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Lovers
of the Arctic Circle 6.3.03
I vaguely recall that I watched this
on the big screen a few years ago – and this is
one reason I write this film blog: I don’t have
a good memory for what I watch, more so with regard to
what I thought and felt about a particular film.
I have to be in the right mood for this
kind of film – it has a slow pace and is visually
beautiful and cinematically clever. It has a strong narrative
structure – too strong, perhaps, because it constrains
your experience where the expressive ‘artistry’
is meant to liberate it. It’s ‘boy meets girl’,
with some ironic variations on the familiar theme.
I wasn’t especially in the
mood for this, but I might be in the future and think
it would be a considerably more enjoyable experience on
the big screen.
Adaptation
4.3.03
Someone criticised this film on the
BBC Late Review show, saying it was silly and ridiculously
improbable (man gets eaten by crocodile at critical moment),
and depressingly tedious: Nicolas Cage masturbates endlessly,
and indulges in endless critical self-deprecation. I agree
the crocodile scene is not very effective but you don’t
really object to it, during the whole-film experience;
and he only masturbates three times, I think it is, and
his self-deprecation is really not that interminable.
I think it’s a clever and
enjoyable movie. Someone next to me (a stranger) spoke
to me at the end: “what an amazing film!”
I wouldn’t go as far as that, but I would definitely
recommend it. I found Being John Malcovich a very silly,
irritating experience; I couldn’t understand why
everyone seemed to like it. I disagree, in fact: I think
it is irritating and dumb. Adaptation is far superior;
it employs some of the same themes (the relationship between
fantasy and reality; the relationship between your experience
and that of another person), wrapped up in a more sophisticated
meta-theme: literary depiction and imaginative creativity.
Girl, Interrupted
4.3.03
I generally dislike such emotionally-driven
film; it’s likely to be yet more facile Hollywood
nonsense. ‘Troubled young person eventually makes
good’, with a little comforting but challenging
wisdom from Whoopi Goldberg, and the smiling compassion
of a psychiatrist. And the bad, charismatic girl that
the heroine likes is revealed as more troubled than she
appears. But then even she breaks down, cries, and we
have a huggy-huggy ending where the future looks bright,
because she accepts her vulnerability. In addition to
all this, parts of GI are glaringly copied from One Flew
Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – notably the episode
where the inmates have a wild night and are reprimanded
by the staff in the early morning. And the angst of heroine
Winona Ryder is never fully explained.
There’s much that you can
say against this film, and yet it works. It’s not
exactly masterly cinema, but I quite enjoy it. It is a
compelling story just on the edge of silly emotion, but
manages not to fall into the familiar Hollywood excess.
Sex, Lies
and Videotape 3.3.03
I once knew someone who regarded this
as her favourite film. After several viewings I remain
intrigued by it, but for a specialised topic which, I
am beginning to see, is actually quite peripheral. I am
interested in the psychology and practice of video, how
it empowers people and offers expressive possibilities
which have recently become affordable and simple. Graham
uses video to compensate for his impotence; it functions
as a masturbatory fantasy, allowing him a feeling of ‘mastery’
which seems to be integral to masculine sexual identity.
For John, the videotape Graham makes of his wife is a
greater betrayal than actual infidelity. When Ann turns
the camera around and films Graham, she subverts the conventional
male gaze whereby men look, and women are looked at.
Beyond this, the principle storyline
is that Graham and Ann are both somehow damaged and certainly
unfulfilled; that they share a mutual dissatisfaction
allowing them to recognise each other and form what appears
to be a promising relationship.
Leaving
Las Vegas 2.3.03
First saw this a few years ago and I
didn’t really like it because it was depressing,
and the depiction of prostitutes was questionable. Specifically,
how a prostitute is presented as fundamentally clean-cut
and middle class, where the sub-text appears to be a male
fantasy rather than the reality, where street-walkers
are likely to be disempowered, broken-down women. Pretty
Woman does the same thing – and is even more objectionable.
However, I quite enjoyed the movie
this time, because its depressing nature did not absorb
me so much. That is, I had a different kind of perspective,
and I enjoyed watching the performance of Nicolas Cage,
and how his deteriorating life is portrayed. Obviously,
a happy-happy subject matter is not necessarily an ingredient
of good film.
Killer 11.2.03
Stigmata 12.2.03
This is supposed to be a record of the
films I watch, so I had better mention these two. It will
at least remind me not to watch them again. Killer was
described on the Film Four web site as a mercenary thriller
with philosophical interest. Fair enough: I decided to
watch it. But it’s one of those minor movie that
no has heard of because, well, it’s just crap. The
same applies to Stigmata. I was encouraged by Gabriel
Byrne’s appearance, but it was even worse than Killer
– an interminable procession of shock-horror supernatural-religious
cliché, culminating in handsome priest gets pretty
girl. I’m not going to waste my time saying anything
more about these two.
Sixth Sense 2.2.03
I enjoyed it the first time; the
second time you are familiar with the story and the enjoyment
changes to an appreciation of how the director does it:
makes you think Bruce Willis is alive and interacting
in normal life, when in fact he’s a ghost. A third
time? Well I found little of interest – the suspense
has gone, the narrative pleasure has gone, and so has
the interest in cinematic scrutiny.
Room With A View
2.2.03
I saw the film first, many years ago,
and then read the book some years later. I enjoyed the
film as I did the first time (and maybe second or third,
I can’t remember). It has the same memorable pleasures.
I find the middle section a little tedious, but fundamentally
it’s a delightful film.
Great moments:
1 George forming his food into a question
mark; drawing the same on the room he and his father donate
to Lucy and her chaperone. What is life all about? And
what is the point of the ridiculous decorum that inhibits
and binds everyone to mannered living.
2 George’s father talking in the
church, challenging the pompous vicar when he says it
was “built on faith”. It was, he says, built
by underpaid workers. He also derides “the superstition
and ignorance that lead men to hate one another in the
name of God” and says “we know that we come
from the winds, and that we shall return to them; that
all life is perhaps a knot, a tangle, a blemish in the
eternal smoothness. But why should this make us unhappy?
