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SCREENING LOG
- 8/11-8/17, 2003
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I watched FLOATING WEEDS, WOMAN OF TOKYO, THE DAMNED, NIGHT
OF THE LIVING DEAD, THIS SPORTING LIFE, IN THE HEAT OF THE
SUN, RATCATCHER, THE BIG COMBO and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.
In order of preference:
while kerpan's away, the Ozu will play film of the week
Floating Weeds (1959, Yasujiro Ozu) second viewing
http://www.imdb.com/Title?0053390
Late period Ozu at his most resplendent. A travelling theater
troupe sets up on a coastal village, where the troupe's leader's
old flame lives with their son, who doesn't know his father's
identity. The leader's current mistress (the ever-alluring
Machiko Kyo) learns his secret and in a jealous fit conspires
with a fellow actress (Ayako Wakao, painfully gorgeous) to
seduce his son. As always, Ozu's late period wisdom lies in
his ability to depict the varying degrees and ways in which
people refuse, consciously or otherwise, to be bound by role-playing
constraints, even if it leads to irreconcilable rifts between
loved ones. Filmed in gorgeous color, all of this plays so
naturally, so effortlessly, that for long stretches one forgets
that they're watching a movie and are simply witnessing the
casual unfolding of life in all its quiet ritualistic joys,
sudden excitements and inexorable disappointments. It may
very well be the most sensual of Ozu's films, with at least
a couple of scenes filled with breathtaking romantic passion,
and many other scenes that vividly capture the numberless
beautiful details of people, of places, of life. #2 for 1959
between IMITATION OF LIFE and FIRES ON THE PLAIN
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Stanley Kubrick) fifth
viewing
http://www.imdb.com/Title?0062622
A film whose reputation precedes itself, such that it's hard
to approach it with a fresh set of eyes, even if those eyes
are blessed with a 70mm widescreen print as part of Lincoln
Center's 50th anniversary tribute to widescreen cinema. But
these "ideal" conditions did bring a new set of discoveries
and paradoxes, for better and worse. It is strange that a
film touted in the theater program as "one of the most mind-blowing
(and mind-expanding) ever made) often resorts to using sound
and music in a claustrophobic and didactic way: the incessant
hiss and insistent breathing throughout the spacewalk scenes;
the blaring use of Richard Strauss that threatens to oppress
you lest you not be awed by the profound glory of Kubrick's
images. These may not be apparent in the adjustable confines
of home theater, but shown "the way Kubrick intended" it may
very well be the most pretentious use of music in any film
-- pitched so high and intense that you might not notice that
you're looking at splotches of milk swirled around in oil
to simulate supernovas, or that the space scenes are stretched
out just to fit the length of "The Blue Danube". This ostentatiousness
permeates even the most throwaway details to each scene, the
little people moving inside the massive composite shots of
spaceships, the documentary-like coverage of various details
of space travel, in such a way that you know Kubrick is showing
off his own delight in his ingenuity while pretending not
to. For these reasons the film sits uneasily between being
a truly cinematic work that challenges both mind and senses
in charting a bold thesis on human evolution (the "Dawn of
Man" episode for me is a mini-masterpiece in storytelling
that provides the rest of the film with its much-needed arc),
and one of mere indulgent space-age spectacle. But ultimately
there's no denying that American cinema -- sci-fi or otherwise
-- hasn't been this daring in a long, long time. #2 for 1968
between THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES and GOLDEN SWALLOW
Shame of Lee-109 and the "Essential" British panel film
of the week (courtesy of DFC-flix)
Ratcatcher (1999, Lynne Ramsay)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0171685
A stunning debut film that from the first frame boasts a
flair for the crystalline imagistic moment that only the most
talented cinematic artists possess. Amidst mounds of piling
garbage due to the strike of 1973, a Glasgow boy is involved
in the death of another boy, leading to a slow descent into
mounting guilt and confusion concerning the travails of his
working-class family and the sexual exploitation of an older
schoolgirl at the hands of a relentless, ever-roaming pack
of hooligans. This patently British kitchen sink material
is transformed by Ramsay's treatment into a transcendent experience,
with images that burn with child-like prescience. The Criterion
DVD that I saw was packed with valuable extras: three early
short films (two of which won prizes at Cannes) that demonstrate
that Ramsay is a gifted artist, whose sensitivity to place,
time and the revelatory moment invites comparison to Joyce's
DUBLINERS. My first encounter with Ramsay via MORVEN CALLAR
left me moderately impressed but now I am a bona fide convert
-- Ramsay, I hope -- I believe -- is the future of British
cinema. #2 for 1999 between THE WIND WILL CARRY US and MAGNOLIA
Night of the Living Dead (1968, George Romero)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0063350
Romero's powerful and brilliantly conceived low-budget landmark
pits a ragtag bunch of civilians in an abandoned rural house
to fend off an army of flesh-eating zombies for one night.
