Wounds (2019) Babak Anuari 2/10
Emitai (1971) Ousmane Sembene 6/10
Hagbard and Signe (1967) Gabriel Axel 4/10
The Tomorrow Man (2019) Noble Jones 3/10
The Empty Canvas (1963) Damiano Damiani 6/10
Foreign Body (2017) Raja Amari 4/10
The Mover (2018) Davis Simanis Jr. 4/10
Repeat viewings
Bell Book and Candle (1958) Richard Quine 6/10
The Bedroom Window (1987) Curtis Hanson 7/10
The Killing of Sister George (1968) Robert Aldrich 10/10
Pauline at the Beach (1983) Eric Rohmer 9/10
Invincible (2001) Werner Herzog 7/10
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Les noces rouges / Wedding in Blood (Claude Chabrol, 1973) 8/10
Chabrol's story about adultery and murder, based on a true scandal, led to the film being banned in France. We are in James M. Cain territory with a pair of fornicating lovers, trapped in passionless marriages to others, who desperately grapple every chance they get. The sex scenes take on an almost animalistic frenzy as the couple paw at each other like beasts aiming for a kill. A leftist politician and deputy mayor (Michel Piccoli), married to a frigid and sickly woman, takes up with the wife (Stéphane Audran) of the town's conservative but corrupt mayor (Claude Piéplu). When the sick woman dies suddenly the town gossips think it's suicide but there is more to it than that. It is soon followed by the mayor's discovery of his wife's affair which leads to further complications for the lovers. Chabrol alternates the frenzied sex with scenes of numbing dullness as the characters go about their daily lives interacting with each other at the dining table or watching television. The film is a scathing and very funny indictment of provincial France, a theme common to most of the director's films, as he reveals the suffocating courtly existence of the rural bourgeoisie as forbidden passions simmer just below the surface ready to erupt in the most unexpected ways.
Sommarlek / Summer Interlude (Ingmar Bergman, 1951) 8/10
The film that finally brought an upward shift in Bergman's career. It was his tenth film, vaguely autobiographical and based on a summer affair he had with a woman years before. The film takes on the tone of a lyrical memory piece. A successful but jaded and depressed ballerina (Maj-Britt Nilsson), at 28-years of age, feels that her life is missing something concrete. When she receives an old diary it jogs her memory of the time spent years before at an old summer home. Frolics on and around the lake and a romance with a handsome student form the basis of the plot. It is to the credit of Nilsson's charming performance, full of youthful exhuberance, that enhances what is essentially a rather simple story about loss of innocence, returning to the realities of present life and moving forward despite the odds. She plays the part as very dour during the scenes set in the present but is full of energy during the flashback as Bergman shoots his film on lovely locations. This was in sharp contrast to his set-bound previous films as locations would play a stark and important part in almost all his films to come. He also uses dramatic close-ups of faces. The ballerina's face appears at the beginning with the camera a few inches away from her face reflecting the depth of her anguish. Such shots would become his trademark as the female face, body and form would be observed at extremely close quarters displaying the slightest of emotions which would magnify on the big screen creating many dramatic moments. The film's dream-like past is joyfully filmed with the actor's framed and making love against the backdrop of magnificent lakes, hilly greenery and the seashore. There is also a sense of foreboding at its center - a creepy older male relative, strange bird-like sounds and jagged rocks - foreshadowing a tragedy to come which forms the inner turmoil of the ballerina. This is a lovely little film full of themes and directorial touches which Bergman would improve on during the decade and beyond.
La truite / The Trout (Joseph Losey, 1982) 7/10
Losey again explores the theme of power struggle between the classes using sex as a tool, a theme he also used with ferocious intensity in "The Servant" and "The Damned". A trout breeder's daughter (Isabelle Huppert) learns very early on in life, closely observing her own father, that men are pigs and decides to use sexual allure to get what she wants and move out of her grimy environment. At the local bowling alley she and her gay husband con a rich businessman (Jean-Pierre Cassel) much to the annoyance of his wife (Jeanne Moreau) who sees through the girl her husband is so smitten by. Both he and his business partner are instantly attracted to her and she takes off to Japan with the younger of the two but keeps him at arm's length while also attracting the attentions of an elderly Japanese man and a rich American woman (Alexis Smith). When her husband falls ill she returns home and gets involved with the rich old man while trying to destroy his marriage. Losey, using flashbacks and a constantly moving camera (the great Henri Alekan shot the film), shows us this woman as a young girl who quickly learns the ropes of manipulation which she uses with guileless frigidity as she toys with people's emotions during the present. Losey had planned this film during the 1960s with Brigitte Bardot who seems more in keeping with the character. It's hard to believe why so many men are attracted to Huppert at first - one can much easily picture someone like Bardot in the part instead - but the actress manages to brilliantly inhabit this intensely flawed character getting into her skin completely. She remains detached from the men she is seducing while retaining her innocence. Well acted film with a great cast of veteran actors supporting Huppert.
Mission Mangal (Jagan Shakti, 2019) 3/10
"Mangalyaan", the Mars Orbiter Mission, is the space probe orbiting Mars. Launched by the Indian Space Research Organization in 2013 it was the country's first interplanetary mission which created two records. It made India the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit and the first nation to get there on its maiden attempt. Bollywood, in its usual patriotic fervour, has taken on this eventful national episode and has come up with a typical masala potpourri with lashings of sentiment aimed squarely at the common man on the street. If you are expecting something like "Gravity" or "The Martian", please look elsewhere. The star-producer, Akshay Kumar, is on a roll with his films - made toilets and feminine hygeine products fashionable in India courtesy of two previous hit films. Now he brings space exploration to the masses with an underlying political whiff very much in tune with PM Modi's putrid ethnic cleansing rant. There are not too subtle digs at Islam when a young Hindu boy wishes to explore an alternate religion - reads the Quran, prays, praises the Urdu language and writes Sufi songs only to be constantly ridiculed by his father. This is supposedly played for laughs but the message is quite obvious and these moments just come off as pathetic, trite and cringeworthy. Kumar, as a senior space scientist, surrounds himself with a bevy of female co-stars who play saree-clad space scientists as his rookie team on the project - the project manager / homemaker (Vidya Balan) with a whining husband (Sanjay Kapoor) at odds with his teenage son who is exploring Islam - the recently married (Nithya Menen) under pressure from her in-laws to get pregnant (which she does), a modern woman (Sonakshi Sinha) - she smokes and is first seen in bed with a man (although she is fully clothed - hey, this is a "family film") who wants to work for NASA, an Army officer's wife (Taapsee Pannu) struggling to pass a driving test, a divorced muslim (Kriti Kulhari) discriminated against by landlords. The two men on the team are an old man wondering why his son ignores him and another (Sharman Joshi) who is still a virgin and the butt of the women's jokes. When a rocket launch goes awry the leader of the project (Akshay Kumar) is shunted aside and given the impossible Mars mission to work on. Funds assigned are low, his team consists of mainly women and the building assigned to them is decrepit (allowing the women to spruce it up while singing and dancing to the song "Dil Mein Mars Hai" - a corny WTF moment). The screenplay's simplistic approach avoids scientific jargon and explains momentum, thrusts and other complicated technical rocket movements using cooking techniques as examples. Only Vidya Balan's character gets a complete arc - with scenes at home with her family and as the obsessed scientist at work who comes up with all kinds of solutions mainly from her experiences at the kitchen stove. All the other stars are totally wasted playing underdeveloped characters including Akshay Kumar who flits about barking orders, saluting the rocket, passing wisecracks or getting drunk (a funny sequence on the subway has him drunk and acosted by male passengers and all his female colleagues beat the shit out of the attacker with their handbags - a scene written strictly for and played to the gallery). Oh yes, the Mars mission is a success against all odds but getting to it you have to wade through a lot of sentimental rubbish and pariotic breast thumping. The film has been a massive success at the boxoffice. Films like this actually make me happy that our government has banned Indian films at the cinema.
Padre padrone (Vittorio & Paolo Taviani, 1977) 8/10
Harrowing story of Gavino Ledda (Fabrizio Forte / Saverio Marconi), son of a Sardinian shepherd (Omero Antonutti, who grew up to become a famous linguist. At age 6 the child is taken out of school by his father and made to work on their farm. The child is repeatedly beaten by his harsh father as the Taviani brothers frame these two characters amongst the vast Italian landscape taking on a scathing look at the ignorance and brutality of a patriarchal rural life. The screenplay focuses on the young boy's life of loneliness and alienation - he talks to the sheep and they talk back - as he struggles to make sense of his life finally finding an outlet in language as he learns to read and write despite fierce opposition from his father. There are other boys around him similarly mistreated by their fathers and this appears to be the way of forcing sons into subjugation to carry on their family business. Army life becomes an escape when he comes of age where he learns to read and write. A confrontation with the father results in his absolution and escape to University, freedom and his final coming of age as a famous linguist. The film is strongly influenced by the neo-realism movement - the directors decided to make films after seeing "Paisan" as teenagers and it was the director of this classic neo-realist drama - Roberto Rossellini - who was on the Cannes film festival jury which voted this film the Palme d'Or.
Chabrol's story about adultery and murder, based on a true scandal, led to the film being banned in France. We are in James M. Cain territory with a pair of fornicating lovers, trapped in passionless marriages to others, who desperately grapple every chance they get. The sex scenes take on an almost animalistic frenzy as the couple paw at each other like beasts aiming for a kill. A leftist politician and deputy mayor (Michel Piccoli), married to a frigid and sickly woman, takes up with the wife (Stéphane Audran) of the town's conservative but corrupt mayor (Claude Piéplu). When the sick woman dies suddenly the town gossips think it's suicide but there is more to it than that. It is soon followed by the mayor's discovery of his wife's affair which leads to further complications for the lovers. Chabrol alternates the frenzied sex with scenes of numbing dullness as the characters go about their daily lives interacting with each other at the dining table or watching television. The film is a scathing and very funny indictment of provincial France, a theme common to most of the director's films, as he reveals the suffocating courtly existence of the rural bourgeoisie as forbidden passions simmer just below the surface ready to erupt in the most unexpected ways.
Sommarlek / Summer Interlude (Ingmar Bergman, 1951) 8/10
The film that finally brought an upward shift in Bergman's career. It was his tenth film, vaguely autobiographical and based on a summer affair he had with a woman years before. The film takes on the tone of a lyrical memory piece. A successful but jaded and depressed ballerina (Maj-Britt Nilsson), at 28-years of age, feels that her life is missing something concrete. When she receives an old diary it jogs her memory of the time spent years before at an old summer home. Frolics on and around the lake and a romance with a handsome student form the basis of the plot. It is to the credit of Nilsson's charming performance, full of youthful exhuberance, that enhances what is essentially a rather simple story about loss of innocence, returning to the realities of present life and moving forward despite the odds. She plays the part as very dour during the scenes set in the present but is full of energy during the flashback as Bergman shoots his film on lovely locations. This was in sharp contrast to his set-bound previous films as locations would play a stark and important part in almost all his films to come. He also uses dramatic close-ups of faces. The ballerina's face appears at the beginning with the camera a few inches away from her face reflecting the depth of her anguish. Such shots would become his trademark as the female face, body and form would be observed at extremely close quarters displaying the slightest of emotions which would magnify on the big screen creating many dramatic moments. The film's dream-like past is joyfully filmed with the actor's framed and making love against the backdrop of magnificent lakes, hilly greenery and the seashore. There is also a sense of foreboding at its center - a creepy older male relative, strange bird-like sounds and jagged rocks - foreshadowing a tragedy to come which forms the inner turmoil of the ballerina. This is a lovely little film full of themes and directorial touches which Bergman would improve on during the decade and beyond.
