Nothing could possibly prepare you for this movie, which is actually several movies interwoven in one. The only thing you need concentrate on is the incandescent presence of Ninon Sevilla in the title role as Elena Tejero, first an obedient middle class daughter wearing horrid plaid dresses and retarded hairdos that suddenly falls into hard times and her work/career runs the gamut quickly from secretary/waitress to cabaret dancer/prostitute. This is a film you will never forget if only because the intense gesturing and posturing (there is no acting here) of Ninon Sevilla is too delicious for words, it needs to be seen, and several times, to be appreciated. I will summarize by stating that her first cabaret appearance is directly related to the "ritual oriental dance" that was a sleazy feature of adventure/film noir and even horror movies since the days of Pola Negri in "The Eyes of the Mummy", which I believe is the first one. The Oriental dance here is set in never-never Arabia, with polyester harem pants, for the girls, false beards for the lascivious men in the marketplace that tug at Ninon's curvaceous forms. Her outfit is not to be missed: A square box hat-turban combination, a necklace of many false karats and veils a plenty. Her orientalized movements are hilarious and jerky, but her sensuality and raw animal charisma comes through to save the day, and I am sure the appreciative male audience back then rewarded this performance with far more erections than laughter. But this is nothing compared to her "Tropical" number which will follow later. We first see Ninon in her dressing room nonchalantly supporting a headdress that consists of two full pineapples with branches and leaves on her head. Although she looks like a giant insect that has sprouted antenna, she acts and moves so convincingly as the "cabaretera" that we start to think this is normal, then she jumps into her elaborate Brazillian number, heavily influenced by Carmen Miranda and in the midst of a cloud of fog her headdress is transformed into a basket of bananas with foil accents that are just too divine for words. You can imagine that this flaming volcano of a dancer would naturally attract as a husband an ultra conservative, nerdish lawyer (Ruben Rojo as Mario Cervera) from one of "the best families in Guadalajara" which here in the States would have translated as a Republican from a Texas oil clan. He also happens to be the son of a the "evil" woman that owns the cabaret where Elena was transformed from studious secretary into dancing harlot. This middle aged woman character, Rosaura Cervera (played by Andrea Palma) is so outlandish, yet believable when one thinks that she anticipated the Mayflower Madam in Manhattan by almost half a century, that it deserves a study of its own, not to mention a seminar for split personality experts. Her demeanor and looks is that of a Latin Marlene Dietrich, cigarette holder included, and she is obviously Elena's nemesis. Their double entendre conversations from the moment they meet again as 'decent' women are the blueprint of drag queen competition dialogs, accompanied by a cavalcade of sudden tragic expressions, fits of fluttering from multi-leveled eye-lashes, twisting of the mouths into serpent-like lip acrobatics, all of which could turn plumbers into female impersonators if adequately imitated with patient study, which actually makes this film a true primer for drag studies. There are many more twists and turn to the story which includes a film-noir jewelry heist, the unbridled passion of an escaped criminal, a murderous, deformed, yet loyal friend of Elena's, and so much more excitement than this summary could possibly describe. An extraordinary creation of kitsch that anticipates Latin soap operas by a generation, this is a groundbreaking document of B cinema, film noir and gender studies.
Reviews
22 Reviews
Sumurun
(1920)
Delicious Exoticism
23 December 2009
All one can remember from the complex plot of this movie which is yet another "Arabian" fantasy is the presence of Pola Negri. She plays a dancer in a traveling troupe that is forced to get the attention of the local sheik to protect her fellow performers, and allow the troupe to work the streets of the city. She plays the role of the dancer-courtesan to the hilt and her wild and frenzied dance sequence alone is already worth the price of admission. The settings and costumes are clearly influenced by the aesthetics of Diaghelev's Ballet Russes that were still the hot ticket in Paris when this film was made. Particularly it reminded me of "Scheherazade" choreographed by Mikhail Fokine with Ida Rubenstein and Vaslav Nijinski in the title roles, which I have seen produced by the Marinski Ballet and has similar costumes,(Leon Bakst designed the original costumes and his designs have been preserved) particularly for the eunuch, as the ones in the film. The ballet caused a great sensation when it premiered in 1910 as it turned out to have one of Nijinsky's most memorable roles as the slave. In this film Pola Negri is exquisite in her sultry, sensuous persona and one understands her star status from watching her go for it in this film. She is the seductress-gypsy par excellence and it is only when we see her that the movie really comes alive.
Great Sinbad Genre with Minotaur added
28 August 2009
If you ever wondered what movies you should be watching in high resolution technology this one should be on top pf the list. You want to see the details on the bronze minotaur (called Minaton here) the intricate patterns on the thousands of fabrics, and precious jewels, the different eye lash-layers on "evil" queen Zenobia and the expanse of ultra blue seas.
The third of Ray Harryhausen's Sinbad films has apparently gotten a bad rap over the years, which I can not understand. It may be for Beverly Cross' script and some of the performances, notably Patrick Wayne as Sinbad, which I happen to think is totally fine and entertaining, but may not be perceived as such for those searching for dramatic acting. This rap should be disregarded as it is not only largely unfair, but inadequate in noting the entertaining values of this movie. No doubt it could have been better, but as an exciting adventure it is more than good, thanks to a strong cast and Ray Harryhausen's excellent animation.
The story is about Kassim, the caliph of Baghdad, who mysteriously disappears at the very moment of his coronation. Sinbad, arriving in Baghdad both to sell his merchandise cargo, and also to see again his love interest, the caliph's sister played by a luscious, very young Jane Seymour. He is drawn into a trap, by Rafi, a dark handsome prince played by Kurt Christian set in a magnificent tent, which includes belly-dancing entertainment. His mother, the evil dowager queen Zenobia, played Margaret Whiting, who is more than familiar with the black arts is behind this plan and all others, as we know just by looking at him, that Rafi has no brains or sense of direction. Barely escaping an attack by three sword-wielding fire skeletal creatures, Sinbad finds Kassim's sister and a baboon, which is actually prince Kassim, as transformed by the magic of queen Zenobia so her own son could be caliph. At this very point we should wonder if this 'evil' woman is not actually just career oriented. In New York she would have been directing a real estate emporium or huge corporate conglomerate, maybe both, where Rafi could have just looked good in the publicity ads as she ruled ruthlessly; yet in time she would have done the charity balls, she would have even sponsored some cultural causes, eventually she would have been perceived as a pillar of society. It's all a matter of perception and historical placement, above all Location, location, location!
In order to break Zenobia's spell on Kassim, Sinbad enlists an adequately wise and aged wizard, Master Malanthius and his sexy daughter, the hyper blond, hypnotized-looking Dione (Taryn Power), who also has some of the most vapid dialog in the movie. They meet in the ancient city of Petra, where the wizard lives, and the scene of arrival, and seeing the city through a rock is totally rewarding as a reason to see the whole film, it is so well done and awesome. All have to set sail for Hyperborea, a land at the North Pole magically immune to the polar region's snows. However, Zenobia and Rafi are following. Zenobia had actually had a confrontation scene by Sinbad's ship when she arrived in a feathered and veiled litter and argued with the silly vizier who was trying to look his best in a day-wear saffron and gold ensemble that was striking for the pheasant feathered adornment of his turban that looked like the whole bird was alive, and in heat. Zenobia has decided to enlist help too. She will be aided by a mechanical beast, a bull-headed robot created by Zenobia, and animated with a golden heart, baptized with the name Minaton, close enough to the ancient Minotaur of the labyrinth story. Although great looking as an accessory he is just an elaborate rowing machine in their metalized ship that looks more like an early submarine. The first thing they do is crush the spies that the vizier had set to watching their moves, against a rock as they start on the pursuit, an appropriately delightful moment of evil indulgence.
The best part of the movie is Zenobia's transformation into a seagull so she can leave her ship and spy on Sinbad in his. She takes a potion and has a series of very erotic spasms in her elaborate bedchamber, and suddenly she is the bird. Her flight is not as lucky, once arrived, she transforms into a miniature version of herself and is unfortunately discovered by the baboon, who wrecks her plan, only after much difficulty she manages to change back to the seagull and escape, but there is not enough potion left when she turns into herself: She is left with a huge foot of a seagull attached to her leg instead of her human foot, and will stomp her way through the rest of the film.
This film features quite a bit of character animation by Harryhausen. The baboon Kassim looks totally real playing chess and most of all in his dramatic scene when he sees himself in a mirror, and despairs over his change. Trog, a prehistoric giant who "is as frightened of us as we of him," as Malanthius sweetly remarks, is a direct ancestor of Shrek, and looks frightening yet endearing. Kassim and Dione manage to befriend Trog, and when Kassim is finally liberated of Zenobia's spell, we feel genuine regret as Trog is killed by Zenobia, again transformed, this time as Smilodon the tiger of the snows. This battle is unusually gruesome, and absurd, yet an exciting delight to watch as both her and Sinbad are endangered by falling ice spears.
The happy ending in the coronation of Kassim as caliph allows us to admire in detail the Jewelled splendor of his court, the plasticized Formica of the rings, the unique, early zircons and other stones are all mystifying, specially when thrown together with pearls and feathers.
The third of Ray Harryhausen's Sinbad films has apparently gotten a bad rap over the years, which I can not understand. It may be for Beverly Cross' script and some of the performances, notably Patrick Wayne as Sinbad, which I happen to think is totally fine and entertaining, but may not be perceived as such for those searching for dramatic acting. This rap should be disregarded as it is not only largely unfair, but inadequate in noting the entertaining values of this movie. No doubt it could have been better, but as an exciting adventure it is more than good, thanks to a strong cast and Ray Harryhausen's excellent animation.
The story is about Kassim, the caliph of Baghdad, who mysteriously disappears at the very moment of his coronation. Sinbad, arriving in Baghdad both to sell his merchandise cargo, and also to see again his love interest, the caliph's sister played by a luscious, very young Jane Seymour. He is drawn into a trap, by Rafi, a dark handsome prince played by Kurt Christian set in a magnificent tent, which includes belly-dancing entertainment. His mother, the evil dowager queen Zenobia, played Margaret Whiting, who is more than familiar with the black arts is behind this plan and all others, as we know just by looking at him, that Rafi has no brains or sense of direction. Barely escaping an attack by three sword-wielding fire skeletal creatures, Sinbad finds Kassim's sister and a baboon, which is actually prince Kassim, as transformed by the magic of queen Zenobia so her own son could be caliph. At this very point we should wonder if this 'evil' woman is not actually just career oriented. In New York she would have been directing a real estate emporium or huge corporate conglomerate, maybe both, where Rafi could have just looked good in the publicity ads as she ruled ruthlessly; yet in time she would have done the charity balls, she would have even sponsored some cultural causes, eventually she would have been perceived as a pillar of society. It's all a matter of perception and historical placement, above all Location, location, location!
In order to break Zenobia's spell on Kassim, Sinbad enlists an adequately wise and aged wizard, Master Malanthius and his sexy daughter, the hyper blond, hypnotized-looking Dione (Taryn Power), who also has some of the most vapid dialog in the movie. They meet in the ancient city of Petra, where the wizard lives, and the scene of arrival, and seeing the city through a rock is totally rewarding as a reason to see the whole film, it is so well done and awesome. All have to set sail for Hyperborea, a land at the North Pole magically immune to the polar region's snows. However, Zenobia and Rafi are following. Zenobia had actually had a confrontation scene by Sinbad's ship when she arrived in a feathered and veiled litter and argued with the silly vizier who was trying to look his best in a day-wear saffron and gold ensemble that was striking for the pheasant feathered adornment of his turban that looked like the whole bird was alive, and in heat. Zenobia has decided to enlist help too. She will be aided by a mechanical beast, a bull-headed robot created by Zenobia, and animated with a golden heart, baptized with the name Minaton, close enough to the ancient Minotaur of the labyrinth story. Although great looking as an accessory he is just an elaborate rowing machine in their metalized ship that looks more like an early submarine. The first thing they do is crush the spies that the vizier had set to watching their moves, against a rock as they start on the pursuit, an appropriately delightful moment of evil indulgence.
