Two Star Treks and a swan, slathered with Godard
The second batch of movies from February.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home [1986]. In order to save Earth from a menacing, uncommunicative, supreme alien force, the crew of the Enterprise is forced to go back in time. The writers clearly decided to revisit the premise of the first Star Trek film, since the initial scenes follow much the same progression. And the alien being even poses an intellectual puzzle through its destructive attempts at communication. Yet, rather than dwell on the purpose of the message for the entire film, as in the slow, but intellectually satisfying first film, the writers quickly wrap it up. Within 10 minutes of encountering the probe, Spock has improbably determined the purpose of the message and deemed that the crew must go back in time to the 20th century in order to answer the message properly. No deep science-fiction questions here about humanity and our place in the universe! Nope, just hold on to your seats as we go on our single-minded quest!
The writers relegate contemplation to the back burner, opting instead for a light-hearted, crowd-pleasing path, awash in action and humor. The movie is hokey and cheerful, almost to a fault, and drama and conflict hardly enter the picture. To be sure, there script contains many clever lines that poke fun at peculiarities of our current culture, as viewed from the future. Conversely, the stiffness and pomp of the space crew gets deflated with a dose of playful humility when it becomes evident how poorly the Enterprise crew can assimilate to the mannerisms of the 20th century. To the film's advantage, this is the first Star Trek movie where all the other crew members are given nontrivial amounts of screentime. In the previous three installments, it was basically the Kirk-Spock-Bones show. It's nice to see Uhura, Sulu and Chekhov more involved in their plot and with their own moments in the spotlight. If it were any other series, this movie would be a hopeless bit of fluff. But since it's Star Trek, you derive a certain joy from watching the cast have fun with their characters in an utterly unserious popcorn movie. 7/10.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier [1989]. A religious leader takes over a remote planetary outpost in order to lure a rescue spaceship that he can hijack for his pilgrimage. As luck would have it, the ship that answers his call is the Enterprise. Kirk and crew become hostages to Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill), who seeks to answer a call from what appears to be the supreme being at the center of the universe.
This movie was mildly entertaining. I actually liked the initial plot mechanism. How does one deal with a religious fanatic who seems to have no problem gaining followers, partially through a telepathic hypnosis and, to a greater extent, through charismatic words? Ideas are often hard to contain, especially when they appeal on an intense, personal level, as Sybok's evangelism does. However, the script underplays the commerce between leader and followers and the corresponding cloud of religious fervor. The development of the flock mentality would have been fruitful terrain (which finally did get mined in First Contact), but the script treats the followers as afterthoughts in a single man's quest for God. Casting the quest as the singular idea of the leader weakens the danger of the hijacking. Coincidentally, it also allows the religiously sensitive members of the audience to easily marginalize Sybok's position (even though it mimics mainstream evangelism). I don't quite know how the writers thought they could walk this tightrope: making Sybok a convincing villain would offend the religious audience, yet if Sybok's patient faith in revelation had succeeded, fans would be in an uproar over the religious propogandization of Star Trek. Consequently, Sybok is a neutered character with no threat and no hope of success. Luckinbill tries to make this doomed character compassionate, perhaps even suasive, but he never injects charisma into his performance. Often, you were reminded that he was acting -- somehow the lines didn't flow naturally from his mouth, but felt stagey and rehearsed.
Corny jokes abound in this film, though the banter between Bones and Spock occasionally achieves greatness. The secondary members of the crew, most prominently Uhura, get some facetime in this installment as they did in Star Trek IV. But whereas in that film, you felt like they were living characters, here they're more props, especially Uhura's sexy dance (which was the one element of the film I remembered from the previous time I had seen it). You can tell the writers were pulling for straws when they introduced a gratuitous Klingon subplot. This was a decent premise compromised by the writers' lack of vision and daring. 5/10.
Vivre sa vie (My Life to Live) [1962]. A young Parisian woman takes up prostitution. This was my second time having seen this movie. I wasn't as enamored this time, but I still liked the main character Nana (Anna Karina). On the one hand, Jean-Luc Godard presents her as an inquisitive woman, perhaps not too smart, but at the very least interested in discussing life on meta terms. On the other hand, she needs money and eventually takes up prostitution. The curious thing about this social descent is that Nana was such a more boring person before she became a prostitute. Her discussions with her ex-boyfriend Paul are hollow and she tires of her job in a record shop. She's an unhappy, self-important girl. When it comes time for her first trick, she's suddenly overwhelmed with this beautiful innocence -- she's letting down the barriers on her ego. As she becomes more involved in the trade, even acquiring a pimp, Raoul, she erects a new barrier, however a more alluring one. She charms whatever guy she meets, even an old literate man, with whom she has an intense philosophical discussion, albeit one she's not totally engaged in. Her exuberance is thrilling (that dance in the billiard hall is perfect), and she seems so much more comfortable in her life. And yet, she's a prostitute, a fact which society deems a negative. Godard takes what's classically an unsavory character and makes her vibrant. Emotionally, she feels like a girl with aspirations who's on the up track in life, yet contradictorily, she has nothing going for her. Godard reminds us of her worthlessness in a scene in the hotel where all the prostitutes take their clients; Nana's client asks for a threesome and so Nana searches room by room for a "colleague" to accompany her. Her search reveals woman upon woman, just like her, just as pretty and yet forgotten in an instant. Finally she finds someone to join her and to her dismay, the client just ends up having sex with the other woman. Nana may find herself special, but that is just as much an illusion as the facade she puts up to lure her clients. Originally a 9/10, now down to 8/10.
