THE LONG GOODBYE (1973)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Crime

Director: Robert Altman

Cast: Elliott Gould / Nina van Pallandt / Sterling Hayden

Plot

Private detective Philip Marlowe takes a case involving the suspicious suicide of his friend, only to uncover a tale of a drunken writer, his troubled wife, and a sociopathic gangster.

What I Liked

I like Raymond Chandler’s novels, though I never did get around to reading “The Long Goodbye.”  Apparently, this film is a very loose adaptation, the most obvious difference being that the film takes place during the early 1970s, when the movie was filmed, rather than the 1940s, when the novel was set to take place.  As a result, the character of Chandler’s famous detective, Philip Marlowe, is changed from hard-boiled tough guy to sarcastic jokester.  The 1970s-era Marlowe’s relaxed, wisecracking attitude represents a sort of generation gap in what passed for heroic in pre-war America and what was considered heroic for the baby boomer generation.  Refusing to curb his smart ass remarks for any kind of authority figure, be they doctors, cops, or mob bosses, Marlowe is a natural anti-establishment champion without even trying.

Of course Humphrey Bogart provided us with the quintessential example of the pre-war Marlowe in “The Big Sleep.”  To Elliott Gould’s credit, he in no way attempts to imitate or parody Bogart’s rugged performance in his incarnation, instead inventing his own, more casual and decidedly less intimidating Marlowe.  He’s more Kerouac than Bogart.  Though no less determined and intelligent in his pursuit of the truth, he forgoes the use of violence (with the exception of one shocking instance) in favor of quips and sneers.

I was surprised by Sterling Hayden, who I never considered much of an actor until I saw this movie.  Portraying a Hemingway-esque alcoholic writer named Wade (Chandler actually wrote him as a self-portrait), Hayden captures all that is mesmerizing and pathetic about self-destructive brilliance.  His is the most soulful and haunting performance of the film.

What I Didn’t Like

The only thing really disappointing about this movie is really how bland the whole plot is.  Most of Chandler’s novels involved the seedy secrets hidden beneath glamorous Hollywood.  The secrets particular to “The Long Goodbye” are rather tame and the big reveal of the conspiracy is consequently anticlimactic, even if the events of the final scene do shock.

Most Memorable Scene

*spoiler alert*

Gould’s Marlowe is so non-violent that by the end of the film the audience is starved for real action.  For a seventies crime thriller, “The Long Goodbye” lacks the gore and grittiness of most of its contemporaries.  To the filmmakers’ credit, the lack of action never gets in the way of maintaining the viewer's interest, thanks to intriguing characters and suspenseful predicaments.  Still, Marlowe is so relaxed and passive that even when he does draw his gun in the film’s final scene we still don’t believe it is in his nature to use it.  He proves us wrong, and still manages to throw in a sarcastic quip in the process.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5

WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (1988)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Animated / Comedy

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Cast: Charles Fleischer / Bob Hoskins / Kathleen Turner

Plot

A down-and-out private eye investigates the murder of the owner of a popular cartoon studio and winds up protecting Roger, the wacky cartoon rabbit framed for the killing.

What I Liked

I am amazed at how well the blend of live action and animation still works nearly a quarter-century after I first saw this movie in the theater as a kid.  The special effects are immaculate, not at all antiquated by the now prevalent use of CGI that has dated so many older movies.  The effects on “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” are actually all the more impressive now that I look upon them with adult eyes, knowing how meticulous and creative the filmmakers had to be in order to pull them off so perfectly and entertainingly.

Speaking of how impressive this movie’s visuals are without the help of CGI, even the non-animated scenes are striking for how well they create an authentic-feeling and very much alive 1940s-era Los Angeles.  The cars, the clothes, the streets, the buildings, the bars, they’re all there and none these live action elements seem cartoonish or idealized.

Of course effects and production values, no matter how good they are, rarely hold up over time if there’s no substance underneath the flash.  “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” is – animation and gimmicks aside – an excellent buddy film supported by excellent performances all around (Christopher Lloyd really should cast in more good movies these days.)  Also important to keeping this one interesting, the script takes the conventions of several genres, shoves them all into a clown car together, jostles them around for a bit, and pops out with a wholly unique, genre-defying tribute to American pop culture.  As much as it parodies some familiar archetypes and clichés, “Who Frames Roger Rabbit” is never cynical, but instead embraces the fun of it all.