The best part of the movie is Zenobia's transformation into a seagull so she can leave her ship and spy on Sinbad in his. She takes a potion and has a series of very erotic spasms in her elaborate bedchamber, and suddenly she is the bird. Her flight is not as lucky, once arrived, she transforms into a miniature version of herself and is unfortunately discovered by the baboon, who wrecks her plan, only after much difficulty she manages to change back to the seagull and escape, but there is not enough potion left when she turns into herself: She is left with a huge foot of a seagull attached to her leg instead of her human foot, and will stomp her way through the rest of the film.
This film features quite a bit of character animation by Harryhausen. The baboon Kassim looks totally real playing chess and most of all in his dramatic scene when he sees himself in a mirror, and despairs over his change. Trog, a prehistoric giant who "is as frightened of us as we of him," as Malanthius sweetly remarks, is a direct ancestor of Shrek, and looks frightening yet endearing. Kassim and Dione manage to befriend Trog, and when Kassim is finally liberated of Zenobia's spell, we feel genuine regret as Trog is killed by Zenobia, again transformed, this time as Smilodon the tiger of the snows. This battle is unusually gruesome, and absurd, yet an exciting delight to watch as both her and Sinbad are endangered by falling ice spears.
The happy ending in the coronation of Kassim as caliph allows us to admire in detail the Jewelled splendor of his court, the plasticized Formica of the rings, the unique, early zircons and other stones are all mystifying, specially when thrown together with pearls and feathers.
The Passion of the Christ
(2004)
One of the Best, most Powerful depictions of the Passion
20 August 2009
This film stands out for the quality of the direction. We see the story of the Passion unfold quite naturally as part of a time and place, yet the subtle grace and powerful nature of both Christ and the Virgin Mary separate them from the rest, giving a new understanding to the meaning of divinity. This is the very first film in which I realized why the Virgin was a necessary witness in the passion: She was there to support the human body and nature of Christ and help him battle the enemy on the last stand. The silent communication between them is one of the many masterful details of this extraordinary film. The use of the original languages is extremely helpful in understanding the relations and cultures of the people involved. An excellent rendition in all details. The violence used was strict to the scripture, it's just never been shown before the way it was. It also helps clarify why Christ fell twice on his way to the crucifixion, and died so quickly. The moment of death was a great inspiration: Even the brutalized Roman soldiery realize they are witnessing something completely out of the ordinary, which actually applies to the whole movie.
Accattone
(1961)
An Enlightening View to the Underworld in Post-War Rome
20 August 2009
This is still a masterpiece of a film you can not afford not to see if you like Pasolini. "Accattone" is the directorial debut of the Italian neo-realist, Pier Paolo Pasolini, but by a strange coincidence it ended up being the very last of all his movies that I saw. I had seen everything he ever did, including short films by the time I got to "Accatone" and still found it masterful.
Franco Citti stars as the title character, he is a handsome pimp in Rome's post-war lower depths, with an endearing face that speaks volumes of his street-wise upbringing in the slums. To those unaccustomed with Southern Italian culture the way he spends his days with the other local pimps, playing cards and being lazy may seem vile, but it is actually a well grounded tradition, as is also his support of the entire family of his imprisoned friend, Ciccio, who depend on him for survival. He is obviously a fellow mobster, and their code of honor is at stake when Accatone discovers that he is in prison as a result of his whore, Maddalena, played by Silvana Corsini, who denounced Ciccio to the authorities. Even though she is recovering from a broken leg, Accatone forces her to go on the streets, where she is used, beaten and abandoned by Accatone's pals after he tells them the story, then she is found by the police and arrested. Accattone nearly starves to death from the total lack of income, he even sells all his jewelry to get by. He tries to reunite with his wife, with whom he has fathered at least one child, but she sees through his seduction act and her virile, beautiful brother beats up Accatone in an intense erotically-charged scene that seems to simulate sexual assault as much as violence between the men.
After meeting the innocent and beautiful Stella, (Franca Pasut) he is smitten and tries to get a job, so he can support her and his family but he is not accustomed to hardship and has the lack of patience that is typical of spoilt types that have never been trained to work does not make the job last for very long.
Never have I seen a more humane, direct and simple depiction of the tragic life of these undesirables of society. Pasolini is a master painter narrating with a few gestures all their hardship and suffering. Even getting a plate of food in this world is a memorable accomplishment. We see the whole setting as a sideline of modern society's inability to function properly. The 'corrections' by the police seem to be the most unjust of all, and Pasolini presents this panorama of human failing as an allegory of human struggle and spiritual redemption.
Franco Citti stars as the title character, he is a handsome pimp in Rome's post-war lower depths, with an endearing face that speaks volumes of his street-wise upbringing in the slums. To those unaccustomed with Southern Italian culture the way he spends his days with the other local pimps, playing cards and being lazy may seem vile, but it is actually a well grounded tradition, as is also his support of the entire family of his imprisoned friend, Ciccio, who depend on him for survival. He is obviously a fellow mobster, and their code of honor is at stake when Accatone discovers that he is in prison as a result of his whore, Maddalena, played by Silvana Corsini, who denounced Ciccio to the authorities. Even though she is recovering from a broken leg, Accatone forces her to go on the streets, where she is used, beaten and abandoned by Accatone's pals after he tells them the story, then she is found by the police and arrested. Accattone nearly starves to death from the total lack of income, he even sells all his jewelry to get by. He tries to reunite with his wife, with whom he has fathered at least one child, but she sees through his seduction act and her virile, beautiful brother beats up Accatone in an intense erotically-charged scene that seems to simulate sexual assault as much as violence between the men.
After meeting the innocent and beautiful Stella, (Franca Pasut) he is smitten and tries to get a job, so he can support her and his family but he is not accustomed to hardship and has the lack of patience that is typical of spoilt types that have never been trained to work does not make the job last for very long.
Never have I seen a more humane, direct and simple depiction of the tragic life of these undesirables of society. Pasolini is a master painter narrating with a few gestures all their hardship and suffering. Even getting a plate of food in this world is a memorable accomplishment. We see the whole setting as a sideline of modern society's inability to function properly. The 'corrections' by the police seem to be the most unjust of all, and Pasolini presents this panorama of human failing as an allegory of human struggle and spiritual redemption.
District 9
(2009)
Great SciFi like we had not seen in a LONG time
20 August 2009
This is a GREAT movie about a very plausible situation. A MUST-SEE!! An Alien ship, transporting hundreds of Thousands of Alien population malfunctions and they are obliged to land here on earth. This is an important detail, because later on you will get to understand that they are both technologically and socially much more advanced than us, and they would have not chosen earth as a destination. Actually as they were maneuvering a smaller aircraft coming from the main ship lands, but that is a minor detail that will only become major later. In any case we get to the main ship and bring the aliens down to earth, they were weakened and needed food, so the decision was made to transport them all down to a refugee camp as a 'temporary measure' they somehow were able to breath fine, and particularly enjoyed cat food. The main ship remains afloat Johanesburg in South Africa and down below the Aliens live in a camp that quickly turns into a funky slum. What is great about the movie is making the transition between Alien exotica and 'everyday Alien", we see them interchanging with humans, trading, and constantly moving about. Although they look like human sized lobsters, and are referred to as "Prawns" they pretty much have the same configuration as ours.
The movie starts actually a full twenty years after the 'landing' so all the glamor of news and novelty is gone and the South African Government is just trying to move them to another district, further away from their capital city by forced eviction. At this point the man in charge of the operations, Wikus Van De Merwe played by Sharlto Copley gets infected by a canister that contains a liquid two of the aliens had been hard at work for a long time. He does not know this, he thinks they are gangsters because their hut is full of computers and weaponry, but in reality they are the scientists amongst the aliens that have been working all this time to fix the spaceship, when he accidentally sprays some of the contents on himself he starts triggering a genetic reaction that will slowly change him into one of the creatures in a slow but very visible way. The strong, excellent performance by Wikus is what makes it believable, he is a totally square and regular guy, actually pretty good natured and in the process of this horrific change he maintains his humanity and sanity and has a complete change of heart in his relationship to the Aliens, as he is forced by circumstance to 'bond' with the one scientist who was involved in making the liquid, and his small son.
The film is important in showing the complexities of the exchanges with the Aliens and covers full well the political intrigue and inhumane behavior that is part of our present state of evolution. It starts out very slow and is not particularly great in the introduction of this information, so that at one point I was getting very impatient, but then started to enjoy the flow of the story. The turning point was the intervention of the liquid that changes Wikus and everything about the movie from that point forward. A rare instance in SciFi where violence is not gratuitous and all the tech makes perfect sense. It will doubtlessly become a cult film.
The movie starts actually a full twenty years after the 'landing' so all the glamor of news and novelty is gone and the South African Government is just trying to move them to another district, further away from their capital city by forced eviction. At this point the man in charge of the operations, Wikus Van De Merwe played by Sharlto Copley gets infected by a canister that contains a liquid two of the aliens had been hard at work for a long time. He does not know this, he thinks they are gangsters because their hut is full of computers and weaponry, but in reality they are the scientists amongst the aliens that have been working all this time to fix the spaceship, when he accidentally sprays some of the contents on himself he starts triggering a genetic reaction that will slowly change him into one of the creatures in a slow but very visible way. The strong, excellent performance by Wikus is what makes it believable, he is a totally square and regular guy, actually pretty good natured and in the process of this horrific change he maintains his humanity and sanity and has a complete change of heart in his relationship to the Aliens, as he is forced by circumstance to 'bond' with the one scientist who was involved in making the liquid, and his small son.
The film is important in showing the complexities of the exchanges with the Aliens and covers full well the political intrigue and inhumane behavior that is part of our present state of evolution. It starts out very slow and is not particularly great in the introduction of this information, so that at one point I was getting very impatient, but then started to enjoy the flow of the story. The turning point was the intervention of the liquid that changes Wikus and everything about the movie from that point forward. A rare instance in SciFi where violence is not gratuitous and all the tech makes perfect sense. It will doubtlessly become a cult film.
Dreams
(1990)
Great Rendition of Dreams as they are
19 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers
There are eight dream sequences in the DVD. They are totally independent and do not have anything to do with each other, so each one is like a 'short story' yet they stand on their own as complete films and each one is told with the pertinent imagery, language and pace that is typical of dreaming. This is so well done that we feel at times we are either dreaming the movie or seeing a projection of someone's dreams as they happen. I do not know of any better rendition of the dream state in film, this is an extraordinary accomplishment and one of Kurosawa's greatest achievements.Yet we should also be aware that the subject of dreams is much more relevant and important within the Japanese cultural context than in ours. From an earlier date, one of their greatest literary novels is titled "As I crossed a Bridge of Dreams" (11th Century) and through the centuries to modern times it is a recurrent theme, that in the 20th century was best expressed by Yukio Mishima's main character in the tetralogy "Sea of Fertility" ,Kiyoaki Matsugae, who keeps a dream diary, which actually predicts the developments of events in the novel.
Here is the List of Dreams in the film:
1-A Peach Orchard 2-Mount Fuji in Red 3-The Tunnel 4-The Weeping Demon 5-The Blizzard 6-Crows 7-Sunshine through the Rain 8-The Village in the Watermills
I Have not listed them in order, The first is Sunshine through the Rain, a beautiful fairy tale seeing through the eyes of a child, which is the same theme of the second, with another tale, yet both are totally different. Each one of these tales is a separate dream, and like all dreams they have their own rules that only make sense there. The cinematography is masterful even by Kurosawa standards, for all the dreams, but particularly spectacular in these first two in showing simultaneously the nature of Japan, and the traditional deities of Shinto, Japan's ancient pagan religion that preceded Buddhism and Zen, and is still part of the country's cultural core.. Crows is about a gallery visitor that actually climbs inside a Van Gogh painting and pursues Van Gogh through the fields. Martin Scorcesse plays Van Gogh beautifully, this was like a fantasy trip. The Blizzard is about a snowstorm in the mountains involving a climbing team, and is more like a short hallucination that one of the mountain climbers has for a moment, before he wakes and continues climbing.
