themes that I took away from the movie are that fame has a dark side, that being immensely famous isn’t all that great when people don’t respect your talent. Yet I find that the movie doesn’t discredit her being known as a sex symbol. It seems to conclude that Marilyn was great and is more than just an empty icon, a sex symbol. Yet it doesn’t disprove the assumption that Marilyn was no serious actress. It merely reinforces the notion that Marilyn is a sex symbol. She seduces you and then breaks your heart. She exploits your emotions with her sex appeal, then like the young man, leaves you in admiration of her beauty.

            Whatever other movies are made about Marilyn this is certainly one that provides an in depth look at what Marilyn struggled with throughout her life; loneliness, addiction, divorce, and industry exploitation.

Review of Mizoguchi's Ugetsu

            Kenji Mizoguchi’s Ugetsu is set in 16^th century Medieval Japan. Mizoguchi weaves a story around a pottery merchant who is overcome with greed by his success in the pottery trade. Right from the start the film brings us into the chaos of Medieval Japan. The life of a simple farmer and pottery trader is constantly unsettled by civil war. The marauding bands rape and pillage the villagers. Against the odds the pottery merchant sells his wares to great profit. But the lure of great profits foreshadows turmoil to come in the pottery merchants life.

            With great skill and strength this simple villager makes pottery and transports it to a trading center. There he meets a Medieval Lady who buys some of his pottery and asks him to deliver it to her manor.

            This is all set-up. The greedy merchant, the noble Lady, and the chaos of war provide context for the story. The noble Lady appears on the screen quite conspicuously. An overhead shot follows her as she makes her way to the pottery merchant. This film was made in the 1950s. It’s style has some surreal qualities to it; the introduction of the noble Lady, the scene on the lake, and the scenes at the noble Lady’s manor. I thought the cinematography was very good. As the story progresses the camera becomes more surreal in line with the plot. When the pottery merchant makes his way to the noble Lady’s manor, he is taken in and seduced by the noble Lady. He can’t resist. She charms him and persuades him to stay with her and be her husband.

            So the story is set-up, a greedy merchant out for riches and status can’t resist a mysterious noble Lady who has a keen interest in his goods. Now the film progresses into confrontation. The dramatic action rises between the characters of the film. The pottery merchant’s friend becomes a samurai through less than honest ways, the friend’s wife is raped and turns to prostitution, and the pottery merchants wife is killed by marauding soldiers. Throughout all this action the pottery merchant is seduced deeper into the noble Lady’s plot to marry him.

            This is where the climax of the film comes. When the pottery merchant attempts to buy things for the noble Lady, he is refused and told to take his things and leave. Unknown to him is that the noble Lady is an evil spirit back from the dead. On his way home the pottery merchant runs into a religious person who says he can rid the pottery merchant of the spirit of the noble Lady.

            The pottery merchant returns and the noble Lady discovers sanscrit writings on his skin. He implores the noble Lady to let him go home, he has a wife and child. But the evil spirit refuses to let him go. In the best scene of the movie,  the pottery merchant lashes out against the noble Lady and her nurse. Swinging a samurai sword, he falls through Japanese doors and ends up on the ground, throughout this sequence the evil spirit calls out the pottery merchant’s name. The voice of the ghost gives the scene a dream-like, surreal quality.

            Thus the conflict ends. The pottery merchant makes it back to his village. He finds his wife and child alive and his greatly relieved. But as day breaks, the village leader tells the pottery merchant that his wife had been killed. Another dream had taken a hold of the pottery merchant.

            Ugetsu was a fantastic story about greed and ambition. It warns it’s viewers to not be greedy or ambitious because they lead to the wrong path in live. At the end of the movie the pottery merchants friend has given up his quest to be a samurai and has returned to a simpler life of self sacrifice as a farmer. The pottery merchant for giving in to his greed for profit and ambition to status as a noble encountered an evil spirit, and perhaps, lost his wife because he was away too long. In the end he returns to the simple life of making pottery.