What I Disliked

If one goes into “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” in the wrong frame of mind, one runs the risk of a massive headache.  True to the animated characters who inspired it, this movie is a non-stop blast of obnoxious noise and color from start to finish.  Indeed the visual and audible noise only gets worse as the film goes along.  For some that’s all part of the fun.  Others may find it irritating and maybe even intolerable.  I can almost understand that perspective, as the film certainly isn’t one I would recommend putting on if you’re looking for relaxation and contemplation.  There’s no subtlety here, just insanity.  That said, if you turn this film off, you’ll be missing out on a dazzling little piece of Americana.

On a related note, some of the intended comedy in the movie falls flat.  In particular, many of the puns and slapstick disappoint.  Likewise, some of the sexual innuendos are crude without being the least bit amusing. Overall, though, these are made up for by the genuinely funny interactions between incurably grumpy Detective Valiant and the hopelessly manic title character.

Most Memorable Scene

There are several classic scenes in this film, but for me the most stunning was the initial car chase with Roger and Valiant charging through the streets of L.A. in an animated cab.  I’m a lover of car chases in general anyway, but this one stands out as a particularly wild.  Here the blend of the real and animated happens at hyper speed and yet remains technically flawless and marvelously entertaining.

My Rating: 4 out of 5

THE PIANO (1993)

Country: Australia / New Zealand

Genre(s): Drama / Romance

Director: Jane Campion

Cast: Holly Hunter / Harvey Keitel / Anna Paquin

Plot

A mute woman arrives along with her daughter and her piano in New Zealand, where she is to marry a wealthy stranger in an arranged marriage.  When she begins a romance with another man, the various relationships of everyone involved become strained.

What I Liked

Feeling like it was genuinely written in the nineteenth century, “The Piano” has all the dark, mysterious romance of the best British gothic novels, only with a more exotic locale that serves to enhance and beautify that mystery.

Every moment of this film is soaked in mood and strangeness and a lot of that has to do with the script, the cinematography, and the setting.  However, much of it originates in Holly Hunter’s performance as Ada, an extremely hard-headed and passionate woman who, for reasons never overtly explained, has chosen never to speak.  Intelligent, talented, selfish, resentful, loving, and disturbed all at once, Ada is the mesmerizing creature that no one in the film, not even her daughter, can fully understand.  Underlying her story and character exists something of a feminist martyr, a woman smarter and more willful than either of the men who seek to possess her.  Forced into a situation over which she had no control, she battles for her own identity – closely tied to her beloved piano – in a manner that produces destruction and bloodshed.  Hunter gives a complicated character all of the depth needed, making Ada, even surrounded by the wilderness of a gloomy forest, still the most mysterious facet of the film.

Surrounding Hunter is a cast of top flight actors who each give adept performances and flesh out their characters well.  Harvey Keitel is both masculine and fragile as Englishman-gone-native Baines.  Sam Neill is Keitel’s foil as the entitled and clueless Mr. Stewart.  And a very young Anna Paquin holds her own with this all-star cast as Ada’s mischievous and naïve daughter.

Written and directed by Jane Campion, “The Piano” has all the sweeping grandeur of a well-done period romance, yet each scene carries with it a certain discomfort and strangeness that sets it apart from the rest.  This is a film about a woman trapped and ultimately punished by her own nature, not because she does not speak, but because the rest of the world refuses to listen.

What I Disliked

*spoiler alert*

Others are free to disagree, of course, but Campion might have overdone it with the feminist messages in her film.  There were times where I felt like I was being preached to, rather than being told a story.  Ada’s refusal to let herself disappear into the role men have carved out for her is heroic indeed and the fact that nobody around her, even other women, seem to understand her struggle makes her situation even more tragic.  Still, I found Ada to be so belligerently selfish at times that I couldn’t help but feel for the other people whose emotions she completely disregarded in pursuit of her own desires.  Here she is not heroic, but instead the thoughtless catalyst for a great deal of heartache for others, including her daughter, and even herself.