Mount Fuji in Red is the horrifying nightmare of several atomic plants that explode around the volcano, with fearsome yet beautiful impact. It is Kurasawa's commentary on atomic energy, which along with the 'genius' of Einstein has aged very badly in Contemporary culture. It is worth noting that he belongs, along with Marx and Freud, to a group of scientist philosophers from the 19th Century that really believed in progress, and the three have largely failed in 'changing the world' and have become instead clearly passé. In the age of ozone layer pollution, irreversible atomic waste, Capitalist Russia/China and Prozac, all these once grand hopes and dreams of progress have faded or evaporated altogether. The Weeping Demon is another dream that dwells in the post atomic, post modern world which has become a nightmare, and here Kurosawa goes back to the very beginning of film history to scenery reminiscent of Giuseppe De Liguoro's "L'Inferno ", a 1910 film setting for Dante's Inferno that was extremely influential in establishing the iconography, and landscapes of the hellish universe, which looks very much like the world of the Weeping Demon. The tunnel is a war story that will be particularly touching to the military minded. It is Kurosawa's commentary on war in which a captain remembers his lost platoon, and they come back from the dead, first one man, then all of them in formation to be dismissed by him one last time. The Village in the Watermills is the closing dream. It is also a tale of nature and traditional values in contrast to the modern world, deeply philosophical and beautiful.
Here is the List of Dreams in the film:
1-A Peach Orchard 2-Mount Fuji in Red 3-The Tunnel 4-The Weeping Demon 5-The Blizzard 6-Crows 7-Sunshine through the Rain 8-The Village in the Watermills
I Have not listed them in order, The first is Sunshine through the Rain, a beautiful fairy tale seeing through the eyes of a child, which is the same theme of the second, with another tale, yet both are totally different. Each one of these tales is a separate dream, and like all dreams they have their own rules that only make sense there. The cinematography is masterful even by Kurosawa standards, for all the dreams, but particularly spectacular in these first two in showing simultaneously the nature of Japan, and the traditional deities of Shinto, Japan's ancient pagan religion that preceded Buddhism and Zen, and is still part of the country's cultural core.. Crows is about a gallery visitor that actually climbs inside a Van Gogh painting and pursues Van Gogh through the fields. Martin Scorcesse plays Van Gogh beautifully, this was like a fantasy trip. The Blizzard is about a snowstorm in the mountains involving a climbing team, and is more like a short hallucination that one of the mountain climbers has for a moment, before he wakes and continues climbing.
Mount Fuji in Red is the horrifying nightmare of several atomic plants that explode around the volcano, with fearsome yet beautiful impact. It is Kurasawa's commentary on atomic energy, which along with the 'genius' of Einstein has aged very badly in Contemporary culture. It is worth noting that he belongs, along with Marx and Freud, to a group of scientist philosophers from the 19th Century that really believed in progress, and the three have largely failed in 'changing the world' and have become instead clearly passé. In the age of ozone layer pollution, irreversible atomic waste, Capitalist Russia/China and Prozac, all these once grand hopes and dreams of progress have faded or evaporated altogether. The Weeping Demon is another dream that dwells in the post atomic, post modern world which has become a nightmare, and here Kurosawa goes back to the very beginning of film history to scenery reminiscent of Giuseppe De Liguoro's "L'Inferno ", a 1910 film setting for Dante's Inferno that was extremely influential in establishing the iconography, and landscapes of the hellish universe, which looks very much like the world of the Weeping Demon. The tunnel is a war story that will be particularly touching to the military minded. It is Kurosawa's commentary on war in which a captain remembers his lost platoon, and they come back from the dead, first one man, then all of them in formation to be dismissed by him one last time. The Village in the Watermills is the closing dream. It is also a tale of nature and traditional values in contrast to the modern world, deeply philosophical and beautiful.
Bagdad
(1949)
Absolutely Fabulous; Golden Dreams of Bagdad in Technicolor Polyester
18 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers
After the success of "Sinbad the Sailor" Maureen O'Hara was ready to play another princess of Arabia in 49 and along came this story of Bagdad that suited her perfectly. She plays Princess Marjan of the Beduins but there is nothing tribal about her. The first time we see her she is dressed like an English Victorian lady riding in the desert with an overdressed Vincent Price as Pacha Ali Nadim, who is of course the EVIL character that slaps all his subordinates on a regular basis and protects the Black raiders, a bandit club that is as endemic to these movies as the absurd amounts of early polyester silks and gilt-costume jewelry on the women, always covered by perfectly transparent veils.
Princess Marjan has been studying in London, though we are never told what. When she arrives at the caravansary, the man in charge assumes she is English, but she tells him she is an Arabian Princess, you can't blame the man, her flowing mane of red hair is not particularly an Arabian trait and neither is her ivory skin. She proceeds to go on a shopping spree for native garb, which is Hollywood interpretations of what they thought Arabian women should wear, and translates as a Maureen, because there is no other way to describe the costume: weird shoulder treatments, occasionally with flounces, sometimes attached to an impossibly small vest, heavily embroidered, sometimes to a camisole that at the waist flairs into a half- train or baggy pants, sometimes both. The total effect is sometimes late Renaissance as interpreted by cookie boxes that have a medallion with a 'lady' from 'Verona' or 'Florence' but are more readily found in real life at wedding receptions in Newark.
Princess Marjan is trying to put her tribe back on its feet after her father's assassination, she is trying to talk to the Emir, persuade the Pasha, and seduce a handsome Prince who one minute is a camel driver and the next a rich merchant from Cairo spewing precious stones at her dinner table on a horrid night that the Pasha imposes himself on her to have dinner at the one and only Western cuisine restaurant in Bagdad, "I Franghi" (or something like that). The restaurant has entertainment also, which consists of dancing girls. This gives Princess Marjan the brilliant idea of adding extra income to her enterprise by singing in this place which is a concoction of all the 'elegant French restaurants" outside of Paris by way of Wyoming. No sooner was this flash of genius stricken than she glides from the table like a panther in love and sashays around the place singing ballads. This is the best moment of the film, and it could go on Broadway anytime as a revival with a few extra tunes. She has an amazingly good Broadway voice and when she stops you want to hear another one. You will, but it will take a while.
The plot thickens with so many useless details I can not record them accurately, except that at one point Princess Marjan appears dressed in gypsy garb with her friends at the enemy camp and the movie hits another high point. This Princess can look like a sassy gypsy, tell a fortune with grace flashing that ultra-Colgate smile that probably introduced toothpaste to the Bedouins right there, poison a soup, flirt at a battalion of women-hungry Arabs and she still goes away unscathed and virginal, ready for her close-up with her hero-prince and a happy ending. Now that's ENTERTAINMENT. This movie can also team up with either "Sinbad the Sailor" (1947) or "Flame of Araby" (1951) for an excellent double feature that will leave you floating in your own magic carpet of Arabian Technicolor dreams.
Princess Marjan has been studying in London, though we are never told what. When she arrives at the caravansary, the man in charge assumes she is English, but she tells him she is an Arabian Princess, you can't blame the man, her flowing mane of red hair is not particularly an Arabian trait and neither is her ivory skin. She proceeds to go on a shopping spree for native garb, which is Hollywood interpretations of what they thought Arabian women should wear, and translates as a Maureen, because there is no other way to describe the costume: weird shoulder treatments, occasionally with flounces, sometimes attached to an impossibly small vest, heavily embroidered, sometimes to a camisole that at the waist flairs into a half- train or baggy pants, sometimes both. The total effect is sometimes late Renaissance as interpreted by cookie boxes that have a medallion with a 'lady' from 'Verona' or 'Florence' but are more readily found in real life at wedding receptions in Newark.
Princess Marjan is trying to put her tribe back on its feet after her father's assassination, she is trying to talk to the Emir, persuade the Pasha, and seduce a handsome Prince who one minute is a camel driver and the next a rich merchant from Cairo spewing precious stones at her dinner table on a horrid night that the Pasha imposes himself on her to have dinner at the one and only Western cuisine restaurant in Bagdad, "I Franghi" (or something like that). The restaurant has entertainment also, which consists of dancing girls. This gives Princess Marjan the brilliant idea of adding extra income to her enterprise by singing in this place which is a concoction of all the 'elegant French restaurants" outside of Paris by way of Wyoming. No sooner was this flash of genius stricken than she glides from the table like a panther in love and sashays around the place singing ballads. This is the best moment of the film, and it could go on Broadway anytime as a revival with a few extra tunes. She has an amazingly good Broadway voice and when she stops you want to hear another one. You will, but it will take a while.
The plot thickens with so many useless details I can not record them accurately, except that at one point Princess Marjan appears dressed in gypsy garb with her friends at the enemy camp and the movie hits another high point. This Princess can look like a sassy gypsy, tell a fortune with grace flashing that ultra-Colgate smile that probably introduced toothpaste to the Bedouins right there, poison a soup, flirt at a battalion of women-hungry Arabs and she still goes away unscathed and virginal, ready for her close-up with her hero-prince and a happy ending. Now that's ENTERTAINMENT. This movie can also team up with either "Sinbad the Sailor" (1947) or "Flame of Araby" (1951) for an excellent double feature that will leave you floating in your own magic carpet of Arabian Technicolor dreams.
Omar Khayyam
(1957)
Another great biography parodies into fluff. Kitsch Entertainment
17 August 2009
Unfortunately we do not have a lot of biographical detail on Omar Khayyam, one of the world's greatest mathematician, astronomer and poet, and a philosopher as well. His tomb, still existent in Iran is a great monument of Islamic architecture. This movie is a monument to Hollywood's inability to capture any of those values and turn it all instead into a vapid adventure story with miles of cheap fabrics that look 'exotic'. We even get a band of "assasins' that is very similar in spirit, logical plan and training to today's Taliban.
Cornell Wilde is unable to project the charisma and genius of this Persian poet. He looks like a retired banker that lives in NY, has a mild interest in the theater and is doing this movie because he wants to have a tax right-off. He should have been played by Omar Shariff. Margaret Hayes is great camp as Queen Zarada, the queen mother whose ambition will stop at nothing to secure the throne for her sons. She is also capable of sustaining a platinum blond mane in the midst of the harem with great aplomb, as a symbol and reminder that all queens should be white, blond and preferably from Philadelphia. She is always trailing several yards of Technicolor blue cape behind her every move. Joan Taylor is so ferociously loyal and annoyingly organized as Yaffa, Omar's slave, that one is relieved to see her being pushed from a cliff. Debra Paget plays Sharain, Omar's great love and inspiration for his poems, as a secular nun who also clearly has a cross-eyed problem. This role should understandably have gone to Arabian Night-resident-Hollywood-expert Maureen O'Hara. Michael Rennie is the EVIL Hasani Sabah, and gives the best performance in his role as the ruthless leader of the Assassins sect. One laments not to see him shirtless and wearing a pendant cabochon emerald from one of his handsome earlobes.
As a vapid Arabian Night action movie it has all the polyester, plated gold, architectural plaster and Technicolor spectrum of saturated glamorama to while away a lazy summer afternoon. Great double feature with a Sinbad or Baghdad movie.
Cornell Wilde is unable to project the charisma and genius of this Persian poet. He looks like a retired banker that lives in NY, has a mild interest in the theater and is doing this movie because he wants to have a tax right-off. He should have been played by Omar Shariff. Margaret Hayes is great camp as Queen Zarada, the queen mother whose ambition will stop at nothing to secure the throne for her sons. She is also capable of sustaining a platinum blond mane in the midst of the harem with great aplomb, as a symbol and reminder that all queens should be white, blond and preferably from Philadelphia. She is always trailing several yards of Technicolor blue cape behind her every move. Joan Taylor is so ferociously loyal and annoyingly organized as Yaffa, Omar's slave, that one is relieved to see her being pushed from a cliff. Debra Paget plays Sharain, Omar's great love and inspiration for his poems, as a secular nun who also clearly has a cross-eyed problem. This role should understandably have gone to Arabian Night-resident-Hollywood-expert Maureen O'Hara. Michael Rennie is the EVIL Hasani Sabah, and gives the best performance in his role as the ruthless leader of the Assassins sect. One laments not to see him shirtless and wearing a pendant cabochon emerald from one of his handsome earlobes.