Black Swan [2010]. A ballerina struggles to get the main role in Black Swan. This was my first time seeing it since watching it in the theater in France. This time we watched it with Christian's mother, who was visiting. It's still effective and chilling. 9/10.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home [1986]. In order to save Earth from a menacing, uncommunicative, supreme alien force, the crew of the Enterprise is forced to go back in time. The writers clearly decided to revisit the premise of the first Star Trek film, since the initial scenes follow much the same progression. And the alien being even poses an intellectual puzzle through its destructive attempts at communication. Yet, rather than dwell on the purpose of the message for the entire film, as in the slow, but intellectually satisfying first film, the writers quickly wrap it up. Within 10 minutes of encountering the probe, Spock has improbably determined the purpose of the message and deemed that the crew must go back in time to the 20th century in order to answer the message properly. No deep science-fiction questions here about humanity and our place in the universe! Nope, just hold on to your seats as we go on our single-minded quest!
The writers relegate contemplation to the back burner, opting instead for a light-hearted, crowd-pleasing path, awash in action and humor. The movie is hokey and cheerful, almost to a fault, and drama and conflict hardly enter the picture. To be sure, there script contains many clever lines that poke fun at peculiarities of our current culture, as viewed from the future. Conversely, the stiffness and pomp of the space crew gets deflated with a dose of playful humility when it becomes evident how poorly the Enterprise crew can assimilate to the mannerisms of the 20th century. To the film's advantage, this is the first Star Trek movie where all the other crew members are given nontrivial amounts of screentime. In the previous three installments, it was basically the Kirk-Spock-Bones show. It's nice to see Uhura, Sulu and Chekhov more involved in their plot and with their own moments in the spotlight. If it were any other series, this movie would be a hopeless bit of fluff. But since it's Star Trek, you derive a certain joy from watching the cast have fun with their characters in an utterly unserious popcorn movie. 7/10.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier [1989]. A religious leader takes over a remote planetary outpost in order to lure a rescue spaceship that he can hijack for his pilgrimage. As luck would have it, the ship that answers his call is the Enterprise. Kirk and crew become hostages to Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill), who seeks to answer a call from what appears to be the supreme being at the center of the universe.
This movie was mildly entertaining. I actually liked the initial plot mechanism. How does one deal with a religious fanatic who seems to have no problem gaining followers, partially through a telepathic hypnosis and, to a greater extent, through charismatic words? Ideas are often hard to contain, especially when they appeal on an intense, personal level, as Sybok's evangelism does. However, the script underplays the commerce between leader and followers and the corresponding cloud of religious fervor. The development of the flock mentality would have been fruitful terrain (which finally did get mined in First Contact), but the script treats the followers as afterthoughts in a single man's quest for God. Casting the quest as the singular idea of the leader weakens the danger of the hijacking. Coincidentally, it also allows the religiously sensitive members of the audience to easily marginalize Sybok's position (even though it mimics mainstream evangelism). I don't quite know how the writers thought they could walk this tightrope: making Sybok a convincing villain would offend the religious audience, yet if Sybok's patient faith in revelation had succeeded, fans would be in an uproar over the religious propogandization of Star Trek. Consequently, Sybok is a neutered character with no threat and no hope of success. Luckinbill tries to make this doomed character compassionate, perhaps even suasive, but he never injects charisma into his performance. Often, you were reminded that he was acting -- somehow the lines didn't flow naturally from his mouth, but felt stagey and rehearsed.
Corny jokes abound in this film, though the banter between Bones and Spock occasionally achieves greatness. The secondary members of the crew, most prominently Uhura, get some facetime in this installment as they did in Star Trek IV. But whereas in that film, you felt like they were living characters, here they're more props, especially Uhura's sexy dance (which was the one element of the film I remembered from the previous time I had seen it). You can tell the writers were pulling for straws when they introduced a gratuitous Klingon subplot. This was a decent premise compromised by the writers' lack of vision and daring. 5/10.
Vivre sa vie (My Life to Live) [1962]. A young Parisian woman takes up prostitution. This was my second time having seen this movie. I wasn't as enamored this time, but I still liked the main character Nana (Anna Karina). On the one hand, Jean-Luc Godard presents her as an inquisitive woman, perhaps not too smart, but at the very least interested in discussing life on meta terms. On the other hand, she needs money and eventually takes up prostitution. The curious thing about this social descent is that Nana was such a more boring person before she became a prostitute. Her discussions with her ex-boyfriend Paul are hollow and she tires of her job in a record shop. She's an unhappy, self-important girl. When it comes time for her first trick, she's suddenly overwhelmed with this beautiful innocence -- she's letting down the barriers on her ego. As she becomes more involved in the trade, even acquiring a pimp, Raoul, she erects a new barrier, however a more alluring one. She charms whatever guy she meets, even an old literate man, with whom she has an intense philosophical discussion, albeit one she's not totally engaged in. Her exuberance is thrilling (that dance in the billiard hall is perfect), and she seems so much more comfortable in her life. And yet, she's a prostitute, a fact which society deems a negative. Godard takes what's classically an unsavory character and makes her vibrant. Emotionally, she feels like a girl with aspirations who's on the up track in life, yet contradictorily, she has nothing going for her. Godard reminds us of her worthlessness in a scene in the hotel where all the prostitutes take their clients; Nana's client asks for a threesome and so Nana searches room by room for a "colleague" to accompany her. Her search reveals woman upon woman, just like her, just as pretty and yet forgotten in an instant. Finally she finds someone to join her and to her dismay, the client just ends up having sex with the other woman. Nana may find herself special, but that is just as much an illusion as the facade she puts up to lure her clients. Originally a 9/10, now down to 8/10.
Black Swan [2010]. A ballerina struggles to get the main role in Black Swan. This was my first time seeing it since watching it in the theater in France. This time we watched it with Christian's mother, who was visiting. It's still effective and chilling. 9/10.