Actually, given the feminist messages and the overall tragic feel of the story, I was genuinely surprised at the relatively happy ending of it all.  The scene where Ada very nearly ends her life with a very poetic suicide attempt is followed almost immediately by a “happily ever after” conclusion that, while romantic and well executed, feels a bit forced and out of place with the rest of the film’s mood.

Most Memorable Scene

*spoiler alert*

Many will find “The Piano” decidedly lacking in action.  Everything is slow movements, hard-eyed stares, piano playing, and panoramic views of the setting.  That is until the film’s climax, when one particularly cruel act of violence serves as a kind of breaking point for all of the resentment and repression that preceded it.

The moment takes place in a series of only a few seconds but is so shocking the viewer might find themselves questing if they really witnessed it.  Even the three characters involved are all stunned by the sheer savagery of it.  Hunter’s understated performance here is balletic in movement and heartbreaking in soulfulness.  Most importantly, the scene shows the lack of purpose involved in violence.  Nothing gets solved and everyone involved suffers because of it.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Horror

Director: Jacques Tourneur

Cast: Frances Dee / Tom Conway / James Ellison

Plot

Hired to care for a disturbed woman on a mysterious Caribbean island, nurse Betsy finds herself conflicted by her fear of the nightly voodoo rituals that occur there and her forbidden love for her patient’s husband.

What I Liked

“The characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictional.  Any similarity to any persons, living, dead, or possessed, is entirely coincidental.”  And thus opens one of the eeriest films of the 1940s.  At the same time that Universal Pictures’ cycle of classic monster films devolved from groundbreaking to trivial, RKO Pictures began putting out the less heralded but idiosyncratic and unnerving films of director Jacques Tourneur.

Generally speaking, low budget horror films of this era were notoriously lacking in depth or ambiance.  However, “I Walked With a Zombie” has a plot so classic it harkens back to the Bronte sisters and Poe with its weaving of dark, supernatural elements into a scandalous family drama.  At the same time its focus on the failure of modern psychology and medicine to explain spiritual depravity predates later film classics like “The Exorcist.”

Most important of all to this film is the ambiance.  Once Betsy arrives on the island, there is constant noise.  The island is constantly buzzing, moaning, and roaring with the sounds of insects, animals, drums, chants, and waves.  These noises are always indistinct, never belonging to one thing or person but to the entire setting, a fact that makes them all the more mysterious and ominous.  In this way and others, Tourneur shows us how the unseen can often be more frightening than what can be seen.  He knew that his audience imagination could create more terrifying images than anything his budget could produce on the screen.  The audience’s vision is almost constantly obscured by high grass, shadows, walls, and gates, allowing them to imagine what lies in wait just beyond our sight.

What I Disliked

It may be an underrated gem, but I don't want to give the impression that this movie is more than what it in fact is: a low-budget exploitation film that, despite being unique and well-executed, still has some of the limitations common to other movies of its kind.

If the plot to “I Walked With a Zombie” seems all too familiar, that’s because it is.  Most of the plot is a hastened, over simplication Charlotte Bronte’s novel Jane Eyre… only with zombies (Eat your heart - or brain, if you prefer - out, Seth Grahame-Smith).  Of course the film’s use of literate themes was also mentioned under “what I liked,” and I do appreciate it.  It’s only that the human drama of it all, especially the romance between Betsy and her employer, Mr. Holland, seemed rushed and underdeveloped.  Instead of being more creeped out by the fact that Holland is trying to seduce his comatose wife’s caretaker, we’re instead asking “Wait, when did these two get together?”  Of course, Ms. Bronte had hundreds of pages to develop her story, and the filmmakers of “I Walked With a Zombie” only just over an hour of footage.  So things have to move along quickly and they do.  This will no doubt be a bonus to some, who want to get to the voodoo and zombies and skip all the mushy stuff.  In my opinion, though, this film could have used more length and character development.

