The General (Keaton, 1927)
The most interesting thing about this film to me isn't the film itself but the difference in attitude toward military service between the 1920's and today. The film itself is well done but it's a little one dimensional and the humor was a bit too much like a Bugs Bunny cartoon (In the same way Hard Day's Night is a bit too much like Animaniacs.) The film takes place on the confederate side of the Civil War. Buster Keaton plays a small statured slightly affeminate train engineer. He tries to enlist in the army. They take a look at him and tell him to go home, because he's more value to the south as a train engineer than as a soldier. When he gets home there's a rumor he didn't even stand in line to join the army, and everybody calls him a coward. Back then, in the 1860s and the 1920s, fighting in the army was a necessary point of pride, and anybody who didn't was a coward without honor. This is heavy contrast to today's culture, where soldiers are seen as killers and families want their children to stay home where it's safe. I think this change is a mixed bag. On one hand we have less of the chest-pounding nationalism we used to have, but on the other hand we have a lot more apathy.
Getting back to the film, the main conflict of the film involves the Union soldiers stealing a train his girlfriend was on. He follows them alone in his own train, saves her, and comes back alone. The fun of the film is in how Keaton manages to keep up with and then get away from the union soldiers through pure engineering talent and ingenuity. But other than that, the story is kind of silly and there isn't anything really that interesting that goes on.
Rating: ** 1/2 / 5
78/101
Next: Sansho The Baliff, Godfather, Persona
I'm thinking of starting a different blog devoted only to new releases. There's a lot of good films coming out, a few in mainstream theaters and a lot in art houses. I know there are a lot of people who want to see great films that are coming out but don't want to see the boring pretentious films mixed in with them. Maybe I can help with that.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
#50: La Strada
La Strada (Fellini, 1954)
Of each of the Fellini films I've seen, La Strada fits the mold the least. It's the least verbose and has the simplest themes. It's also the earliest film I've seen of his by about six years, so I suppose that makes sense. The plot is very simple. A poor isolated rural family sends their daughter to work with a circus performer because one less mouth to feed would ease their financial stress. The girl, Gelsomina has been isolated her whole life to the point of being extremely naive and vulnerable. The circus performer, Zampano, is impulsive, heartless, and hedonistic, and Gelsomina has no defense mechanisms to deal with that. He hits her in order to get her to learn the tasks as his assistant, he leaves her on a street corner all night to have a one night stand, and basically treats her like garbage, and gradually breaks her fragile innocence.
It's a good film, but the themes are a bit too obvious and easy, and the character of Gelsomina while she starts out charming, starts grating on your nerves, especially if you watch the film a second time. I'd call it an important film as part of the Neo-Realism movement, but clearly came before Fellini found his stride.
Rating: *** 1/2 / 5
77/101
Next: The General, Sansho the Baliff
New films:
Machete 7/10
Exactly what it's supposed to be. If it looks like something you'll like, you'll like it. Delightful over the top action.
Lebanon 9/10
A tank movie from Israel that takes the point of view from inside the tank. We only see out of the tank through the scope. It's really intense, and really focuses on the emotions of the characters as they're constantly in danger and constantly forced to do things they consider morally atrocious because they've been ordered to, or because they could be killed if they don't. The movie presents to us the chaos of war and the way it devalues life, from the perspective of sympathetic, frightened characters. What really makes the film unique is the presentation style and the great camera work.
Of each of the Fellini films I've seen, La Strada fits the mold the least. It's the least verbose and has the simplest themes. It's also the earliest film I've seen of his by about six years, so I suppose that makes sense. The plot is very simple. A poor isolated rural family sends their daughter to work with a circus performer because one less mouth to feed would ease their financial stress. The girl, Gelsomina has been isolated her whole life to the point of being extremely naive and vulnerable. The circus performer, Zampano, is impulsive, heartless, and hedonistic, and Gelsomina has no defense mechanisms to deal with that. He hits her in order to get her to learn the tasks as his assistant, he leaves her on a street corner all night to have a one night stand, and basically treats her like garbage, and gradually breaks her fragile innocence.
