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SCREENING LOG
-10/19-10/24, 2004
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Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981, George Miller)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082694/
yes (#3 for 1981 between RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (though
ROAD WARRIOR has the better chase sequence) and CHARIOTS OF
FIRE
Midnight (1939, Mitchell Leisen)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031647/ yes (#8 for 1939 between
YOUNG MR. LINCOLN and GONE WITH THE WIND)
Blind Shaft (2003, Li Yang)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0351299/
This gritty effort from China's burgeoning underground film
scene can be read as a nasty twist on Zhang Yimou's HAPPY
TIMES, revisiting the theme of naive youths lured into the
false promise of gainful employment. Here two con-men deceive
young men into working for mine companies, on condition that
they pretend to be relatives. The con artists then kill the
boys inside the mine, claim it as an on-the-job accident,
and then extort the mine owner for compensation. The script
sells this slightly far-fetched premise with a hard-worn veneer
of cynicism, wielding its leering, acrimonious dialogue with
a bit too much relish. Even when it seems to be chastising
its diabolical protagonists, it seems to be enjoying a salacious
chuckle: the conmen try to send their newest victim out LAST
DETAIL-style with orgies of wine and women, only to result
in the image of a baby-faced teenage boy stripped to his undies,
cowering nakedly in the corner, aghast at the moral depravity
of it all. Perhaps this camp effect is unintentional, but
it certainly does underscore the gaping rift between the old-school
idealism that blanketed Communist China, and the new, sardonic
materialism that has taken its place. What's somewhat ironic
about a lot of these "subversive" films is that, expressing
horror at the amoral poisons of rampant capitalism and clinging
to the memory of a socialist ideal, they may be even more
ideologically conservative than the government regime they
are ostensibly criticising. A wild Dardenne-esque climax leaves
both sides in an uneasy standoff. yes
His Girl Friday (1940, Howard Hawks) second viewing
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032599/
YES (#3 for 1940 between THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER and THE
THIEF OF BAGDAD)
2046 (2004, Wong Kar-Wai)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212712/
I need to go to Chinatown more often. At least I got my timing
right as the first VCDs of this film hit the market. The catch
is, this version has no subtitles. But it was still well worth
watching for the visuals alone. I was totally lost by the
second half, but from what I could gather of the plot (which
even those fluent in Chinese, such as my mother, can barely
make out), Tony Leung's character in IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
is now a playboy bouncing between card-playing pseudo-Dietrich
Gong Li, perky and tempestuous Zhang Ziyi, futuristically
aloof Faye Wong, and a nondescript Carinna Lau. It could be
seen as a cross between LAST YEAR IN MARIENBAD and ALPHAVILLE,
but elements of all previous Wong films seem to be in play:
self-destructive passions, multiple identities, looping narratives
and idees fixe. Tremendous use of widescreen (mercifully left
intact on the VCD I bought). a provisional yes, requiring
a second viewing
Vera Drake (2004, Mike Leigh)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0383694/
As the centerpiece of yet another stellar ensemble assembled
by Leigh, Imelda Staunton plays the title role, a working-class,
middle-aged mother who cooks, cleans, loves her family unconditionally
and performs the odd abortion for distraught young women,
using kitchen soap, a syringe, a rubber pump and a cheese
grater. Leigh's camera paints post-war London in a drab gray
palette, lit up primarily in the genuine warmth generated
by the interactions of the Drake family, as they anticipate
their daughter's engagement and sister-in-law's pregnancy.
Of course there's a narrative function to be served in painting
the family so affectionately -- when the cops come knocking
on Vera's door, the vertiginous distance between Vera's dual
identities comes wrenchingly to the foreground. Powerful stuff,
and yet the overall schematism of Leigh's presentation felt
somewhat simplified. His famous sociological approach serves
him well when coming up with beautiful, precise period details
to the interiors of kitchens and living rooms, but when it
comes to juxtaposing a rich girl using the system to get an
abortion while poor women are left with Vera's primitive methods,
Leigh's unapologetic classism seems a bit self-contented.
Similarly, Leigh's conception of Vera as a misunderstood angel,
a gynecological Dreyer heroine, is a bit too good to be true
-- perhaps a deliberate provocation to poke at the flaws of
a pitiless criminal justice system. But for me, Leigh's working-class
righteousness is as much of a limitation as it is an endearing
strength. yes
The Naked City (1948, Jules Dassin)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040636/
yes
Carmen Jones (1954, Otto Preminger)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046828/
yes
also, a few DVD commentaries:
Roy Disney et al, FANTASIA - YES (between a music expert,
an animation expert, and Roy, I found this very comprehensive)
Walt Disney, FANTASIA - yes (kind spread thin over 125 minutes,
but it's nice hearing the man himself give his thoughts on
what he was out to do, and his general thoughts on the Disney
company and vision)
John Boorman, EXCALIBUR - yes (mostly production notes, not
a lot of insight on what he was out to do, but entertaining
to listen to)
Todd McCarthy, HIS GIRL FRIDAY - mixed (offers standard production
notes and some analysis, but not as insightful as I'd like)
Richard Schickel, ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA - no (minimal
insight)
Peyton Reed, DOWN WITH LOVE - YES so far (he seems to be
a natural at this kind of stuff, he gives everything you'd
ask from a director's DVD commentary track)
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