I did not recognize any of the actors from this movie from anything else.  While I didn’t find any of them inept, nor did I find anyone particularly impressive.  This could have something to do with the fact that the two lead roles were somewhat bladly fleshed-out: the well-mannered, dark, mysterious wealthy man and the naïve young nurse who pines for him.  Not exactly groundbreaking stuff for the actors to work with.  They are adequate, but it’s no surprise that none of them wound up being a major star.

Most Memorable Scene

It’s the case with so many classic films, especially horrors, that they are best remembered for one scene that is sometimes more famous than the film itself.  “I Walked With a Zombie” is a prime example.  The film itself is a very good product put together with limited means.  Yet right in the middle of it is a scene that is nothing short of a masterpiece.  As Betsy travels through the wilderness of the island in a desperate attempt to locate the voodoo cures she hopes will save her patient, she finds herself lost inside a terrifying maze of woods, grass, and voodoo artifacts.  There is some fantastically intense camera work here that reminds me of later stylistic flourishes from the Coen brothers and Sam Raimi.  It all culminates with a brief, wordless, but undeniably chilling encounter that will scar itself irreparably on any viewer’s mind.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5

FORBIDDEN GAMES (1952)

A.K.A.: Jeaux Interdits

Country: France

Genre(s): Drama / War

Director: Rene Clement

Cast: Brigitte Fossey / Georges Poujouly / Amedee

Plot

Orphaned by German bombs, a little girl is taken in by a family of farmers.  She befriends the youngest son of the family and the pair begins constructing a cemetery for dead animals.

What I Liked

*spoiler alert*

The most impressive aspect of “Forbidden Games” are the moving and convincing performances from its two child leads, Georges Poujouly as Michel and particularly little Brigitte Fossey as Paulette bring all the necessary innocence and emotionality to their characters and rarely come off as child actors, but rather child characters.  Six year old Fossey’s believable performance as the traumatized, confused, frightened, and loving Paulette is the real source of the movie’s emotional impact.  She never seems to be reciting lines some off screen adult just told her; her emotions and tears seem completely genuine; and the filmmakers never go the easy route of idealizing the little girl either.  She seems like a real child caught up in events far beyond her control that are thoroughly confusing her.  Poujouly’s portrayal of wild Michel, the older boy who looks after Paulette and helps her steal crosses for the cemetery, is equally believable.  Michel is imaginative and unrestrained, but also thoughtful and idealistic (without being idealized).

One of the most striking themes of the film is that the adults are every bit as immature, selfish, and irrational as one would expect the children to be.  The opening scenes showing the terror and absurdity of war are of course the most blatant depictions of this, yet even on a smaller scale, the grown-ups are so concerned with family feuds and judging others that their actions are sometimes comic relief and at others horrifically tragic.  Ultimately, it is the children who are the most loving and moral, only to see their trust and honesty martyred by the adults.

What I Disliked

“Forbidden Games” is a tale of rural people adherent to their rustic traditions, feuds, and daily chores.  Outside of the historic backdrop of Nazi invasion, one will find little here in the way of action or even melodrama. A slice-of-life, coming-of-age story, those who seek high adventure, star-crossed romance, or epic production values will be disappointed by how slowly the plot progresses.  The climax comes unexpectedly, not with a roar or blast, but with anguished realism.

Most Memorable Scene

*spoiler alert*

For a film that begins and ends with heartbreak, my choice is between the opening and closing moments.  Ultimately, the sadness of the opening scene only heightens the further unhappiness of the ending, so it is the ending which becomes the most moving and leaves the viewer with its most memorable image of a desperate little girl lost in a mass of equally desperate strangers.  I should have expected an unhappy ending to this film, but somehow the coming-of-age story and the rustic setting must have instilled some denial in my mind that allowed me to be totally crushed by the events of the film’s conclusion.

My Rating: 4 out of 5

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (2000)

A.K.A.: Fa Yeung Nin Wa

Country: Hong Kong

Genre(s): Drama / Romance

Director: Kar Wai Wong
Cast: Tony Leung Chiu Wai / Maggie Cheung / Ping Lam Siu

Plot

Two neighbors, a man and a woman in 1960s Hong Kong, believe that their respective spouses are having an affair.  Brought together by this, they form a meaningful but complicated friendship.

