SCREENING LOG - 7/4-7/10/2005

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They Live By Night (1949, Nicholas Ray) second viewing
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040872
YES

The Terminator (1984, James Cameron)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088247
YES

The Spider's Strategem (1970, Bernardo Bertolucci)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066413
yes

Interesting that TERMINATOR is listed between THEY LIVE BY NIGHT and THE SPIDER'S STRATEGEM since it has some thematic ties to both -- the love on the run of THEY LIVE BY NIGHT (but not nearly as convincingly emotional -- the acting in Cameron's movie is slightly sophomoric and certainly lacking in nuance - doesn't hold a handle to the depths of desperation known to Nicholas Ray). (Incidentally it's worth noting that the bar that Sarah Connor runs into to escape Reese is named "Tech Noir"). As for SPIDER'S STRATEGEM, both films share a theme of revisiting (and revising the past), and this subsequent need to re-enact pivotal moments to ensure that a cosmic order is preserved, though the fabric of that order becomes more mysterious and time itself starts to fold onto itself. And honestly I found TERMINATOR to handle this conceit in a way more startling and profound than SPIDER'S STRATEGEM (though it could be that Wajda's MAN OF MARBLE spoiled me, since the two films seem similar in their outlooks about the need for mythical figures).

I've seen parts of TERMINATOR before, including the ending, but I never watched it the whole way through. It has its flaws, but overall I find the film to be as mythically resonant to our times as King Kong or Frankenstein was in the '30s. Its fascination/repulsion with technology, a deep pessimism about modern society's institutions, esp. law enforcement in handling true threats (compare this to TERMINATOR 2, where the police, pre-Rodney King, get equated with absolute evil in the form of the T-2), and just the immortal sight of Arnold Schwarzenneger walking as if he's got an erection in his jeans -- so many contradictions wrapped in one hulking mass -- juggernaut of destruction and mayhem, virile sex beast, campy beefcake, flesh, machine, eros, thanatos, ridiculous, frightening and thoroughly Other (though we do get to experience a perverse John Carpenter-style kick out of seeing through his red-tinted eyes as he obliterates people). God just imagine if the part had been given to a big black man!

Rize (2005, David LaChappelle)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0436724
yes

The World (2004, Jia Zhangke) second viewing
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0423176
yes

A Geisha (1953, Kenji Mizoguchi)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045814
yes -- Well it was still good enough to make my top 10 for 1953 in the midst of an overwhelming number of great films. I'll have to think about this some more -- in some ways I could see how this film could be better than UGETSU (my #6 for that year), especially if as you suggest, one goes away from the "mythic" qualities and towards something more realistic. There aren't the breathtakingly cinematic moments in UGETSUU, but there's a lot of really sharp work with character and relationships. One thing I found interesting was how comic a number of scenes were, which added an interesting edge to the inherent drama. More should be written in praise of Mizoguchi's contemporary films like SISTERS OF THE GION, STREET OF SHAME and A GEISHA -- they have an energy to them that is edgier and more unpredictable in tone than the more lyric period works (with the possible exception of the wonderfully dynamic UTAMARO AND HIS FIVE WOMEN) . I think Noel Burch liked these films more on the whole -- I think I do.

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