Great week of movies
This week was jam-packed with movies because of New Wave class, occupying myself on the train to Sacramento, and spending some final days with pirate_artist before she left.
Lady Snowblood. A bloody Japanese revenge story that apparently Quentin Tarantino had used in a big part as inspiration for Kill Bill. You can definitely see the connections in a few scenes, especially the four enemies hovering over the fallen victim. But Tarantino ventures pretty far from the theme of this movie, which ostensibly is based on revenge, but has an underlying sense of outdatedness of old Japanese traditions. Regaining honor with a revenge killing doesn't follow the path it should: each "hit" has issues that make it problematic with the classical convention. Also, while our heroine dresses traditionally and has been trained in the sword, her enemies have Western dress and use guns. The movie is set in the Meiji Restoration, when Japan was redefining itself by incorporating Western traditions, so the juxtaposition of traditional Japanese traditions with the Western ones can be bizarre. This shows up most prominently in the final scene, where the Westerners are almost aloof to what's going on. I really enjoyed the final shot's openness to interpretation on a variety of levels. In Jet Li's Once Upon a Time in China you get a similar sense of traditional personal quest occuring during a strange clash of cultures, but here it's not as blatant and explored a bit better. A word must also be said for the lead actress, Meiko Kaji: her icy stare epitomizes the twisted mind of a woman who has been raised from a child with the sole purpose of seeking revenge. While the action scenes leave a little to be desired, the developments that go beyond the genre make the movie fairly worthwhile. 8/10.
Last Year at Marienbad. One of the best films about memory and narrative that I've ever seen. It's hard to describe what this is about, in part because that would spoil the experience, and in part because it's not clear exactly. Things keep changing and there's some repetition which slowly and inconclusively gives you information. Many peripheral things blend off as generic, but there's still a general sense of them being there. Even once you figure out what the movie's about, you still don't know exactly what it's about. God, and then there's the way everything about the movie subtly screws with your mind's expectations: the soundtrack, the way characters view each other, the placement of spectator--these things keep jolting you out of a comfortable sense of superiority over the film. This superiority of which I speak is the sense of knowing intrinsically what the movie's about. You don't know the narrative necessarily and the genre may be bent, but you at least have a probability cloud of likely and reasonable things that can happen next in the film. Marienbad defies that and does so beautifully. Then there's Delphine Seyrig--she initially seemed slightly ditzy, so I didn't recognize her as the hard-shelled heroine of Jeanne Dielmann. What a great actress. 10/10.
Elevator to the Gallows. Louis Malle's first feature length film, featuring Jeanne Moreau conspiring with her lover to kill someone. Things begin going wrong and the situation becomes more and more complicated. While I enjoyed some of the complications (one bad thing leads to another), there were a couple that seemed to be thrown in just to heighten the suspense. Those had a false ring to them and degraded from the quality of the movie. The movie seemed completely plot oriented, which was disappointing in light of the possibilities of such a talented actress as Moreau. She had her moments, to be sure, but the scenes without her didn't have enough of a punch. I didn't feel the director's style coming through; it just felt like a typical caper. I don't quite see the hype behind this one, especially since it was a contemporary of some really great New Wave films. 7/10.
Crazeologie. Malle's student film that was included on the Elevator DVD. It's an absurdist piece and, as such, it doesn't say much and has little value. I don't think absurdism as displayed in this movie is very revelatory. 4/10.
The Red Balloon. Classical children's film from the 50's--no dialogue, just visuals. I could see why so many people fondly remember seeing this film during their childhood; it's a very simple story with universal appeal. It does well to captivate, even as an adult. 8/10.
The Divorcee. A romantic drama from 1930 that exemplifies some of the social and sexual frankness that was appearing in America before the Hayes Code. Its action starts off kinda spastic and outdated, with lots of overacting and sugary jolliness. But then there's actually fairly frank discussion that clearly revolves around sex, even going so far as the husband saying "I'm going to make love to you until you scream." There's a surprisingly non-moralistic treatment of the double-standard between men and women in terms of adultery. When the wife finds out the husband cheated on her, he tries to blow it off as no big thing. Rather than swallowing the injury with a dose of shame, she takes revenge by sleeping with another guy. She admits it to her husband AND she's unapologetic about doing it! I enjoyed that the double standard was attacked: why are the men's infidelities treated as "dalliances", while the women's are treated as inexcusably adulterous? In the decades to follow (and even to an extent today) it would be rare to find a movie that seemingly justifies a woman cheating on her husband without first making portraying him as a complete scuzzball. Here, both people have no awful flaws, but they still cheat and have to deal with the consequences. This movie's refreshing for its social progress captured in such an early film, and a reminder for the censorship the Hayes Code imposed (and that we are still undoing ::cough:: MPAA ::cough::) 8/10.
2001: A Space Odyssey. Kubrick's classic film pitting space exploration and artificial intelligence against a backdrop of human evolution and scientific revolutions. At once, philosophical, existential, and historical, we are drawn in on a contemplational journey. In parallel, Kubrick draws upon much of cinematic history to execute his film (documentary, silent era, surrealism, avant-garde, New Wave style close-ups, Fred Astaire's "Royal Wedding" signature dance, etc) while synthesizing it into a new experience. Once again, Mischa's setup with the restored BluRay DVD made the visuals and especially the sound come alive. Rating this one is easy. 10/10.