What I Liked

Just as “The Bicycle Thief” is poetry in the form of motion picture (as I mentioned in a previous entry), so is “In the Mood For Love.”  Much of the importance in this story and its characters is in what goes unsaid, indeed what is impossible to put into words.  Thus “In the Mood For Love” can’t be anything but a movie.  Its impact and beauty would be weakened in the format of a novel, a painting, a song, or even a written poem.

What makes this film interesting and moving is the way the characters relate to each other, their approach to their situation.  They never fully confront the infidelity of their spouses or what to do about it; nor do they openly discuss their mutual attraction to one another and what to do about that.  Yet they never ignore either issue, approaching them sideways, passively, and sometimes cleverly, veiling their hurt in politely uttered pleasantries, discussions about short stories, and even pretend to be their unfaithful spouses, rather than themselves.  Indeed, their story is most effectively told not in what they say but in their facial expressions, their glances, their walks and their gestures.  The physical movements of both characters as they constantly flirt with the space between each other have all the balletic elegance of a great dance performance, yet these are simply two lonely people moving beautifully through their daily lives and through each other’s lives.

I mentioned earlier that “In the Mood For Love” could never work as a painting.  While that’s true, there are visuals here that certainly have the feel of a moody painting.  Director Kar Wai Wong makes seductive use of colors, be they glowing neons or cool shadows, which makes the viewer an unknowing but thoroughly mesmerized participant in his own absorption into the moment.  This is not only a unique and honest depiction of human relationships, but it is also a gorgeous piece of escapism that absolutely transports its audience to another time and place.

What I Disliked

I won’t say I disliked any of this, but I will admit the film is slow and difficult to categorize.  Indeed, I had to take it in at multiple sittings to refresh my attention span because what I was shown in this film didn’t fit easily into the conventions to which I am accustomed.  Don’t let the title fool you and approach this one looking for the type of romance story traditional in Western film.  There is little to none of the tear-drenched melodrama or disarming quirkiness Americans like in their love stories.  Shot without a script, this film lacks a traditional narrative structure and it would be hard to point to a moment in this film that can easily be recognized as a climax, which would require rising action, and that never comes into play either.  Nor will you be treated to a pre-packaged happy ending; yet nor is it sad.  It just is.  The conclusion feels real, perfectly keeping with the situation and the characters; and that’s because this film, despite a visual beauty that borders on fantasy, seeks truth in every shot, line, and scene.

Most Memorable Scene

There are at least a half a dozen points where dialogue is completely abandoned for sequences that are accompanied only by music, the same music each time.  It is a stunning song played on violin that perfectly accents each of the visuals it accompanies (It's in the trailer above).  I'm not prone to saying this, but it's really some of the most moving music I've ever heard.  None of these moments stands out above another, so I will pick them all.  Here that dance of daily life I spoke of earlier glides at its most poignant level, helped by some smooth, Scorsese-esque camera movement.  These are the scenes that elevate this film from an unusual tale of love to a masterful work of art rendered in moving pictures.

My Rating: 5 out of 5

ONE EYED JACKS (1961)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Western

Director: Marlon Brando

Cast: Marlon Brando / Karl Malden / Pina Pellicer

 

Plot

After being betrayed by his partner and spending five years in a Mexican jail, bankrobber Kid Rio arrives in Monterey, California looking for revenge, only to learn that the man he intends to kill is now town sheriff.

What I Liked

The most striking thing about “One Eyed Jacks” is the cinematography.  Granted, a lot of westerns make use of panoramic shots of vast landscapes and there’s a fair amount of that here too (particularly moody is the early scene where Kid Rio finds himself trapped atop a cliff in a sandstorm with a party of Mexican lawmen closing in).  But I actually found the interior shots most interesting here.  The positioning of different characters on the screen, their relationship to the doorways, windows, and furniture in the rooms, and of course the many close-ups of Marlon Brando’s Rio as he struggles to contain his hatred and bloodlust.