La truite / The Trout (Joseph Losey, 1982) 7/10
Losey again explores the theme of power struggle between the classes using sex as a tool, a theme he also used with ferocious intensity in "The Servant" and "The Damned". A trout breeder's daughter (Isabelle Huppert) learns very early on in life, closely observing her own father, that men are pigs and decides to use sexual allure to get what she wants and move out of her grimy environment. At the local bowling alley she and her gay husband con a rich businessman (Jean-Pierre Cassel) much to the annoyance of his wife (Jeanne Moreau) who sees through the girl her husband is so smitten by. Both he and his business partner are instantly attracted to her and she takes off to Japan with the younger of the two but keeps him at arm's length while also attracting the attentions of an elderly Japanese man and a rich American woman (Alexis Smith). When her husband falls ill she returns home and gets involved with the rich old man while trying to destroy his marriage. Losey, using flashbacks and a constantly moving camera (the great Henri Alekan shot the film), shows us this woman as a young girl who quickly learns the ropes of manipulation which she uses with guileless frigidity as she toys with people's emotions during the present. Losey had planned this film during the 1960s with Brigitte Bardot who seems more in keeping with the character. It's hard to believe why so many men are attracted to Huppert at first - one can much easily picture someone like Bardot in the part instead - but the actress manages to brilliantly inhabit this intensely flawed character getting into her skin completely. She remains detached from the men she is seducing while retaining her innocence. Well acted film with a great cast of veteran actors supporting Huppert.
Mission Mangal (Jagan Shakti, 2019) 3/10
"Mangalyaan", the Mars Orbiter Mission, is the space probe orbiting Mars. Launched by the Indian Space Research Organization in 2013 it was the country's first interplanetary mission which created two records. It made India the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit and the first nation to get there on its maiden attempt. Bollywood, in its usual patriotic fervour, has taken on this eventful national episode and has come up with a typical masala potpourri with lashings of sentiment aimed squarely at the common man on the street. If you are expecting something like "Gravity" or "The Martian", please look elsewhere. The star-producer, Akshay Kumar, is on a roll with his films - made toilets and feminine hygeine products fashionable in India courtesy of two previous hit films. Now he brings space exploration to the masses with an underlying political whiff very much in tune with PM Modi's putrid ethnic cleansing rant. There are not too subtle digs at Islam when a young Hindu boy wishes to explore an alternate religion - reads the Quran, prays, praises the Urdu language and writes Sufi songs only to be constantly ridiculed by his father. This is supposedly played for laughs but the message is quite obvious and these moments just come off as pathetic, trite and cringeworthy. Kumar, as a senior space scientist, surrounds himself with a bevy of female co-stars who play saree-clad space scientists as his rookie team on the project - the project manager / homemaker (Vidya Balan) with a whining husband (Sanjay Kapoor) at odds with his teenage son who is exploring Islam - the recently married (Nithya Menen) under pressure from her in-laws to get pregnant (which she does), a modern woman (Sonakshi Sinha) - she smokes and is first seen in bed with a man (although she is fully clothed - hey, this is a "family film") who wants to work for NASA, an Army officer's wife (Taapsee Pannu) struggling to pass a driving test, a divorced muslim (Kriti Kulhari) discriminated against by landlords. The two men on the team are an old man wondering why his son ignores him and another (Sharman Joshi) who is still a virgin and the butt of the women's jokes. When a rocket launch goes awry the leader of the project (Akshay Kumar) is shunted aside and given the impossible Mars mission to work on. Funds assigned are low, his team consists of mainly women and the building assigned to them is decrepit (allowing the women to spruce it up while singing and dancing to the song "Dil Mein Mars Hai" - a corny WTF moment). The screenplay's simplistic approach avoids scientific jargon and explains momentum, thrusts and other complicated technical rocket movements using cooking techniques as examples. Only Vidya Balan's character gets a complete arc - with scenes at home with her family and as the obsessed scientist at work who comes up with all kinds of solutions mainly from her experiences at the kitchen stove. All the other stars are totally wasted playing underdeveloped characters including Akshay Kumar who flits about barking orders, saluting the rocket, passing wisecracks or getting drunk (a funny sequence on the subway has him drunk and acosted by male passengers and all his female colleagues beat the shit out of the attacker with their handbags - a scene written strictly for and played to the gallery). Oh yes, the Mars mission is a success against all odds but getting to it you have to wade through a lot of sentimental rubbish and pariotic breast thumping. The film has been a massive success at the boxoffice. Films like this actually make me happy that our government has banned Indian films at the cinema.
Padre padrone (Vittorio & Paolo Taviani, 1977) 8/10
Harrowing story of Gavino Ledda (Fabrizio Forte / Saverio Marconi), son of a Sardinian shepherd (Omero Antonutti, who grew up to become a famous linguist. At age 6 the child is taken out of school by his father and made to work on their farm. The child is repeatedly beaten by his harsh father as the Taviani brothers frame these two characters amongst the vast Italian landscape taking on a scathing look at the ignorance and brutality of a patriarchal rural life. The screenplay focuses on the young boy's life of loneliness and alienation - he talks to the sheep and they talk back - as he struggles to make sense of his life finally finding an outlet in language as he learns to read and write despite fierce opposition from his father. There are other boys around him similarly mistreated by their fathers and this appears to be the way of forcing sons into subjugation to carry on their family business. Army life becomes an escape when he comes of age where he learns to read and write. A confrontation with the father results in his absolution and escape to University, freedom and his final coming of age as a famous linguist. The film is strongly influenced by the neo-realism movement - the directors decided to make films after seeing "Paisan" as teenagers and it was the director of this classic neo-realist drama - Roberto Rossellini - who was on the Cannes film festival jury which voted this film the Palme d'Or.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
/Green Book/ (Peter Farrelly) - 3.5/10
Not entirely sure why I rewatched this film. But here we are.
My assessment of the film after a first viewing was that it had some charm but narratively and message-wise it was a mess. Watching it now, the charm is reduced and the problems are pronounced. Just too damn much of this film is miscalculated down to its bones. Tony might not be a Klan member at the start of the film but he's truly racist, to the point where the film goes out of its way to depict like power games he plays with POC at the start of the film. The film is telling us that he has a character flaw that needs to be fixed by the journey of the film -- and it doesn't. Not only does it fail to teach Tony anything, it does one of the most baffling 180's I've seen in a while. The film decides almost halfway through the film that Tony is healed (despite eating no crow or put through any trials). Not only that, but in the scene where Tony is completely tolerant of homosexuality, it is telling us "There is more to Tony that meets the eye." It paints this racist as enlightened in a way that absolutely does not line up with the character we've seen. From there on out, the film is about how Shirley needs to change and the film is just not equipped to deal with his character and the message goes entirely flat. For starters, the meaning behind the tour is quite unexplained. There is mention that Shirley is doing this tour to confront racism yet every spark of racism seems to catch him completely off-guard. He's truly baffled by it at every turn. This choice makes him look foolish. The film paints Shirley as simultaneously elevated and tragically pessimistic. In this sense, Mahershala Ali's Oscar was not undeserved in how he makes the character make any kind of sense.
I will say this: I want Green Book to work as a film. I don't necessarily want it to ever win Best Picture but I am not against movies like this existing. They just need to be better... Actually, screw that. They need to be competent. Green Book is not. It is painfully confused. The most charitable reading of the film is that it's a bunch of stuff that happened that was written into a script and plays out with bafflingly off-kilter results, occasionally making great use of its beautiful cast, but just as often making them look foolish. Extra points bc Peter Farrelly is just too good at making road movies.
To sum up, Green Book avoids being a White Savior Film and a Magical Negro Film and ends up being nothing.
Not entirely sure why I rewatched this film. But here we are.
My assessment of the film after a first viewing was that it had some charm but narratively and message-wise it was a mess. Watching it now, the charm is reduced and the problems are pronounced. Just too damn much of this film is miscalculated down to its bones. Tony might not be a Klan member at the start of the film but he's truly racist, to the point where the film goes out of its way to depict like power games he plays with POC at the start of the film. The film is telling us that he has a character flaw that needs to be fixed by the journey of the film -- and it doesn't. Not only does it fail to teach Tony anything, it does one of the most baffling 180's I've seen in a while. The film decides almost halfway through the film that Tony is healed (despite eating no crow or put through any trials). Not only that, but in the scene where Tony is completely tolerant of homosexuality, it is telling us "There is more to Tony that meets the eye." It paints this racist as enlightened in a way that absolutely does not line up with the character we've seen. From there on out, the film is about how Shirley needs to change and the film is just not equipped to deal with his character and the message goes entirely flat. For starters, the meaning behind the tour is quite unexplained. There is mention that Shirley is doing this tour to confront racism yet every spark of racism seems to catch him completely off-guard. He's truly baffled by it at every turn. This choice makes him look foolish. The film paints Shirley as simultaneously elevated and tragically pessimistic. In this sense, Mahershala Ali's Oscar was not undeserved in how he makes the character make any kind of sense.
I will say this: I want Green Book to work as a film. I don't necessarily want it to ever win Best Picture but I am not against movies like this existing. They just need to be better... Actually, screw that. They need to be competent. Green Book is not. It is painfully confused. The most charitable reading of the film is that it's a bunch of stuff that happened that was written into a script and plays out with bafflingly off-kilter results, occasionally making great use of its beautiful cast, but just as often making them look foolish. Extra points bc Peter Farrelly is just too good at making road movies.
To sum up, Green Book avoids being a White Savior Film and a Magical Negro Film and ends up being nothing.
"How's the despair?"
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Les Maudits / The Damned (René Clément, 1947) 9/10
Memorable film is shot on a remarkable set depicting the interior of a U-boat with cinematographer Henri Alekan's extraordinary tracking shots through the length of the cramped and claustrophobic submarine. On the eve of Germany's defeat during WWII a number of wealthy individuals board a U-boat in Oslo which is bound for South America. During a depth charge attack a woman (Florence Marley), wife of an Italian fascist nobleman (Fosco Giachetti) and lover of a Nazi general, is seriously injured. A french doctor (Henri Vidal) is kidnapped from shore and taken on board. The passengers also include a sadistic Nazi (Jo Dest), in a homosexual relationship with his traveling soldier companion (Michel Auclair), a french journalist (Marcel Dalio), a Swedish businessman and his teenaged daughter. When news arrives on the radio of the German army's defeat and Hitler's death it sets off a chain of reactions - disbelief by the Nazis who think it is a hoax, panic amongst the sympathizers who either attempt suicide or try to escape. The french doctor, in constant danger, also tries to escape or face certain death at the hands of the Nazis. The gradual psychological collapse of this group depicts the disintegration of the Nazi empire which is viewed through the eyes of the doctor who is also the film's narrator. Gritty war film mixes elements of noir with suspense as Clément keeps the action moving at a fast pace inside and above the submarine while providing a probing look at each individual character and their dynamics with each other. The film won a special prize at the Cannes film festival.
Une Vie / Una Vita / One Life (Alexandre Astruc, 1958) 8/10
Guy de Maupassant's celebrated first novel comes to the screen in a truncated version. Like William Wyler's adaptation of Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights", only the first part of the novel is filmed. Both stories revolve around tragic heroines born during a time when women were mere pawns in the hands of men to do with as they pleased. The great Maria Schell was born to play tragic roles. Her doe-like trusting eyes spoke volumes of the hurt her characters kept hidden deep inside. A waif-like idealistic woman of means (Maria Schell), just out of a convent and gifted a farm by her wealthy parents, falls madly in love with a self loathing young neighbour (Christian Marquand) who is a compulsive womanizer. Soon after they are married he begins to treat her like dirt taking up with his wife's best friend (Pascale Petit) and getting her pregnant. He follows that by having an affair with the wife (Antonella Lualdi) of his newly-married best friend (Ivan Desny). The cuckold's revenge is one of the film's highlights along with the beautiful Normandy locations shot in stunning colour by the great Claude Renoir. Every image - in dramatic reds, greens and yellows - is like an impressionistic painting as these tragic characters move through life accompanied by a lilting score by Roman Vlad. The equally tragic second half of the story, involving the woman's son, is not filmed which is almost a relief considering the relentless downbeat life of this woman which is shown in such painful detail.