It's a good film, but the themes are a bit too obvious and easy, and the character of Gelsomina while she starts out charming, starts grating on your nerves, especially if you watch the film a second time. I'd call it an important film as part of the Neo-Realism movement, but clearly came before Fellini found his stride.
Rating: *** 1/2 / 5
77/101
Next: The General, Sansho the Baliff
New films:
Machete 7/10
Exactly what it's supposed to be. If it looks like something you'll like, you'll like it. Delightful over the top action.
Lebanon 9/10
A tank movie from Israel that takes the point of view from inside the tank. We only see out of the tank through the scope. It's really intense, and really focuses on the emotions of the characters as they're constantly in danger and constantly forced to do things they consider morally atrocious because they've been ordered to, or because they could be killed if they don't. The movie presents to us the chaos of war and the way it devalues life, from the perspective of sympathetic, frightened characters. What really makes the film unique is the presentation style and the great camera work.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
#19: Raging Bull
Raging Bull (Scorcese, 1980)
I have no idea what to say about this one. I really don't have much to add, except some commentary on biography films in general.
I think biopics should be viewed as if you're viewing fiction, because really they are fiction. They're based on real people and real events, but they're not about those real people. They're about the filmmakers' interpretations of those events. The filmmaker decides what's important about a person, and what parts of his life are the most interesting. The filmmaker also decides what themes to focus on. Some films based on history are wildly inaccurate. If anyone's ever seen A Beautiful Mind and read the book, you can tell the difference. They cut out huge parts of John Nash's character, huge parts of his life, and made stuff up because they wanted to make the audience like the main character more. The John Nash of the book wasn't a loveable jerk. He sexually assaulted some of his male roommmates. A Beautiful Mind is an extreme example, but even the ones that are mostly accurate present the characters the way they choose. But, many are still very good films that tell very good stories. If you get hung up on the historical inaccuracies, you're missing the point of the film. That's why biopics should be viewed as if you're viewing a fictional story. Stories based on made up events are no more fictional than stories based on real events.
Raging Bull seems to be a pretty historically accurate, as far as I know, but Scorcese chooses to focus on the part of his character driven by self-hatred, always trying to prove he's better than everyone. The turning point of La Motta's career, in the film, is when he agreed to take a dive in a fight. But, too prideful to fall down, he just let his opoonent beat him up without falling down, making it obvious that he was taking a dive. At that point he lost his self respect, and started taking his anger out on everybody and accusing them of cheating on him or plotting against him whenever he perceived any kind of slight toward him. To Scorcese, this is the essence of Jake La Motta. This is probably not the essence of the real Jake La Motta, but it's the essence of one person's perception of him, and if you view the film that way, it's a very well written and well acted, if a bit too drawn out film.
Rating: **** / 5
76/101
Next: La Strada, The General
It seems The General and Battleship Potemkin are streaming on Netflix. So the only one I don't really feel like watching that I'll have to put on my Netflix queue is Wizard of Oz. Maybe I can use that as an excuse to try the Pink Floyd thing.
Others:
Days of Heaven **** / 5
I'd give this a 9/10 if I were rating on that scale, but on the scale I'm using for this game, giving more than four stars means it's one of my top 100 films of all time, so it only gets four stars.
I won't say much about it, other than it's a really good film, with really strong character development and very good presentation style.
I have no idea what to say about this one. I really don't have much to add, except some commentary on biography films in general.