Lady Snowblood. A bloody Japanese revenge story that apparently Quentin Tarantino had used in a big part as inspiration for Kill Bill. You can definitely see the connections in a few scenes, especially the four enemies hovering over the fallen victim. But Tarantino ventures pretty far from the theme of this movie, which ostensibly is based on revenge, but has an underlying sense of outdatedness of old Japanese traditions. Regaining honor with a revenge killing doesn't follow the path it should: each "hit" has issues that make it problematic with the classical convention. Also, while our heroine dresses traditionally and has been trained in the sword, her enemies have Western dress and use guns. The movie is set in the Meiji Restoration, when Japan was redefining itself by incorporating Western traditions, so the juxtaposition of traditional Japanese traditions with the Western ones can be bizarre. This shows up most prominently in the final scene, where the Westerners are almost aloof to what's going on. I really enjoyed the final shot's openness to interpretation on a variety of levels. In Jet Li's Once Upon a Time in China you get a similar sense of traditional personal quest occuring during a strange clash of cultures, but here it's not as blatant and explored a bit better. A word must also be said for the lead actress, Meiko Kaji: her icy stare epitomizes the twisted mind of a woman who has been raised from a child with the sole purpose of seeking revenge. While the action scenes leave a little to be desired, the developments that go beyond the genre make the movie fairly worthwhile. 8/10.
Last Year at Marienbad. One of the best films about memory and narrative that I've ever seen. It's hard to describe what this is about, in part because that would spoil the experience, and in part because it's not clear exactly. Things keep changing and there's some repetition which slowly and inconclusively gives you information. Many peripheral things blend off as generic, but there's still a general sense of them being there. Even once you figure out what the movie's about, you still don't know exactly what it's about. God, and then there's the way everything about the movie subtly screws with your mind's expectations: the soundtrack, the way characters view each other, the placement of spectator--these things keep jolting you out of a comfortable sense of superiority over the film. This superiority of which I speak is the sense of knowing intrinsically what the movie's about. You don't know the narrative necessarily and the genre may be bent, but you at least have a probability cloud of likely and reasonable things that can happen next in the film. Marienbad defies that and does so beautifully. Then there's Delphine Seyrig--she initially seemed slightly ditzy, so I didn't recognize her as the hard-shelled heroine of Jeanne Dielmann. What a great actress. 10/10.
Elevator to the Gallows. Louis Malle's first feature length film, featuring Jeanne Moreau conspiring with her lover to kill someone. Things begin going wrong and the situation becomes more and more complicated. While I enjoyed some of the complications (one bad thing leads to another), there were a couple that seemed to be thrown in just to heighten the suspense. Those had a false ring to them and degraded from the quality of the movie. The movie seemed completely plot oriented, which was disappointing in light of the possibilities of such a talented actress as Moreau. She had her moments, to be sure, but the scenes without her didn't have enough of a punch. I didn't feel the director's style coming through; it just felt like a typical caper. I don't quite see the hype behind this one, especially since it was a contemporary of some really great New Wave films. 7/10.
Crazeologie. Malle's student film that was included on the Elevator DVD. It's an absurdist piece and, as such, it doesn't say much and has little value. I don't think absurdism as displayed in this movie is very revelatory. 4/10.
The Red Balloon. Classical children's film from the 50's--no dialogue, just visuals. I could see why so many people fondly remember seeing this film during their childhood; it's a very simple story with universal appeal. It does well to captivate, even as an adult. 8/10.
The Divorcee. A romantic drama from 1930 that exemplifies some of the social and sexual frankness that was appearing in America before the Hayes Code. Its action starts off kinda spastic and outdated, with lots of overacting and sugary jolliness. But then there's actually fairly frank discussion that clearly revolves around sex, even going so far as the husband saying "I'm going to make love to you until you scream." There's a surprisingly non-moralistic treatment of the double-standard between men and women in terms of adultery. When the wife finds out the husband cheated on her, he tries to blow it off as no big thing. Rather than swallowing the injury with a dose of shame, she takes revenge by sleeping with another guy. She admits it to her husband AND she's unapologetic about doing it! I enjoyed that the double standard was attacked: why are the men's infidelities treated as "dalliances", while the women's are treated as inexcusably adulterous? In the decades to follow (and even to an extent today) it would be rare to find a movie that seemingly justifies a woman cheating on her husband without first making portraying him as a complete scuzzball. Here, both people have no awful flaws, but they still cheat and have to deal with the consequences. This movie's refreshing for its social progress captured in such an early film, and a reminder for the censorship the Hayes Code imposed (and that we are still undoing ::cough:: MPAA ::cough::) 8/10.
2001: A Space Odyssey. Kubrick's classic film pitting space exploration and artificial intelligence against a backdrop of human evolution and scientific revolutions. At once, philosophical, existential, and historical, we are drawn in on a contemplational journey. In parallel, Kubrick draws upon much of cinematic history to execute his film (documentary, silent era, surrealism, avant-garde, New Wave style close-ups, Fred Astaire's "Royal Wedding" signature dance, etc) while synthesizing it into a new experience. Once again, Mischa's setup with the restored BluRay DVD made the visuals and especially the sound come alive. Rating this one is easy. 10/10.