Memorable film is shot on a remarkable set depicting the interior of a U-boat with cinematographer Henri Alekan's extraordinary tracking shots through the length of the cramped and claustrophobic submarine. On the eve of Germany's defeat during WWII a number of wealthy individuals board a U-boat in Oslo which is bound for South America. During a depth charge attack a woman (Florence Marley), wife of an Italian fascist nobleman (Fosco Giachetti) and lover of a Nazi general, is seriously injured. A french doctor (Henri Vidal) is kidnapped from shore and taken on board. The passengers also include a sadistic Nazi (Jo Dest), in a homosexual relationship with his traveling soldier companion (Michel Auclair), a french journalist (Marcel Dalio), a Swedish businessman and his teenaged daughter. When news arrives on the radio of the German army's defeat and Hitler's death it sets off a chain of reactions - disbelief by the Nazis who think it is a hoax, panic amongst the sympathizers who either attempt suicide or try to escape. The french doctor, in constant danger, also tries to escape or face certain death at the hands of the Nazis. The gradual psychological collapse of this group depicts the disintegration of the Nazi empire which is viewed through the eyes of the doctor who is also the film's narrator. Gritty war film mixes elements of noir with suspense as Clément keeps the action moving at a fast pace inside and above the submarine while providing a probing look at each individual character and their dynamics with each other. The film won a special prize at the Cannes film festival.
Une Vie / Una Vita / One Life (Alexandre Astruc, 1958) 8/10
Guy de Maupassant's celebrated first novel comes to the screen in a truncated version. Like William Wyler's adaptation of Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights", only the first part of the novel is filmed. Both stories revolve around tragic heroines born during a time when women were mere pawns in the hands of men to do with as they pleased. The great Maria Schell was born to play tragic roles. Her doe-like trusting eyes spoke volumes of the hurt her characters kept hidden deep inside. A waif-like idealistic woman of means (Maria Schell), just out of a convent and gifted a farm by her wealthy parents, falls madly in love with a self loathing young neighbour (Christian Marquand) who is a compulsive womanizer. Soon after they are married he begins to treat her like dirt taking up with his wife's best friend (Pascale Petit) and getting her pregnant. He follows that by having an affair with the wife (Antonella Lualdi) of his newly-married best friend (Ivan Desny). The cuckold's revenge is one of the film's highlights along with the beautiful Normandy locations shot in stunning colour by the great Claude Renoir. Every image - in dramatic reds, greens and yellows - is like an impressionistic painting as these tragic characters move through life accompanied by a lilting score by Roman Vlad. The equally tragic second half of the story, involving the woman's son, is not filmed which is almost a relief considering the relentless downbeat life of this woman which is shown in such painful detail.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Il bidone (Federico Fellini, 1955) 9/10
What starts off as a comedy quickly turns sour, cruel and ultimately tragic. The film is the middle chapter of Fellini's "trilogy of loneliness" (sandwiched in between "La strada" & "Le notti di Cabiria") with its cynical tale of three conmen fleecing peasants dressed as priests. Augusto (Broderick Crawford) is the veteran leader, a petty scum, utterly without remourse and always on the lookout for a good time. Picasso (Richard Basehart) is a would-be painter and family man with a wife (Giulietta Masina) and adoring young daughter. Roberto (Franco Fabrizi) rounds out the trio as their driver. When Augusto runs into his grown-up daughter, pangs of guilt hit him about the life he has so far led. His decision on yet another swindle to help her out has tragic consequences for him which Fellini shoots with heavy religious overtones. The screenplay mixes sentiment with tragedy and a longing for beauty and this "journey" of the con is directed in a simple manner by Fellini completely devoid of all the excesses found in his later films. It is superbly shot on location by Ortello Martelli and there is a memorable score by Nino Rota. Classic film totally overshadowed by the other two in the trilogy.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (Joachim Rønning, 2019) 4/10
When Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) agrees to the marriage proposal of Prince Philip (the bland Harry Dickerson) it sets off a chain of events that leads to an all-out war between the fairy and human kingdoms. At the centre of it is the spectacular bitchfest between Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) and her goddaughter's prospective mother-in-law (Michelle Pfeiffer) probably recalling many of the best episodes from the campy tv series "Kyunki... Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi...". Jolie's spectacularly iconic get-up - the all-black outfit, alabaster cheekbones shaped like the edges of the Chrysler building, resplendant ruby red lips, dramatic horns on her head and majestic black wings - is still a fetishistic delight. And she gets her match in Pfeiffer's tightly coiled and cunning Queen nursing a massive chip on her shoulder. With these two characters in full campy bloom the rest of the characters come off as total drips and their storyline along with the subplot about Maleficent's discovery of her "kin", an entire tribe, who live hidden away from fairies and humans - Chiwetel Ejiofor is completely wasted as their leader - is a total bore. The film creates the magical fairy world through the usual CGI machine but sadly this time round the three delightful fairies (Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville) get no close-up and are mainly seen flitting about at a distance. The main problem now with most of these Disney fairy tales is that they are taking a cue from the DC & Marvel comic book film universe and including plots that end in spectacular battle scenes. Disney has merged completely into that avatar making their small scale intimate stories into a bloated mess. I came away from this film hoping that both Jolie and Pfeiffer now need to stop wasting their talent in such tripe and get back to more meaningful parts.
Spin a Dark Web / Soho Incident (Vernon Sewell, 1956) 5/10
Brit noir turns out to be a rather middling affair despite it's dark and promising plot. A Canadian drifter (Lee Patterson), wanting to make a quick buck, gets involved with an Italian mob leader (Martin Benson) and his psychotic sister (Faith Domergue). After the hoods kill a man he wants out but the femme fatale has other plans and uses his former girlfriend (Rona Anderson) to get him back. Domergue has the best part - the tough brains behind the gang - but she mostly underplays instead of being an outright bitch which the role calls for. Predictable little film uses the tatty Soho locations well but the tepid screenplay unfortunately lets it down.
Hamid (Aijaz Khan, 2018) 8/10
Small-scale drama that takes on some weighty historical, political and cultural issues. Khan’s film, set in the backdrop of Kashmir, promises to engage both children and adults with an involving narrative and authentic performances, providing a sympathetic perspective. The film is a poignant human tale of loss, resilience and hope as it tries to move between the two extremes of a peaceful reconciliation of the opposites and documenting what lies underneath an everyday reality. In retrospect, the film works best as a personal story of an inquiring boy in need of love and answers. The story revolves around 8-year old Hamid (Talha Arshad Reshi) who hatches a naive plan to bring back his missing father. Hamid is told that 786 is Allah’s number. Thinking it’s a phone number he dials it. After several failed attempts to connect, he comes up with an iteration of the number, which accidentally connects him to a CRPF jawaan (Vikas Kumar). He guilelessly believes he is in actual conversation with God. His innocent exchanges with the soldier form the narrative of ‘’Hamid’’ with the Kashmiri population protests forming a backdrop. The film shuns theatrics, evoking compassion and empathy leading to a devastating but cathartic conclusion.
What starts off as a comedy quickly turns sour, cruel and ultimately tragic. The film is the middle chapter of Fellini's "trilogy of loneliness" (sandwiched in between "La strada" & "Le notti di Cabiria") with its cynical tale of three conmen fleecing peasants dressed as priests. Augusto (Broderick Crawford) is the veteran leader, a petty scum, utterly without remourse and always on the lookout for a good time. Picasso (Richard Basehart) is a would-be painter and family man with a wife (Giulietta Masina) and adoring young daughter. Roberto (Franco Fabrizi) rounds out the trio as their driver. When Augusto runs into his grown-up daughter, pangs of guilt hit him about the life he has so far led. His decision on yet another swindle to help her out has tragic consequences for him which Fellini shoots with heavy religious overtones. The screenplay mixes sentiment with tragedy and a longing for beauty and this "journey" of the con is directed in a simple manner by Fellini completely devoid of all the excesses found in his later films. It is superbly shot on location by Ortello Martelli and there is a memorable score by Nino Rota. Classic film totally overshadowed by the other two in the trilogy.
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (Joachim Rønning, 2019) 4/10
When Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning) agrees to the marriage proposal of Prince Philip (the bland Harry Dickerson) it sets off a chain of events that leads to an all-out war between the fairy and human kingdoms. At the centre of it is the spectacular bitchfest between Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) and her goddaughter's prospective mother-in-law (Michelle Pfeiffer) probably recalling many of the best episodes from the campy tv series "Kyunki... Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi...". Jolie's spectacularly iconic get-up - the all-black outfit, alabaster cheekbones shaped like the edges of the Chrysler building, resplendant ruby red lips, dramatic horns on her head and majestic black wings - is still a fetishistic delight. And she gets her match in Pfeiffer's tightly coiled and cunning Queen nursing a massive chip on her shoulder. With these two characters in full campy bloom the rest of the characters come off as total drips and their storyline along with the subplot about Maleficent's discovery of her "kin", an entire tribe, who live hidden away from fairies and humans - Chiwetel Ejiofor is completely wasted as their leader - is a total bore. The film creates the magical fairy world through the usual CGI machine but sadly this time round the three delightful fairies (Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville) get no close-up and are mainly seen flitting about at a distance. The main problem now with most of these Disney fairy tales is that they are taking a cue from the DC & Marvel comic book film universe and including plots that end in spectacular battle scenes. Disney has merged completely into that avatar making their small scale intimate stories into a bloated mess. I came away from this film hoping that both Jolie and Pfeiffer now need to stop wasting their talent in such tripe and get back to more meaningful parts.
Spin a Dark Web / Soho Incident (Vernon Sewell, 1956) 5/10
Brit noir turns out to be a rather middling affair despite it's dark and promising plot. A Canadian drifter (Lee Patterson), wanting to make a quick buck, gets involved with an Italian mob leader (Martin Benson) and his psychotic sister (Faith Domergue). After the hoods kill a man he wants out but the femme fatale has other plans and uses his former girlfriend (Rona Anderson) to get him back. Domergue has the best part - the tough brains behind the gang - but she mostly underplays instead of being an outright bitch which the role calls for. Predictable little film uses the tatty Soho locations well but the tepid screenplay unfortunately lets it down.
Hamid (Aijaz Khan, 2018) 8/10
Small-scale drama that takes on some weighty historical, political and cultural issues. Khan’s film, set in the backdrop of Kashmir, promises to engage both children and adults with an involving narrative and authentic performances, providing a sympathetic perspective. The film is a poignant human tale of loss, resilience and hope as it tries to move between the two extremes of a peaceful reconciliation of the opposites and documenting what lies underneath an everyday reality. In retrospect, the film works best as a personal story of an inquiring boy in need of love and answers. The story revolves around 8-year old Hamid (Talha Arshad Reshi) who hatches a naive plan to bring back his missing father. Hamid is told that 786 is Allah’s number. Thinking it’s a phone number he dials it. After several failed attempts to connect, he comes up with an iteration of the number, which accidentally connects him to a CRPF jawaan (Vikas Kumar). He guilelessly believes he is in actual conversation with God. His innocent exchanges with the soldier form the narrative of ‘’Hamid’’ with the Kashmiri population protests forming a backdrop. The film shuns theatrics, evoking compassion and empathy leading to a devastating but cathartic conclusion.