I think biopics should be viewed as if you're viewing fiction, because really they are fiction. They're based on real people and real events, but they're not about those real people. They're about the filmmakers' interpretations of those events. The filmmaker decides what's important about a person, and what parts of his life are the most interesting. The filmmaker also decides what themes to focus on. Some films based on history are wildly inaccurate. If anyone's ever seen A Beautiful Mind and read the book, you can tell the difference. They cut out huge parts of John Nash's character, huge parts of his life, and made stuff up because they wanted to make the audience like the main character more. The John Nash of the book wasn't a loveable jerk. He sexually assaulted some of his male roommmates. A Beautiful Mind is an extreme example, but even the ones that are mostly accurate present the characters the way they choose. But, many are still very good films that tell very good stories. If you get hung up on the historical inaccuracies, you're missing the point of the film. That's why biopics should be viewed as if you're viewing a fictional story. Stories based on made up events are no more fictional than stories based on real events.
Raging Bull seems to be a pretty historically accurate, as far as I know, but Scorcese chooses to focus on the part of his character driven by self-hatred, always trying to prove he's better than everyone. The turning point of La Motta's career, in the film, is when he agreed to take a dive in a fight. But, too prideful to fall down, he just let his opoonent beat him up without falling down, making it obvious that he was taking a dive. At that point he lost his self respect, and started taking his anger out on everybody and accusing them of cheating on him or plotting against him whenever he perceived any kind of slight toward him. To Scorcese, this is the essence of Jake La Motta. This is probably not the essence of the real Jake La Motta, but it's the essence of one person's perception of him, and if you view the film that way, it's a very well written and well acted, if a bit too drawn out film.
Rating: **** / 5
76/101
Next: La Strada, The General
It seems The General and Battleship Potemkin are streaming on Netflix. So the only one I don't really feel like watching that I'll have to put on my Netflix queue is Wizard of Oz. Maybe I can use that as an excuse to try the Pink Floyd thing.
Others:
Days of Heaven **** / 5
I'd give this a 9/10 if I were rating on that scale, but on the scale I'm using for this game, giving more than four stars means it's one of my top 100 films of all time, so it only gets four stars.
I won't say much about it, other than it's a really good film, with really strong character development and very good presentation style.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
#63: The Conformist
The Conformist (Bertolucci, 1969)
I'm starting work on my Masters thesis, so these writeups are going to get a bit shorter if I'm going to keep writing them.
I'm not a fan of The Conformist. The main character works for the fascist government in Italy, and he's sent to assassinate some defectors in another country. He doesn't agree with fascism, but he follows it without question. Once fascism is over, he violently rallies against it. He's a man who just conforms; he never acts on his own opinions or morals. At one point he visits a priest and asks for forgiveness for a murder. When he was young, he was molested by a homosexual. The homosexual then asked him to kill him, and he did. The priest acted like the sodomy was a bigger sin than the murder. Then, when he learned he worked for the government, he forgave him immediately. The church also conforms to the fascist government, regardless of what it really feels. According to the movie, most of Italy were conformists, following fascism to protect themselves, then rallying against it once it ended.
Conceptually the movie is strong, but the script is pretty weak and very forced.
Rating: ** 1/2 / 5
75/101
Next: Raging Bull, La Strada
I'm starting work on my Masters thesis, so these writeups are going to get a bit shorter if I'm going to keep writing them.
I'm not a fan of The Conformist. The main character works for the fascist government in Italy, and he's sent to assassinate some defectors in another country. He doesn't agree with fascism, but he follows it without question. Once fascism is over, he violently rallies against it. He's a man who just conforms; he never acts on his own opinions or morals. At one point he visits a priest and asks for forgiveness for a murder. When he was young, he was molested by a homosexual. The homosexual then asked him to kill him, and he did. The priest acted like the sodomy was a bigger sin than the murder. Then, when he learned he worked for the government, he forgave him immediately. The church also conforms to the fascist government, regardless of what it really feels. According to the movie, most of Italy were conformists, following fascism to protect themselves, then rallying against it once it ended.
Conceptually the movie is strong, but the script is pretty weak and very forced.
Rating: ** 1/2 / 5
75/101
Next: Raging Bull, La Strada
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