Let us rather love one another, and work and rejoice.
I don't believe in this world sorrow….make my boy
think like us. Make him realize that by the side of the
everlasting Why there is a Yes—a transitory Yes
if you like, but a Yes."
3 George climbing up a tree and
shouting out “Beauty! Love Lust!”
Of course, what you say about RWV is ultimately directed
at Forster rather than Merchant-Ivory. They do a good
job of it, but most of the credit goes to the writer.
I enjoy the character of George, and his loving relationship
with his suffering, idealistic father. Not many people
know this (as Michael Caine said), but my name used to
be George. After my late father.
Aliens 1.2.03
No I’d never seen it. It’s
not as good as the first film, but it’s fun to see
the story continue and watch Sigourney Weaver outwit and
dominate everyone, including the frightening creatures.
Hackers 31.1.03
Very lightweight movie. I quite
enjoy the way computer activity is represented as a fast,
exciting, game-like and 3D practice. Which of course it
isn’t.
The Piano
30.1.03
It looks beautiful, and I’d watched
and enjoyed Jane Campion’s Holy Smoke as a comparison.
But I find it a suffocating movie, like reading Jane Austen.
You’re supposed to sympathise with the main female
character and see her as a victim of circumstances that
you nonetheless admire. But as with Austen, I find it
an indulgent exercise. You could argue you’re meant
to feel frustrated, like the mute woman, but that doesn’t
make it an attractive or interesting experience.
I was interested in her remark
that she fears her own will because it is so strong and
strange, and seeing if she wants to drown but then “choosing
life”.
The Game
28.1.03
Actor Martin Sheen put me off, but
the director was also responsible for Seven and Fight
club, which were quite impressive. So I watched it.
Sheen suggests some kind of glamorous
or macho role – not always, but that’s what
I associate with him. The Game is a bit like that –
superhero executive put through his paces, makes out good
in the end, and gets the glamorous girl. Feminist criticism
is so prevalent that an analysis of male stereotypes is
sometimes forgotten – and how it may also be a pernicious
influence. Me Tarzan, me prove myself as hero, me get
pretty girl. Ever heard of that? Well underneath it, there’s
some real life sociology based on the men-as-provider
role, and man-with-Mercedes gets girl. Women are characteristically
sex-objects, and men are success objects.
Sheen succeeds in proving himself in
a dangerous, labyrinthine game. It’s entertaining
but predictable - watch out for the final phew, now it’s
over NO IT’S NOT! moment. The one where the dead
man is not really dead and suddenly jumps out. In this
case, the story appears to be (tragically) resolved, but
no! the whole thing was a game…and they lived happily
ever after.
I prefer the clever plot of Seven, and
the equally stylish but more intelligent Fight Club. Although
I now view the man-proves-himself theme of the latter
rather differently.
Citizen
Kane 27.1.03
Yes, Citizen Kane: the number 1 film
in many top 100 lists. A highly accomplished movie which
I quite enjoy – especially the cinematography, and
the clever narrative. My guess is, it must certainly be
the most influential film of all time, based on Welles’
inspired artistry. However, I get bored with it after
about the first 40 minutes.
Favourite line: “he was
disappointed with the world, so he built his own”.
I've Heard
The Mermaids Singing 25.1.03
I first saw this about ten years ago
and I was entranced by the Delibes soundtrack, which I'd
never heard before (Lakme). I'm cynical about any kind
of movie the Hollywood machine produces, which has affective
value. The chances are, it's a manipulative money-making
strategy and not an artistic or cultural endeavour. MS
is from Canada, so I'm more favourably inclined. If I
get emotionally involved - which I do - I feel grateful
to the film-makers, not resentful because it's a clever
way of generating revenue.
I'm very fond of this movie. Sometimes
I like to have an emotional experience, rather than a
critical perspective. But why do I like it? Heroine Polly
is a gentle, scatter-brained person, incapable of adult
skills most people take for granted. I enjoy seeing this
kind of character as a central protagonist, rather than
the usual sexy/powerful/glamorous/macho/brave/noble/notorious
types. In other words, someone both normal and vulnerable,
depicted as a convincingly endearing personality. We can't
all be Sharon Stone or Bruce Willis.
Apart from that, what I enjoy about
MS is the theme of the private hobbyist doing something
they love - photography. Polly is awakened to art-speak
and the vanities, fashions and cruelties of social evaluation.
She's told her pictures are "simple-minded". It crushes
her; it upsets me to see it. I enjoy watching her prowl
round the streets taking her photos of "things that I
like". Children draw and paint because it's fun, without
thinking about how they are being perceived. Can't adults
do this too? Polly surrounds herself with her pictures
in her solitary little home, because it makes her feel
happy.
Anyway, all is resolved in the end.
Yes, like a fairy-tale: with a scene of magical realism
when Polly shows visitors into her darkroom, which becomes
a beautiful illuminated forest. It's just great.
Get Carter
24.1.03
One of the all time classics, and deservedly
so. The gangster genre is very popular, and GC has been
superseded by more contemporary films and overshadowed
- if you want to make this comparison - with the incomparable
Godfather. Despite this, the film has its own style which
is both impressive and enjoyable, regardless of historical
dating. Caine is of course superb, memorable for lines
like "you're a big man, but you're out of shape. With
me it's a full-time job", delivered with steely aplomb.
Note: yes I know it's a dubious movie
from a 'feminist' perspective, i.e. the way women are
characterised and stereotyped. But so are men - we can't
(sadly) all be tough guys like Michael Caine, who avenges
both his brother's death and the offensive pornographic
exploitation of young women.
Trust
23.1.03
I barely managed to finish watching
this first time round. I watched Amateur and Simple Men
a few months ago and I've been learning to enjoy Hal Hartley.
Trust has delightful moments and presents his usual deadpan
dialogue, where characters joust with words rather than
listen to each other. The plot is fractured and multi-threaded
and creates nice comic moments, where the punch-line is
sometimes purely visual. But it still bores me…there's
not enough here to sustain you.