-
Precious Doll
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Pause (2019) Tonia Mishiali 6/10
Hustlers (2019) Lorene Scafaria 4/10
Her Job (2019) Nikos Labot 6/10
Gemini Man (2019) Ang Lee 1/10
When Tomatoes Met Wagner (2019) Marianna Economou 7/10
Skin (2019) Guy Nattiv 4/10
Double Feature (1984) Jose Luis Garci 5/10
Course Completed (1987) Jose Luis Garci 4/10
Paw (1959) Astrid Henning-Jensen 7/10
The Great Waltz (1972) Andrew L. Stone 1/10
Sandakan No. 8 (1974) Kei Kumai 7/10
The Little Ark (1972) James B. Clark 2/10
Ask Dr. Ruth (2019) Ryan White 6/10
Violins at the Ball (1974) Michel Drach 4/10
The Laundromat (2019) Steven Soderbergh 2/10
Repeat viewing
Love in the Afternoon (1972) Eric Rohmer 8/10
Hustlers (2019) Lorene Scafaria 4/10
Her Job (2019) Nikos Labot 6/10
Gemini Man (2019) Ang Lee 1/10
When Tomatoes Met Wagner (2019) Marianna Economou 7/10
Skin (2019) Guy Nattiv 4/10
Double Feature (1984) Jose Luis Garci 5/10
Course Completed (1987) Jose Luis Garci 4/10
Paw (1959) Astrid Henning-Jensen 7/10
The Great Waltz (1972) Andrew L. Stone 1/10
Sandakan No. 8 (1974) Kei Kumai 7/10
The Little Ark (1972) James B. Clark 2/10
Ask Dr. Ruth (2019) Ryan White 6/10
Violins at the Ball (1974) Michel Drach 4/10
The Laundromat (2019) Steven Soderbergh 2/10
Repeat viewing
Love in the Afternoon (1972) Eric Rohmer 8/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
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HarryGoldfarb
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
- Knock (Lorraine Lévy, 2017): 2/10
- Edmond (Alexis Michalik, 2019): 8/10
- The Dark Crystal (Jim Henson and Frank Oz, 1982): 7/10
- Perfect Strangers (Álex de la Iglesia, 2017): 7/10
- The Adjustment Bureau (George Nolfi, 2011): 6/10
- Jackie (Pablo Larraín, 2016): 6/10
- Captain Fantastic (Matt Ross, 2016): 7/10
- School of Rock (Richard Linklater, 2003): 8/10
- Sully (Clint Eastwood, 2016): 8/10
- Allied (Robert Zemeckis, 2016): 6/10
- Isn't It Romantic? (Todd Strauss-Schulson, 2019): 2/10
- The Good Dinosaur (Peter Sohn, 2015): 6/10
- Edmond (Alexis Michalik, 2019): 8/10
- The Dark Crystal (Jim Henson and Frank Oz, 1982): 7/10
- Perfect Strangers (Álex de la Iglesia, 2017): 7/10
- The Adjustment Bureau (George Nolfi, 2011): 6/10
- Jackie (Pablo Larraín, 2016): 6/10
- Captain Fantastic (Matt Ross, 2016): 7/10
- School of Rock (Richard Linklater, 2003): 8/10
- Sully (Clint Eastwood, 2016): 8/10
- Allied (Robert Zemeckis, 2016): 6/10
- Isn't It Romantic? (Todd Strauss-Schulson, 2019): 2/10
- The Good Dinosaur (Peter Sohn, 2015): 6/10
"If you place an object in a museum, does that make this object a piece of art?" - The Square (2017)
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Il viaggio / The Voyage (Vittorio De Sica, 1974) 3/10
De Sica's last film is set amongst the wealthy classes in Sicily during the turn of the century, is sumptuously shot on lovely Italian location but is absolute trite. A soap opera involving a seamstress (Sophia Loen) in love with a wealthy playboy nobleman (Richard Burton) but through a cruel twist of fate gets married to his younger ineffectual brother (Ian Bannen) instead. Like a soap opera the plot thickens - husband (conveniently) dies leaving the lovers to ponder if the impending scandal of their desired marriage plans is worth going through but then another twist of fate intervenes. Burton, bereft of his magnificent voice thanks to terrible Italian dubbing, and the lovely Loren make a listless couple. He is too stiff throughout while she looks too mature to be acting tremulous like a silly teenager. The film's only redeeming views are of the lovely period costumes and the interiors of homes and hotels. Skip this silly film.
Gun Glory (Roy Rowland, 1957) 5/10
Gunslinger (Stewart Granger) who deserted his family returns home and finds his wife dead and a resentful son. Conflict with cattlemen, a quietly simmering romance with the housekeeper (Rhonda Fleming) and the son's acceptance of his father form the basis of what is rather a bland B-Western from MGM. Granger, despite an American accent that comes and goes, is good playing his part in an understated manner while lovely Rhonda Fleming is always a welcome presence.
La Romana / Woman of Rome (Luigi Zampa, 1954) 8/10
Character study of a woman during the facist era is equal parts romantic melodrama and a noir-like look at the glitter and cynicism of Rome under Mussolini. An impoverished young woman (Gina Lollobrigida), daughter of a seamstress and former prostitute, dreams of becoming a wife and mother. Her mother wants her to grab a rich man and settle down but she is in love with and engaged to a poor chauffeur (Franco Fabrizi). When she discovers he is already married she turns to prostitution and enjoys the freedom it brings her as she earns money using her beauty and sex to attract men. She falls in love with an anti-fascist political militant (Daniel Gélin) who refuses to admit his love for her and also dates a fascist police officer who is obsessed with her. Life takes on a dark turn when a stolen jewellery box leads to her meeting with the brutal friend (Renato Tonti) of the chauffeur which leads to murder. Based on the acclaimed novel by Alberto Moravia the film showcases the sensual delights of the ravishing Lollobrigida who is not only at her most beautiful but gives a superb performance as well. The film is strikingly shot on the rain swept streets of Rome by Enzo Serafin.
Pane, amore e fantasia / Bread, Love and Dreams (Luigi Comencini, 1954) 3/10
Loud shrill romantic comedy with everyone shouting their dialogue and gesticulating wildly. It may be the Italian way but the silly plot is unbearably unfunny with two great stars wasted. The film made Gina Lollobrigida into a huge star, was a massive hit and even produced a sequel. I can understand the many reasons why Lollobrigida became a star - her heaving décolletage bound in tight dresses for one - but for the life of me I don't know why the film was such a success. Even the film's story was nominated for an Oscar. The slight premise involves a new police chief (Vittorio De Sica doing his usual shtick) being appointed in a small village. This lewd and lascivious man immediately sets his eyes on two women - the middle-aged local midwife (Marisa Merlini) and a sexy young woman (Gina Lollobrigida) the villagers playfully refer to as "frisky" as they think she is of easy virtue. The latter is loved by all the men in the village but loathed by all the women. Matters get complicated when the young woman is smitten by a handsome young man who works for the old police chief who in turn pursues her with a vengeance. Like most Italian films from that period this too benefits from its natural rural settings and a cast that actually feels authentic in their roles. Too bad the plot is so silly.
De Sica's last film is set amongst the wealthy classes in Sicily during the turn of the century, is sumptuously shot on lovely Italian location but is absolute trite. A soap opera involving a seamstress (Sophia Loen) in love with a wealthy playboy nobleman (Richard Burton) but through a cruel twist of fate gets married to his younger ineffectual brother (Ian Bannen) instead. Like a soap opera the plot thickens - husband (conveniently) dies leaving the lovers to ponder if the impending scandal of their desired marriage plans is worth going through but then another twist of fate intervenes. Burton, bereft of his magnificent voice thanks to terrible Italian dubbing, and the lovely Loren make a listless couple. He is too stiff throughout while she looks too mature to be acting tremulous like a silly teenager. The film's only redeeming views are of the lovely period costumes and the interiors of homes and hotels. Skip this silly film.
Gun Glory (Roy Rowland, 1957) 5/10
Gunslinger (Stewart Granger) who deserted his family returns home and finds his wife dead and a resentful son. Conflict with cattlemen, a quietly simmering romance with the housekeeper (Rhonda Fleming) and the son's acceptance of his father form the basis of what is rather a bland B-Western from MGM. Granger, despite an American accent that comes and goes, is good playing his part in an understated manner while lovely Rhonda Fleming is always a welcome presence.
La Romana / Woman of Rome (Luigi Zampa, 1954) 8/10
Character study of a woman during the facist era is equal parts romantic melodrama and a noir-like look at the glitter and cynicism of Rome under Mussolini. An impoverished young woman (Gina Lollobrigida), daughter of a seamstress and former prostitute, dreams of becoming a wife and mother. Her mother wants her to grab a rich man and settle down but she is in love with and engaged to a poor chauffeur (Franco Fabrizi). When she discovers he is already married she turns to prostitution and enjoys the freedom it brings her as she earns money using her beauty and sex to attract men. She falls in love with an anti-fascist political militant (Daniel Gélin) who refuses to admit his love for her and also dates a fascist police officer who is obsessed with her. Life takes on a dark turn when a stolen jewellery box leads to her meeting with the brutal friend (Renato Tonti) of the chauffeur which leads to murder. Based on the acclaimed novel by Alberto Moravia the film showcases the sensual delights of the ravishing Lollobrigida who is not only at her most beautiful but gives a superb performance as well. The film is strikingly shot on the rain swept streets of Rome by Enzo Serafin.
Pane, amore e fantasia / Bread, Love and Dreams (Luigi Comencini, 1954) 3/10
Loud shrill romantic comedy with everyone shouting their dialogue and gesticulating wildly. It may be the Italian way but the silly plot is unbearably unfunny with two great stars wasted. The film made Gina Lollobrigida into a huge star, was a massive hit and even produced a sequel. I can understand the many reasons why Lollobrigida became a star - her heaving décolletage bound in tight dresses for one - but for the life of me I don't know why the film was such a success. Even the film's story was nominated for an Oscar. The slight premise involves a new police chief (Vittorio De Sica doing his usual shtick) being appointed in a small village. This lewd and lascivious man immediately sets his eyes on two women - the middle-aged local midwife (Marisa Merlini) and a sexy young woman (Gina Lollobrigida) the villagers playfully refer to as "frisky" as they think she is of easy virtue. The latter is loved by all the men in the village but loathed by all the women. Matters get complicated when the young woman is smitten by a handsome young man who works for the old police chief who in turn pursues her with a vengeance. Like most Italian films from that period this too benefits from its natural rural settings and a cast that actually feels authentic in their roles. Too bad the plot is so silly.
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HarryGoldfarb
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- Posts: 1071
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- Location: Colombia
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Parasite (Bong Joon-ho, 2019): 9/10
Shoplifters (Hirokazy Kore-eda, 2018): 9/10
I, Daniel Blake (Ken Loach, 2016): 9/10
A Ghost Story (David Lowery, 2017): 6/10
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Uli Edel, 2008): 8/10
Avengers: Endgame (Anthony Russo & Joe Russo): 7/10
Pain and Glory (Perdo Almodóvar, 2019): 8/10
The Post (Steven Spielberg, 2017): 7/10
Life of the Party (Ben Falcone, 2018): 6/10
Closely Watched Trains (Jiří Menzel, 1966): 8/10
Through a Glass Darkly (Ingmar Bergman, 1961): 10/10
The Stranger (Orson Welles, 1946): 6/10
Shoplifters (Hirokazy Kore-eda, 2018): 9/10
I, Daniel Blake (Ken Loach, 2016): 9/10
A Ghost Story (David Lowery, 2017): 6/10
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Uli Edel, 2008): 8/10
Avengers: Endgame (Anthony Russo & Joe Russo): 7/10
Pain and Glory (Perdo Almodóvar, 2019): 8/10
The Post (Steven Spielberg, 2017): 7/10
Life of the Party (Ben Falcone, 2018): 6/10
Closely Watched Trains (Jiří Menzel, 1966): 8/10
Through a Glass Darkly (Ingmar Bergman, 1961): 10/10
The Stranger (Orson Welles, 1946): 6/10
"If you place an object in a museum, does that make this object a piece of art?" - The Square (2017)
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Precious Doll
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Joker (2019) Todd Phillips 7/10
Bigger (2018) George Gallo 4/10
The Living Koheiji (1982) Nobuo Nakagawa 6/10
Amin (2018) Philippe Faucon 5/10
Repeat viewings
Van Gogh (1991) Maurice Pialat 8/10
Lust for Life (1956) Vincente Minnelli 7/10
Young Torless (1966) Volker Schlöndorff 7/10
Paperhouse (1988) Bernard Rose 7/10
The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) Jacques Demy 7/10
High and Low (1963) Akira Kurosawa 10/10
Risky Business (1967) Andre Cayatte 8/10
Diamantino (2018) Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt 8/10
The Major and the Minor (1942) Billy Wilder 7/10
Bigger (2018) George Gallo 4/10
The Living Koheiji (1982) Nobuo Nakagawa 6/10
Amin (2018) Philippe Faucon 5/10
Repeat viewings
Van Gogh (1991) Maurice Pialat 8/10
Lust for Life (1956) Vincente Minnelli 7/10
Young Torless (1966) Volker Schlöndorff 7/10
Paperhouse (1988) Bernard Rose 7/10
The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967) Jacques Demy 7/10
High and Low (1963) Akira Kurosawa 10/10
Risky Business (1967) Andre Cayatte 8/10
Diamantino (2018) Gabriel Abrantes & Daniel Schmidt 8/10
The Major and the Minor (1942) Billy Wilder 7/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
La bella mugnaia / The Miller's Beautiful Wife (Mario Camerini, 1955) 6/10
Rather silly farce has a number of endearing qualities going in its favour - handsome production values, a vivid sense of time and place set during 17th century Naples (occupied then by Spain) amongst the peasant lot, the frantic mugging of Vittoria De Sica, the ravishing beauty of Sophia Loren in one of her early teamings with the young and very handsome Marcello Mastroianni. The lusty and hardhearted Governor of Naples (Vittorio De Sica) keeps increases taxes on the poor peasants and has lascivious designs on other men's wives. When he attempts to seduce the boistrous and sexy wife (Sophia Loren) of the local miller (Marcello Mastroianni) all hell breaks loose as male honour is hurt and revenge becomes the order of the day. Typical Italian sex farce has the camera oogling the female anatomy with its titillating focus on legs and ample bosoms. An "attitude" considered pretty tame in Europe resulted in the Catholic Legion of Decency condemning the film in prudish United States. The cast clearly appear to be having a ball with the animated proceedings. Special mention to the lovely Greek actress Yvonne Sanson as the Governor's neglected but regal and clever wife.