As a vapid Arabian Night action movie it has all the polyester, plated gold, architectural plaster and Technicolor spectrum of saturated glamorama to while away a lazy summer afternoon. Great double feature with a Sinbad or Baghdad movie.
Foolish Wives
(1922)
Very Long but interesting Drama in Montecarlo Sin City
17 August 2009
Erich Von Stroheim directs and plays Count Wladislaw Sergius Karamzin (Capt. 3rd Hussars Imper. Russian Army). He is very much in love with his dashing persona that is best described as an acquired taste, I think it would have been much more effective to have that much footage on a really talented actor that is also good looking,but that is just a detail. The film is a good film, the characters are interesting and well developed and the scenes are beautifully filmed.
The problem, and it is a problem no matter how much talent we may think Von Stronheim had as a director, is the timing. It is an unnecessarily long movie, period. I can totally understand how this became a real challenge later as he thought longer was better and the more expensive the production, the better too. Neither one of these is necessarily true as we know from other great directors. In all fairness, the length of time has always been endemic to German cultural productions, it is actually one of its most salient characteristics and can be traced all the way back to Goethe's Faust and Wagner's Operas, though I dare say it probably started out from the very beginning in their medieval dramas. The problem usually starts with confusing and melding two different things which creates a third which is neither. For example with Wagner's operas, there is no question the music is great quality. The problem begins when throwing that content into the structure of a performance: 4 or five hours without interruption is not the usual amount of time people can sit without a bathroom or refreshment break. As far as this perspective is concerned if you can't take four hours to say it, then it is not worth bothering with, and I for one could not disagree more.
Here for example at the very beginning of the film we see the characters in a villa endlessly having breakfast. I mean you have all the time in the world to count the patterns of silk on Count Sergius' silk robe, which I also found overly done and a bit ridiculous. Then there is the walk he takes with the wife of the American envoy to Monaco (Miss DuPont) that turns into a total nightmare as they hit a rain storm and when it is raining the hardest Count Sergius takes her into a boat and decides to go across the lake to some hut, where a witch like hag lives with her goats. This entire scene, which is endless, is totally unnecessary, we get to see several long shots of the goats too, as if they were major characters, and of the hag sleeping. In the midst of this a monk stops by and stays with them too, another twenty minutes going nowhere.
The film finally takes off when he tells the American wife to meet him at his villa, where his cousins Maude George as Princess Olga Petchnikoff and Mae Busch as Princess Vera Petchnikoff, who look like Weimar trans-gender women, run a mini casino where they clear Cesare Ventucci, (Cesare Gravina) a Counterfeiter's bills that he makes for them on a regular basis. The permanently depressed and abused maid Marushka (Dale Fuller) however has been having an affair with the Count as well, she has even given him her life savings after he has a crocodile tear scene asking her for money, which she consents to do thinking of his (false) promise of marriage. As one of the first vengeful neurotic lovers in film, she sees them through the keyhole and decides to set the place on fire and throw herself to the sea from a cliff later. Both scenes are shown in exhausting detail. I can totally understand why this movie was heavily edited, but can not begin to comprehend how it could have possibly been longer than this. Supposedly one of the 'great' ideas was that it reproduced Montecarlo on a Hollywood back lot. Unless they were going to do a series on the Riviera, it would have been better to go there.
I now can see why Von Sronheim ran into problems with "Queen Kelly" and Gloria Swanson as that story started to 'grow'. The word 'cut' must be very difficult to pronounce, or to put in mind in German, which is a shame for there is no question there are great qualities here as well as a lot of talent. I have hear that the original length of his 'masterpiece' "Greed" was 9 hours, even cutting it down to two viewings of 4 and 5 hours each is difficult to envision. Who had that much time for a movie then? or now?
The problem, and it is a problem no matter how much talent we may think Von Stronheim had as a director, is the timing. It is an unnecessarily long movie, period. I can totally understand how this became a real challenge later as he thought longer was better and the more expensive the production, the better too. Neither one of these is necessarily true as we know from other great directors. In all fairness, the length of time has always been endemic to German cultural productions, it is actually one of its most salient characteristics and can be traced all the way back to Goethe's Faust and Wagner's Operas, though I dare say it probably started out from the very beginning in their medieval dramas. The problem usually starts with confusing and melding two different things which creates a third which is neither. For example with Wagner's operas, there is no question the music is great quality. The problem begins when throwing that content into the structure of a performance: 4 or five hours without interruption is not the usual amount of time people can sit without a bathroom or refreshment break. As far as this perspective is concerned if you can't take four hours to say it, then it is not worth bothering with, and I for one could not disagree more.
Here for example at the very beginning of the film we see the characters in a villa endlessly having breakfast. I mean you have all the time in the world to count the patterns of silk on Count Sergius' silk robe, which I also found overly done and a bit ridiculous. Then there is the walk he takes with the wife of the American envoy to Monaco (Miss DuPont) that turns into a total nightmare as they hit a rain storm and when it is raining the hardest Count Sergius takes her into a boat and decides to go across the lake to some hut, where a witch like hag lives with her goats. This entire scene, which is endless, is totally unnecessary, we get to see several long shots of the goats too, as if they were major characters, and of the hag sleeping. In the midst of this a monk stops by and stays with them too, another twenty minutes going nowhere.
The film finally takes off when he tells the American wife to meet him at his villa, where his cousins Maude George as Princess Olga Petchnikoff and Mae Busch as Princess Vera Petchnikoff, who look like Weimar trans-gender women, run a mini casino where they clear Cesare Ventucci, (Cesare Gravina) a Counterfeiter's bills that he makes for them on a regular basis. The permanently depressed and abused maid Marushka (Dale Fuller) however has been having an affair with the Count as well, she has even given him her life savings after he has a crocodile tear scene asking her for money, which she consents to do thinking of his (false) promise of marriage. As one of the first vengeful neurotic lovers in film, she sees them through the keyhole and decides to set the place on fire and throw herself to the sea from a cliff later. Both scenes are shown in exhausting detail. I can totally understand why this movie was heavily edited, but can not begin to comprehend how it could have possibly been longer than this. Supposedly one of the 'great' ideas was that it reproduced Montecarlo on a Hollywood back lot. Unless they were going to do a series on the Riviera, it would have been better to go there.
I now can see why Von Sronheim ran into problems with "Queen Kelly" and Gloria Swanson as that story started to 'grow'. The word 'cut' must be very difficult to pronounce, or to put in mind in German, which is a shame for there is no question there are great qualities here as well as a lot of talent. I have hear that the original length of his 'masterpiece' "Greed" was 9 hours, even cutting it down to two viewings of 4 and 5 hours each is difficult to envision. Who had that much time for a movie then? or now?
Kismet
(1944)
Ultimate Masterpiece of the Arabian Fantasy Tale Genre
17 August 2009
This story about the king of the beggars of Baghdad marrying off his daughter off to royalty is certainly popular in film. There are several silent versions: 1914, 1916, 1920, and of course the 1955 musical. However the only competition for this masterpiece was made in 1930, featuring that great queen of camp, Loretta Young, but is now a 'lost' film, so until a copy is found this one remains the undisputed masterpiece of the genre.
Ronald Colman plays Hafiz the great thief to perfection, including the extremely difficult task of balancing a turban the size of a small cupola on his head for the audience with the Grand Vizier that would have annihilated a less hardy specimen. As a matter of fact the costumes in this film are important enough to merit the treatment of a main character: They are so exquisitely ridiculous and the material so obviously synthetic, overwrought, clashing in color and style and so overwhelmingly kitsch that it is the DEFINITIVE example for the period and genre. Nothing like this has been since before or since, thank God. Although the film is in color you could swear they had color blind designers working you will see dangerous combinations of color never since surpassed; emerald green and magenta, scarlet and deep blue, saffron orange and mustard yellow....these are just some samplings but you have to add the swimming pools/fountains in every corner shining in acid-sapphire, the elaborate Formica lattice work of the harem walls, the spectacular shine of gold plated plastic jewelry....it is a thousand nightmares of design wrapped neatly into one movie, to be treasured forever. This is not a movie to rent, you have to BUY this film and watch it several times to appreciate it in detail.
The most outstanding performance is of course, Marlene Dietrich as Jamilla, the 'Macedonian' wife and queen of the grand Vizier (Edward Arnold) who by the way is the closest I have ever seen to a slab of prosciutto in the shape of a human, stuffed into severe velour's-metal embroidered tunics that could asphyxiate an elephant in an Indian wedding. But back to Jamilla: Her dance sequence is one of those moments in Hollywood history for which there are simply no superlatives or adjectives that can approximate the exhilaration of watching it. It would be like trying to describe the explosion of an atomic bomb at sunset in the Sahara. I will just say that never has a human being been capable of moving so gracefully with so much hair piled up in a complex ziggurat on her head while heavily burdened with a solid gold embroidered camisole, gold painted limbs, and enough bracelet weight to sink the titanic. There is not a moment in which she is not batting away three pairs of false eyelashes per eye, while holding an inane conversation with utmost interest, maintaining a dangerous cleavage line in place and holding a completely transparent veil to her chin. One half of this coordinated effort would have killed Ms.Paltrow and her tepid generation of clone-blonds, they certainly don't make them like that anymore! James Craig is the very handsome Caliph who plays at being the gardener's son to romance Hafiz's child, the demure Marsinah ( Joy Ann Page) he even manages to be pretty normally dressed except for the severe crown he puts on in the morning to write letters which would have crushed any skull for karat weight in diamonds. Marsinah always looks plain and innocent, even while dancing and chanting, then she is taken away to the palace in a litter that looks like a plasticized, enlarged fabergé egg and when we see her again she is always crying because she is being forced to marry the Grand Vizier by her father, but I thought it was because she could not stand her violet outfit and her hideous tiara that was crushing her brains with a small hill of diamonds and a cataract to boot, falling down her forehead.
The excitement of watching the scenes is not so much out of the plot development as it is to see what they could possibly wear next. I will not detail Marlene's last outfit, in which she rides away with her true love into happily ever after because I am still blinded by the impact. Run, don't walk to get this movie! There is no way anyone can be disappointed with so many colors in every scene, this is the ultimate Ali Baba, Thief of Baghdad movie!
Ronald Colman plays Hafiz the great thief to perfection, including the extremely difficult task of balancing a turban the size of a small cupola on his head for the audience with the Grand Vizier that would have annihilated a less hardy specimen. As a matter of fact the costumes in this film are important enough to merit the treatment of a main character: They are so exquisitely ridiculous and the material so obviously synthetic, overwrought, clashing in color and style and so overwhelmingly kitsch that it is the DEFINITIVE example for the period and genre. Nothing like this has been since before or since, thank God. Although the film is in color you could swear they had color blind designers working you will see dangerous combinations of color never since surpassed; emerald green and magenta, scarlet and deep blue, saffron orange and mustard yellow....these are just some samplings but you have to add the swimming pools/fountains in every corner shining in acid-sapphire, the elaborate Formica lattice work of the harem walls, the spectacular shine of gold plated plastic jewelry....it is a thousand nightmares of design wrapped neatly into one movie, to be treasured forever. This is not a movie to rent, you have to BUY this film and watch it several times to appreciate it in detail.