Speaking of Brando, he does bring an extra psychological depth essential to his complicated character.  His brooding obsessiveness is really the thing which keeps the viewer watching, making up for his unconvincing Elvis Presley accent.  Brando just has that natural charisma, that star power quality that some call “It,” undefinable and uncoachable.  However, even if it is Brando who is responsible for the soulfulness of the movie, Karl Malden (in the role of his nemesis Dad Longworth) is able to compete with him on fairly even ground.  Longworth is a character who can be sadistic, respectful, jovial, refined, or venomous, depending on the circumstances, and Malden plays each of these various personalities with equal genuineness and personality.  Where Brando sometimes seems awkward in his role, particularly for the scenes requiring a macho brutality, Malden is constantly believable and fascinating.

With its morally dubious hero, many close-up shots, and portrayal of a more natural feeling West than was common in most American genre films of the day, “One Eyed Jacks” sometimes feels more like it belongs among Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western oeuvre than it does to the traditions common to the American Western.  It’s a movie ahead of its time, but not without its flaws.

What I Disliked

With a whole lot more talking and facial expressions than action, “One Eyed Jacks” won’t satisfy those who are looking for the shoot-outs, cowboys vs. Indians, and fist fights that fill up the standard American western.  Once Rio gets to Monterey, the plot moves along at a snail’s pace and every time it seems the film is approaching a climactic showdown between Rio and Longworth the plot takes a decidedly anticlimactic turn back to conversation and delay.  Sure there’s a gunfight or two, and Rio uses his fists on a couple of guys, but those moments come few and far between.  In a film that is nearly two and a half hours long, this process can be quite daunting even for those who respect the film’s more subtle qualities.

Most Memorable Scene

*spoiler alert*

Once Rio arrives in Monterey to find Longworth a respected man with a wife and step-daughter, he sets about playing the role of the long-lost friend, looking to lull Longworth into lowering his guard.  During these scenes, Brando is magnificent, switching from kindly to spiteful. In a particularly nasty move, Rio seduces Longworth’s beautiful step-daughter (played by Pina Pellicer) and after a night of Oceanside lovemaking, basically reveals to her that he lied to her and took her virginity simply out of hatred for her stepfather – and because he can’t resist his own duplicitous nature.  Pellicer plays her role with such innocence and fragility that the viewer’s heart breaks with hers as her dreams of love and living happily ever after vanish immediately.  Until this moment, the audience is wholeheartedly rooting for Rio.  This moment sticks with the audience for the rest of the film and we can’t help but despise even him, the film’s hero.  You don't just come to town to kill a guy after five years, you also seduce and impregnate his daughter only to break her heart?  Now that's just mean.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5

THE 39 STEPS (1935)

Country: U.K.

Genre(s): Drama

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Cast: Robert Donat / Madeleine Carroll / Lucie Mannheim

Plot

Accused of a murder he didn’t commit, a man goes on the run, determined to clear his name and expose an international conspiracy involving the theft of top secret defense plans.

What I Liked

In “The 39 Steps” one can see the formation of so much that became signatures of Alfred Hitchcock films.  Concepts and themes like espionage, mistaken identity, nothing being as it seems, sexual tension, and train travel all make significant appearances in this film.  In fact, “North by Northwest” could almost be considered a bigger-budget remake of “The 39 Steps,” with a handful of the details changed.  Everything from the main character being smart-ass English charmer being caught up in international events beyond his control to his being chased across a field by a plane all pop up here.

Also like “North By Northwest,” “The 39 Steps” is never dull.  From the opening scene to the last, the film moves quickly with an entertaining mix of thrills, mystery, and comedy.  Our hero rarely stops moving, evading the police and enemy spies alike, which allows the film to constantly change settings and characters.  In fact, some of the places Hannay ends up are so preposterous that one can’t help but laugh.  Parades, dinner parties, political rallies; the most convenient places to blend in just pop up conveniently throughout his journey.  Amusingly, they often turn out to be more of a burden than a haven.  When Hannay is eventually handcuffed to a lovely blonde who is convinced he is a murderer, the film even takes a temporary turn into screwball comedy territory, as the absurdity of their situation turns into not just more thrills but plenty of banter and one-liners as well.