Catherine the Great (Philip Martin, 2019) 7/10
Did Catherine the Great die while fornicating with a stallion? An urban legend claimed she was crushed to death when the harness holding the horse above her snapped. She actually died the old fashioned way in bed of a stroke which struck her while on the loo. Many rumours have run rife about the flamboyant and very powerful Empress Catherine II of Russia who was instrumental in modernizing the Empire and winning major wars - the Turks were massacred amongst other military victories. Her interest in erotic art - a notorious cabinet with penises for legs and carvings of vulvas and penises on it - were mere rumours and never substantiated. She did have an insatiable desire for sex with 22 lovers on record (including the King of Poland) who benefitted by the "association" with her and many of these lovers were much younger. Her long and very eventful reign deserved a longer mini-series instead of the four short parts we get here. Also Dame Helen Mirren, at 75, is far too old to play the 43-year old Empress when the story begins. It's to her credit that this great actress manages to carry off the role barking orders dripping with sarcasm and parrying with great humour with the Countess Proskovya (Gina Mckee) who was her official "tester of male capacity"; every potential lover was to spend a night with the Countess before he was admitted into Catherine's personal apartments. Mirren "gets" the regal bit down pat (she earlier played both Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II to great acclaim) dressed to her teeth in silk brocades and dripping in jewels. The screenplay jumps right to the period when she took over the throne after a coup and the murder of Emperor Peter III, her nasty ill-tempered husband. She has to contend with a weak but ambitious son who wants the throne (this idiot, when he finally came to the throne for a short while, ordered that henceforth no woman would be allowed to rule Russia. None ever did), serfs who are beginning to rebel, wars in the South and the Far Eastern Frontier and the nobility who are forever plotting. By her side is the great love of her life - the great military commander Grigory Potemkin - who rumour had it was her secret husband. Potemkin is spoken of as this gorgeous hunk all women are crazy about but its quite problematic to see the portly and very fleshy Jason Clarke take on the role. He too overcomes this historical inaccuracy by delivering a performance that is forceful, amusing and eccentric capturing a man who loved his Country and Empress with full fervour. The film does not skimp on opulence and like the two stars delivers a full scale scenery-chewing drama shot in and around glorious but gaudy palaces. Finally the film's success rests on the shoulders of the actress who also produced the mini-series and she comes up a winner ensuring she is in full DAME HELEN MIRREN mode making her character steely and saucy by turn. A fun look at Russian history.
Rather silly farce has a number of endearing qualities going in its favour - handsome production values, a vivid sense of time and place set during 17th century Naples (occupied then by Spain) amongst the peasant lot, the frantic mugging of Vittoria De Sica, the ravishing beauty of Sophia Loren in one of her early teamings with the young and very handsome Marcello Mastroianni. The lusty and hardhearted Governor of Naples (Vittorio De Sica) keeps increases taxes on the poor peasants and has lascivious designs on other men's wives. When he attempts to seduce the boistrous and sexy wife (Sophia Loren) of the local miller (Marcello Mastroianni) all hell breaks loose as male honour is hurt and revenge becomes the order of the day. Typical Italian sex farce has the camera oogling the female anatomy with its titillating focus on legs and ample bosoms. An "attitude" considered pretty tame in Europe resulted in the Catholic Legion of Decency condemning the film in prudish United States. The cast clearly appear to be having a ball with the animated proceedings. Special mention to the lovely Greek actress Yvonne Sanson as the Governor's neglected but regal and clever wife.
Catherine the Great (Philip Martin, 2019) 7/10
Did Catherine the Great die while fornicating with a stallion? An urban legend claimed she was crushed to death when the harness holding the horse above her snapped. She actually died the old fashioned way in bed of a stroke which struck her while on the loo. Many rumours have run rife about the flamboyant and very powerful Empress Catherine II of Russia who was instrumental in modernizing the Empire and winning major wars - the Turks were massacred amongst other military victories. Her interest in erotic art - a notorious cabinet with penises for legs and carvings of vulvas and penises on it - were mere rumours and never substantiated. She did have an insatiable desire for sex with 22 lovers on record (including the King of Poland) who benefitted by the "association" with her and many of these lovers were much younger. Her long and very eventful reign deserved a longer mini-series instead of the four short parts we get here. Also Dame Helen Mirren, at 75, is far too old to play the 43-year old Empress when the story begins. It's to her credit that this great actress manages to carry off the role barking orders dripping with sarcasm and parrying with great humour with the Countess Proskovya (Gina Mckee) who was her official "tester of male capacity"; every potential lover was to spend a night with the Countess before he was admitted into Catherine's personal apartments. Mirren "gets" the regal bit down pat (she earlier played both Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II to great acclaim) dressed to her teeth in silk brocades and dripping in jewels. The screenplay jumps right to the period when she took over the throne after a coup and the murder of Emperor Peter III, her nasty ill-tempered husband. She has to contend with a weak but ambitious son who wants the throne (this idiot, when he finally came to the throne for a short while, ordered that henceforth no woman would be allowed to rule Russia. None ever did), serfs who are beginning to rebel, wars in the South and the Far Eastern Frontier and the nobility who are forever plotting. By her side is the great love of her life - the great military commander Grigory Potemkin - who rumour had it was her secret husband. Potemkin is spoken of as this gorgeous hunk all women are crazy about but its quite problematic to see the portly and very fleshy Jason Clarke take on the role. He too overcomes this historical inaccuracy by delivering a performance that is forceful, amusing and eccentric capturing a man who loved his Country and Empress with full fervour. The film does not skimp on opulence and like the two stars delivers a full scale scenery-chewing drama shot in and around glorious but gaudy palaces. Finally the film's success rests on the shoulders of the actress who also produced the mini-series and she comes up a winner ensuring she is in full DAME HELEN MIRREN mode making her character steely and saucy by turn. A fun look at Russian history.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Le mura di Malapaga / Au-delà des grilles / The Walls of Malapaga (René Clément, 1949) 10/10
Italian-French co-production, which won an Oscar, is one of the great doomed romances but sadly forgotten today. The two films that similarly won Oscars in the foreign film category right before and after this one were by De Sica ("Bicycle Thieves") and Kurosawa ("Rashomon") which are both fondly remembered and revived. Yet this masterpiece remains forgotten. It revived the career of star Gabin after the War years. It's a return to his familiar pre-war screen persona of the tough but doomed fugitive. A middle-aged drifter (Jean Gabin) escapes the authorities in Paris after murdering his twenty-two year old girlfriend, because she told him that he was too old for her. Escaping on a ship he is forced to disembark in Genoa because of a toothache. After getting mugged and having his tooth removed he decides to turn himself in at a police station. However, he sees an attractive woman (Isa Miranda) and follows her to a trattoria where she works and charms her into providing him a free meal after which he confesses his previous crime. Already intrigued by him she is grateful when he later comes to her rescue as she is being physically threatened by her ex-husband who keeps trying to kidnap their precocious teenage daughter. Soon both women fall under his spell as mother and daughter vye for his attention, each jealous of the other, leading to the stark and sudden downbeat ending which was de rigueur for such doomed romances. The film is in the style of French poetic realism but with strong overtones of Italian neo-realism (Cesare Zavattini was one of the writers) with scenes shot on location in bombed-out Genoa. Gabin is superb in his usual understated manner while the lovely Miranda, resembling the mature Garbo, provides a passionate portrait of a sad woman who lights up as love enters her life however briefly. Clément maintains a hauntingly melancholy mood throughout as the two lonely souls, caught in the undertow of life, play out their seemingly hopeful but ultimately doomed relationship. Both Clément and Miranda won richly deserved prizes at the Cannes film festival.
Stuber (Michael Bowse, 2019) 6/10
Two polar opposites meet under trying circumstances and on a long day's journey into night become buddies. A huge cop (David Bautista), just out of eye surgery and almost blind, goes after a seedy drugpin who killed his partner. Getting into an Uber taxi he involves the hapless driver (Kumail Nanjiani) into a nightmare of stakeouts and shootings. Slapstick pratfalls and a couple of laugh-out-loud moments intermingle with scenes of excessive violence. It's nothing we haven't seen before in countless similar films - "48 Hours" & " Lethal Weapon" were two of the best - but the two leads go through their paces milking their antagonistic chemistry for all its worth. And hey, we now have our own Oscar nominated Pakistani boy - Nanjiani - playing lead roles in Hollywood.
Les adieux à la reine / Farewell, My Queen (Benoît Jacquot, 2012) 6/10
Lavish production set during the last three days in the life of Marie Antoinette (Diane Kruger) in July 1789. The French Revolution rumbles on in Paris but the Royal family and courtiers continue life as usual at the Château de Versailles. Mild irritation turns to panic after the Bastille is stormed and a list is circulated with the Queen's name at the top as the first to be beheaded. Very unpopular with the Parisienne aristocrats and the common people, all of whom gossip about her indulgence in same sex proclivities and wild orgies - during the later hysteria at her trial she was also accused of incest with her son. Rumours are rampant about the Queen's sexual involvement with the Duchess of Polignac (Virginie Ledoyen), a longtime trusted companion, also hated by the Court. The screenplay covers these events from the perspective of a wide-eyed servant girl (Léa Seydoux) who is also the Queen's reader and in whom she puts her trust to carry out a special assignment related to her lover. The maid, smitten by the beautiful Queen, is more than thrilled to serve her every wish. The director presents all this court intrigue in an obscure manner with little fanfare as we see it all play out through the eyes and ears of the maid who is not a privileged witness to history, but she is clever and resourceful in using her palace friends to ferret out bits and pieces of information about the goings on around her. Unfortunately this muted manner in which the drama unfolds works against it. The extravagant and oversized characters are unfortunately held at arm's length when they should have been over-the-top. One keeps expecting camp of the highest order along with lashings of sex but sadly it's not to be. The entire film is shot inside the Palace at Versailles giving it a feeling of immediacy. The camera wanders through each opulent gold-tinted room, with mirrored walls and ceilings, capturing the place in all its garish splendor. The film won richly deserved César awards for the rich cinematography, costumes and production design. The film, Jacquot, Seydoux, its screenplay, editing and sound design were all nominated.
