SCREENING LOG - 8/05-8/11, 2002

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I watched WHEN FATHER WAS AWAY ON BUSINESS, RIO BRAVO, HAWKS AND SPARROWS, UNDERGROUND, PICKPOCKET, THE WIND, THE GLEANERS AND I, and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. All films screened on VHS unless otherwise noted. In unstable order of preference:

Underground (1995, Emir Kusturica)

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0114787

Take 60 years of history, add one part Jeunet and Caro, one part Terry Gilliam, a dash of Robert Zimeckis and mix into a Yugoslavian blender, and you might get something like this movie, a delirious satirical epic about two World War II hucksters turned Communist heroes. One of them persuades an entire village to hide in an underground shelter and supply him with weapons to fight the Nazis -- except that for nearly two decades he doesn't bother to tell them the war is over. One can read multiple political meanings into this allegory of a nation of deranged opportunists leading their somnolent nation through a perpetually crazed surreality. Or one can simply be floored by the audacious parade of images with which Kusturica bombards the viewer: a chimpanzee driving a tank, an old couple spinning in a flaming wheelchair, and underground tunnels reaching far and wide throughout Europe. Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, this is undeniably and indisputably an essential film of the 1990s.

Rio Bravo (1959, Howard Hawks)

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0053221

The plot is bare-bones simple: John Wayne is a marshall guarding a captive that every bad man in town is out to rescue from jail. And so, three-quarters of the film is spent anticipating that breakout, which gives the heroes plenty of time to hang out, shoot the breeze, and sort out their personal issues. Which is exactly what makes this one of the finest Hollywood films ever made. Hawks is famous for his portrayal of camaraderie and teamwork, but it's hard to think of a better example of these virtues than in watching the moments between Wayne (entering his autumnal period), Dean Martin as a drunken washout, Ricky Nelson as a young hotshot, and an unbelievably wheezy Walter Brennan, giving the ultimate send-up of Walter Brennan performances. The moment where Wayne kisses Brennan on the forehead says it all in terms of this film's immense humanity. One barely notices how hopeless their predicament is, but if one sees the lurking shadow of death that belies the proceedings, the way these men work together to confront their opponents becomes a statement of existential triumph. It's easy to see why Quentin Tarantino cites this film amongst his favorties, since his characters banter away just as idly, but Quentin has yet to reach this level of laid-back perfection that resonantes in the soul.

Hawks and Sparrows (1966, Pier Paolo Pasolini)

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0061132

A father and his son wander endlessly through rural Italy, accompanied by a crow who won't stop talking ruefully about failed ideologies. They run through one episode after another of surreal hilarity mixed with literary references and social observation. This is the first film of Pasolini that I have enjoyed unequivocally, perhaps because it wears its intentions most plainly on its sleeve. In that regard it's a welcome entry point into understanding this highly literate and often elusive filmmaker/poet, a man who shares many of my thematic interests (the relationship between artist and society, the portrayal of "common people", the fallacious pursuit of an all-encompasing ideology for the world's problems) though he always presents them in a way that keeps me at arm's length. But my hang-ups might be in a turnaround from this point onward, and I certainly intend to continue pursuing this fascinating filmmaker.

Pickpocket (1959, Robert Bresson) -- fourth viewing (theater)

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0053168

This screening marked my first experience with Bresson in a theater, and the shrouded darkness intensifies the concentration of orchestrated images and inexpressive figures building to a symphony of a man's destiny, as he tries in vain to build a glorified existence by perfecting the craft of picking pockets. On the other hand, one can also perceive "flaws" to Bresson's style that mark this film as less than perfect: the utter peripherality of every character other than the hero, incongruities to the narrative, and that blindsiding ending that will either leave you completely transformed or utterly cold (I go back and forth myself). The fact is simple and plain: see this film through the lens of convention, and it's a flawed film. See it otherwise, and Bresson's inimitable method of montage, camera movement and staging becomes something of a revelation. In that sense it might come down to an act of faith, which would seem appropriate with "the most Catholic filmmaker in history". Except that in Bresson's theology, one does not choose God, God chooses you. Perhaps the same goes for his films.

The Gleaners and I (2001, Agnes Varda) -- second viewing (DVD)

http://us.imdb.com/CommentsShow?53168

To my dismay, my second viewing of this lively and insightful documentary revealed that the film doesn't have as much forward movement and development of its ideas as I had initially thought. The movie's way of peeling layer after layer on the meaning of "gleaning" is simply brilliant for the first half hour or so, but from there it is mostly a catalog of ways people find, reclaim and use garbage in different parts of France. That in itself can be an eye-opening experience the first time one sees it, and I will always cherish my first screening of this film as an experience that charged my thoughts on both movies and life with a renewed sense of purpose. The last episode concerning a trash-digger with a Masters' Degree is a prime example of documentary filmmaking going the extra mile and then some.

When Father Was Away on Business (1985, Emir Kusturica)

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0089748

Kusturica's international breakthrough came when he won the Palme D'Or for this whimsical but potent chronicle of a Yugoslavian boy whose father is sent to a labor camp. It turns out that the father's political detainment is due to his affair with a woman being wooed by a bureaucrat. This is an example of Kusturica's brash assertion that all political problems come down to the basest personal motives; his even brasher conclusion is that people (or men, at least) can't help themselves no matter what harsh lessons they learn. Somehow the family pulls through in spite of this. Like with UNDERGROUND, Kusturica's handling of characters and situations is both grotesque and sensitive, though on a much smaller scale. Because of its political and social subtexts, it is definitely one of the better "nostalgic coming of age" pics that seem to be mass-produced in European countries.

The Wind (1928, Victor Sjostrom)

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0019585

Somehow I always manage to underestimate the talents of Lillian Gish, and she always manages to amaze me. There were moments when all I wanted to do was gaze pleasurably at the way she responds to people with the most nuanced facial expressions of her time. Here she plays a woman brought out to live in the brutal dust bowl of Texas, her romantic interests torn between two men. Constantly blowing throught eh town is the intense and sweeping wind of the title, realized through groundbreaking special effects . The wind could be seen as a metaphor for the brutality of the girl's natural surroundings as well as the carnal desire waiting to burst from inside her, though I'm not sure how deeply one can read into it.

The Phantom of the Opera (1925, Robert Julian)

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0016220

Entertaining silent version of the well-worn story about a mysteriously disfigured man who tries in vain to woo a young opera starlet. The plot moves quickly enough though not much insight into character or story is to be found. Lon Chaney's unmasking scene will always be an immortal movie moment, and the ballroom scene shot in early Technicolor is a marvel.

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