The most outstanding performance is of course, Marlene Dietrich as Jamilla, the 'Macedonian' wife and queen of the grand Vizier (Edward Arnold) who by the way is the closest I have ever seen to a slab of prosciutto in the shape of a human, stuffed into severe velour's-metal embroidered tunics that could asphyxiate an elephant in an Indian wedding. But back to Jamilla: Her dance sequence is one of those moments in Hollywood history for which there are simply no superlatives or adjectives that can approximate the exhilaration of watching it. It would be like trying to describe the explosion of an atomic bomb at sunset in the Sahara. I will just say that never has a human being been capable of moving so gracefully with so much hair piled up in a complex ziggurat on her head while heavily burdened with a solid gold embroidered camisole, gold painted limbs, and enough bracelet weight to sink the titanic. There is not a moment in which she is not batting away three pairs of false eyelashes per eye, while holding an inane conversation with utmost interest, maintaining a dangerous cleavage line in place and holding a completely transparent veil to her chin. One half of this coordinated effort would have killed Ms.Paltrow and her tepid generation of clone-blonds, they certainly don't make them like that anymore! James Craig is the very handsome Caliph who plays at being the gardener's son to romance Hafiz's child, the demure Marsinah ( Joy Ann Page) he even manages to be pretty normally dressed except for the severe crown he puts on in the morning to write letters which would have crushed any skull for karat weight in diamonds. Marsinah always looks plain and innocent, even while dancing and chanting, then she is taken away to the palace in a litter that looks like a plasticized, enlarged fabergé egg and when we see her again she is always crying because she is being forced to marry the Grand Vizier by her father, but I thought it was because she could not stand her violet outfit and her hideous tiara that was crushing her brains with a small hill of diamonds and a cataract to boot, falling down her forehead.
The excitement of watching the scenes is not so much out of the plot development as it is to see what they could possibly wear next. I will not detail Marlene's last outfit, in which she rides away with her true love into happily ever after because I am still blinded by the impact. Run, don't walk to get this movie! There is no way anyone can be disappointed with so many colors in every scene, this is the ultimate Ali Baba, Thief of Baghdad movie!
Mogambo
(1953)
Passion Safari
13 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This movie set in the African Savannah is actually a vehicle for a love triangle: Ava Gardner plays the brunette bombshell that arrives from New York, in high heels, ready for her closeup with an Indian Maharaja who does not show up. This is the tragedy of the film, as we miss seeing what she would have looked like strolling by the African landscape with a royal sari and a couple of pounds of cabochon emeralds in head ornaments. Clark Gable is the animal trapper and super macho of the jungle, in charge of the safari and Grace Kelly is the repressed wife of an English anthropologist who is there to study the language of the gorillas but would have been better off to concentrate on their sexual training instead , as the minute they arrive he starts losing his wife to Gable's powerful and charismatic persona.
The film has beautiful moments showing off the landscape and the animals, but it's not great cinematography, it's the intrinsic beauty of the place that is there, the movie itself is like a play happening on top of it. The best acting roles go to the animals here: The trapped leopard that imitates Ava's walk back and forth on the float, the baby elephant who eats bananas from her hand playfully alongside a baby rhino, both are trapped in an enclosure and will be sold for $5,000 each.
There is also the Hippo that throws Ava off her seat with a nice spray of water, and the panther that attacks Grace Kelly and unfortunately, is shot down by Gable. Why do we feel that it would have been GREAT if the animal had gone inside the trap and had her for lunch?? Because by that point we can't stand her and also know that a glamorous obituary in the Times is all she needs to put her out of all trouble, permanently. From a Contemporary viewing point these animals are the true heroes of the movie. They stand by silent and graceful amidst this white trash that is there destroying their environment, polluting their air with their cigarettes and cars and either killing them or taking them to circus/zoos destinations. Real nice.
The record is no better when it gets down to the treatment the natives get from this dysfunctional crew of alcoholic, neurotic white contingent. The Africans get yelled at, have towels thrown at them and are talked about pretty much in the same terms than the animals, yet they clearly have a much more dignified presence than the people they serve, when they stand up close the brutish barbarian is obviously the fat man with the gun. One deeply regrets that when they set out on the big canoes a pack pf hippos does not clash into them and drowns them all, which would be a more than happy ending for their misguided and abusive lives. Never before have I seen in a movie so clearly delineated the superiority of animals over humans, but this was surely not intentional.
There is also the'civilizing' presence of a priest who is a clear demonstration even by the way he looks, that this religion is wrong for the people. The church he has managed to build inside a hut has the eerie atmosphere of a Martian compound so alien does it look within the environment, and it helps understanding why the new African nations, burdened with this well intentioned, yet cumbersome interventions, have such difficulties in making progress.
The love triangle is also more difficult to understand from our contemporary perspective, but here it is: Gable's character is enthralled by the idea of falling in love with a white, educated, upper class prude that flashes 'respectable upper class' form the first scene. Her get up alone is ridiculous: perfectly ironed silk kimonos, sweaters with pearl necklaces in the middle of the African heat (sometimes it went as high as 130 degrees while filming) though ideal for the Hamptons, one can not believe this would be possible in the middle of the jungle and makes one appreciate the hundreds of assistants that must have been present constantly changing costumes and wiping brows. Grace Kelly gives one of her best performances as this emotional invalid from Frigidity land that has accidentally awakened like a twisted spore in the midst of the heat and Gable's fertilizing testosterone presence. Her husband is so stereotyped he even dines in the hut in a tuxedo, you can figure out the rest, so one can not blame her for what happened. Ava had the most difficult role in portraying human values in a 'fallen woman' that looks like a fish out of water from the first scene. But she quickly adapts, and does a very good job at trying to seduce Gable. She is authentically convincing as a wholesome city hustler coming to grips with real deep emotions while looking absolutely ravishing. My favorite scene is of her atop a truck swaying and chanting with the natives creating her own choreography. Gable dominates the scenes with his strong presence, never was the title "King of Hollywood' been more tangible than in this film. The supporting cast of slobs that hang out around Gable evaporates from memory with the last screen credit.
The film has beautiful moments showing off the landscape and the animals, but it's not great cinematography, it's the intrinsic beauty of the place that is there, the movie itself is like a play happening on top of it. The best acting roles go to the animals here: The trapped leopard that imitates Ava's walk back and forth on the float, the baby elephant who eats bananas from her hand playfully alongside a baby rhino, both are trapped in an enclosure and will be sold for $5,000 each.
There is also the Hippo that throws Ava off her seat with a nice spray of water, and the panther that attacks Grace Kelly and unfortunately, is shot down by Gable. Why do we feel that it would have been GREAT if the animal had gone inside the trap and had her for lunch?? Because by that point we can't stand her and also know that a glamorous obituary in the Times is all she needs to put her out of all trouble, permanently. From a Contemporary viewing point these animals are the true heroes of the movie. They stand by silent and graceful amidst this white trash that is there destroying their environment, polluting their air with their cigarettes and cars and either killing them or taking them to circus/zoos destinations. Real nice.
The record is no better when it gets down to the treatment the natives get from this dysfunctional crew of alcoholic, neurotic white contingent. The Africans get yelled at, have towels thrown at them and are talked about pretty much in the same terms than the animals, yet they clearly have a much more dignified presence than the people they serve, when they stand up close the brutish barbarian is obviously the fat man with the gun. One deeply regrets that when they set out on the big canoes a pack pf hippos does not clash into them and drowns them all, which would be a more than happy ending for their misguided and abusive lives. Never before have I seen in a movie so clearly delineated the superiority of animals over humans, but this was surely not intentional.
There is also the'civilizing' presence of a priest who is a clear demonstration even by the way he looks, that this religion is wrong for the people. The church he has managed to build inside a hut has the eerie atmosphere of a Martian compound so alien does it look within the environment, and it helps understanding why the new African nations, burdened with this well intentioned, yet cumbersome interventions, have such difficulties in making progress.
The love triangle is also more difficult to understand from our contemporary perspective, but here it is: Gable's character is enthralled by the idea of falling in love with a white, educated, upper class prude that flashes 'respectable upper class' form the first scene. Her get up alone is ridiculous: perfectly ironed silk kimonos, sweaters with pearl necklaces in the middle of the African heat (sometimes it went as high as 130 degrees while filming) though ideal for the Hamptons, one can not believe this would be possible in the middle of the jungle and makes one appreciate the hundreds of assistants that must have been present constantly changing costumes and wiping brows. Grace Kelly gives one of her best performances as this emotional invalid from Frigidity land that has accidentally awakened like a twisted spore in the midst of the heat and Gable's fertilizing testosterone presence. Her husband is so stereotyped he even dines in the hut in a tuxedo, you can figure out the rest, so one can not blame her for what happened. Ava had the most difficult role in portraying human values in a 'fallen woman' that looks like a fish out of water from the first scene. But she quickly adapts, and does a very good job at trying to seduce Gable. She is authentically convincing as a wholesome city hustler coming to grips with real deep emotions while looking absolutely ravishing. My favorite scene is of her atop a truck swaying and chanting with the natives creating her own choreography. Gable dominates the scenes with his strong presence, never was the title "King of Hollywood' been more tangible than in this film. The supporting cast of slobs that hang out around Gable evaporates from memory with the last screen credit.
Exquisite adaptation of Wilde's great play
13 August 2009
This movie is witty, ingenious and terribly gay. It will lift your spirits to see these characters chirping away, even if you are hospitalized in a coma.
Edith Evans is Lady Bracknell, she is the funniest of the bunch, with an ideal horse-face that can only be found in families with at least five generations of British gentility. Her declamatory, accented, pompous speech is a delight, even asking for a scone sounds like the proclamation of a peerage coming from her. Michael Denison is totally affected and delightfully artificial as Algernon Moncrieff, this man could only be interested in high fashion and decorators and frankly I think part of the comedy is Oscar Wilde's trying to convince us that Victorian society was so dedicated to denial and maintaining social appearances as to believe this man would want to marry a woman when we know he would be having a nervous breakdown over her gown, the length of her veil, the right texture of paper on the invitation and the endless thank you notes. Even the way he eats a muffin is decidedly gay. Michael Redgrave is Jack Worthing and not that far from Algernon in posturing, over-dressing and mannerisms. They are perfect for each other, and they could have possibly started together the first line of haut couture and interior decor in England, instead we are led to believe that he is interested in romancing and marrying that goose of Gwendolen Fairfax as played by Joan Greenwood whose only merit is consistently dressing like she is on her way to a coronation. One of her headdresses early on is a full English garden in bloom, compressed into her limited head space, a feat that would have made even Marie-Antoinette jealous. Dorothy Tutin as Cecily Cardew is perfectly annoying. She has the charm of a high-speed dentist drill, her voice is pitched and commanding, like a school mistress admonishing her charges, and is so persistently innocent and overwhelmingly pure one feels tempted to throw her head over heels into the Moulin Rouge for training on how to become a normal human being and stop being a professional virgin. Perhaps the best performance of all is the delightful Margaret Rutherford as the eccentric, literary, Miss Letitia Prism. Her facial expressions are exquisite, her perfectly full cheeks and rotund body being the product of endless afternoons consuming jam, scones and Earl Gray tea. One regrets not being able to read the voluminous manuscript that she mistook for the baby, I am sure it could be turned into a best-seller comedy.
Edith Evans is Lady Bracknell, she is the funniest of the bunch, with an ideal horse-face that can only be found in families with at least five generations of British gentility. Her declamatory, accented, pompous speech is a delight, even asking for a scone sounds like the proclamation of a peerage coming from her. Michael Denison is totally affected and delightfully artificial as Algernon Moncrieff, this man could only be interested in high fashion and decorators and frankly I think part of the comedy is Oscar Wilde's trying to convince us that Victorian society was so dedicated to denial and maintaining social appearances as to believe this man would want to marry a woman when we know he would be having a nervous breakdown over her gown, the length of her veil, the right texture of paper on the invitation and the endless thank you notes. Even the way he eats a muffin is decidedly gay. Michael Redgrave is Jack Worthing and not that far from Algernon in posturing, over-dressing and mannerisms. They are perfect for each other, and they could have possibly started together the first line of haut couture and interior decor in England, instead we are led to believe that he is interested in romancing and marrying that goose of Gwendolen Fairfax as played by Joan Greenwood whose only merit is consistently dressing like she is on her way to a coronation. One of her headdresses early on is a full English garden in bloom, compressed into her limited head space, a feat that would have made even Marie-Antoinette jealous. Dorothy Tutin as Cecily Cardew is perfectly annoying. She has the charm of a high-speed dentist drill, her voice is pitched and commanding, like a school mistress admonishing her charges, and is so persistently innocent and overwhelmingly pure one feels tempted to throw her head over heels into the Moulin Rouge for training on how to become a normal human being and stop being a professional virgin. Perhaps the best performance of all is the delightful Margaret Rutherford as the eccentric, literary, Miss Letitia Prism. Her facial expressions are exquisite, her perfectly full cheeks and rotund body being the product of endless afternoons consuming jam, scones and Earl Gray tea. One regrets not being able to read the voluminous manuscript that she mistook for the baby, I am sure it could be turned into a best-seller comedy.
