I’m starting a feature tracking the films I’ve seen each month and my thoughts regarding each one. Some of these are recent releases, some are from the cinematic vaults. Commentary will be brief and not quite as detailed as some of my entries tend to be. Mostly I hope to track to my own viewing habits, as well as to critique what I’ve seen. With each commentary, I’ll try to include stills captured from each film, some of them memorable and evocative, some quite random and striking.
The Experiment (2001)
Earlier this month, I watched this German film based on an experiment conducted in 1971 that studied social dynamics in a prison setting. Based on the premise and gritty cover image, I had expected this to be darker and more transgressive in tone. Instead, it follows a more typical route, turning into a more straightforward thriller at the end. There’s nothing overly striking in the performances or look of this to recommend, though it is more sophisticated than many of the thrillers out of Hollywood, at least in the build-up to the climax. The overtones of Nazi hysteria are quite pertinent as well. Engrossing in places, but nothing as remarkable as I’d hoped.
Volver (2006)
I believe I’ve hinted in previous entries that Almodovar has become a favorite director over the last few years. This is only the fourth film I’ve seen thus far, and it has many of the elements I like in Almodovar’s work: bright, vivid colors; inventive and often magical narrative devices; and stories that deal with the emotional lives of women (though this is not so much the case with Bad Education). I suppose the notion of a ghost interacting with her sister and daughters might be too much for some viewers to take, but I found it a charming notion suggestive of the fantastic and magic realist literature I’ve read. I never quite felt like all the magic and sense of place, which elevates the often sudsy storylines of his other films, transcended the melodrama. Usually, one has this sense that his stories are about more than the lives of women and the notions of sisterhood that dominate “chick flicks.” But it was enjoyable, and Cruz puts in a wonderful performance.
An almost unrecognizable Depp in The Libertine
.The Libertine (2004)
I love a good period drama, especially when it is invested in the exacting re-creation of another age, which transports the viewer to another world. You really inhabit the mucky, dirty world of Restoration England, which highlights the life of its protagonist, John Wilmot, the libertine of the title. His is a world where every sin is to be embraced, a mad, drunken world at that. Depp gives a fine performance, especially towards the end where we forget his physical beauty and see him as Wilmot, syphilitic and dying in his last few years. Samantha Morton, an actress I’m really falling in love with, also puts in a great performance as a rising actress who betrays Wilmot after he has fallen in love. One thing that enhances the atmosphere of this film is the use of candlelight as the primary source of light. This gives the film a unique grainy look and a subtle yellow glow throughout.
What doesn’t work so well is the story, which is too episodic to develop a strong focus. The aspects of the film that deal with the theatre are quite promising, suggestive of art and artifice in opposition to life, but it never quite anchors itself in this place. Had it done so, this might have been an incredible film. Since it does not, we are left with an interesting portrait of the era and Wilmot, some fine performances, and some great filmwork.
One of the many masks Robert Downey, Jr. wears.Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)
I came to this film expecting to be disappointed, since the reviews had been so mediocre. I left quite impressed by a fantastical tale of Arbus’s art. Mulling over it further, I can see why it wasn’t well liked and where, perhaps, it failed. On one hand, we have a drama about a married woman in the 50’s, conforming to the role she has been given, who meets a strange man that shows her another world and reveals the eccentric woman barely hidden within. A bit like Sirk with a dash of Lynch. Had it been simply this, we might have had an interesting story with no extra baggage to judge. Presenting it as an allegory for Arbus’s growth as an artist, however, turns problematic. How seriously can we take the budding romance? Do we need to know about her life and art to understand what it means?
Arbus was a huge inspiration to me personally during my college years. Her guts to explore the strangeness lurking in American culture, and to do so with such an odd mix of irony, identification, and compassion, certainly makes her one of the most important fine art photographers of the 20th century. In my opinion, Fur does capture this quality in her work. It also remains true to the facts of her life. It is certainly no accident that her decision to focus on her work coincided with the disintegration of her marriage. If the character of Lionel represents her art, then it was a love affair that allowed complete expression of her inner self, a love affair that would, in the end, trump familial and societal obligations.
Perhaps this film doesn’t work, but I found the attempt commendable. Shainberg also directed Secretary, an quirky and charming romantic comedy about kinky sex. He’s certainly an interesting director that will be worth watching in coming years.
The son of El Topo plays spiritual Russian roulette.El Topo (1970)
I’m not going to delve into the meaning of this film, since it is so full of layers that would take hours to really analyze and explore. Instead, I’ll discuss my relationship to Jodorowsky, one of my favorite directors.
His best films are quite strange, surreal, bloody, and visceral. The better films (there are three) are rich with imagery and symbols culled from the religions of the world. When I first saw this film, I was quite drunk and thus do not remember. On my second viewing not long after, I was sober and still could not make much sense. I fell in love with his films because they were like nothing else I’d seen. It’s my view that if a director taps into something that is uniquely theirs, a film can often feel that way. The films that affect us most, of course, connect to our own unique brainwaves, and we connect because it’s already part of us somehow. If film is like a drug, than a particular film might be tapping into something buried deep within our minds.
All this is to say, I really like El Topo a lot, and I feel that viewing it should be compulsory for anyone with an open mind.
(I’m referring, by the way, to the Jodorowsky boxed set released by Anchor Bay back in May. Though it only includes his first 3 features, the remastering of the films, commentary tracks, documentary footage, inclusion of the El Topo and Holy Mountain soundtracks, along with his first short film, make the set worth looking into.)
Perhaps one of the most evocative shots in Good Night, and Good Luck. Edward R. Murrow faces Senator McCarthy through the television, and McCarthy faces him.Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)
Lastly, and most recently, a rather different experience, one that is not visceral or very transgressive at all.
Clooney does a masterful job of capturing the time period, both in the production design and black and white cinematography. The performances are all subdued and realistic, especially Stathaim as Murrow. The way it looks at and perceives Murrow’s struggle to speak honestly about McCarthy is very subtle and smart, which is to its advantage. It never preaches the message, rather let’s us step inside the world and see everything unfold. All this I like very much.
There are a couple things that don’t quite work, namely the subplot involving Robert Downey, Jr.’s and Patricia Clarkson’s characters, which is never successfully intertwined into the main plot. Otherwise, the strictly 3rd person viewpoint never allows us to have a strong emotional connection to the film. This may not really be a disadvantage when one considers the primary strengths of the film. It’s to its advantage that it does not manipulate us into feeling things about these characters. Perhaps its enough to see their integrity when faced with the gravity of these odds.
It’s especially interesting to compare this to the film that won the Oscar for best film in 2006, Crash, which featured a similarly great cast and interesting narrative structure, yet was presented in a far more contrived, obvious manner.
My Life in Movies 