The Cement
Garden 22.1.03
I'm fed up with the idea of the British,
class based, social realism film. I should have known
better as far as this is concerned, because Ian McEwan
is my favourite writer. CG is not a class based social
drama; that is no more than the setting, as opposed to
the principal interest. McEwan is sometimes interested
in borderline psychological exploration, which describes
this work: a group of young children lose their father,
shortly after their mother, bury the mother in concrete
in their cellar, and the oldest boy and girl finally express
their sexual interest in each other (you can see it coming
from the beginning of the film).
What I like about McEwan is not his
subject matter per se, but his immense skill in story
telling and literary craft. The subject matter is incidental,
so when I say I like it, it's not as if I said I liked
Stephen King, or strange psycho-sexual writers. He reads
well, which makes me interested in what he has to say.
All of this translates into the film version - I found
it interesting and enjoyable.
The Fly
21.1.03
I recently decided I dislike Cronenberg,
although I acknowledged that The Fly was quite good. After
multiple viewings, and my recent misgivings, I don't particularly
like this movie. It fits the usual Cronenberg preoccupations
- weird bodily stuff - and the storyline no longer interests
me, now it's familiar. In other words, this kind of thing
is rather superficial; it has some initial intrigue but
it does not repay repeat viewings like more quality work.
Dances
With Wolves 21.1.03
I watched this with a girlfriend when
it was released, and returned for a second and third viewing.
We both enjoyed it immensely, which surprised me after
the initial opening, which suggested a violent western.
Many years later my tastes have changed. I sometimes enjoy
films that are not cinematically skilful, if I find them
emotionally engaging. I quite enjoyed the storyline and
the beautiful photography - the wide plains of the former
Indian country. However on this viewing I disliked the
formulaic themes: the romanticised view of native Indian
culture, and the disreputable character of the US army
who invade and desecrate their country. All very simplistic
and predictable.
I still enjoyed a few moments though:
the final scene where Wind In His Hair shouts down at
Costner "Can you see I am your friend! I will always be
your friend! Dances With Wolves! Dances With Wolves!"
It's a beautiful moment, and the implicit theme of destroying
beauty is periodically evident - the landscape, the buffalo,
Costner's meticulous journal, his horse, and the wolf
that befriends him. They are all destroyed by the invading
US army, with total disregard.
Tesis
20.1.03
I'm interested in seeing what Spanish
cinema has to offer - beyond Almodovar, who I've found
irritating. I enjoyed Tesis and the theme of violent video
making - because it was done stylishly rather than sensationally.
Lawn Dogs
18.1.03
I hardly noticed this on the Film Four
listings, because I'm so used to seeing dross of the made
for TV calibre. If you have never heard anything about
it, it's likely to fit this particular genre. On investigating
trusty IMDB I found it was getting rave reviews, and decided
not only to watch it but to record it at the same time,
anticipating a worthwhile addition to my collection. Well
I don't think it's that good, but it has delightful moments.
Star attraction is little Mischa Barton
as an imaginative ten-year-old called Devon growing up
in Camelot Gardens, a wealthy Louisville suburb. She forms
an innocent friendship with Trent, a 21-year-old grass-cutter
who lives alone in the woods. It's a dangerous undertaking
because it is likely to be perceived as less than innocent
by the unpleasant middle class neighbourhood. The inevitable
reaction is the climax of the film, although it is overshadowed
by a charming touch of child based magical realism. Glad
I watched it, but I won't be part of my collection.
Audition
17.1.03
A lecturer friend of mine wrote a paper
on this, arguing that it is not - contrary to the prevalent
opinion - a feminist film. She claims it represents a
male viewpoint, that the maiming and torture scenes are
sadomasochistic sexual fantasy. She referred to the cinematography
and the beautiful compositions as you see the deranged
woman stick needles in the man and sever his foot. I see
her point; it's undoubtedly aesthetic, in the same way
that Yukio Mishima was aesthetic - both the man and the
film. I'm sure it could be interpreted in this way, and
the director and photographers had this in mind. But I'm
not convinced; I think the film does attempt to reject
Japan's traditional sexism. The female character Asami
is a quintessential example of what males supposedly want
and expect; much of the auditioning process is finding
a woman who is demure and refined, unlike the girls in
the bar at the beginning who are described as "common".
Asami is similarly noticeable in the procession of girls
for wearing elegant white. The strategy is thus to depict
the subservient, geisha-like girl as the opposite extreme
to what she really is - a psychopathic mutilator of men,
justified by her childhood abuse.
I enjoyed the style of this movie as
a whole (and Japanese movies generally, I am starting
to think), but found it a shock-horror experience rather
than a sexual one. I enjoy the prospect of shock movies
because the experience is different from my daily emotions
(although it has to be sophisticated: even as a teenager
I disliked gratuitous and in-your-face effects). Perhaps
it's a way of learning about yourself; perhaps it's related
to the Aristotelian concept of catharsis. There's a certain
pleasure in the knowledge that it is unreal and yet it
affects you; the temporary suspension of disbelief allows
you to have new experiences.
There are some clever horror effects
in Audition which reminded me of Ring, but overall I was
a little bored. It was too protracted for me, with insufficient
interest. I am curious about the Japanese psyche in relation
to films like this, in the culture and aesthetic that
Mishima depicted, in their endurance TV game shows, and
their reputed war-time cruelty.
The Player
17.1.03
I read a review of Robert Altman a few
years ago stating that he is an unusually attractive proposition
for many actors. 'Altman movie? Sounds good to me - I'll
do it.' Thus The Player features some of the 'stars' in
little cameo roles, acting as who they are in real life
- actors. I'm sure there's some truth in the critic's
remarks, but I also suspect a brief and undemanding role
would be viewed as a great promotional opportunity for
an actor.