            I thought this film presses upon traditional Japanese values of self-sacrifice and humility. Made at around the same time as Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and Yasujiro Ozu’s Tokyo Story, the film has similar high standard, Yet Mizoguchi delves into a moral tale intertwined with mysticism, unlike Ozu who focuses on personal relationships or Kurosawa who focuses more on Samurai.

            A great film, great plot development, great setup, and the conflict with the evil spirit was, at least to me, totally unpredictable.

Review of The English Patient

The English Patient won the academy award for best picture in the year it was released. This epic romance, historical drama has all the elements of a great film. It has a great cast of stars; Ralph Fiennes, Willem Dafoe, Juliette Binoche, Kristin Scott Thomas, and a young Colin Firth. It also has a great crew in director Minghella, a great musical score, and a fantastic film editor in William Murch. Producer Saul Zaentz who has done numerous films that give meaning to the words cinematic art is at his best yet again in The English Patient.

            The narrative qualities of this film stand out the most. The multiple plot lines drive the film forward. It is hard not to become engrossed in the story lines of the film. Based on a very popular novel, the film is based around a love story set during World War II. Amidst a geographical expedition a group of geographers is attempting to map out North Africa. Sweeping scenes of the desert follow the action as Ralph Fiennes and Scott Thomas become romantically involved. Trapped inside of a truck by a sandstorm, Fiennes’ character gives into Mrs. Clifton’s charms. Mrs. Clifton shows up at Almasy’s apartment and after resistance from Scott Thomas’s character they make love. Yet, there is obvious disagreement between the two. He is Hungarian and she is British, enemies during the War.

            After much sneaking around, the two part ways as tensions between Britain and Germany rise. In analyzing the film I got the sense that the writer wanted to convey the perception that British Aristocrats were flawed. Scott Thomas cheating on her husband is a clear sign of moral weakness surely criticized by the British upper class. Yet, this is not a story about the decline of the British Aristocracy. I think it is more of a story about love and tragedy. About how important and visceral war experiences are. War is brutal.

I think it exposes our superficial notions of class, race, and nationality and how they come between people who are in love. Almasy and Mrs. Clinton are divided by nationality and Binoche are Kipp are divided by race, and neither resolves their conflict. The director leaves us heartbroken at the end of the movie; Almasy and Mrs. Clinton are dead, and Binoche and Kipp have split up. The experiences of war are tragic and not to be forgotten.

            The way the film is shot is also something to be commended. The use of temporal editing is abundant and well-conceived. The film cuts back and forth from the pre-war period in North Africa to the end of the war in Italy. This use of temporal editing is a unique and fabulous way to reveal the narrative. There are frequent dissolves throughout the movie and numerous close-up shots of the actors. All this leads to the tragic, romantic style of the film. There are also numerous aerial shots of the desert that have a hypnotic quality to them.

            I think the English Patient deserved to win the academy award for Best Picture. It is a grand tragic, romance. It is a love story in a time of war tying together people and places until all plot elements are resolved. The literary quality of the film is high and the adaptation has done the novel justice.

Review of George Lucas's THX 1138

In this short review I will discuss George Lucas’s production THX 1138. This film was made in 1971. The idea for the film grew out of a student film of Lucas’s when he was a graduate student in film. THX is a science fiction movie about a negative utopia sometime in the distant future. I will first review the film in terms of plot, characters, and other content. Then, I will talk about the formalistic, stylistic qualities of the film.

            The story is simple and has been told by other authors before. Robert Duvall plays an engineer of some kind. His wife changes his medication which causes him to feel emotions. In this futuristic society emotions are banned and sex is outlawed. It’s citizens take medications to keep themselves contented. Without sedation DuVall and his roommate fall in love with each other. In a memorable scene DuVall and his wife lie naked together. She whispers to him that “they” can see us. He tries to reassure her that no one can see us. Yet, the two are as doomed as Romeo and Juliet. Soon DuVall’s wife is taken into custody for medication violations and DuVall is arrested and put on trial.