Michael
(1924)
Excellent Early Gay Drama
7 August 2009
This is a German silent film. Obviously it would take Hollywood at least half a century longer to get anywhere near this subject in such a natural manner, and in many ways, still to this day it has not produced anything to compare to this sensitive portrayal about an aging master painter (Benjamin Christensen) who takes a male model/hustler and aspiring painter (Walter Slezak) under his protection. Soon however, their relationship begins to change when both men encounter the gorgeous Princess Zamikoff (Nora Gregor) who is supposed to be ruined but happens to be on her way to the opera when she makes a visit to commission her portrait and comes back later dressed to kill, with an outfit that must have cost a fortune and that we must assume she did not pay for herself.
This clearly indicates that the Princess is a professional gold-digger-hustler, and though not a courtesan, certainly someone in the related business of living by her charms, with enough savoir-faire to be part of the trade. This is an important character trait of the woman in the triangle, because it makes perfect sense within the context of co-dependent sex relationships: She is hustling Michael as much as Michael hustles the painter and that is the actual mechanism of the relationship.
This is an excellent Dreyer film, not quite popular or well know here for the subject matter being an early example of a homosexual relationship. Most importantly, both of the men involved are portrayed as virile and masculine, there is no cross dressing, hilarity of character or the usual histrionics that was the sole, monolithic identity of gay men in an American cultural context until the arrival of "Brokeback Mountain". Some viewers may be in such denial as to the existence of a gay life for "straight-looking" men that they may debate that the film is not about homosexuality, as one of the men gets involved in a heterosexual relationship, and I completely disagree with this stance, as most gay men are actually like the ones in this movie and not like the more flamboyant part of the group that naturally steal the limelight and distort the statistical truth.
The complexities and variety of homosexual experience either in gay men or women have always posed a challenge on the imagination and intelligence of society, but we can not deny that there was much more than simple friendship between these two men, if only because there had to be a valid reason for Michael to accept money gifts and also steal as much from the painter. However, because there were an infinite amount of choices by means of which this could have been clarified, and certainly there are earlier movies that showed it was done in Germany ("Different from the Others" for example, 1919) I see this important detail as an error in character development and that's why I have given it an 8 ranking.
The cinematography by Rudolph Mate and Karl Freund is exquisitely handled. All details of decor, furnishing and costume are lavish and within the cultural context of the period. We see the subtle transitioning from Art Nouveau to early Deco in the differences between the older painter's home and the younger hustler's apartment.
The character of the suffering, self-sacrificing older lover in a relationship is a very 19th Century attitude and romantic posturing that reached a climax with Dumas famous "Dame aux Camelias" that became the "Camille" of the stage and movie adaptations as well as Verdi's "Traviata" in opera. Christensen's devoted love for Michael, even when he discovers his thievery and baseness is part of that socio-cultural heritage, the extreme of which had been Oscar Wilde in the generation before the one in this movie, which went one step further in the 'sacrifice' to self destruction. Within this context the painter's plight is totally believable and acceptable, but aside from the artistic beauty of the film itself, the important message that comes through is the validity and truth of that love.
This clearly indicates that the Princess is a professional gold-digger-hustler, and though not a courtesan, certainly someone in the related business of living by her charms, with enough savoir-faire to be part of the trade. This is an important character trait of the woman in the triangle, because it makes perfect sense within the context of co-dependent sex relationships: She is hustling Michael as much as Michael hustles the painter and that is the actual mechanism of the relationship.
This is an excellent Dreyer film, not quite popular or well know here for the subject matter being an early example of a homosexual relationship. Most importantly, both of the men involved are portrayed as virile and masculine, there is no cross dressing, hilarity of character or the usual histrionics that was the sole, monolithic identity of gay men in an American cultural context until the arrival of "Brokeback Mountain". Some viewers may be in such denial as to the existence of a gay life for "straight-looking" men that they may debate that the film is not about homosexuality, as one of the men gets involved in a heterosexual relationship, and I completely disagree with this stance, as most gay men are actually like the ones in this movie and not like the more flamboyant part of the group that naturally steal the limelight and distort the statistical truth.
The complexities and variety of homosexual experience either in gay men or women have always posed a challenge on the imagination and intelligence of society, but we can not deny that there was much more than simple friendship between these two men, if only because there had to be a valid reason for Michael to accept money gifts and also steal as much from the painter. However, because there were an infinite amount of choices by means of which this could have been clarified, and certainly there are earlier movies that showed it was done in Germany ("Different from the Others" for example, 1919) I see this important detail as an error in character development and that's why I have given it an 8 ranking.
The cinematography by Rudolph Mate and Karl Freund is exquisitely handled. All details of decor, furnishing and costume are lavish and within the cultural context of the period. We see the subtle transitioning from Art Nouveau to early Deco in the differences between the older painter's home and the younger hustler's apartment.
The character of the suffering, self-sacrificing older lover in a relationship is a very 19th Century attitude and romantic posturing that reached a climax with Dumas famous "Dame aux Camelias" that became the "Camille" of the stage and movie adaptations as well as Verdi's "Traviata" in opera. Christensen's devoted love for Michael, even when he discovers his thievery and baseness is part of that socio-cultural heritage, the extreme of which had been Oscar Wilde in the generation before the one in this movie, which went one step further in the 'sacrifice' to self destruction. Within this context the painter's plight is totally believable and acceptable, but aside from the artistic beauty of the film itself, the important message that comes through is the validity and truth of that love.
Wild Is the Wind
(1957)
Best Performances by Ana Magnani and Anthony Quinn
6 August 2009
This movie demonstrates the wide range in the genius of George Cukor. It is a country, rustic story where all the action is inside the characters and the outside is illustrating what goes on inside their minds and hearts.
Ana Magnani is Gioia, superb as the second wife to Anthony Quinn's Gino, a farmer that was widowed form her sister Rosana and is seeking consolation for her death in her physical resemblance to her sister. This obviously starts the marriage on the wrong foot and it is only a matter of time before Gino's foreman, Anthony Franciosa's Bene gravitates to the volcanic personality, of Gioia that is as much a force of nature as the beautiful wild black horse that Gino captures for her as a present, but that when is tamed she sadly remarks "he was a horse, but is now a sheep" understanding that what made him most beautiful was his freedom. Nature itself is one of the important characters in the film, introducing the action, as in the appearance of the wild horses, or illustrating feelings in the characters as for example when Gioia witnesses the birth of a lamb.
Anthony Quinn and Ana Magnani give perhaps the best performance of both their careers in very nuanced, expressive characterizations down to the smallest detail or facial expression.
The supporting characters are all superb, Joseph Calleia as Gino's patient, understanding brother Alberto, Dolores Hart is outstanding as Gino's daughter Angela "Angie" who wants to welcome Gioia and makes her be part of the family form the first encounter though they can hardly communicate in English and Lili Valenty is appropriately resigned, home-obsessed and judgmental as Teresa, Alberto's wife.
Ana Magnani is Gioia, superb as the second wife to Anthony Quinn's Gino, a farmer that was widowed form her sister Rosana and is seeking consolation for her death in her physical resemblance to her sister. This obviously starts the marriage on the wrong foot and it is only a matter of time before Gino's foreman, Anthony Franciosa's Bene gravitates to the volcanic personality, of Gioia that is as much a force of nature as the beautiful wild black horse that Gino captures for her as a present, but that when is tamed she sadly remarks "he was a horse, but is now a sheep" understanding that what made him most beautiful was his freedom. Nature itself is one of the important characters in the film, introducing the action, as in the appearance of the wild horses, or illustrating feelings in the characters as for example when Gioia witnesses the birth of a lamb.
Anthony Quinn and Ana Magnani give perhaps the best performance of both their careers in very nuanced, expressive characterizations down to the smallest detail or facial expression.
The supporting characters are all superb, Joseph Calleia as Gino's patient, understanding brother Alberto, Dolores Hart is outstanding as Gino's daughter Angela "Angie" who wants to welcome Gioia and makes her be part of the family form the first encounter though they can hardly communicate in English and Lili Valenty is appropriately resigned, home-obsessed and judgmental as Teresa, Alberto's wife.
Miracle in Milan
(1951)
Magnificent Modern Miracle
6 August 2009
This film is like an allegory of the gospel. It has such direct honesty and innocence you can not possibly believe it was made after the world war when Italy was ravaged and devastated, and was filled with a huge homeless, impoverished population. It is a monument to the best qualities of the human spirit, as well as to the endless creative resources of that land of inspiration.
Toto is a character like Doestoevisky's "Idiot", a modern Christ finding his way in a big city. He is goodness and purity fortified by love, and his acts change the people he encounters, as much as the miracle working dove. The story is told in a natural manner and simple style, yet imbued with a magic that is almost a premonition of Fellini's surrealist fantasies. It is one of the most inspiring, uplifting movies ever made.
Toto is a character like Doestoevisky's "Idiot", a modern Christ finding his way in a big city. He is goodness and purity fortified by love, and his acts change the people he encounters, as much as the miracle working dove. The story is told in a natural manner and simple style, yet imbued with a magic that is almost a premonition of Fellini's surrealist fantasies. It is one of the most inspiring, uplifting movies ever made.
Aelita, the Queen of Mars
(1924)
Science Fiction First is a must see for Fashion and sets
5 August 2009
Aelita is a science fiction film that features the first space travel by earthlings: Destination Mars. I recommend it highly for film history buffs and aficionados of the science fiction genre that are also interested in fashion and design.
It is hard to believe that impoverished and ravaged Russia still in the midst of the horrible Revolution that was to destroy the country economically for decades and that certainly tried its best to pulverize most of its traditional culture, could produce something so visually advanced as this film. A lot of the footage will remind you of Rodchenko photographs, or the Russian posters of the time, which were works of art done by the avant-guard artists in an explosion of creativity before Stalin's arrival sent them all underground, to exile or the Gulag.
Los, an engineer of talent and determination, thinks that the radio signal beamed all over the earth is a definite message from Mars. He frantically begins to work on a space craft that will ultimately take him to Mars, while ruining his personal life in the process(not much change there in career challenging relationships since then and now).
Meanwhile Mars' Queen, Aelita, (Yuliya Solntseva) has discovered that some of her scientists have created a telescope device that can watch the detailed life on planet Earth. She sneaks a peak through the telescope device and of course, concentrates on the first appealing sign of earthy interest, engineer Los, who has a Slavic-Icon look come to think of it, looks a lot like Vladimir Putin. She immediately falls in love with him and finds it hard to concentrate during her Martian day while constantly thinking about that man on earth....
In Mars they are all perfectly dressed in elaborate costumes that include a helmet- and-mask device for the slaves and delicate transparent plastic layers, headdresses and arm decorations for the upper class, in a very chic-futuristic look which must have influenced the bold designs of Paco Rabanne in metal and plastics a full forty years later. These outfits are quite extraordinary for being the first in this genre and are much more detailed and visually interesting than the ones in Metropolis, where only the robot is really fashioned in futuristic style.
Aelita looks gorgeous, beautifully dressed and wears a striking headdress that is most becoming, though a little cumbersome when she begs him to "unite our lips, like they do on earth" for the first red-hot kiss on Mars. She looks striking trailing her appliquéd gown in the gorgeous Constructivist set, that is surely a Modernist's dream of decor. Alexandra Exter, one of the women artists in the Russian avant guard is credited with the designs, she had considerable experience in theater sets, and it shows here. Los impulsively sides with Queen Aelita's struggle to overthrow the regime of exploitation, finding nothing wrong in the 'revolution' being conducted by an imperious Queen in her regalia, proving once again that love is blind, even in interplanetary relationships.