I've watched this movie two or three
times, and on each occasion I had difficulty engaging
with it. This time I realised why that was: the rambling,
disordered and often simultaneous dialogue for which Altman
is famous. He prefers improvisation rather than a rigid
script, and expects his actors to perform, sometimes,
with little directorial guidance. It's an interesting
concept because it reflects what life is really like.
In that respect, Altman's work is an interesting comparison
to other directors. He provides a reference point which
is more lifelike, and highlights the artificial methods
which are more prevalent and fashionable. Actor speaks
- everyone else is quiet.
I don't think Altman's methods are superior
in any way, but his work raises interesting questions
about film aesthetic. Anyway, I quite enjoy The Player.
It's interesting to see an inside view of Hollywood machinations,
fictional or otherwise. The glitz and the glamour are
what you see all the time, not the executives and the
power they wield. It must be an enormous, carefully orchestrated
public relations stunt where the men in suits have as
least as much power and wealth as the 'stars' in the latest
Gucci. It's one of the biggest capitalist industries on
the planet, but it is presented only in terms of 'consumption'
of the movie product and the 'fashion' that goes with
it.
The Long
Day Closes 15.1.03
I quite like this film, for the way
it evokes a gentle, maternal and essentially loving (but
tough) working class childhood. The cinematography is
unusually inventive and poetic for this subject matter,
making the film a visually dark fairy tale. However, just
at the moment I'm rather tired of the kind of films that
have a political working class agenda. Ultimately I dislike
both politics and the class system; taking these as central
themes is, I find, a very constraining and superficial
intellectual outlook.
Taxi Driver
13.1.03
Iconic film, easily remembered for the
dramatic moments like the "You talking to me?" scene.
In fact, I'd forgotten the general storyline and particularly
how it ends, that Travis Bickle is regarded as a hero
for rescuing the prostitute from her entrapment. It reminded
me of The King Of Comedy, where the hero - De Niro again
- becomes rich and successful on the basis of his notoriety
and the media attention he gets. This is such a contemporary
idea, I've never considered it could be recognised in
the 70s or 80s. I like the idea of a taxi driver as 'out
there' in society, in a cab which presents an abbreviated
moment of anonymous intimacy.
Travis states that he doesn't care where
he goes, i.e. to the squalid and dangerous areas other
drivers avoid. Not much is made of his marines background,
but the scarred veteran was a frequent theme of the 70s
- and of course Bickle's decline involves a descent into
para-military aggression.
I'd also forgotten about the relationship
he attempts to make, and fails by taking her to a pornographic
movie on their second date. He can't understand his error
- interesting/curious example of his alienation from normal
social life.
The Green
Mile 6.1.03
Strange film this, very 'Stephen King'
if you can use that as an adjective. I liked Tom Hanks
in Road To Perdition (I think he was criticised rather
than commended, but I thought he was good), and that made
me more aware of him as an actor. I thought the performances
were good, but the story was weak.
Dead Ringers
5.1.03
I've decided I do not like Cronenberg
at all. I thought Existenz was abysmal, Crash looked so
weird I never saw it, and Madame Butterfly was also uncomfortably
weird. Videodrome may have some cinematic importance,
and his version of The Fly was quite good. But this is
my take on his particular style: it's unpleasant watching,
not in a challenging or thought-provoking way, but in
a diseased psyche kind of way. He's currently being interviewed
about his latest movie Spider, and from the short clips
I've seen it looks like more of this psychological sickness.
There's nothing wrong with that in itself (Taxi Driver
was pretty good; Brando in Apocalypse Now, etc. etc).
but disease for the sake of disease - and make it as weird
as possible with sexual and bodily references - is not
very interesting.
Additionally, Cronenberg makes sure
he repeats what some critics have apparently said - that
Spider is a perfect film. He insists that this is a problem
rather than a valuable situation because it constrains
rather than liberates. But more to the point - the idea
'a perfect film' is pretentious nonsense. Perfect for
who, at what time, and using what criteria? Anyway that's
Spider…I probably will see it some time because it is
a cultural reference point. But I suspect it will be on
TV, when I am not immersed in something I essentially
dislike.
Alien
5.1.03
Everyone remembers the notorious shock
effects of this famous movie; I'd forgotten how good it
looks, i.e. the skill of the cinematography and the convincing,
claustrophobic sets. I understand those involved - not
just Ridley Scott- wanted it to compare with 2001.
Favourite line? "It's structural perfection
is matched only by it's hostility". It's a classic, and
will remain so for a long time.
Saturday
Night and Sunday Morning 5.1.03
In my opinion a far more accomplished
film than Long Distance Runner, with a more mature and
sophisticated presentation of class issues. Quite enjoyed
it. But continuing from my Long Distance Runner analysis,
I noticed that the male characters in this film are snarling,
resentful people and the women and girlfriends are gentle
and consoling. The main character only expresses how he
is feeling with his girlfriend, and when he does it is
more honest and vulnerable than the rest of the time in
male company. This suggests you can interpret his aggression
in terms of macho bravado, as much as class indignation.
The women have a different attitude.
Withnail
and I 2.1.03
I enjoyed the humour of the wacky, dissolute
heroes who spend their time complaining about their squalor
and getting drunk. But it's a minor movie as far as I'm
concerned (not sure what kind of standing it's supposed
to have). Interesting to see a young Richard E Grant just
starting out, presumably.
Platoon
1.1.03
I've seen most if not all of this before,
but in broken pieces over the years rather than a sustained
viewing. I don't especially like war films, but watched
it his time because out of interest in Oliver Stone. You
can see some of his general preoccupation here - an ideological
attack on US policy (JFK) and Vietnam in particular, moral
inversions and ambivalence in wartime horror (Apocalypse
Now). It's a worthy movie but still a war film, which
is not my favourite.