            At his trial, which I think presents the most exposition to explain the government’s rational for medication and outlawing sex, the prosecutor shouts that “we must exterminate these erotics.” There are several references to religion throughout the movie. I think Lucas presents a society that is, perhaps, an ultra- religious society comparable to the Puritans. I also think THX 1138 is comparable to George Orwell’s 1984. In both stories there are lovers who get together despite the outlawing of intercourse. Sex is a crime.  In this negative utopia, perhaps a modified version of American society, everything is surveilled and emotions will get you into trouble.

            The narrative is nothing spectacular. The will of one person against an omni-potent state to find freedom leads to the questions about the power of the state to determine what is legal and illegal, ethical and unethical. These conflicts are clearly portrayed.

            If the story is one that has been told before, it has never been told with such great visual and audio language. The scenes of the future are incredible, almost hallucinogenic, like a vast agglomeration of futuristic paintings. The white clothes against an all white background create a stunning visual setting. I thought the prison scene was mesmerizing. The audio is commendable too. It constantly creates a premonition of action.

            I think this film is a foreshadowing of what Lucas would do with the much more commercially successful Star Wars. I think it takes the Science Fiction genre in new stylistic and technical directions. Even today the scenes are futuristic. From his beginnings we can see Lucas’s creative genius at work in the visual language of film.

Review of Rossellini's Rome Open City

I first became interested in film history after taking a Contemporary Film Analysis course. Through the books I read for that course I received an introduction to Cinema History. One of the major European Cinema movements grew out of post-war Italy. This movement was called neo-realism. Now what neo-realism means is too vast a subject for me to discuss in this short review. However, the film that I will review, Roberto Rossellini’s Rome Open City is viewed as the first neo-realist film, and, perhaps, the best film of the movement. Rossellini began making films immediately after the fall of the fascists in Italy and this film, Open City, presents the struggle of the Italian resistance against the Fascists and Nazis. I will review the films narrative qualities, and then I will review the film for formalistic, stylistic qualities.

            The film takes place in Rome, shortly before the American led liberation. Open City is divided into two parts. The first part introduces all of the characters and ends with Fascists and Nazis storming the apartment building. The second begins with Manfredi and Francesco on the run. It ends with the execution of the Priest.

            The narrative starts out tense. There is always the foreboding of doom about to happen to the characters in the film. From the outset we see the secret police tracking down Manfredi who has various aliases and is a political operative for the Italian resistance. Through him the narrative begins. The audience also follows the story of a couple to be married the next day from when the action takes place. Soon Manfredi shows up to Francesco’s apartment and meets his fiancé. Eventually, a priest is summoned and brought into the action. Crosscutting is used throughout the film to connect all of the characters to the plot. I don’t know exactly what is meant by neo-realist, but the film is shot in black and white, the characters are emotional and aware of life. Especially the two women characters; Francesco’s wife and the traitor who turns in Manfredi. Francesco’s wife is portrayed as an honest woman who is not well off, but is looking forward to marrying Francesco. It is her murder at the end of the first part that is, perhaps, the most astounding scene. She runs after Francesco only to be gunned down by the Nazis.

            Manfredi’s girlfriend, on the other hand, is the epitome of traitor. She is a drug addict, materialistic, not hard working, and, in the end, she betrays Manfredi and the Priest which occurs in the second part. The major action of the second part surrounds the torture of Manfredi and the execution of the Priest. Throughout the film the Nazis are portrayed as barbarians; committing acts of shocking behavior. The Nazis cruelly torture Manfredi and, at the end of the film, at the execution of the Priest, a Nazi shoots the Priest in the end in an act of utter barbarity.

            The movie has not traditional archetypes of Cinema. The heroes are the resistance fighters. The Fascists and Nazis are evil. The Priest is good. The audience is well aware that Italy will be liberated. But, we are reminded of the human cost of the resistance by this film, of the brutal violence used to enforce the rule of the Nazis and Fascists.