This was however a difficult film to watch, and that is why I gave the seven stars rating, because not unlike other great Russian films, the length and timing are just so much more extended that we are used to in the West. You may find yourself fast-forwarding the slower scenes in Soviet Russia that look particularly dim by comparison to Mars.
There is also an episode, almost surreal in the way it interjects into the Russian reality plot, where a worker breaks his chains and fashions the hammer and sickle symbol. The man's naked torso with the chains is the first we see of this allegorical vision, he looks like one of the medieval heroes from "Alexander Nevsky", but shirtless, showing off the primal muscle splendor of Slavic manhood, an unexpected delight that may well be the first unintentional homo erotic intervention in official Communist propaganda.
It is hard to believe that impoverished and ravaged Russia still in the midst of the horrible Revolution that was to destroy the country economically for decades and that certainly tried its best to pulverize most of its traditional culture, could produce something so visually advanced as this film. A lot of the footage will remind you of Rodchenko photographs, or the Russian posters of the time, which were works of art done by the avant-guard artists in an explosion of creativity before Stalin's arrival sent them all underground, to exile or the Gulag.
Los, an engineer of talent and determination, thinks that the radio signal beamed all over the earth is a definite message from Mars. He frantically begins to work on a space craft that will ultimately take him to Mars, while ruining his personal life in the process(not much change there in career challenging relationships since then and now).
Meanwhile Mars' Queen, Aelita, (Yuliya Solntseva) has discovered that some of her scientists have created a telescope device that can watch the detailed life on planet Earth. She sneaks a peak through the telescope device and of course, concentrates on the first appealing sign of earthy interest, engineer Los, who has a Slavic-Icon look come to think of it, looks a lot like Vladimir Putin. She immediately falls in love with him and finds it hard to concentrate during her Martian day while constantly thinking about that man on earth....
In Mars they are all perfectly dressed in elaborate costumes that include a helmet- and-mask device for the slaves and delicate transparent plastic layers, headdresses and arm decorations for the upper class, in a very chic-futuristic look which must have influenced the bold designs of Paco Rabanne in metal and plastics a full forty years later. These outfits are quite extraordinary for being the first in this genre and are much more detailed and visually interesting than the ones in Metropolis, where only the robot is really fashioned in futuristic style.
Aelita looks gorgeous, beautifully dressed and wears a striking headdress that is most becoming, though a little cumbersome when she begs him to "unite our lips, like they do on earth" for the first red-hot kiss on Mars. She looks striking trailing her appliquéd gown in the gorgeous Constructivist set, that is surely a Modernist's dream of decor. Alexandra Exter, one of the women artists in the Russian avant guard is credited with the designs, she had considerable experience in theater sets, and it shows here. Los impulsively sides with Queen Aelita's struggle to overthrow the regime of exploitation, finding nothing wrong in the 'revolution' being conducted by an imperious Queen in her regalia, proving once again that love is blind, even in interplanetary relationships.
This was however a difficult film to watch, and that is why I gave the seven stars rating, because not unlike other great Russian films, the length and timing are just so much more extended that we are used to in the West. You may find yourself fast-forwarding the slower scenes in Soviet Russia that look particularly dim by comparison to Mars.
There is also an episode, almost surreal in the way it interjects into the Russian reality plot, where a worker breaks his chains and fashions the hammer and sickle symbol. The man's naked torso with the chains is the first we see of this allegorical vision, he looks like one of the medieval heroes from "Alexander Nevsky", but shirtless, showing off the primal muscle splendor of Slavic manhood, an unexpected delight that may well be the first unintentional homo erotic intervention in official Communist propaganda.
Fashions of 1934
(1934)
Early Bette Davis treasure
31 July 2009
This amusing concoction is worth the money because of two dyed blonds and one extravagant, divine musical number. The bleached Bette Davis as a fashion designer smitten with the antics of professional crook William Powell, who appears too well dressed and polite to be totally believable in the job. Bette actually manages to look great as an ornamental sidekick to Powell, but underneath the determined designer girl we can detect the power house that will culminate in her unsurpassed rendition of Queen Elizabeth with Errol Fllynn years later.
The second bleached blonde is Verree Teasdale who plays a fake Russian grand-duchess from Newark, NJ, who not only manages a phony accent and some extraordinary clothes and jewels for every scene, but has also managed to convince "Baroque" the king of Parisian fashion that she is the real thing and worth marrying, this feat alone deserves an Oscar, at the very least.
Drag-Queens beware: This is an undiscovered treasure performance,that can give enough material for a national tour show, including her musical name itself which is a cocktail of sound effects: How many Es can you squeeze in one word? Her off-key, fluffy delivery of the lyric to the song "Spin a Little Web of Dreams" has all the components for a drag anthem, in any language, and huge cross over potential as impromptu cabaret number. The 'Broadway Follies" sequence itself, directed by Busby Berkeley, is the other real reason to watch this film. For one thing, this scene has illustrated the cover of that most necessary book on film : "Holywood Babylon" and although there is absolutely nothing Babylonian about it, except perhaps the excess of ostrich feathers, there is a horde of platinum blonds festooned with endless variations on the 'white ostrich feathers fan motif' moving and dancing in hypnotic coordination. Some are actually part of the harps that others play, they curve at the harp's end like the wooden sculptures of sail vessels for a fetish-furniture look that is perfection. The scene includes an overhead shot that demonstrates the complex flower patterns that can be achieved with all this female trouble.
There is also a fashion show. This one obviously influenced Cukor's in "The Women" when all those nice ladies go to 'Fraks', but is actually much better. For one thing we see a painting before the model comes out wearing an adaptation of the design. The first one is Cardinal Richelieu, followed by a model wearing an evening gown inspired on his cape, but the others are more generic of different periods, the adaptations are all very 30's and all considerably better than that weird stuff out of Halloween that comes out in "The Women" as supposedly 'haute couture'. In the movie itself, Bette had discovered that Baroque was buying old books on fashion to inspire his designs, so we know it was her idea to develop that into a fashion- show-extravaganza, and she watches it approvingly from what looks like an opera box, opera glasses in hand. That shot catches her in a more regal pose than the grand-duchess could muster through the film in its entirety, and the impact of that image puts all those ostrich-fan bearers in perspective too: this woman is no one's ornament and she sure could be a queen anytime she wanted to.
This movie is a most for Bette Davis fans, musical comedy lovers and all those interested in the historical development of camp. Highly recommended!
The second bleached blonde is Verree Teasdale who plays a fake Russian grand-duchess from Newark, NJ, who not only manages a phony accent and some extraordinary clothes and jewels for every scene, but has also managed to convince "Baroque" the king of Parisian fashion that she is the real thing and worth marrying, this feat alone deserves an Oscar, at the very least.
Drag-Queens beware: This is an undiscovered treasure performance,that can give enough material for a national tour show, including her musical name itself which is a cocktail of sound effects: How many Es can you squeeze in one word? Her off-key, fluffy delivery of the lyric to the song "Spin a Little Web of Dreams" has all the components for a drag anthem, in any language, and huge cross over potential as impromptu cabaret number. The 'Broadway Follies" sequence itself, directed by Busby Berkeley, is the other real reason to watch this film. For one thing, this scene has illustrated the cover of that most necessary book on film : "Holywood Babylon" and although there is absolutely nothing Babylonian about it, except perhaps the excess of ostrich feathers, there is a horde of platinum blonds festooned with endless variations on the 'white ostrich feathers fan motif' moving and dancing in hypnotic coordination. Some are actually part of the harps that others play, they curve at the harp's end like the wooden sculptures of sail vessels for a fetish-furniture look that is perfection. The scene includes an overhead shot that demonstrates the complex flower patterns that can be achieved with all this female trouble.
There is also a fashion show. This one obviously influenced Cukor's in "The Women" when all those nice ladies go to 'Fraks', but is actually much better. For one thing we see a painting before the model comes out wearing an adaptation of the design. The first one is Cardinal Richelieu, followed by a model wearing an evening gown inspired on his cape, but the others are more generic of different periods, the adaptations are all very 30's and all considerably better than that weird stuff out of Halloween that comes out in "The Women" as supposedly 'haute couture'. In the movie itself, Bette had discovered that Baroque was buying old books on fashion to inspire his designs, so we know it was her idea to develop that into a fashion- show-extravaganza, and she watches it approvingly from what looks like an opera box, opera glasses in hand. That shot catches her in a more regal pose than the grand-duchess could muster through the film in its entirety, and the impact of that image puts all those ostrich-fan bearers in perspective too: this woman is no one's ornament and she sure could be a queen anytime she wanted to.
This movie is a most for Bette Davis fans, musical comedy lovers and all those interested in the historical development of camp. Highly recommended!
Ugetsu
(1953)
Absolute Masterpiece
30 July 2009
This film is amazing, starting with the credits, which are given in excellent calligraphy over Japanese lacquer patterns. The entire movie retains the elegance and perfection of detail of the opening titles. The story is about two married couples:Genjuro(Masayuki Mori) and Miyari (Kinuyo Tanaka) who have a child, and the other couple,Tobei (Sakae Ozawa) and Genich (Ikio Sawamura).
Genjuro and Tobei have great ambition, the first to become rich through the sale of his glazed ceramics, which require a lot of effort, including keeping an oven well heated for long periods of time, and the second wants to be a great samurai. Both have to work hard as peasants to make a living and support their families. Amazingly, while some soldiers raid the village and they all run to the woods for refuge, the oven keeps on heating the ceramics and when they come back they have an entire shipment ready to take to the big town for sale.
This proves to be a mixed blessing, but they are all overjoyed about having made it alive and having the goods to sell, so they pack everything and go to the lake, find a boat and jump into the trip that will change their lives, the turning point that rarely in life is as clear cut as in this beautiful scene, filled with mist rising from the water and foreboding. They encounter what looks like an empty boat, but which has the dying boatman still able to warn them against pirates. The women consider this a terrible omen and want to turn back and resume their lives, but the men insist on pushing forward. In the end there is a compromise and Miyari stays behind with the child, waving a long good by from the shore while the other three stay on the boat .
Once arrived in the town their business does very well, Tobei can pursue his dream and buys an armor and spear and goes o his way to become a samurai, in the process he loses his wife who is looking to stop him, and she is raped by marauding soldiers. They will meet again later when he has become the great samurai of his dream and she a prostitute in the House of Pleasure where he stops by to celebrate with his soldiers on the way back home. Both realize then the folly of Tobei's dream and that their greatest treasure is their love for each other.
Genjuro's fate is more complicated: While selling his wares he is visited by the spirit of Lady Wasaka ( Machiko Kyô)accompanied by her maid, she gives one of the most riveting performances I have ever seen in Japanese cinema. Her expressiveness communicates even minor subtle changes of mood or feeling even while wearing the mask-like make up. They have both come back from the other world in order for Lady Wasaka to meet a man and experience the love she was denied by her fate. Genjuro has no idea that he is meeting a ghost but something about their gesturing, their pace, the way they talk gives away that these are not the regular pair of aristocratic lady with maid looking to buy new ceramics.
Their love story develops in the country home of the lady, and the lyrical scenes of love whether in the interiors, the beautiful garden, or a hot spring are all filmed in such a degree of perfection and in such perfect settings that it's no wonder Genjuro thinks he is truly in paradise. This is far from the truth of his situation, which he learns by accident when he is in town one day, from a priest that offers to exorcise him. The acting of each one of the characters in this story are all great, particularly Genjuro and Lady Wasaka, who make up a very intense love story, but the outstanding feature is the perfection of the director's plan, the seamless development of plot, and the incredible beauty of every shot, even peripheral vision is aesthetically perfect, at all times, like in a Kabuki set. This may also come form the director's long experience in silent film, but it is nevertheless an extraordinary achievement that won the movie an important price at the Venice Film Festival that year. In my opinion it is one of the top 3 Japanese movies and one of the top films of all time.
Genjuro and Tobei have great ambition, the first to become rich through the sale of his glazed ceramics, which require a lot of effort, including keeping an oven well heated for long periods of time, and the second wants to be a great samurai. Both have to work hard as peasants to make a living and support their families. Amazingly, while some soldiers raid the village and they all run to the woods for refuge, the oven keeps on heating the ceramics and when they come back they have an entire shipment ready to take to the big town for sale.