Loneliness
of the Long Distance Runner 30.12.02
I watched a discussion about this movie
before I viewed it, and it caught my attention as 'an
important film'. The panellists - the actors and technicians
who made it - claimed that it questioned class assumptions
in an innovative way. Sounds good to me. On watching the
movie, I found I disliked it. British cinema seems to
be closely linked to class issues, and I
find this a very narrow and constraining intellectual
outlook. I further dislike it because I object to
the existence and preoccupation with class issues. If
you focus on it and use it as a critical method for film
analysis, you reinforce this situation. You have to acknowledge
it, but I don't like dwelling on it.
Which is what LDR does…It's supposed
to be a working class protest, but I don't find it convincing.
The main character deliberately loses a running competition
to spite the prison officer presiding over him. The final
shots show him smirking at his victory; in fact he has
succeeded in denying himself privileges which his victory
would have allowed. He is controlled by his own internal
resentment as much as class conditions and his protest
is a demonstration of nothing more than 'attitude' and
stupidity.
Take the
Money and Run 30.12.02
I enjoyed this - a wacky, early Woody
Allen comedy in which the director-star plays a hopeless
criminal who's turned to crime because he's so inept at
everything else. Like Zelig and others, it's filmed in
the style of a documentary. It's interesting to see the
same Allen preoccupations presented in a much earlier
film - like the hapless man who still attracts a beautiful
woman (only a few years younger in this case), and the
psychological pull of parents.
Spirit
of the Beehive 30.12.02
I'd heard that this was a notable foreign
art movie, I'm interested in Spanish culture, and I liked
the idea of the child who talks to a Frankenstein monster
when adults react only with fear and aggression. The film
begins with the children of a small village watching a
Frankenstein movie. We know the monster story is a symbolic
exploration of human nature; Beehive depicts the child's
experience of the complex adult world where helping a
hungry person is what matters, as opposed to so called
politics.
The film looks fabulous with well composed
shots of rural Spain, and is notably 'quiet' in terms
of dialogue and camera movement. Poetic. And the children
have notable acting ability.
Go
31.12.02
Fairly entertaining movie, but obviously
derivative - mostly Tarantino, together with the a 'three-possible-versions'
structure, as in Run Lola Run. About young people taking
drugs.
American
Beauty 30.12.02
As with
several other movies, on my first viewing I did not like
American Beauty.
Rosemary's
Baby 28.12.02
Following on from the above, you can
analyse this film with a similar framework. Mia Farrow
is a quintessential little woman at home, a wife, food
and baby-maker who does as she is told by oafish husband
John Cassavetes. The latter looks like a domesticated
Robin (Batman's sidekick) as he snaps his fingers and
speaks and gesticulates with punchy emphasis. Male doctors
have a malevolent and authoritarian control over the intimate
aspects of female biology; Farrow's female friends are
her only allies, and they order her husband out of the
room to discuss her pregnancy and wrest her away from
the cruel influence of her doctor. Men do care about her
- Edward 'Hutch' Hutchins tries to warn her about her
predicament, but he is killed by the satanic ensemble.
This is a valid interpretation, but
sexual politics are not the principle theme, however fashionable
this analytic mode is. Polanski is interested in the reality
of evil - albeit within religious terms - how it can literally
be next door to you, and invade your personal life. Farrow
gives birth to a son of Satan, after a ritual group impregnation
where she suddenly exclaims, memorably, "This isn't a
dream! This is really happening!"
As with many other early horror films,
having someone believe you and thus acknowledge evil is
one of the principal themes. If no one confirms your belief,
it's likely that you are regarded as mentally ill - as
is Farrow. The final scene is perhaps most worrying, when
Farrow begins to warm to the creature crying in the cot.
Initially horrified, her maternal instincts are easily
aroused as we are horrified in turn at the prospect of
nurturing evil. Motherhood, Polanski says, has the capacity
to do this; it is blind to the moral logic that outsiders
recognise.
Rosemary's Baby is an important work
in the history and development of the horror picture.
Retrospectively it still has considerable power, which
now derives from the contrast it offers against the overt
shock effects of contemporary horror films. The horror
is suggested rather than dramatised, portrayed within
a normal middle class community of beautiful young people
and idiosyncratic, elderly neighbours. We see a one second
flash of the satanic baby, as opposed to the dramatised
portrayal of films like The Exorcist. It may not shock
as much as the latter, or current horror listings, but
the psychological theme of evil-in-your-midst is especially
conveyed.
Repulsion
28.12.02
Harrowing film, charting the descent
into catatonia of sexually blocked Catherine Deneuve.
I haven't read any criticism about this work, but I imagine
people have attacked it for its implicit sexual politics.
Male hero goes to pub where pals complain about women
and how they are sexually unavailable. Female heroine
listens to (older) beauty salon client describe men as
children who want to be spanked and then cuddled. Heroine's
sister enjoys normal, healthy sexual relations and tortures
Deneuve at night with her vocal appreciation. Deneuve
herself, frigid and unavailable, seals herself off from
life, and descends into murderous psychosis when she's
left on her own for a few days. Implicit message? Women
are dangerous creatures when they reject their own sexual
feelings.
Perhaps. I'm sure feminists dislike
this movie. But there are other, less predictable interpretations.
The feminist analysis assumes a derogatory male viewpoint
and thereby a victim's stance. Yet from a female viewpoint,
it is surely empowering to suggest that women also like
sex, society sometimes denies this (the asexual creature
Germaine Greer described in The Female Eunuch), and reclaiming
and honouring sexual identity is a worthy project.
Once Were
Warriors 27.12.02 2002
This is bleak but interesting film.
I recall it being reviewed in general cultural terms,
as an exposition on the cultural situation of dispossessed,
former Maori people in New Zealand. It can be construed
in that way, but I think there is another interpretation
with wider relevance. The main protagonist is the central
figure in a group of violent, partying, drinking males
who embody the very worst of brutish patriarchal machismo.
He beats his wife, beats up other men to feel more masculine,
does not wish to work, parties and gets drunk every night
with his fellow Neanderthals. He has a complete indifference
and lack of care towards his children, which he regards
as a way of teaching them to be tough. His wife persuades
him into visiting their newly incarcerated son, he diverts
into a bar, gets drunk and watches sport on TV, refuses
to discuss it with his wife and threatens her with more
violence. His 13 year old daughter is raped by his brother,
and when he verbally abuses her, she hangs herself.