For the most part this is textbook movie storytelling with
scenes flowing effortlessly from one to the next, audacious
horrors building one on top of the other such that the cumulative
effect is feverishly intense. Even the bad B-movie acting
adds to the overall raw effect. Racism and xenophobia, family
ties, preservation of self vs. community, are all in the mix
-- I'm not sure what definitive message can be tricked out
of this, and the ending at first really ticked me off -- sort
of a '60s cynical rebuff of the Howard Hawks communal ideal
-- but after a while its disturbing implications put their
hooks in me. #4 for 1968 between GOLDEN SWALLOW and IF...
papyrus beetle film of the week (courtesy of DFC-flix)
The Big Combo (1955, Joseph H. Lewis)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0047878
Arresting late period noir involving an obsessed detective
(Cornell Wilde) trying to bring down a ruthless Napoleonic
mob boss (Richard Conte). I am tempted to say that the real
auteur behind this production is not the unheralded director
Lewis but ace cinematographer John Alton, who paints figures
in shadow with more texture than a pint of dark chocolate
Hagen Dazs. But the performances are also first-rate in the
seedy neurotic way that noirs are meant to be, and there's
plenty of moral decay in evidence to light the path to CHINATOWN.
As an aside, I love the way the word "hoodlum" gets tossed
around so awkwardly yet so memorably. #10 for 1955 between
FRENCH CANCAN and MR. ARKADIN
In the Heat of the Sun (1994, Jiang Wen) second viewing
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0111786
We may never see another film from director Jiang Wen, whose
controversial Palme d'Or winning DEVILS ON THE DOORSTEP bought
him a one-way ticket to Palookaville courtesy of the Chinese
government. How strange that fate has caught up with Jiang,
since his raucous debut feature has more sex, violence and
subversive content than any of the banned films by Zhang Yimou,
Tian Zhuangzhuang or Jiang himself -- and not only was it
released, it was a smash hit among Chinese audiences. Though
the film is dedicated to Volker Schlondorff, Martin Scorsese
rules over the proceedings: the film borrows the youthful
voice-overs and gangland milieu of MEAN STREETS and GOODFELLAS,
Robert DeNiro's army jacket from TAXI DRIVER, and even "Cavaliera
Rusticana" from RAGING BULL. All the same, Jiang does an impressive
job of adapting his borrowings into an idiom all his own,
audaciously redefining the Cultural Revolution as one big
holiday for youthful hoodlums. There was nothing like this
before in Chinese cinema, and it opened the doors to the unruly
irreverence of the Sixth Generation of Chinese directors.
#13 for 1994 between PULP FICTION and TO LIVE
Kambei Shimada and just what kind of kinky stuff were
you into when you watched this? film of the week
The Damned (1969, Luchino Visconti)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0064118
If Visconti's cinema is best appreciated in terms of opera,
this must surely be his rendition of Richard Strauss: savage
and scandalous, this epic story of the demise of a German
steel magnate's family amidst the rise of Nazi power substitutes
Visconti's typical lyricism for a garish showcase of atonal
emotions and amoral horrors. Deceit, mass-murder, incest,
all keyed up so high it borders on parody but it's too serious
-- and seriously distrubing -- to be shrugged off as camp.
Certain moments retain a jaw-dropping shock value, and the
shifting relationships between the characters (all wonderfully
played, from Dirk Bogarde to Ingrid Thulin to Charlotte Rampling
and Helmut Berger, who manages to be the most sympathetic
and sleazy character of all) remain in the mind long after
the film is over. Definitely a unique instance in Visconti's
career -- though part of me couldn't help wondering what wonders
Douglas Sirk would have done with this material. #8 for 1969
between THE WILD BUNCH and PUTNEY SWOPE
This Sporting Life (1963, Lindsay Anderson)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0057578
Stark and powerful drama about a grubby rugby player (Richard
Harris, who gives one of the best impersonations of a young,
brooding Brando this side of the Atlantic) and his inability
to accept the success he has striven so hard for. The film
touches on some hard dilemmas concerning class mobility and
the exploitation of professional athletes, in ways that rival
RAGING BULL in dramatic intensity. On the other hand, it also
suffers from the same narcissistic male self-pity that hampers
not only Scorsese but many of the kitchen sink realist films
that otherwise brought a whiff of fresh air to the British
cinema of this period. I have been criticized for sharing
in Truffaut's criticism of these films (though I believe the
criticism originally stemmed from Hitchcock), which I find
odd since if there was anyone to blame for bringing about
these romanticized depictions of tragically squandered youth
it would be the director of THE 400 BLOWS, wouldn't it? #10
for 1963 between AN ACTOR'S REVENGE and CHERYOMUSHKI
Woman of Tokyo (1933, Yasujiro Ozu)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0024676
Minor Ozu effort that falls squarely into the scathing social
realist preoccupations of his 1930s output: a woman discovers
that her boyfriend's sister is a cabaret hostess (working
to pay for her brother's tuition), but her awkward handling
of the situation leads to deadly consequences. Ozu's call
for a re-assessment of social values is squandered by a melodramatic
ending -- and the last scene is downright baffling. Otherwise,
with its sympathetic portrayal of womanly sacrifice, it's
the closest Ozu got to Mizoguchi. #7 for 1933
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