What I Disliked

I don’t know if it’s the era in which this film was made or just ineptitude on the part of the filmmakers (considering the director, I highly doubt it), but the editing in this film is disjointed and distracting.  The breaks between scenes and camera angles are usually harsh, with the lighting and positioning of characters changing from one shot to the next.  Each time, the eye has to get used to a new look, yet we are supposed to be inside the same scene.  To a modern viewer, this raw splicing appears amateurish.  Still, Hitchcock does throw in one visual effect that is pretty cool.  As the main characters sit next to each other in the back seat of a car rumbling through the Scotting moors, the camera seemingly moves in a twisting manner from the inside of the car out of the door window to then watch the car speed away as if the viewer were standing still on the roadside.  An impressive effect considering the technological limitations of the period, one that convinces me that the broken editing is a product of the period and not limitations of talent on the part of filmmakers.

Most Memorable Scene

The whole film is like an extended chase scene, but there are at times brief interludes where Hannay thinks he has reached safety and the pace slows down, only to begin again when he finds his pursuers are still on his trail.  When this happens to him on a train between London and Scotland, Hannay resorts to some clever tactics to avoid capture on the moving train.  A train is a standard place for a chase scene in film, probably even before “The 39 Steps” was released.  However, in the hands of Alfred Hitchcock, the scene is filled with one “How is he going to get out of this one” moment after another.  Everything about this chase remains intriguing nearly 80 years after its release.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5

MY BRILLIANT CAREER (1979)

Country: Australia

Genre(s): Drama / Romance

Director: Gillian Armstrong

Cast: Judy Davis / Sam Neill / Wendy Hughes

Plot

Dreaming of a future as a musician or writer, rebellious Sybylla rejects the life of marriage and respectability her family expects of her.  However, when a childhood friend becomes her suitor, she is torn between the life others want for her and her own dreams of independence.

What I Liked

With well-developed, likeable characters played to perfection by a talented cast, “My Brilliant Career” is an enjoyable period piece executed with quality at every level.  Never does one have the feeling of watching something contrived.  Director Gillian Armstrong uses a steady hand to accentuate both the elegance and the barrenness of the Australian outback, allowing for some terrific cinematography and beautiful settings and costumes, without ever letting style overcome the realism and naturalness of the setting and characters.  In short, the director, cast, and crew never let their own egos and pretentions once get in the way of telling the story of a time, place, and people.  Judy Davis is utterly believable as head-strong nonconformist Sybylla, a young dreamer too smart and ambitious for her own good.  Sam Neil brings a likable casualness (or is it childish swagger) to Harry Beecham, the cavalier charmer who loves her.  All of the supporting characters are well-written and add to the authentic feel of the setting, each one dealing with the social circumstances the best way he or she knows how.  Their relationships are never simple, but imbued with very truthful combinations of love, respect, joy, frustration, and resentment that are brought to life by the capable cast.

What I Disliked

A young woman, brainy and willful, causes scandal by breaking social convention and looking to marry for love, frustrating her elders and confounding her multiple suitors.  Where have I heard this story before?  Oh yes.  Every period romance.  Ever.

I remember reading a seventeenth century French novel in college called The Princess of Cleves that had a similar plot and much of Jane Austen’s work is extremely close to the plot described above.  "My Brilliant Career" moves the same tale to Australia and gives it a feminist twist that was considered timely in the 1970s; otherwise, the plot is not at all distinct from its predecessors.  Sometimes I think it would be nice to see a novel where the young lady, raised from birth to believe in the necessity of her being married off young to a man of good social standing, does so and lives happily every after.  Both because this might have been the case for a lot of people of the time and because it would be a break from being fed the same plot (just dressed in different styles of ballroom gowns) over and over again.  Of course, I realize that would be extremely politically incorrect and would also mean there would be no conflict, making my proposition unfeasible.  But you get my point.  In terms of plot and conflict, “My Brilliant Career” should be titled “My Rehashed Cliché.”  It’s a good thing that this particular version of the time-worn tale was executed with such excellence, for this film feels neither worn nor cliché at first viewing.