This movie may well depict the culturally
disenfranchised; it also illustrates the very worst kind
of Neanderthal, macho culture which is not unusual on
football terraces and in hundreds of clubs and bars. In
that respect it is an extraordinarily bleak and depressing
movie, frightening because these Maori men are muscular
and formidable fighters. Imagine Mike Tyson say to you
"what are you looking at?" - you have the depressing knowledge
that this is the prelude to a violent encounter, which
fills you with dread, disgust and the awareness that civilised
reason cannot protect you. Once Were Warriors could be
called Brute Machismo On The Rampage.
The Astronaut's
Wife 27.12.02
I wanted to see Johnny Depp's performance
in this. He didn't disappoint, but it's a very lightweight
work derived mostly, I would say, from Rosemary's Baby.
Mix that up with the X Files - as this does - and you
have a reasonable but unimpressive movie.
Ring 2
26.12.02
More of the same…worth seeing because
it gives you narrative closure on the first film, but
slightly less pleasurable because it is indeed more of
the same.
Ring
25.12.02
Channel 4's Mark Kermode introduced
this in his persuasively superlative terms, advising that
the scene where the woman crawls out of the television
set would "scare the shit out of you". I quite enjoyed
the prospect of a movie that might do this, like shock
and horror flicks used to do when I was a child and teenager.
This scene is the climax in an intriguing narrative which,
while it does engage you, never manages to unnerve or
truly surprise.
Kermode noted the filmic references
in Ring, and you can see yes, that's a bit of Cronenberg;
yes, that's like the Exorcist (the use of sound effects).
Nothing wrong with that, in fact it's a particular pleasure
that directors like Tarantino have used as their thematic
basis. But it doesn't shock. I wonder, sadly, if this
is only possible in 2002/3 with morally objectionable
material. Anyway, there's a certain pleasure in Ring as
a Japanese horror movie which has its own, non-Hollywood
style. It's more subtle, even poetic, than your average
Western example. It relies on narrative power and unnerving
but still subtle sound effects, rather than overwhelming
visual effect.
Run Lola
Run 25.12.02
The third time I've seen this, and on
this occasion I wanted to watch it to appreciate the editing
and cinematic technique - which is a rewarding exercise.
We all know this is an exciting, kinetic movie. It tries
to break out of the frame, uses inventive editing and
camera angles, and presents itself like a video game.
I was also interested in the sound track,
from which much of the effect of the film derives. It
excites you and carries you through the narrative with
frantic pace, as if you were listening to it in a dance
club. I read somewhere that club culture and dance music
encourage anaesthesia, i.e. an absence of thought. The
critic deplored this, and you can see his point if you
consider how exploitative the whole scene is. People have
a good time, admittedly, but not as good as the executive
fat cats who become very rich from the inflated door fees
and drink prices.
Apart from that, the anaesthetic effect
of trance type music is double edged. We all need some
kind of release in our lives, and I am sure said critic
- like most people - regularly imbibes in the anaesthetic
effects of alcohol and/or nicotine. I enjoy Run Lola Run
for it's energy and pace, although after the second narrative
thread the 'which way will the story go' theme is a little
tiring. The exposition about free will is interesting,
as is Lola: part punk, part teenage rebel, part mysterious
witch with a strange scream, part romantic heroine looking
after the boyfriend she loves. The relentless techno soundtrack
accompanies her on her Lara Croft exploits, yet she is
cool because she is ordinary apart from her angst-driven,
witch-like scream. The animation, slow motion and stills
recreate the pace and speed of a video game.
Wild Strawberries
25.12.02
About a month ago I watched an old black
and white film I did not know was by Bergman. I eventually
realised The Silence was a powerful, psychologically complex
film and I regretted not watching it with more attention
and/or recording it. This is why I'm currently interested
in Bergman. Mark Kermode is running an interview with
Woody Allen to accompany the Channel 4 movies, asking
him about his appreciation for Bergman. He recommends
three in particular: The Seventh Seal, Cries and Whispers
and Wild Strawberries. Well, I tried it but didn't find
much of interest - the usual psychological and philosophical
preoccupations (aging and dying), but I didn't find much
of the cinematic and aesthetic power that, Allen argues,
makes his films great art despite their bleak themes.
Stanley
And Iris 23.12.02
As with Truly, Madly, Deeply: I have
a soft spot for this one. I enjoy the way the lives of
De Niro and Jane Fonda gradually merge; they are both
gentle people, made vulnerable by their respective circumstances
- she's lost a husband and companion, he cannot read and
has to work hard to find a place in society. They are
different and yet similar; De Niro tells her the "best
time I ever had" was six days solitary camping in the
Grand Canyon, whereas she likes cities and "lots of people".
My favourite scenes are when he gives
her a lift home on his bicycle, when he does her ironing,
and when he shows her his invention and says "this is
what I do in my prison" - his secret skill which eventually
leads to a lucrative job. The couple do not follow the
conventional have dates, have sex, find love progression.
Their 'dates' are conducted within domestic circumstances
which are the reality of most people's daily lives, as
opposed to the sexy glamour of clubs, bars, dressing up,
and the animal prowl for a mate. De Niro and Fonda are
beyond this. Although they want and enjoy sexual activity
(the "three times a week like clockwork" which Fonda misses),
essentially they are looking for a kind companion to share
their lives with. Nice.
Fight Club
22.12.02
I didn't like the sound of this movie
initially; however ironic its supposed to be, it remains
a film about violence and brutality, with copy-cat potential.
On this second or third viewing I quite liked it because,
I suppose, any shock value it had is now gone. Edward
Norton is an interesting actor, particularly good at portraying
deranged mentalities in voice, body language and general
demeanour. In the last scene here he persuades Helen Bonham-Carter
that he's been going through a rough patch but is now
OK. It's only a few seconds but curiously convincing because
the aggression, tension and anxiety has left him. He does
a similar thing in Primal Fear when he pretends to be
schizophrenic, and then at the end drops all pretence
and reverts to this true character, when he confesses
to Richard Gere.