Brief Encounter (Alan Bridges, 1974) 6/10
Remake of the classic David Lean film which is based on Nöel Coward's play, "Still Life". This version has been moved from the War years to contemporary times and since it's a Carlo Ponti production the role of the quintessential British wife now becomes Italian and played by Mrs Ponti herself. A married social worker (Sophia Loren) by chance meets a married doctor (Richard Burton) at a railway station. It's a very brief encounter as he helps remove grit from her eye. They meet again by chance and this time talk and get to know each other. When he insists she agrees to see him yet again although she feels guilty. The relationship is platonic but gradually love begins to creep in forcing them both to come to terms with their feelings and deciding on a direction to take. Lean's version hangs ominously over this one but the two stars manage to easily keep the simple story afloat. Burton, who is quietly understated and heartbreaking, was a last minute addition to the cast after Robert Shaw jumped ship for a bigger paycheck from Steven Spielberg for a role in "Jaws" instead. It is unfair to compare Burton and Loren to the sublime Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson in the original. Both manage to subdue their huge star personas here and convincingly portray these two very "ordinary" characters. This was their second film appearance together and their great chemistry is clearly visible on screen.
La moglie più bella / The Most Beautiful Wife (Damiano Damiani, 1970) 6/10
In Sicily a Don's arrogant young nephew first courts and then rapes a fifteen-year old peasant (Ornella Muti) girl and later offers his hand in marriage. To his intense surprise she refuses and decides to teach him a lesson much to his annoyance. After openly going against this old custom, where victims relent and marry their attackers, she is made an outcast by the villagers and her parents. With the help of a cop she agrees to stand up to the Mafia despite still harbouring love for the man who had assaulted her and who continues to ridicule and insult her. Shocking scenario, true to the culture where it exists, is carried by the strong but deadpan screen presence of the very beautiful Ornella Muti (with those mesmerizing blue eyes) who at age 15 made her screen debut with this film.
Italian-French co-production, which won an Oscar, is one of the great doomed romances but sadly forgotten today. The two films that similarly won Oscars in the foreign film category right before and after this one were by De Sica ("Bicycle Thieves") and Kurosawa ("Rashomon") which are both fondly remembered and revived. Yet this masterpiece remains forgotten. It revived the career of star Gabin after the War years. It's a return to his familiar pre-war screen persona of the tough but doomed fugitive. A middle-aged drifter (Jean Gabin) escapes the authorities in Paris after murdering his twenty-two year old girlfriend, because she told him that he was too old for her. Escaping on a ship he is forced to disembark in Genoa because of a toothache. After getting mugged and having his tooth removed he decides to turn himself in at a police station. However, he sees an attractive woman (Isa Miranda) and follows her to a trattoria where she works and charms her into providing him a free meal after which he confesses his previous crime. Already intrigued by him she is grateful when he later comes to her rescue as she is being physically threatened by her ex-husband who keeps trying to kidnap their precocious teenage daughter. Soon both women fall under his spell as mother and daughter vye for his attention, each jealous of the other, leading to the stark and sudden downbeat ending which was de rigueur for such doomed romances. The film is in the style of French poetic realism but with strong overtones of Italian neo-realism (Cesare Zavattini was one of the writers) with scenes shot on location in bombed-out Genoa. Gabin is superb in his usual understated manner while the lovely Miranda, resembling the mature Garbo, provides a passionate portrait of a sad woman who lights up as love enters her life however briefly. Clément maintains a hauntingly melancholy mood throughout as the two lonely souls, caught in the undertow of life, play out their seemingly hopeful but ultimately doomed relationship. Both Clément and Miranda won richly deserved prizes at the Cannes film festival.
Stuber (Michael Bowse, 2019) 6/10
Two polar opposites meet under trying circumstances and on a long day's journey into night become buddies. A huge cop (David Bautista), just out of eye surgery and almost blind, goes after a seedy drugpin who killed his partner. Getting into an Uber taxi he involves the hapless driver (Kumail Nanjiani) into a nightmare of stakeouts and shootings. Slapstick pratfalls and a couple of laugh-out-loud moments intermingle with scenes of excessive violence. It's nothing we haven't seen before in countless similar films - "48 Hours" & " Lethal Weapon" were two of the best - but the two leads go through their paces milking their antagonistic chemistry for all its worth. And hey, we now have our own Oscar nominated Pakistani boy - Nanjiani - playing lead roles in Hollywood.
Les adieux à la reine / Farewell, My Queen (Benoît Jacquot, 2012) 6/10
Lavish production set during the last three days in the life of Marie Antoinette (Diane Kruger) in July 1789. The French Revolution rumbles on in Paris but the Royal family and courtiers continue life as usual at the Château de Versailles. Mild irritation turns to panic after the Bastille is stormed and a list is circulated with the Queen's name at the top as the first to be beheaded. Very unpopular with the Parisienne aristocrats and the common people, all of whom gossip about her indulgence in same sex proclivities and wild orgies - during the later hysteria at her trial she was also accused of incest with her son. Rumours are rampant about the Queen's sexual involvement with the Duchess of Polignac (Virginie Ledoyen), a longtime trusted companion, also hated by the Court. The screenplay covers these events from the perspective of a wide-eyed servant girl (Léa Seydoux) who is also the Queen's reader and in whom she puts her trust to carry out a special assignment related to her lover. The maid, smitten by the beautiful Queen, is more than thrilled to serve her every wish. The director presents all this court intrigue in an obscure manner with little fanfare as we see it all play out through the eyes and ears of the maid who is not a privileged witness to history, but she is clever and resourceful in using her palace friends to ferret out bits and pieces of information about the goings on around her. Unfortunately this muted manner in which the drama unfolds works against it. The extravagant and oversized characters are unfortunately held at arm's length when they should have been over-the-top. One keeps expecting camp of the highest order along with lashings of sex but sadly it's not to be. The entire film is shot inside the Palace at Versailles giving it a feeling of immediacy. The camera wanders through each opulent gold-tinted room, with mirrored walls and ceilings, capturing the place in all its garish splendor. The film won richly deserved César awards for the rich cinematography, costumes and production design. The film, Jacquot, Seydoux, its screenplay, editing and sound design were all nominated.
Brief Encounter (Alan Bridges, 1974) 6/10
Remake of the classic David Lean film which is based on Nöel Coward's play, "Still Life". This version has been moved from the War years to contemporary times and since it's a Carlo Ponti production the role of the quintessential British wife now becomes Italian and played by Mrs Ponti herself. A married social worker (Sophia Loren) by chance meets a married doctor (Richard Burton) at a railway station. It's a very brief encounter as he helps remove grit from her eye. They meet again by chance and this time talk and get to know each other. When he insists she agrees to see him yet again although she feels guilty. The relationship is platonic but gradually love begins to creep in forcing them both to come to terms with their feelings and deciding on a direction to take. Lean's version hangs ominously over this one but the two stars manage to easily keep the simple story afloat. Burton, who is quietly understated and heartbreaking, was a last minute addition to the cast after Robert Shaw jumped ship for a bigger paycheck from Steven Spielberg for a role in "Jaws" instead. It is unfair to compare Burton and Loren to the sublime Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson in the original. Both manage to subdue their huge star personas here and convincingly portray these two very "ordinary" characters. This was their second film appearance together and their great chemistry is clearly visible on screen.
La moglie più bella / The Most Beautiful Wife (Damiano Damiani, 1970) 6/10
In Sicily a Don's arrogant young nephew first courts and then rapes a fifteen-year old peasant (Ornella Muti) girl and later offers his hand in marriage. To his intense surprise she refuses and decides to teach him a lesson much to his annoyance. After openly going against this old custom, where victims relent and marry their attackers, she is made an outcast by the villagers and her parents. With the help of a cop she agrees to stand up to the Mafia despite still harbouring love for the man who had assaulted her and who continues to ridicule and insult her. Shocking scenario, true to the culture where it exists, is carried by the strong but deadpan screen presence of the very beautiful Ornella Muti (with those mesmerizing blue eyes) who at age 15 made her screen debut with this film.
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Giordano Bruno (Giuliano Montaldo, 1973) 8/10
This lavish Carlo Ponti production, dazzlingly photographed in burnt yellow hues by the great Vittorio Storraro, superb production design, costumes (Enrico Sabbatini) and score (Ennio Morricone), covers the last few years in the life of Giordano Bruno played by the intense Gian Maria Volontè. A Dominican friar in Italy during the 16th century, he was born during a period that proved fatal to a man of his intellect and strong views. A renaissance philosopher, mathematician, poet, cosmological theorist, and Hermetic occultist, he was tried for heresy by the Roman Inquisition on charges of denial of several core Catholic doctrines which included eternal damnation, the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, the virginity of Mary and transubstantiation (the Catholic belief that the bread and wine offered as sacrifice during mass becomes the body of Jesus Christ). His strong beliefs were a clash between religion and science and became a recipe for disaster for him in an era when the Catholic Church sought to consolidate it's power over a changing world and persecuted many like Bruno, Copernicus and Galileo for their advanced and free thinking ideas. Religious hysteria and superstition of the illiterate public also played a part in his final undoing. The screenplay plays out his final years after having escaped Italy and several years spent teaching and talking about his scientific, philosophical and religious views across Europe. Returning to Venice he is fêted by rich households. Charlotte Rampling plays the sensual mistress of a rich man who is fascinated by Bruno's command of the occult and has a memorable and fairly graphic nude moment as he fondles her breast while she writhes and moans in ecstacy as he appears to have full mental control over her. He is betrayed to the Church and is brought to trial and put in prison where he repents. To save face and scandal he is sent to Rome and the Vatican where he is again tried inconclusively after he defends himself against the hyped up charges and condemned to be burnt at the stake by Pope Clement VIII after spending six years in prison. The film has memorable scenes set inside spectacular homes and buildings in Venice and the Vatican with their elaborate frescos on walls and ceilings and exquisitely designed marble floors. Volontè is superb in an understated way portraying this passionate man with all his brilliance and flaws.
The Hours (Stephen Daldry, 2002) 7/10
Moving adaptation (by David Hare) of the Pulitzer prize winning novel by Michael Cunningham. Three different generation of women are deeply affected by "Mrs. Dalloway", the novel by Virginia Woolf, as each deal with suicide in their lives. Daldry uses staccato editing to bridge the three different periods using short scenes and flitting from one to the other. This forces the viewer to stay alert to the nuances of the dialogue and the actor's movements which often blend into one another. The film opens in 1941 with the suicide of British writer Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) who drowns herself in a river near her Richmond home. A flashback to 1923 shows a deeply disturbed Woolf, a patient of bipolar disorder with suicidal tendencies, living a tenuous life with her patient but worried husband (Stephen Dillane) who keeps a close watch over her. She has just started writing the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" and is visited by her sister (Miranda Richardson) and her rowdy kids. In 1951 a pregnant Los Angeles housewife (Julianne Moore) with a young son and jolly husband (John C. Reilly) feels stifled in her marriage and contemplates suicide but decides against it at the last minute and instead makes a calculated but drastic decision that will have disturbing consequences with her son. In 2001 a bisexual woman (Meryl Streep), with a daughter (Claire Danes) and lover (Allison Janney), lives in Manhattan and cares for her former lover (Ed Harris) who suffers from AIDS. She plans an elaborate party for her dying friend, who has been awarded a prize for his poetry, but he resists the attention saying he wants to die in peace. A traumatic event has the author's old mother arrive who admits that she had abandoned her family years before as she chose to live instead of die while stuck in her happy marriage. The struggle for a life of consequence runs through all three stories and is superbly acted by a fine cast. Kidman, wearing a prosthetic nose to resemble Woolf, won an Oscar while the film, Daldry, Harris, Moore, the literate screenplay, editing, score (by Phillip Glass) and costumes were all nominated.
Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan, 2005) 6/10
Batman gets a reboot with Christopher Nolan providing a more serious and expressionistic take on this comic book hero. Christian Bale plays the character in total pissed-off mode (apparently he hated every moment wearing the tight bat suit) which actually helps his performance. The screenplay covers the familiar trope of his childhood days and of his parents getting gunned down followed by intense guilt as he grows up. Trained by two offbeat characters (Liam Neeson & Ken Watanabe) he returns to crime-ridden Gotham City to try and bring order. He is helped in this quest by his butler, Alfred (Sir Michael Caine - playing a more jovial version of the man-servant played by Sir John Gielgud in "Arthur", although the amusing and biting sarcasm remains), a childhood friend (Katie Holmes), a professor (Morgan Freeman) and Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman). The film has wonderful scenes as we see Batman get his act together - the underground cavern below his mansion, the introduction of his batsuit and batmobile. Unfortunately the film then delves into familiar territory as he battles two villains, a local Don (Tom Wilkinson) and the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), with a lot of noisy action. Just when you hope the movie is going to end there is a final twist and the action carries on and on. The excessive length just kills it. Nolan would go on to make two further films, both critically acclaimed, which I found terribly overrated, excessively long and unbearable to sit through although his dark vision and fantastic production values were absolutely perfect giving the trilogy an aura of importance.