For all of its strengths and partly because of them, "My Brilliant Career" never really feels like a special movie, just a very good one.  Nothing about it feels unique, groundbreaking, or even particularly moving.  The filmmakers went for realism over flash or melodrama and are to be commended for it.  The problem is that it just never really has the feel that it belongs on a list of the elite.

Most Memorable Scene

A pillow-fight romp through a splendorous yard and garden toward the middle of the film bursts with a wonderful sense of fun and escapism.  Not the kind of escapism one finds in fantasy, science fiction, cheap romance, or comic books.  But escapism for the movie’s characters themselves.  They cast off the social weights their elders have put upon their shoulders and break free into the open, laughing, running, and enjoying their lives.  It’s a terrific way to bring Sybylla and Harry close to one another in a quick way that keeps the pace of the film moving without ever feeling their relationship has advanced too unnaturally.  Not to mention it is a joyful moment that is certainly a pleasure to watch.

My Rating: 3 out of 5

THE NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS (1982)

A.K.A.: La notte di San Lorenzo

Country: Italy

Genre(s): Drama / War

Director: Paolo Taviani / Vittorio Taviani

Cast: Omero Antonutti / Margarita Lozano / Claudio Bigagli

Plot

In 1944, the people of San Martino abandon the town when they learn that the Nazis plan to destroy it.  They secretly set off in the night in search of the American army rumored to be approaching.

What I Liked

Not your typical World War II film, “The Night of the Shooting Stars” is less about war than it is about life and humanity, regardless of the historic details.  While the events of war set in motion the exodus that becomes the story’s plot and the fear and violence that accompany war make memorable appearances through the story, the power of the film is in the people of San Martino, the beauty of their relationships, and their refusal to give up on their way of life.

Homeless, hungry, and lost, these characters still play, argue, tell stories, laugh, and love.  Confronted with heartbreaking loss and desperation, one would think they would find their traditional values, manners, and responsibilities trivial, yet they continue to adhere to these ways, not out of any sense of perseverance or even necessity, but simply because it is who they are.  The triumph here is that the people of San Martino never lose their identity and their community, even when the town itself has been laid to waste in piles of rubble and blood.

Contributing to this theme are the perspectives of the narrator, who was but a six year old girl at the time of these events.  The child has little to no concept of Nazis and Americans and the politics surrounding the events that have sent her and the others off on this adventure.  In the beginning, everything to her seems exciting, with some of the more terrifying events coming across to her as something magical or mysterious.  When the roar of enemy planes has everyone else frozen in fear, the girl seems to interpret the stillness as a game and enjoys trying to balance on one leg as long as she can, oblivious to the threat.  Even when she witnesses several people she loves being shot and killed, she imagines ancient Trojan warriors rising up out of the wheat fields to avenge the deaths.  Thus the film is less of the coming-of-age story for the girl that one might expect, and more of a tribute to childhood’s ability to remain intact through change and tragedy.

What I Disliked

“The Night of the Shooting Stars” does a marvelous job of finding beauty in tragedy and yet I was not moved as profoundly by the movie as I had hoped or as the filmmakers likely intended.  Perhaps the child's innocent, unaware, sometimes surreal impression of it all dampened some of that emotion.  However, I think the greatest problem is that the story is narrated, which might have provided a barrier to getting emotionally invested in the characters of the story.  The while time I felt very much like I was being told a story, not like I was personally experiencing the events on screen.  Thus there was an observer's distance, an objectivity that kept the film from achieving its full potential impact.

Most Memorable Scene:

*spoiler alert!*

Early in the film, the people of San Martino are divided on what to do.  While some make plans to escape in the night and seek refuge from the Americans, others opt to stay and rely upon the promise of the Nazis that they will not kill anyone who gathers in the town church.  Hindsight about the atrocities committed by Nazis and familiarity with the conventions of tragedy in motion pictures makes it easy to predict what will happen to those who stay behind in the church.  Yet, when the moment comes and survivors come pouring out of the church doors, bleeding, moaning, and in shock, the viewer still can’t help but shake his or her head at the waste and evil of it all.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5