Stylish movie, but I'm not convinced
about these ideas of 'anti-capitalism' which it is supposed
to portray. What exactly is that supposed to mean? The
real life protesters are no more than an incoherent rabble
with occasional demonstrations. The idea is OK - why should
we accept the capitalist system? - but on its own, it's
rather like an adolescent protesting against his parents.
There may be good reasons for doing so, but what exactly
are you offering in place of your parent's world? Very
little, of course. I prefer to regard damaging shops,
property etc. as a way of damaging people's personal lives
- people who have quite likely never really thought about
so called politics. Decent people making a living.
The term 'politics'
is often used quite stupidly, in my opinion. Apart
from that, I like the way Norton rejects his rat-race
position and gets his way with his superior. Note that
I don't mention Mr Pitt - damn, I just did. I'm neither
female nor homosexual but even if I were either of these,
I think I'd regard Mr Pitt with some suspicion. The more
cool, trendy and iconic I hear an actor is supposed to
be, the less likely it is that I will enjoy watching them.
Movies are, of course, big (huge) capitalist business,
and I do not like being manipulated in this way. Quality
actors stand on their own merit (De Niro, Pacino, Spacey,
Keitel) - not, as Hollywood says, as fashion items we
consume and somehow 'wear' by attending the local multiplex.
The Fencing
Master 21.12.02
Interesting work if you are interested
in foreign films. Notable for its femme fatale who is
also a skilled fencer second only to the master himself,
giving her an action-heroine status like the fighters
in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I enjoy films which
have an entirely different style and ambience to the Western,
Hollywood based genre.
Truly,
Madly, Deeply 21.12.02
I admit it: I enjoyed this when I first
saw it on the big screen, and I still enjoy watching the
TV repeats. I conclude that there's nothing wrong with
an occasional feel-good movie; film does not have to be
challenging or high-concept. Juliet Stevenson and Alan
Rickman do a good job as idiosyncratic, lovable personalities
in a ghost story drama which is, nonetheless, based on
credible psychological fact: love, bereavement, and the
painful but redeeming necessity of moving on to new relationships.
When Harry
Met Sally 21.12.02
An old romantic favourite, famous for
the fake orgasm scene in the restaurant. I don't think
it's a very good movie for your first, second or later
viewing - I must have seen it about three times. I enjoy
watching Meg Ryan because she projects something different
from the Female Hollywood Persona. She's more wacky, sexy
in a funny rather than a serious way. And Billy Crystal's
wit occasionally sparkles. But neither of these factors
redeem what is ultimately a tediously bland movie.
Casablanca
20.12.02
Still rewarding after all this time
and all these repeat viewings. The photography is beautiful,
Bogart and Bergman are romantic icons, the narrative is
almost archetypal, and I'm starting to appreciate the
dialogue by anticipating it's famous lines. I find timeless
movies like this quite soothing: they never go away, and
we return to them many times.
Good Will
Hunting 20.12.02
This is a formulaic Hollywood emotion-jerker;
it is well crafted, but for the following criticism. The
genius of Will Hunting is ridiculous - he spends most
of his free time drinking and hanging out with a group
of male friends, and yet he is supposed to have read and
memorised all the significant books in literature, art,
economics, politics, physics, mathematics etc. Director
Gus Van Sant has exaggerated a reasonable premise, that
a young man with little formal education could be remarkably
well read and astonishingly intelligent. Who says this
has to happen within formal education? The other possibility
- perhaps more likely- is that Sant merely ran with the
story as written by featured actors Matt Damon and Ben
Affleck - demonstrating the reverse principle that so
called successful people can be pretty dumb.
Apart from this major reservation, the
film has a fine insight into psychological dynamics. Hunting
hides from his own abilities by taking manual labour jobs.
He male-bonds with a group of friends who, underneath
their drinking and fighting, love Will sufficiently to
wish he would leave them and respect his own abilities,
and who buy him a clapped-out car for his birthday. Robin
Williams plays another one of his beaten-up, sensitive
tough-guy roles: the therapist who can empathise because
of his deep and educational experience of life. You know
the role I mean: the broad smile that envelops his face,
pixie-like, and the twinkling, compassionate eyes. His
developing relationship with Will is the central narrative,
and Williams also benefits from the ensuing collision.
It's a little too cute watching this, but it is based
on psychological fact. Carl Jung described psychotherapy
as a process of alchemy, whereby therapist and client
are both changed and hopefully enriched as a result of
their transactions.
The Swimmer
20.12.02
An iconic movie, partly because of the
rip-off advert where the man swims through garden pools
wearing Levis. I missed the first part of the movie, discouraged
by the sight of half naked Burt Lancaster running alongside
a horse with a silly, orchestral soundtrack. After flipping
channels a little, I returned and saw another dubious
situation: Lancaster wandering though a woodland with
a teenage bikini clad girl, with more than paternal interest.
Aha I thought, perhaps this is an interesting film in
the sense that we can now analyse it with our sophisticated,
year 2002 outlook with our inbuilt sex-abuse detector.
In fact this scene is less controversial and more innocent
than Lolita or American Beauty, and this theme is embedded
in the wider context of Lancaster's symbolic endeavours.
The latter idea is quite interesting; The Swimmer attempts
to question and subvert the limitations of bourgeois materialism,
and swimming home via the pools of his rich neighbours
becomes a process of self-discovery, re-evaluating his
relationships with hostile friends and colleagues.
Dim Sum1.12.02
Sweet film, documenting Chinese American
family life in San Francisco. I enjoyed the gentle characters
and the fact that, despite their surface disagreements,
they are loving and committed to each other.