            The stylistic elements of the film are simple. The film was made in the 1940s immediately after the end of WWII, so with whatever resources Rossellini had, he made the film. It uses rhythmic editing throughout. There is a tense, somber musical score that keeps building tension and reminds us what it was like to live under constant terror. There are some camera angles that are revealing; an aerial shot showing the police arrive to search the apartment building where Francesco lives, a from the ground shot of the Priest walking. Yet, in my opinion, even though I’m no expert on film styles or aesthetics, this film is shot in a barebones manner, revealing reality as is.

            Open City is praised by critics as one of the landmarks of Italian Cinema. In Martin Scorsese My Voyage to Italy, he proclaims the film as one of the best neo-realist films. He goes on to say that Rossellini couldn’t live up to the reputation that Open City gave him in his subsequent film productions. I would agree with what Scorsese says about Open City. The shot where Francesco’s wife goes running through the street after him is a scene of shock, anguish, and pain. The audience feels the devastation that the Fascists and Nazis have brought upon Rome and its people.

Review of Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900

My initial reaction to the film directly contradicts what the New York Times reviewer says in his review. The reviewer calls the film a "failure" and I certainly disagree with this opinion. I think the film is an epic of first rate kind. The story is compelling. The performances are great and thephotography is astounding another great picture from the renowned cinematographer Vittario Storaro. Many of the scenes left me astounded. Another triumph for Bertolucci.

Certainly one of the best depictions of twentieth century Italian history, 1900 begins with two boys born on the same day. One is of peasant stock, the other of the gentry. Through them the audience experiences the major theme of the film, that of class conflict in the Italian countryside. In the small, rural village, we see Italian history on the micro level. WWI, industrialization, the rise and fall of the fascists, are all context for 1900.

Perhaps the best performance is played by a villain. Donald Sutherland who plays Attila, the head of the fascists in the village. I thought his portrayal of Atila was compelling. Bertolucci's depicts the fascists as devious, evil, child murderers and rapists, engendering a hatred for the blackshirts.

I thoroughly enjoyed the film. The audio was spotty in some scenes. The length, about five hours, was not a hindrance. 1900 was an epic story about Italy comparable to Gone With the Wind or Brideshead Revisited; all tales of change, loss, and history. Like Scarlett's family after the Civil War, the Padrone's family has to endure change, hard times, and eventual loss. The story of the two boys growing up together is similar to Brideshead Revisited in that the two characters of both productions come of age together dealing with the tumultuous times of the World War, Depression, and changing social class structure. Yet Bertolucci alludes to the debate about class conflict in the final scene of 1900. He shows De Niro and Depardieu fighting as old men. In the end De Niro's character committs suicide by lying in front of a train. Perhaps this is Bertolucci's statement about change coming to Italian society. That technological change as embodied by the train will forcefully change the class structure of Italy.

Great Film! Bertolucci is one of the best directors!

Review of Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story

My first Ozu film. I thought this film is a great story about generational change and conflict in Japanese society. Filmed in a simple, minimalist style, the themes which it deals with are definitively trademarks of Ozu's style.

The story begins simply enough in a village outside of Tokyo. An elderly couple plans on making a trip to Tokyo to see their children who have all moved to Tokyo. One by one the children refuse to show the elderly couple around Tokyo

Eventually, the mother dies and the children are forced to come back to the village. In the climax of the film,. the death of the mother, the children are confronted about their lack of respect for their dead mother. Still, the children pay little head to mourn their dead mother. They leave and head back to Tokyo as soon as they are able.

I think Tokyo Story presents a contradiction to what is traditionally percieved to be Japanese society. Most people think of Japan as being very traditional and that the young always honor their ancestors in the confucian way. Perhaps this film serves as a reminder to it's viewers to honor your parents and ancestors. It also shows how Japanese society was changing, Tokyo Story was released back in the 1950s, when Japan was modernizing and changing into a pluralistic, democratic society, leaving behind its medieval, Imperialist past.