This lavish Carlo Ponti production, dazzlingly photographed in burnt yellow hues by the great Vittorio Storraro, superb production design, costumes (Enrico Sabbatini) and score (Ennio Morricone), covers the last few years in the life of Giordano Bruno played by the intense Gian Maria Volontè. A Dominican friar in Italy during the 16th century, he was born during a period that proved fatal to a man of his intellect and strong views. A renaissance philosopher, mathematician, poet, cosmological theorist, and Hermetic occultist, he was tried for heresy by the Roman Inquisition on charges of denial of several core Catholic doctrines which included eternal damnation, the Trinity, the divinity of Christ, the virginity of Mary and transubstantiation (the Catholic belief that the bread and wine offered as sacrifice during mass becomes the body of Jesus Christ). His strong beliefs were a clash between religion and science and became a recipe for disaster for him in an era when the Catholic Church sought to consolidate it's power over a changing world and persecuted many like Bruno, Copernicus and Galileo for their advanced and free thinking ideas. Religious hysteria and superstition of the illiterate public also played a part in his final undoing. The screenplay plays out his final years after having escaped Italy and several years spent teaching and talking about his scientific, philosophical and religious views across Europe. Returning to Venice he is fêted by rich households. Charlotte Rampling plays the sensual mistress of a rich man who is fascinated by Bruno's command of the occult and has a memorable and fairly graphic nude moment as he fondles her breast while she writhes and moans in ecstacy as he appears to have full mental control over her. He is betrayed to the Church and is brought to trial and put in prison where he repents. To save face and scandal he is sent to Rome and the Vatican where he is again tried inconclusively after he defends himself against the hyped up charges and condemned to be burnt at the stake by Pope Clement VIII after spending six years in prison. The film has memorable scenes set inside spectacular homes and buildings in Venice and the Vatican with their elaborate frescos on walls and ceilings and exquisitely designed marble floors. Volontè is superb in an understated way portraying this passionate man with all his brilliance and flaws.
The Hours (Stephen Daldry, 2002) 7/10
Moving adaptation (by David Hare) of the Pulitzer prize winning novel by Michael Cunningham. Three different generation of women are deeply affected by "Mrs. Dalloway", the novel by Virginia Woolf, as each deal with suicide in their lives. Daldry uses staccato editing to bridge the three different periods using short scenes and flitting from one to the other. This forces the viewer to stay alert to the nuances of the dialogue and the actor's movements which often blend into one another. The film opens in 1941 with the suicide of British writer Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) who drowns herself in a river near her Richmond home. A flashback to 1923 shows a deeply disturbed Woolf, a patient of bipolar disorder with suicidal tendencies, living a tenuous life with her patient but worried husband (Stephen Dillane) who keeps a close watch over her. She has just started writing the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" and is visited by her sister (Miranda Richardson) and her rowdy kids. In 1951 a pregnant Los Angeles housewife (Julianne Moore) with a young son and jolly husband (John C. Reilly) feels stifled in her marriage and contemplates suicide but decides against it at the last minute and instead makes a calculated but drastic decision that will have disturbing consequences with her son. In 2001 a bisexual woman (Meryl Streep), with a daughter (Claire Danes) and lover (Allison Janney), lives in Manhattan and cares for her former lover (Ed Harris) who suffers from AIDS. She plans an elaborate party for her dying friend, who has been awarded a prize for his poetry, but he resists the attention saying he wants to die in peace. A traumatic event has the author's old mother arrive who admits that she had abandoned her family years before as she chose to live instead of die while stuck in her happy marriage. The struggle for a life of consequence runs through all three stories and is superbly acted by a fine cast. Kidman, wearing a prosthetic nose to resemble Woolf, won an Oscar while the film, Daldry, Harris, Moore, the literate screenplay, editing, score (by Phillip Glass) and costumes were all nominated.
Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan, 2005) 6/10
Batman gets a reboot with Christopher Nolan providing a more serious and expressionistic take on this comic book hero. Christian Bale plays the character in total pissed-off mode (apparently he hated every moment wearing the tight bat suit) which actually helps his performance. The screenplay covers the familiar trope of his childhood days and of his parents getting gunned down followed by intense guilt as he grows up. Trained by two offbeat characters (Liam Neeson & Ken Watanabe) he returns to crime-ridden Gotham City to try and bring order. He is helped in this quest by his butler, Alfred (Sir Michael Caine - playing a more jovial version of the man-servant played by Sir John Gielgud in "Arthur", although the amusing and biting sarcasm remains), a childhood friend (Katie Holmes), a professor (Morgan Freeman) and Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman). The film has wonderful scenes as we see Batman get his act together - the underground cavern below his mansion, the introduction of his batsuit and batmobile. Unfortunately the film then delves into familiar territory as he battles two villains, a local Don (Tom Wilkinson) and the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), with a lot of noisy action. Just when you hope the movie is going to end there is a final twist and the action carries on and on. The excessive length just kills it. Nolan would go on to make two further films, both critically acclaimed, which I found terribly overrated, excessively long and unbearable to sit through although his dark vision and fantastic production values were absolutely perfect giving the trilogy an aura of importance.
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Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Buoyancy (2019) Rodd Rathjen 5/10
The Dead Don't Die (2019) Jim Jarmusch 4/10
Half a House (1975) Brice Mack 4/10
Jigoki (Hell) (1960) Nobuo Nakagawa 8/10
Hot Tomorrows (1977) Martin Brest 6/10
Chernobyl (2019) Johan Renck 8/10
The Bride from Hades (1968) Satsuo Yamamoto 6/10
Monster Party (2018) Chris von Hoffmann 4/10
Repeat viewings
Death in a French Garden (1985) Michel Deville 8/10
Police (1985) Maurice Pialat 7/10
Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979) Joan Micklin Silver 6/10
Quartet (1981) James Ivory 4/10
Under Satan's Sun (1987) Maurice Pialat 7/10
The Dead Don't Die (2019) Jim Jarmusch 4/10
Half a House (1975) Brice Mack 4/10
Jigoki (Hell) (1960) Nobuo Nakagawa 8/10
Hot Tomorrows (1977) Martin Brest 6/10
Chernobyl (2019) Johan Renck 8/10
The Bride from Hades (1968) Satsuo Yamamoto 6/10
Monster Party (2018) Chris von Hoffmann 4/10
Repeat viewings
Death in a French Garden (1985) Michel Deville 8/10
Police (1985) Maurice Pialat 7/10
Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979) Joan Micklin Silver 6/10
Quartet (1981) James Ivory 4/10
Under Satan's Sun (1987) Maurice Pialat 7/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Re: Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
Joker (Todd Phillips, 2019) 10/10
The first thing that hits you squarely in the eye is the city itself. Gotham City by way of New York City. It is not the city of Woody Allen but has the foul stench, squalor and urban chaos of Martin Scorsese's vision of hell in his classic "Taxi Driver". Todd Phillips not only pays homage to this film but also to the same director's "King of Comedy" and Sidney Lumet's "Network", films about anger, loneliness and mental illness, which he channels into creating a disturbing yet emotionally gratifying re-imagining of the iconic DC comic book villain "Joker". The smart screenplay incorporates elements from "Batman" but comes across more as a character study of a pathetically disenfranchised young man living in a fiercely divided city. Arthur (Joaquin Phoenix) has a history of mental illness and a medical condition that prompts him to laugh uncontrollably often at awkward moments. He lives in a squalid apartment with his invalid mother (Frances Conroy). He works as a clown for hire with dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian and appearing on a popular talk show starring a smug host (Robert De Niro). His sad life consists of trying to survive in a city full of vicious people the brunt of which he faces during a brutal beating at the hands of a bunch of rowdy teen hoodlums. Trying to remain positive - he likes to paint his face with a joker's smile - he often resorts to delusional fantasies where he imagines being befriended by a neighbor (Zazie Beetz) and being invited on to the talk show. When a work colleague gives him a gun his life moves into a different direction. The vigilante killing of three yuppies on a train, an encounter with the rich man running for mayor who he believes to be his father and the final betrayal involving his mother pushes him completely over the edge. He now completely transforms into the Joker with great relish. Phoenix, who lost a great deal of weight for the role, shows off his almost reptilian body, contorting it in constant balletic motion. This is a great physical performance and the actor compliments it by using his expressive eyes and the grotesque make-up to create a unique and highly original version of the comic book character. Phillips superbly stages the violent set pieces each of which is played out accompanied by songs on the soundtrack by Gary Glitter, Cream and Sinatra which are used in a sly and ironic way. The film's gritty look is achieved through the combined talents of a number of technicians - the remarkable camerawork of Lawrence Sher, who bathes his images using deep hues, the production design which mixes recent shots of the city along with streets that hark back to the filth strewn pre-Mayor Giuliani New York with its flourishing porn theaters and a thundering orchestral score by Hildur Gudnadóttir. There is also a glaring message about the link between mental illness and the almost regular mass shootings in the United States where lone gunmen spray bullets inside schools, cinemas and restaurants. But in the end the film belongs to Phoenix who does not make any false step. It is a deeply emotional performance and the actor walks a dangerous tightrope while managing to keep his character loathsome yet sympathetic at the same time. It is a performance for the ages and deserves to finally win him the Oscar.
Wagon Master (John Ford, 1950) 7/10
Elgiac film was director Ford's personal favourite of all his films. A much travelled Western situation - a dangerous cross-country journey - is presented in a highly poetic style helped in great part by the striking black and white cinematography by Bert Glennon which makes many of the scenes look like paintings - no film of Ford is complete without Monument Valley figuring prominently. A group of mormons, led by their blustery head (Ward Bond), hope to reach the promised land of San Juan Valley in Utah. Two drifters (Ben Johnson and Harry Catey Jr.) act as their wagon masters on the journey. Along the way they pick up several colorful characters - a fake medicine man (Alan Mowbray), a prostitute (Joanne Dru) and a gang of outlaws - and also encounter Navajo Indians. The film's strong pacifist theme and a reverance for mormons was unusual in a Western at the time which helps this film to stand out. This is not a typical Ford film (John Wayne is nowhere to be seen and there is no charge by rampaging Indians) and the story's episodic nature made it a natural for television where it saw great success adapted as the series "Wagon Train", which ran for eight years.
Cronache di poveri amanti / Chronicle of Poor Lovers (Carlo Lazzani, 1954) 7/10
Fascinating to see Florence before the hordes of tourists took over the streets of which one plays an important part in this story. The film, based on an acclaimed novel by Vasco Pratolini, charts the inhabitants of one narrow Florentine street - the Via del Corno - during the 1920s which houses a disparate group of working class people living in cramped apartments above. The fascists have started to put a tight grip on society and cause consternation with their violent ways. Everyone on the street knows each other and take great delight acting as voyeurs to the sexual and political shenanigans in play. The plot follows the love lives of three young girls - Anna Maria Ferrero, Cosetta Greco, Antonella Lualdi - who are entwined in love and betrayal. A young lodger (Gabriele Tinti) loves and leaves his girlfriend for a married woman while the neighborhood lothario (Marcello Mastroianni) is having it off with his landlord's wife. Overseeing them all from her bed is a grotesque old loanshark (Wanda Capodaglio who is hilarious - the character in the book was a lesbian which for the film was changed due to the censors). Violence at the hands of the fascists change lives forever. Most of the film is shot at night by the great Gianni Di Venanzo as his camera weaves through the narrow cobbled streets. Interesting film with a cast of actors who would go on to become big stars.