King of
Comedy 19.12.02
A minor Scorcese work which is perhaps
worthy of more interest. I enjoyed it, and was particularly
struck by the theme of notorious/illegal activity leading
to media interest and subsequent wealth and fame. If a
murderer or criminal writes a book - or collaborates with
a ghost writer - this is entirely possible, such is the
public appetite for shock! horror! intimate tales. Nothing
novel about this idea, but K of C was released in 1983.
Additionally, the film portrays the obsession with fame
and celebrity - another common in 2002, but which was
not so prevalent in the early 80s.
White of
the Eye 18.12.02
Leather-jacketed Mark Kermode has a
way of presenting films like they are the epitome of cultural
cool. He's assisted by the editing and graphics of the
Film Four entourage, and he rated this film quite highly.
I don't agree. Low quality work.
Autumn
Sonata 17.12.02
I first saw this on the big screen,
many years ago. I recall I was mindlessly bored and couldn't
wait for the damn thing to end. I felt the same way about
it this time, and I wandered off to a book I was reading,
returning at odd moments when the voices suggested something
interesting was happening. Every time I saw the dialogue
sub-titles I was encouraged to return to my book, when
I saw it was the same old psychological catharsis between
mother and daughter. You never loved me, I hate you, you
never understood me etc. etc. I watched enough to realise
it was masterfully done, but I did not want to invest
my time in watching it. No doubt about it - you have to
take Bergman seriously. But this one drives me up the
wall.
Chasing
Amy 16.12.02
Third viewing I think; the second time
I realised I like this film a lot. I enjoy the quirky
adolescent world of comic book fandom, as a counter-cultural
activity with its own values. I'll be writing more about
this, because it's one of my current favourites.
Soldier
Blue 11.12.02
Soldier Blue was on TV many years ago
when I was a boy. A class-mate told me that it was very
violent, and contained nudity. It is, and it does: but
my interest now is not what it was, the natural fascination
of youth and, in this case, a pained sense of yearning
and loss. My designated bed-time was generally quite early,
and I felt I was missing out when class-mates told their
stories of tele-visual delights.
Soldier Blue is a strange film, and
I suspect quite an important one. It's strange because
it combines light-hearted, whimsical romance with serious
ideological issues. After the massacre of an Indian village,
Candice Bergen alternates between flirtatious little smiles
with her man friend, and an appropriately troubled expression
at the behaviour of the US Army. It's an important film
because I think it was one of the first to question US
attitudes to the native American population and portray
them as a different race, civilised in their own way.
It's not entirely successful: the actors used for the
Indian parts look clean-cut, cultured and eminently middle
class. It is thus a sentimental re-working of the issues
regarding cultural arrogance and imperialism. But it does,
nonetheless, question i.e. redress what used to be the
accepted ideology.
Some of the violence is visually quite
dramatic, and while the nudity is no more than instantaneous,
it is also dramatic because it concerns rape and exhibitionistic
killing. I suspect movies like this influenced Kevin Costner's
Dances With Wolves.
The Grifters
10.12.02
I couldn't 'get into' this. I first
saw The Grifters many years ago, at least once, and in
this viewing I was and tired and not really in the mood
for a movie. I also think I was unimpressed because it's
not very good. John Cusack is nice to watch, and while
Angelica Huston is accomplished, I felt that parts of
the film were contrived around her and we were supposed
to admire her skills. It irritates me when I see this,
since I dislike ridiculous celebrity culture and the adulation-market.
The idea of the ducking, diving and
scamming lifestyle of a 'grifter' is quite interesting,
and the additional concern of the incestuous relationship
between Cusack (son) and Huston (mother) is provides additional
narrative tension. For Huston, it seems to be an abusive
and uncaring relationship where she eventually kills him
- albeit accidentally. For Cusack, it seems to be an Oedipal
attraction that makes him vulnerable to sexual manipulation,
years later when he has established his own adult life.
This is dark, pathological material which is not conveyed
in its full complexity - whatever that might be - in The
Grifters.
The Lost
Highway 9.12.02
When I saw Mulholland Drive on the
big screen, a spectator behind me summed it up with the
ejaculation "fucking wicked!" The Lost Highway is similarly
impressive: you are left reeling for words, based on limited
narrative resources and impressive visual imagery and
psychological exploration. I believe that Lynch does something
important in film, which is to substantially subvert conventional
expectations. I'll be writing more about this. Very interested
in Lynch.
The Virgin
Suicides 29.11.02
I don't understand this film. It presents
itself as a gentle teenage romance, but it concerns mysterious
suicide. You know the girls are unhappy only because the
narration tells you; there is little in their manner to
suggest existential teenage crisis, and the death of the
first girl doesn't seem to effect other people very much.
This could be viewed as an interesting poetic interpretation,
but I think in the hands of Sofia Coppola we have to assume
it's a sign of immature and superficial work. Maybe I
do understand it. The girls are pretty and nice to watch,
and perhaps this is the main conclusion - that VS is an
elegiac work about teenage beauty in an adult world which
does not understand them.
The Natural
28.11.02
I quite like this film, because I enjoy
mythological themes and credible triumph-success stories.
Some of them anyway - the Rockie movies are like this
- boxer works out, struggles and eventually triumphs -
and I would say they are some of the worst popular films
of all time. The Natural is far more sophisticated, with
psychological intrigue and enjoyable magical realism.
Baseball is a symbol for noble spiritual activity, and
Robert Redford is a vaguely Arthurian hero battling -
like Lancelot - with his internal conflicts and external
evil.
Road to
Perdition 5.10.02
Psychologically intense gangster movie.
I think Tom Hanks was derided for his performance; I thought
it was perfectly OK. Two scenes particularly memorable
for their powerful cinematography: a silent scene when
Hanks guns down some foes; all you see is the flashing
blaze from his machine gun, against a shadowy black mise-en-scene.
In these days of fast action, fast music and flashy effects,
it has a strange beauty which contrasts with the grim
subject matter. Mendes uses a similar minimalist technique
when Hanks is finally killed. You hear the soothing whooshing
of the sea, and half watch him through a window, half
watch the reflected sea. The violence is again strangely
poetic and non-explicit.
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