(no subject)
El Angel Exterminador
Arty 50s Mexican film. Somewhat too arty for me as the plot was secondary to the meaning. It was very actually Sartrian actually - a bunch of bourgeoisie get “stuck” in a room and nobody knows how it happened or how to leave (the door into the adjoining room being impassable despite no physical barriers). It was still interesting as (yet) a(nother) study into what happens when several people are stuck in one another’s presence, and I appreciated the meaning, such as I interpreted it to be, but I was unsatisfied by the premise. 5/10
Jalsaghar (The Music Room)
An Indian (West Bengali to be exact) film, again from the fifties, with a beginning that made me think that this might be a film with not even the semblance of a plot that El Angel Exterminador had, merely a sequence of scenes. The people sitting next to me actually left. However, I stayed on, and I was rewarded by a fascinating plot, good acting, and beautiful music that washed over me and made the film a multisensory experience. There were several scenes of traditional Indian singing, but this is as far from Bollywood as you can get: the music was beautiful and enchanting, not a cheesy intrusion into the plot, and the story a historically interesting one, following a local feudal baron during the Indian transition to capitalism. All in all, I heartily recommend this film as long as you go in comfortable with the fact that it will be somewhat slower than a Western film. 9/10
A Tokyo Story
The first Japanese film I have watched that isn’t anime, once again from the fifties if I’m not mistaken. This film is meant to be one of the greatest films ever made, often featuring on top ten best films ever lists. I wasn’t exactly bowled over. The story follows an elderly Japanese couple who go to visit their children in Tokyo for the first time ever; unfortunately, their children are too busy to pay them much attention. It’s a universal plot, but not a very exciting one; combine that with the Asiatic tendency for films to progress more slowly and the fact that I’d just seen a film beforehand, and the result was that I left after two hours, unable to bear any more Sayonaraing. I have no doubt that the film is art, but I found it slightly too mundane. Thus, I give it 5/10. This is definitely one on which you should make up your own mind though.
Solaris
Oh god. I don’t understand why this film is so hideously long. There was a five minute shot following a car on a motorway, for example. I’m sure this film could be edited to average length without losing anything. The first hour and a half seemed largely unnecessary except for a few key moments. The second half was better and had a cool spaceship-set as well as some philosophising about humans and their irrationality. There was also some very good music. Overall though I was disappointed by a slow and not overly interesting plot. 5/10
Le Concert
An interesting Russian-French halfbreed, this 2009 film was very enjoyable. An ex-orchestra conductor tricks the French into believing he still has the job, gathers together his old orchestra, and flies over to perform a concert. It was entertaining and made me laugh aloud in several places, but it tried - and failed - to strike a difficult balance between comic relief and serious family drama / tragedy. I would say it succeeds as a comedy but nothing else, and so I’ll give it a 6/10.
Arty 50s Mexican film. Somewhat too arty for me as the plot was secondary to the meaning. It was very actually Sartrian actually - a bunch of bourgeoisie get “stuck” in a room and nobody knows how it happened or how to leave (the door into the adjoining room being impassable despite no physical barriers). It was still interesting as (yet) a(nother) study into what happens when several people are stuck in one another’s presence, and I appreciated the meaning, such as I interpreted it to be, but I was unsatisfied by the premise. 5/10
Jalsaghar (The Music Room)
An Indian (West Bengali to be exact) film, again from the fifties, with a beginning that made me think that this might be a film with not even the semblance of a plot that El Angel Exterminador had, merely a sequence of scenes. The people sitting next to me actually left. However, I stayed on, and I was rewarded by a fascinating plot, good acting, and beautiful music that washed over me and made the film a multisensory experience. There were several scenes of traditional Indian singing, but this is as far from Bollywood as you can get: the music was beautiful and enchanting, not a cheesy intrusion into the plot, and the story a historically interesting one, following a local feudal baron during the Indian transition to capitalism. All in all, I heartily recommend this film as long as you go in comfortable with the fact that it will be somewhat slower than a Western film. 9/10
A Tokyo Story
The first Japanese film I have watched that isn’t anime, once again from the fifties if I’m not mistaken. This film is meant to be one of the greatest films ever made, often featuring on top ten best films ever lists. I wasn’t exactly bowled over. The story follows an elderly Japanese couple who go to visit their children in Tokyo for the first time ever; unfortunately, their children are too busy to pay them much attention. It’s a universal plot, but not a very exciting one; combine that with the Asiatic tendency for films to progress more slowly and the fact that I’d just seen a film beforehand, and the result was that I left after two hours, unable to bear any more Sayonaraing. I have no doubt that the film is art, but I found it slightly too mundane. Thus, I give it 5/10. This is definitely one on which you should make up your own mind though.
Solaris
Oh god. I don’t understand why this film is so hideously long. There was a five minute shot following a car on a motorway, for example. I’m sure this film could be edited to average length without losing anything. The first hour and a half seemed largely unnecessary except for a few key moments. The second half was better and had a cool spaceship-set as well as some philosophising about humans and their irrationality. There was also some very good music. Overall though I was disappointed by a slow and not overly interesting plot. 5/10
Le Concert
An interesting Russian-French halfbreed, this 2009 film was very enjoyable. An ex-orchestra conductor tricks the French into believing he still has the job, gathers together his old orchestra, and flies over to perform a concert. It was entertaining and made me laugh aloud in several places, but it tried - and failed - to strike a difficult balance between comic relief and serious family drama / tragedy. I would say it succeeds as a comedy but nothing else, and so I’ll give it a 6/10.