Suspicion - Fraction of a Second (John Brahm, 1958) 6/10
An episode from "Suspicion", an anthalogy tv series, and based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier. A woman (Bette Davis) steps out of her house to send off her young daughter to school. On her return back home she narrowly escapes being hit by a vehicle and discovers three strangers living inside the house who claim they are all boarders at a rooming house. The police also confirm that it is not her house but take her to meet a woman who has the same name as her daughter. Insisting she is right and everyone is trying to confuse her she discovers that the young woman went to the same school as her daughter but twenty years before. She also says that she looks like her mother who died in an accident twenty years ago. Is the woman delusional or is she an escaped mental patient? Or a ghost? One of many tv appearances during the 1950s by Bette Davis and photographed by Ernest Haller who shot many of her films at Warner Brothers when she was at the peak of her stardom. Spooky and sad story very similar to an episode of the "Twillight Zone".
Bello onesto emigrato Australia sposerebbe compaesana illibata / Handsome honest emigrant in Australia would marry chaste fellow-countrywoman / A Woman in Australia (Luigi Zampa, 1971) 5/10
The incredibly long Italian title basically provides the entire plot of this rather silly film. It is also a road movie as two lonely souls, looking for companionship and a better life, come together under strange circumstnces and under false pretenses. An Italian immigrant (Alberto Sordi), long a resident of Australia, is a shy and middle-aged bachelor with old fashioned values who is desperate to get married. He wants to marry a virgin from back home and often sends his photo through a lonely hearts column in a newspaper back in Italy only to get rejected each time. When he sees a photo of a peasant girl he decides to send a photo of his better looking friend in order to get her to accept his marriage proposal. The woman is actually a prostitute who wants to get away from her pimp and pretends to be a factory worker in order to land a husband in Australia. He picks her up at the airport and they take a long and antagonistic drive to the outback where surprises are in store for both when each discovers the truth about each other. Frantic, loud comedy is about mistaken identities, culture clash and an excuse for two great stars to have a romp together while filming on exotic Australian locations. Lovely Cardinale won a David award but Sordi, with his hang-dog expression, is equally good. The film is no classic but is a charming entertainer that brings on frequent smiles.
Il giorno della civetta / The Day of the Owl / Mafia (Damiano Damiani, 1968) 9/10
Riveting film shows the Mafia's hold on Sicilian life with the police, judiciary, the Catholic Church and senior government officials powerless to do anything because they are all on this powerful organization's payroll. The screenplay (based on a novel by Leonardo Sciascia), a poliziesco, revolves around the new police chief (Franco Nero) in a small town in Sicily who comes up against powerful forces which he hopes to break. A man witnesses a hit on a truck driver and disappears. The police question the man's wife (Claudia Cardinale) who is scared but says she knows nothing. They witness her walk across the street to the house of the local Don (Lee J. Cobb) who gifts her some food and asks her to leave. The investigation is slow and cumbersome as nobody wishes to speak up in fear of the Don who is surrounded by his goons. It soon becomes a battle of wits between the crook and the relentless cop who is hell bent on trying to find proof against the suspect. When an informant (Serge Regianni) provides a clue the cops browbeat one of the Don's men (Nehemiah Petsoff) into signing a false confession. Using this as a means to intimidate the Don they arrest him. The film's final twist added realism to a situation sadly prevalent in that part of Italy. Superbly filmed on location in Palermo with Tonino Delli Colli's widescreen camera capturing the vast countryside. Both Nero and the gorgeous Cardinale are superb and won awards for their intense performances. A dubbed Lee J. Cobb is also very good as the arrogant rich man who controls the small town very sure of himself that he is above the law. This was the first of Damiani's similar crime-based thrillers and his rich and layered work focuses on plot and character development.
The first thing that hits you squarely in the eye is the city itself. Gotham City by way of New York City. It is not the city of Woody Allen but has the foul stench, squalor and urban chaos of Martin Scorsese's vision of hell in his classic "Taxi Driver". Todd Phillips not only pays homage to this film but also to the same director's "King of Comedy" and Sidney Lumet's "Network", films about anger, loneliness and mental illness, which he channels into creating a disturbing yet emotionally gratifying re-imagining of the iconic DC comic book villain "Joker". The smart screenplay incorporates elements from "Batman" but comes across more as a character study of a pathetically disenfranchised young man living in a fiercely divided city. Arthur (Joaquin Phoenix) has a history of mental illness and a medical condition that prompts him to laugh uncontrollably often at awkward moments. He lives in a squalid apartment with his invalid mother (Frances Conroy). He works as a clown for hire with dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian and appearing on a popular talk show starring a smug host (Robert De Niro). His sad life consists of trying to survive in a city full of vicious people the brunt of which he faces during a brutal beating at the hands of a bunch of rowdy teen hoodlums. Trying to remain positive - he likes to paint his face with a joker's smile - he often resorts to delusional fantasies where he imagines being befriended by a neighbor (Zazie Beetz) and being invited on to the talk show. When a work colleague gives him a gun his life moves into a different direction. The vigilante killing of three yuppies on a train, an encounter with the rich man running for mayor who he believes to be his father and the final betrayal involving his mother pushes him completely over the edge. He now completely transforms into the Joker with great relish. Phoenix, who lost a great deal of weight for the role, shows off his almost reptilian body, contorting it in constant balletic motion. This is a great physical performance and the actor compliments it by using his expressive eyes and the grotesque make-up to create a unique and highly original version of the comic book character. Phillips superbly stages the violent set pieces each of which is played out accompanied by songs on the soundtrack by Gary Glitter, Cream and Sinatra which are used in a sly and ironic way. The film's gritty look is achieved through the combined talents of a number of technicians - the remarkable camerawork of Lawrence Sher, who bathes his images using deep hues, the production design which mixes recent shots of the city along with streets that hark back to the filth strewn pre-Mayor Giuliani New York with its flourishing porn theaters and a thundering orchestral score by Hildur Gudnadóttir. There is also a glaring message about the link between mental illness and the almost regular mass shootings in the United States where lone gunmen spray bullets inside schools, cinemas and restaurants. But in the end the film belongs to Phoenix who does not make any false step. It is a deeply emotional performance and the actor walks a dangerous tightrope while managing to keep his character loathsome yet sympathetic at the same time. It is a performance for the ages and deserves to finally win him the Oscar.
Wagon Master (John Ford, 1950) 7/10
Elgiac film was director Ford's personal favourite of all his films. A much travelled Western situation - a dangerous cross-country journey - is presented in a highly poetic style helped in great part by the striking black and white cinematography by Bert Glennon which makes many of the scenes look like paintings - no film of Ford is complete without Monument Valley figuring prominently. A group of mormons, led by their blustery head (Ward Bond), hope to reach the promised land of San Juan Valley in Utah. Two drifters (Ben Johnson and Harry Catey Jr.) act as their wagon masters on the journey. Along the way they pick up several colorful characters - a fake medicine man (Alan Mowbray), a prostitute (Joanne Dru) and a gang of outlaws - and also encounter Navajo Indians. The film's strong pacifist theme and a reverance for mormons was unusual in a Western at the time which helps this film to stand out. This is not a typical Ford film (John Wayne is nowhere to be seen and there is no charge by rampaging Indians) and the story's episodic nature made it a natural for television where it saw great success adapted as the series "Wagon Train", which ran for eight years.
Cronache di poveri amanti / Chronicle of Poor Lovers (Carlo Lazzani, 1954) 7/10
Fascinating to see Florence before the hordes of tourists took over the streets of which one plays an important part in this story. The film, based on an acclaimed novel by Vasco Pratolini, charts the inhabitants of one narrow Florentine street - the Via del Corno - during the 1920s which houses a disparate group of working class people living in cramped apartments above. The fascists have started to put a tight grip on society and cause consternation with their violent ways. Everyone on the street knows each other and take great delight acting as voyeurs to the sexual and political shenanigans in play. The plot follows the love lives of three young girls - Anna Maria Ferrero, Cosetta Greco, Antonella Lualdi - who are entwined in love and betrayal. A young lodger (Gabriele Tinti) loves and leaves his girlfriend for a married woman while the neighborhood lothario (Marcello Mastroianni) is having it off with his landlord's wife. Overseeing them all from her bed is a grotesque old loanshark (Wanda Capodaglio who is hilarious - the character in the book was a lesbian which for the film was changed due to the censors). Violence at the hands of the fascists change lives forever. Most of the film is shot at night by the great Gianni Di Venanzo as his camera weaves through the narrow cobbled streets. Interesting film with a cast of actors who would go on to become big stars.
Suspicion - Fraction of a Second (John Brahm, 1958) 6/10
An episode from "Suspicion", an anthalogy tv series, and based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier. A woman (Bette Davis) steps out of her house to send off her young daughter to school. On her return back home she narrowly escapes being hit by a vehicle and discovers three strangers living inside the house who claim they are all boarders at a rooming house. The police also confirm that it is not her house but take her to meet a woman who has the same name as her daughter. Insisting she is right and everyone is trying to confuse her she discovers that the young woman went to the same school as her daughter but twenty years before. She also says that she looks like her mother who died in an accident twenty years ago. Is the woman delusional or is she an escaped mental patient? Or a ghost? One of many tv appearances during the 1950s by Bette Davis and photographed by Ernest Haller who shot many of her films at Warner Brothers when she was at the peak of her stardom. Spooky and sad story very similar to an episode of the "Twillight Zone".
Bello onesto emigrato Australia sposerebbe compaesana illibata / Handsome honest emigrant in Australia would marry chaste fellow-countrywoman / A Woman in Australia (Luigi Zampa, 1971) 5/10
The incredibly long Italian title basically provides the entire plot of this rather silly film. It is also a road movie as two lonely souls, looking for companionship and a better life, come together under strange circumstnces and under false pretenses. An Italian immigrant (Alberto Sordi), long a resident of Australia, is a shy and middle-aged bachelor with old fashioned values who is desperate to get married. He wants to marry a virgin from back home and often sends his photo through a lonely hearts column in a newspaper back in Italy only to get rejected each time. When he sees a photo of a peasant girl he decides to send a photo of his better looking friend in order to get her to accept his marriage proposal. The woman is actually a prostitute who wants to get away from her pimp and pretends to be a factory worker in order to land a husband in Australia. He picks her up at the airport and they take a long and antagonistic drive to the outback where surprises are in store for both when each discovers the truth about each other. Frantic, loud comedy is about mistaken identities, culture clash and an excuse for two great stars to have a romp together while filming on exotic Australian locations. Lovely Cardinale won a David award but Sordi, with his hang-dog expression, is equally good. The film is no classic but is a charming entertainer that brings on frequent smiles.
Il giorno della civetta / The Day of the Owl / Mafia (Damiano Damiani, 1968) 9/10
Riveting film shows the Mafia's hold on Sicilian life with the police, judiciary, the Catholic Church and senior government officials powerless to do anything because they are all on this powerful organization's payroll. The screenplay (based on a novel by Leonardo Sciascia), a poliziesco, revolves around the new police chief (Franco Nero) in a small town in Sicily who comes up against powerful forces which he hopes to break. A man witnesses a hit on a truck driver and disappears. The police question the man's wife (Claudia Cardinale) who is scared but says she knows nothing. They witness her walk across the street to the house of the local Don (Lee J. Cobb) who gifts her some food and asks her to leave. The investigation is slow and cumbersome as nobody wishes to speak up in fear of the Don who is surrounded by his goons. It soon becomes a battle of wits between the crook and the relentless cop who is hell bent on trying to find proof against the suspect. When an informant (Serge Regianni) provides a clue the cops browbeat one of the Don's men (Nehemiah Petsoff) into signing a false confession. Using this as a means to intimidate the Don they arrest him. The film's final twist added realism to a situation sadly prevalent in that part of Italy. Superbly filmed on location in Palermo with Tonino Delli Colli's widescreen camera capturing the vast countryside. Both Nero and the gorgeous Cardinale are superb and won awards for their intense performances. A dubbed Lee J. Cobb is also very good as the arrogant rich man who controls the small town very sure of himself that he is above the law. This was the first of Damiani's similar crime-based thrillers and his rich and layered work focuses on plot and character development.