This proves to be a mixed blessing, but they are all overjoyed about having made it alive and having the goods to sell, so they pack everything and go to the lake, find a boat and jump into the trip that will change their lives, the turning point that rarely in life is as clear cut as in this beautiful scene, filled with mist rising from the water and foreboding. They encounter what looks like an empty boat, but which has the dying boatman still able to warn them against pirates. The women consider this a terrible omen and want to turn back and resume their lives, but the men insist on pushing forward. In the end there is a compromise and Miyari stays behind with the child, waving a long good by from the shore while the other three stay on the boat .
Once arrived in the town their business does very well, Tobei can pursue his dream and buys an armor and spear and goes o his way to become a samurai, in the process he loses his wife who is looking to stop him, and she is raped by marauding soldiers. They will meet again later when he has become the great samurai of his dream and she a prostitute in the House of Pleasure where he stops by to celebrate with his soldiers on the way back home. Both realize then the folly of Tobei's dream and that their greatest treasure is their love for each other.
Genjuro's fate is more complicated: While selling his wares he is visited by the spirit of Lady Wasaka ( Machiko Kyô)accompanied by her maid, she gives one of the most riveting performances I have ever seen in Japanese cinema. Her expressiveness communicates even minor subtle changes of mood or feeling even while wearing the mask-like make up. They have both come back from the other world in order for Lady Wasaka to meet a man and experience the love she was denied by her fate. Genjuro has no idea that he is meeting a ghost but something about their gesturing, their pace, the way they talk gives away that these are not the regular pair of aristocratic lady with maid looking to buy new ceramics.
Their love story develops in the country home of the lady, and the lyrical scenes of love whether in the interiors, the beautiful garden, or a hot spring are all filmed in such a degree of perfection and in such perfect settings that it's no wonder Genjuro thinks he is truly in paradise. This is far from the truth of his situation, which he learns by accident when he is in town one day, from a priest that offers to exorcise him. The acting of each one of the characters in this story are all great, particularly Genjuro and Lady Wasaka, who make up a very intense love story, but the outstanding feature is the perfection of the director's plan, the seamless development of plot, and the incredible beauty of every shot, even peripheral vision is aesthetically perfect, at all times, like in a Kabuki set. This may also come form the director's long experience in silent film, but it is nevertheless an extraordinary achievement that won the movie an important price at the Venice Film Festival that year. In my opinion it is one of the top 3 Japanese movies and one of the top films of all time.
Camille
(1921)
Interesting Early Version of Camille
29 July 2009
This version of Camille features Nazimova as the courtesan and Valentino as her young lover, Armand. It certainly makes for an excellent film and deserves to be viewed as an earlier rendition of the story that features a mature star opposite a rising one. I think it holds its own space next to the Garbo version, and both benefit by the comparison.
Valentino is subtle and intense, he gives a memorable performance and his presence is electric. He is much more expressive than Robert Taylor in the Garbo version. Nazimova must have been aware of his scenic power, as she chose to have him absent in the last scene, so we could concentrate on her death which was very well done. In general Nazimova tends to be over the top in the crowd scenes, but her solos or scenes with Valentino reveal subtlety and add depth to the interpretation. She is very convincing for example, in establishing the disease as a major feature in her character from the very beginning.
The story takes place in the present then 1920's and not in the 1840's. The designs for sets and dresses by Natasha Rambova are exquisite. We first see Camille at the top of a grand staircase in what we assume is the Opera, surrounded by admirers and wearing a grand gown, and wild hairstyle. The party at her house afterward is perfect in the decor and design, particularly the way we can see into her boudoir from the salon. The country scenes were beautiful as were the flashbacks into the story of Manon Lescaut, the book that is a gift from Armand, and which he reads to her in their idyllic moments, and that she will hold on to till the very end. It relates a similar life to hers in the 18th century, and we understand her predicament to be a recurring theme, as old and human as society itself. The interior scenes in the country however were too spartan and middle-class in style. And her dresses are also too plain. We find it hard to believe Marguerite could have spend so much and get so little. It does seem a perfect environment though, for Armand's conventional and small- minded father, who looks like Napoleon III in his commanding incarnation of bourgeois morality.
The gambling scene that marks her re-entry into her old life is one of the best in the film. The communication between Marguerite and Armand from across the room is as intense as if they were holding each other close. It must be seen to be understood, as no words can accurately describe the gamut of feelings rushing by the actors, it is precisely at these moments that we understand the art of the silent era, and Norma Desmond's comment in "Sunset Boulevard" :"We didn't need words, we had faces".
Valentino is subtle and intense, he gives a memorable performance and his presence is electric. He is much more expressive than Robert Taylor in the Garbo version. Nazimova must have been aware of his scenic power, as she chose to have him absent in the last scene, so we could concentrate on her death which was very well done. In general Nazimova tends to be over the top in the crowd scenes, but her solos or scenes with Valentino reveal subtlety and add depth to the interpretation. She is very convincing for example, in establishing the disease as a major feature in her character from the very beginning.
The story takes place in the present then 1920's and not in the 1840's. The designs for sets and dresses by Natasha Rambova are exquisite. We first see Camille at the top of a grand staircase in what we assume is the Opera, surrounded by admirers and wearing a grand gown, and wild hairstyle. The party at her house afterward is perfect in the decor and design, particularly the way we can see into her boudoir from the salon. The country scenes were beautiful as were the flashbacks into the story of Manon Lescaut, the book that is a gift from Armand, and which he reads to her in their idyllic moments, and that she will hold on to till the very end. It relates a similar life to hers in the 18th century, and we understand her predicament to be a recurring theme, as old and human as society itself. The interior scenes in the country however were too spartan and middle-class in style. And her dresses are also too plain. We find it hard to believe Marguerite could have spend so much and get so little. It does seem a perfect environment though, for Armand's conventional and small- minded father, who looks like Napoleon III in his commanding incarnation of bourgeois morality.
The gambling scene that marks her re-entry into her old life is one of the best in the film. The communication between Marguerite and Armand from across the room is as intense as if they were holding each other close. It must be seen to be understood, as no words can accurately describe the gamut of feelings rushing by the actors, it is precisely at these moments that we understand the art of the silent era, and Norma Desmond's comment in "Sunset Boulevard" :"We didn't need words, we had faces".
The Divine Sarah on Film
29 July 2009
This film is a curiosity. I saw a snippet of it in an exhibition on Sarah Bernhardt and was glad that the whole story was captured on film. The movie is actually the filming of a play, or that's what it looks like, and in that respect it is more 19th Century than 20th, as it shows the acting style of the theater, with no real adaptation at all to the range and variety of film. There are no closeups, for example. No doubt, it could have been much better directed, even at that time there was already a lot more talented work around that would make this material look old fashioned. The attraction here is to see the great Sarah. She is indeed a strong presence, and we perceive she is quite accustomed to being at the center of attention, but we don't at all get a sense of what made her the great actress-legend that she was. I have heard recordings of hers and I understand that the declamation (as taught in the Comedy Française) was a great part of her appeal, which of course we don't get on a silent film. Here her 19th Century interpretation of the Renaissance Queen is very grand, her costume and crown very similar to the ones she used to score one of her greatest theatrical triumphs as the queen in Victor Hugo's "Ruy Blas". Her gesturing is very over-the top Diva, which certainly matches the image of her legend. The surprise is the strong performance of Robert Devereux, who looks very attractive, virile and decisive in the role, though not particularly expressive. Her death scene is based on historical fact, as the Queen refused to go to bed during her last days and slept on cushions in the floor. However the death itself was more comical than tragic. I think this has largely to do with the fact that what looks good on theater does not necessarily translate well in the camera, specially a steady, primitive camera that is merely recording and not actively integrated in filming. As a curiosity though, and as a record of 19th Century style, aesthetics and theater, it is a unique testimonial and we are lucky that it has survived. As a precursor in the creation of "star' image, and the development of modern iconography of glamor, Sarah also holds a special place. Her identity as an iconic emblem of Parisian Belle Epoque is part of her legend and it also served as inspiration for the paraphernalia, wardrobe and decor surrounding early movie divas, such as Theda Bara and Gloria Swanson, all of which ultimately influenced the aesthetics of kitsch and the appreciation of camp in later generations.
Camille
(1921)
Interesting Early Version of Camille
29 July 2009
This version of Camille features Nazimova as the courtesan and
Valentino as her young lover, Armand. It certainly makes for an
excellent film and deserves to be viewed as an earlier rendition of the
story that features a mature star opposite a rising one. I think it
holds its own space next to the Garbo version, and both benefit by the
comparison.
Valentino is subtle and intense, he gives a memorable performance and his presence is electric. He is much more expressive than Robert Taylor in the Garbo version. Nazimova must have been aware of his scenic power, as she chose to have him absent in the last scene, so we could concentrate on her death which was very well done. In general Nazimova tends to be over the top in the crowd scenes, but her solos or scenes with Valentino reveal subtlety and add depth to the interpretation. She is very convincing for example, in establishing the disease as a major feature in her character from the very beginning.
The story takes place in the present then 1920's and not in the 1840's. The designs for sets and dresses by Natasha Rambova are exquisite. We first see Camille at the top of a grand staircase in what we assume is the Opera, surrounded by admirers and wearing a grand gown, and wild hairstyle. The party at her house afterward is perfect in the decor and design, particularly the way we can see into her boudoir from the salon. The country scenes were beautiful as were the flashbacks into the story of Manon Lescaut, the book that is a gift from Armand, and which he reads to her in their idyllic moments, and that she will hold on to till the very end. It relates a similar life to hers in the 18th century, and we understand her predicament to be a recurring theme, as old and human as society itself. The interior scenes in the country however were too spartan and middle-class in style. And her dresses are also too plain. We find it hard to believe Marguerite could have spend so much and get so little. It does seem a perfect environment though, for Armand's conventional and small- minded father, who looks like Napoleon III in his commanding incarnation of bourgeois morality.
The gambling scene that marks her re-entry into her old life is one of the best in the film. The communication between Marguerite and Armand from across the room is as intense as if they were holding each other close. It must be seen to be understood, as no words can accurately describe the gamut of feelings rushing by the actors, it is precisely at these moments that we understand the art of the silent era, and Norma Desmond's comment in "Sunset Boulevard" :"We didn't need words, we had faces".
Valentino is subtle and intense, he gives a memorable performance and his presence is electric. He is much more expressive than Robert Taylor in the Garbo version. Nazimova must have been aware of his scenic power, as she chose to have him absent in the last scene, so we could concentrate on her death which was very well done. In general Nazimova tends to be over the top in the crowd scenes, but her solos or scenes with Valentino reveal subtlety and add depth to the interpretation. She is very convincing for example, in establishing the disease as a major feature in her character from the very beginning.
The story takes place in the present then 1920's and not in the 1840's. The designs for sets and dresses by Natasha Rambova are exquisite. We first see Camille at the top of a grand staircase in what we assume is the Opera, surrounded by admirers and wearing a grand gown, and wild hairstyle. The party at her house afterward is perfect in the decor and design, particularly the way we can see into her boudoir from the salon. The country scenes were beautiful as were the flashbacks into the story of Manon Lescaut, the book that is a gift from Armand, and which he reads to her in their idyllic moments, and that she will hold on to till the very end. It relates a similar life to hers in the 18th century, and we understand her predicament to be a recurring theme, as old and human as society itself. The interior scenes in the country however were too spartan and middle-class in style. And her dresses are also too plain. We find it hard to believe Marguerite could have spend so much and get so little. It does seem a perfect environment though, for Armand's conventional and small- minded father, who looks like Napoleon III in his commanding incarnation of bourgeois morality.
The gambling scene that marks her re-entry into her old life is one of the best in the film. The communication between Marguerite and Armand from across the room is as intense as if they were holding each other close. It must be seen to be understood, as no words can accurately describe the gamut of feelings rushing by the actors, it is precisely at these moments that we understand the art of the silent era, and Norma Desmond's comment in "Sunset Boulevard" :"We didn't need words, we had faces".
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